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At a first glance it may seem that the cities of Ordus do not possess any religious connections, but one has only to mingle with the lower classes of the people to understand how faith is an important aspect of their day-to-day life. Whether by offering housing and food or by teaching the ones who can't afford education, the temples and priests of each city have gathered a significant enough following for the Government to become aware of it and using the religious institution in their favor.
However, there are many Gods to worship - some of them a viewed in a positive matter, some of them not; some of them more talked about, others only prayed for in secret.
Inside this thread, you'll be able to find some of the known information about the Gods that exist in the world of Ordus and also read short snippets of their stories.
The New Gods are the most popular of the deities, being the ones venerated at the temples and recognized in a positive matter by the overwhelming majority of the priests and folk. They are four and each of them is more adored in the cities where they became immortalized as heroes: Ignis in Vantalux, Aura in The Wharf, Tellus in Haven and Eira in Fumehat. These four individuals became of legend by their rumoured existence and actions after Dawn Break, actions which allowed humanity to move past a period of darkness that appeared to be its destiny. Despite their different stories and deeds - many of them told and retold in various ways across different documents - all of the New Gods had one thing in common: an object that allowed them to do what their heart desired. Although, like their owner's bodies, these objects were never found, many believe that the Beacon, the Horn, the Root and the Vase were the firsts of what is nowadays known as Vanta Weapons.
Ignis, the God with the Beacon
“He had nothing besides his rags and a lantern. His skin was dirty and old from a lifetime of work in the mines and his bones decrepit and frail from decades upon decades with almost no food to eat. Alone and mute, he only knew his existence was real from the imprints his feet and hands left on the land he walked on. Yet, he kept moving. Working and working no matter the conditions, pushing towards a future that constantly came to him in his sleep. This man had no name, but he would be known as Ignis, the God with the Beacon: the undying flame that first discovered the hidden potential of Vanta; the man upon whose back Vantalux was built.”
- as written in the Memoirs of Dawn Break: Tales & Other Fables from Across the Land
Key Aspects: - Hero of Vantalux; - Perseverance, loyalty & willingness; - Associated with the element of Fire.
Aura, the Goddess with the Horn
“Every time that danger came from sea the sound of the horn could be heard. The winds of that unforgettable tune made beasts return to the unknown of the underwaters, waves retreat to the open sea, thunder go back up to the skies and people breathe in relief for they knew that the lady at the top of the cliff would shield them them from all that was dangerous. From moon to moon she remained there on her feet, horn in her hand and forever vigilante so that the city of The Wharf could be built in safety. They called her Aura, the Goddess with the Horn: a wind that could blow anything way; a woman whose body is said to lie underneath the lighthouse that now brings fishermen to safety.”
- as written in the Memoirs of Dawn Break: Tales & Other Fables from Across the Land
Key Aspects: - Hero of The Wharf; - Patience, protection & firmness. - Associated with the element of Air.
Tellus, the God with the Root
“It is often said that he was a rich and strong man who loved to fight, to drink and, above all else, to have fun. However, despite a body riddled with scars and the expression of a threatening animal, he was also said to possess the biggest heart in the entire world. That’s why he travelled and travelled with no rest, no matter how tired or hurt he was. A bag over his shoulder and a root on his pocket, he walked miles and miles until he found the perfect place: green and fertile land as far as the eye could see, lakes and rivers that seemed too magical to be real, a vast plain that the ages of war seemed to not have corrupted. He planted his root there and from it emerged a giant hill, a huge mound atop of which Haven would be built. He was Tellus, the God with the Root that gave humanity a new place to live; the free man that marched forward in the place of others.”
- as written in the Memoirs of Dawn Break: Tales & Other Fables from Across the Land
Key Aspects: - Hero of Haven; - Freedom, selflessness & honesty; - Associated with the element of Earth.
Eira, the Goddess with the Vase
“She was tiny, precious and, just like any other child, her innocent eyes couldn't help but to simplify the world. And so, with the wonder and soul that a grown human could never have, she took it upon herself to stop the stone curse that plagued those swampy terrains upon which the city of Fumehat was being built. A little kiss to mom, a little hug to dad and a promise to fix everything: when children have decided their purpose in life it is foolish to try and stop them. So she went, head first into the darkness with only her vase in hand. “This can clean anything!”, she said as she waved everyone off. The little girl never came back, but since that day the curse has remained contained to the core of the Sunken City - a promise kept. Her name was Eira, the Goddess with the Vase capable capturing evil; a child that decided that valour was something that anyone could possess.”
- as written in the Memoirs of Dawn Break: Tales & Other Fables from Across the Land
Key Aspects: - Hero of Fumehat; - Bravery, health & kindness; - Associated with the element of Water.
