Gods & Goddesses

## Religion

Of the five known religions in Elyria. Only information about two of have been recorded thus far:

* Qindred

* Virtori
* Unknown
* Followers of the Twofold Goddess
* Atheist

Each religion has different gods, lore of the creation of Elyria, and customs of worship. The people of Elyria do not know whether gods exist or not, but many believe they do and others do not.

### **-Qindred-**

The Qindred believe Mann are the descendants of the Qin.

According to the Qindred, The First Qin, Angelica(Qin of Light), turned her shadow into a living being named Luna(Qin of Darkness), the second Qin. And the two were inseparable - wheresoever one went, there went the other. But as the eons passed, Angelica's needs changed. She no longer wanted just a sister - she desired a lover. And though Luna would have preferred to take that role, Angelica once more used her magic and created a consort from the light that created this world. And Ao(Qin of Life), was the Third Qin.. Luna reached out her own magic, and made her own consort, who was Sanguinis(Qin of Death) - the Fourth Qin. Angelica and Ao had two children - twins named Terra(Qin of Land) and Oceanus(Qin of Water). Luna and Sanguinis also had two children - Daemon (Qin of Fire) and Tora(Qin of Air). Luna also had a child with Ao (Angelica's 'husband') and created Mann. But Mann was banished, it is speculation that Mann was banished because of Angelica's displeasure at her sister mating with her consort.

#### The lore of the Qin:

*In the beginning there was just the one. Her name was Angelica. Angelica was alone in the vast emptiness and so she brought light into the world so she would feel warmth and see color. At the moment she created the Light, the cosmos spread out around her, expanding, filling the world with hundreds of billions of spiral and elliptical light sources, each themselves filled with hundreds of billions of lights.*

*Eventually, Angelica and Ao would have two children, twins named Terra and Oceanus. In time, Oceanus and Terra set forth and created the very surface of Elyria.*

*According to the Qindred, Angelica created the world, which was populated by all the ancients. But she was not the only Qin; there were others. One was named Daemon, the Qin of Fire, who was the first Qin to die. When Daemon was destroyed, the element he controlled started to run wild across Elyria - **The Burning**. The fire was starting to destroy Elyria, and no one knew what to do about it. The Qin took action. They took hold of Elyria and literally pulled it apart to prevent the fire from consuming everything. Elyria was broken into three:Haven, the capital of Elyria; Karcion, where the flames from Daemon remained; and the remnants of the world, Elyria. Between the three - the Astral Plane.*

### **-Virtori-**

According to the Virtori, there are powerful Gods and Guardians. These Gods and Guardians represent 7 virtues and 7 vices. They believe there was a war between the Virtues and Vices and that Mann-kind was caught in the middle. They believe we sealed away the Vices and Virtues to protect Elyria from the Gods. The Virtori believe that this sealing split the world into Haven (place of Virtue), Elyria, and Karcion (place of Vice).

It has been said that The Vitori are "Paladins" and "Clerics".

The Neran are one of the two Virtorian tribes (the other being the Hrothi). Among the Virtori, the Neran are known as "The Swords of Virtue". Indeed, in the battle between Virtue and Vice, it was the Neran who were called upon by the Creator to enforce the will of the righteous upon those who would seek to corrupt Mann-Kind. Members of the Neran tribe who do not embrace their responsibility to their faith are looked down upon and referred to as the "Fatherless" by other Neran.

### -**The Faedin-**

The Faedin believe that all living things are tied to the Spirit World.

### -**Followers of the Twofold Goddess-**

The Twofold Goddess views herself as the "Queen of Balance" and her followers claim to be her subjects. The Twofold Goddess does not see the world, or deeds, as good or evil but as things to put the world back into balance or out of balance.

It is said that she even requires her subjects to perform rituals of nurturing during the day and sacrifice at night. The signs of the Twofold Goddess wanting deeds of Light or Dark are often interpreted drastically different from person to person. She has been known to ask for someone to be saved one day, and killed the next.

### -**Atheist-**

Atheists recognize the Deities of other religions, but refuse to allow them to have any power over them. They simply refuse to let them influence their decisions and remain independent of all of them.