![[cultures 1.webp|]] `Apr. 3, 2025` · [[Horseapple]] · #Cluster #Cultures > [!custom-callout]+ [[link]] > “placeholder” <p align="right">— TaleWorlds</p> > These fictional theologies are built from [bloctheworkerbloc](https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/users/43085797)'s mod, [Religions](https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/3015) of which I've incorporated into my worldbuilding and altered to fit. # Religions **Calros** [EDITED] **Faction**: Main Religion, [[Imperial]], [[Vlandian]] Nobles, [[Sturgian]] Burghers Lore: Calronism is a 1,000-year-old belief system revolving around one god, called 'The Creator’, and is named after Calros, their martyred prophet. Calric monks teach that Calros the Wise was a holy man and peacemaker in the Warring Families Period of the Lycaran Republic who was burned at the stake by enemies of peace. They teach that this murder so angered the Creator sent a Dragon (Malificos) to torment the Families; after which they ceased fighting, formed the [[Senate]] and elected the first Emperor. They believe the constrained violence of the Arena is a sanctified alternative to the horrors of war and that loyalty to the Creator’s chosen Emperor - a true son of [[Calradia-Conti.]] - is the only true path to peace. **Temple**: Sacellum **Priest**: Episcopos **Tolerated Religion**: Ayuhaz **Ahuyaz** **Faction**: [[Aserai-Sultanate]] **Lore**: Ahuyazists are not animistic fire-worshippers, as some Imperials wrongly believe. Their religion is, in fact, the ancient monotheistic worship of Ayuhaz the All-Father - whose rules over the world from his golden palace, the Sun. Most [[Aserai-Sultanate]] scholars believe that Ayuhaz and the Calric Creator god are one in the same, but that the truth of the Ayuhaz religion was corrupted and warped in [[Calradia-Conti.]] by the influence of the [[Imperial]] state. Ahuyaz worship is not prescriptive and their religious law is based on largely-voluntary submission to the opinions of priest-scholars with no central hierarchy. Ahuyazists place less emphasis on ritual worship, instead focusing on the central ethics of “Good Words, Good Thoughts and Good Deeds”; they value mercy, wisdom and practical good works. While faithful Ahuyazists are permitted to take and keep slaves, they believe there is no greater act of mercy than granting freedom to slaves. Followers can choose whether they wish to pray and how, but communal worship is usually centred around seasonal festivals. Ither opportunities for worshipers to gather include the Jaqu'l, the initiation ceremony where a child is accepted into the Ahuyaz fellowship. **Temple**: Fiery Cavern **Priest**: Sahab **Tolerated Religion:** Calros **Ratvozhd** **Faction**: [[Sturgian]] Nobles, Rural [[Sturgian]] Commoners **Lore**: The traditional religion of [[Principality-of-Sturgia]] is the worship of Ratvoz, the Many-Handed God who sends spirits into the world and safeguards the spirits of ancestors. Each of his hands is a god in their own right and they are also worshipped separately; the three greatest of these gods are Xakhun of the Sun, Simbog of the Earth and Matisty of the Waters. The knowledge of arcane rituals to correctly sacrifice to these gods and invoke their favor is known as Ratvozhd. Offerings of grain are given to each of the lesser gods, but Sturgians believe that Ratvoz himself manifests as a sacred oak tree, so he is honored with ritual purification of timber boughs. The arch-enemy of Ratvoz is Kagiv of the Void, by whom spirits will be taken unless Ratvoz is offered weapons to fight him with - these offerings traditionally take place in peat bogs. **Temple**: Sacred Oak Grove **Priest**: Magus **Tolerated Religions**: Calros, Ca fál **Iltangri** **Faction**: [[Khergit-clan]] **Lore**: Iltangrism centers around the deity Iltangri and incorporates elements of animism, totemism and ancestor-worship. They believe Iltangri, the Golden Eagle, created the universe out of the Endless Sky and gave life to humanity with his wife Gergi, the goddess of earth and home. Subordinate to Iltangri are a number of lesser deities: including Tumai, the divine wind who breathes life into every creature, Erlik god of the underworld, and many others. Iltangrists believe prosperity and well-being of the individual and the nation depend on maintaining reverence and respect for these deities, in harmony with the universe. They also believe that the gods forged the land by hammering life into a barren mountain, which worshippers pay tribute to through the act of celebrational forging. To pay tribute to great