The Old Gods are also believed to have existed by the majority of people due to the many accounts of their feats and exploits that have survived to this day in the form of books and journals. However, speaking of them is usally frowned upon and seen as bad luck, their worshipping being strictly prohibited by almost every priest and high figure of the temples in the cities. This means that a smaller percentage of the population follows the Old Ones since, in order to do so, prayers and meetings have to be made either under secrecy or with the help traitors and corrupts inside the religious institution. The real names of the gods vary depending on who's telling their stories, but everyone knows the names they became famous for: the Buried Goddess, the Scourged God, the Laughing God and the Twisted Goddess, the wanderers that became feared during a Dark Age that, by all known accounts, they themselves helped create.
The Buried Goddess
“The witch yelled that everything was to be hers and of anyone who so wished to put a claim on it. But land, food, family, war… the old hag had learnt that none of that mattered. Or, better, that all of that was insignificant. No land would give space for all that one could want; no food could hope to fill an infinite appetite; no family would ever give a person true happiness; no war could possibly achieve what everyone wished for. Only the world itself could fulfill a collective greed. And so, with her bare hands, she excavated straight down, a hole so deep that it reached the earth’s core. Whoever wanted was free to jump down and meet her at the bottom. She wanted the entire world and so she became the world itself.”
- as written in A Record of Poems, Songs & Stories from the Dark Age
Key Aspects: - Greed, materialism, consumption.
The Scourged God
“It always felt like his own body was disgusted of who he himself was: a sensation of painful paraesthesia that never ceased, his burning skin yelled for another host during day and night. The middle aged doctor tried everything over the years to stop this curse that plagued him since a young age, but nothing seemed to work… nothing besides one thing. When he scratched hard enough – with enough force to bleed, so deep that his flesh would be completely exposed – the itchiness stopped. It was pain to numb pain with. It made him happy and he wanted others to feel the same way. He began experimenting new treatments on his patients: some would call it torture, but any sane man would say that it was much worse. And so, for years and years during the Dark Age, the Moving Office of the Doctor became something of legend: any disease could be treated, but one’s body and soul would never be the same.”
- as written in A Record of Poems, Songs & Stories from the Dark Age
Key Aspects: - Anger, envy, spitefulness.
The Laughing God
“The Travelling Coffin was a relatively known troupe that toured the lands during the Dark Age. Composed of acrobats, clowns and freaks, the group went from place to place in search of any kind of compensation during that hard period. The owner of this company was a little man – bald, with pointy ears, saggy skin and round eyes, it was said that he looked more monster than human… and perhaps that was right. Wherever the Travelling Coffin went, chaos would closely follow with every habitant of the area inexplicably turning against each other violently and cruelly. The Travelling Coffin would then pack their equipment and quickly move on to another settlement, the laughs of the imp echoing across the land as they marched off.”
- as written in A Record of Poems, Songs & Stories from the Dark Age
Key Aspects: - Sadism, mischief, war.
The Twisted Goddess
“The rumors were wide and spread, but no one had proof of her existence. A young lady who walked across the lands offering promises of a great future to ambitious men who had either nothing or everything to lose. Her hair black as coal and her eyes purple as amethyst, she was talked as the most beautiful woman to ever exist, yet the ones who laid their sight upon her never lived long enough to take in all of her beauty. Instead, blood and guts would be found in their homes, their bodies so crumpled that it was impossible to identify any of its parts. The female fulfilled dark wishes and then she took the payment that was rightfully hers. After doing so, she kept on fulfilling her duty, twisting and twisting more and more men as she went on.”
- as written in A Record of Poems, Songs & Stories from the Dark Age
Besides the eight officially recognized figures of the mythos of Ordus, there's a ninth one that both followers of the New and Old Gods agree to be just a delusion: the Savior. The ones of who dedicate themselves to the following of the Savior are extremely few, joining the Cult either due to false promises, brainwashing or their radical anti-Government ideas. According to the prophecies and preachings of those who choose to revere this androgynous being, the Savior is an all-powerful celestial creature that freed himself of what is bad (in the form of the Old Gods) and of what is good (in the form of the New Gods) in order to achieve perfection and incomprehensible amounts of power and knowledge. A regular citizen will most likely spend his entire life without ever hearing about the Savior and its Cult, but rumours among the most well-connected have it that this group of fanatics is slowly becoming more and more dangerous despite its low numbers.
The Savior
"Dawn Break, Vanta, Vel... All words invented by weak men to give weaker minds the idea that the second era of peace is already upon us. Sons and daughters, do not believe the whispers or you'll fail to realize that we are all still doomed; that the Day of Chaos will surely arrive and with it bring no mercy nor forgiveness. The Old Gods will turn their backs and the New Gods will close their eyes. Only the one that makes the highest point his home can save our land... Oh, may he absolve all of you! Where all is dark and yet the sun shines, when red tears fall from a healed heart and once the sheep are gathered at the place where it all began... It is then that he'll arrive! It is then that you will all know that what is powerful and sacred cannot be shared, but can only belong to one special being... our Savior!"
- transcripted from the screams of a captured Cult member.