heroes of the past who united the tribes and overcame adversity, Iltengrists also engage in ritual seclusion and fasting in the wild. **Temple**: Yurt **Priest**: Gokhri **Tolerated Religions**: All **Ca fál Faction**: [[High-Kingdom-of-Battania]] **Lore**: Ca fál is an age-old religion with two main gods - Mother Cràiurach of the earth and Father Tarbnaofach of the lake, who rule as Queen and King over a multitude of minor gods in the [[Otherworld]] but often meddle in the affairs of mortals. One can please Tarbnaofa by sacrificing hogs to fuel his insatiable virility which fertilizes the fields; but Cràiurach may only be appeased with human sacrifice, which she considers just repayment for giving life to all beings. Lesser spirits such as fairies and elves may grant good fortune in exchange for offerings of cheese at fairy rings. Most Ca fál religious symbols are represented in the form of wood carvings, rings and bracelets. Being an age-old decentralized religion, Ca fál has split into several different variations and, as such, practitioners are generally tolerant of other polytheistic faiths. **Temple**: Standing stone Circle **Priest**: Druid **Tolerated Religions**: Ratvozdh, Iltangri          **Joummn** **Faction**: Nords/Sea Raiders **Lore**: The people of [[Jumne-Isl]], also known as the Nordlands, hold the raven in high regard, believing it to possess a hidden wisdom which it will impart to humans if they simply feed it a battlefield full of flesh, and partake in the drinking of strong spirits afterwards. Those who claim to have witnessed the raven’s revelations then go on to practice future-telling. Sub Religion: Player can’t be part of this religion / No temple **Zilal** **Faction**: [[Beni-Zilal]] **Lore**: Once devout adherents of the Ahuyaz religion, the [[Beni-Zilal]] split off after a failed attempt to establish a unified high priesthood over all Ayuhazists that provoked widespread rebellion. They insist that the mainstream Ahuyazists have corrupted religious law and falsified the sacred texts. The Zilal preach that true salvation under Ayuhaz can only be achieved through knowledge of holy secrets that they alone hold. Their rites are shrouded in mystery. Sub Religion: Player can’t be part of this religion / No temple **Na’as** **Faction**: [[Jawwal]] **Lore**: [[Jawwal]] believes in spirits they call Jinn, which [[Imperial]] citizens garble as “genies”. Both good and evil Jinn inhabit many aspects of nature. The evil ones must be warded off with accurate knowledge of magical binding rituals, which the sorcerers of the Na’as have dedicated their lives to studying. Sub Religion: Player can’t be part of this religion / No temple          **Ignis** [EDITED] **Faction**: [[Embers-of-the-Flame]] **Lore**: The teenage Emperor [[Darusos]] ruled [[Calradia-Conti.]] in 1026 but for only that one year. He was later overthrown by Bastilimos [[Vetranis]], [[Darusos]]’ general and Satros [[Vetranis]]’ traitor father. [[Darusos]] was a devout Calrist, who won the love of his people through many official acts of charity as well as several attempts to enact popular reforms to the Empire. But this antagonized the powerful members of the [[Senate]], and in doing so, [[Darusos]] and his mother were driven from the palace by efforts of assassination. In response he, and his mother [[Zeona]], raised an army of peasants he called the Holy Flame. Inspired by the breath of Malefic, the dragon sent by the Creator in Calrist mythology. But [[Darusos]]’ army was promptly slaughtered by Bastilimos, but so too was he by Dalidos [[Neretzes]], the father of [[Drosios]] [[Neretzes]], who then assumed the throne. But the embers of [[Darusos]] remain. A man named [[Ladimos]] ‘[[the-Red]]’ created a revolt against the Calradian Empire called the ‘[[Kingdom-of-Truth]]’, promising the revival of a “pure” Emperor, which sparked the rekindling of the Holy Flame, now called the [[Embers-of-the-Flame]]. They are a cult who believe that [[Darusos]] was the physical incarnation of the Creator, or, that he was a true son of [[Calradios]], sent to bring salvation to this failing world. The Embers preach that there are actually two gods - the Creator and the Destroyer - and that the [[Senate]] corrupted the message of Calros by creating the Empire in service of the Destroyer. The claims that there is an evil god, equal to that of the Creator -- and that the Calradian Empire is in service of this evil god, is total heresy in the eyes of the elite and the church. And so the Embers are fiercely persecuted. Sub Religion: Player can’t be part of this religion / No temple