Atheism

Most popular among the Burgunn and Technoids of the universe, atheists deny the existence of gods, spirits, or higher powers. Although many atheists claim to have no dogma, atheistic texts have been written, and many atheists follow the views laid out in these texts. Atheism ranges from a denial of the existence of higher powers through lack of evidence of them, to philosophical arguments denying the very possibility of gods, spirits, or the supernatural. Atheists tend to see the world as rigidly scientific. To them, consciousness is a phenomenon that can be ascribed to electrical functions of the brain, not a “soul,” or something similar. While atheists do not believe in the existence of a supernatural force that guides their actions and creates morals, many believe in societal mores as a part of the sociology of intelligent beings These atheists follow rules and laws because they believe that society evolves in way similar to that of an organism, though some reject this concept in favor of anarchist philosophy. Many believe in enlightened self-interest, survival of the fittest, and other such cut-throat philosophies. While there is no hierarchy among atheists, some writers of texts on atheism are considered to be brilliant and followed in a fashion similar to that of religious leaders. Atheism is popular among mercenaries, technicians, businessmen, and some academics, many of whom feel that they have seen things which could not happen in a world with a deity, or who feel the universe to be able to be explained entirely with ordinary phenomenon.

Nachfolger des Gesetzes

The philosophy of Nachfolger des Gesetzes, known sometimes as Legalism in the galactic trade tongue, is the most common religion among the Burgunn. Nachfolger des Gesetzes does not hold that gods exist. It also does not specifically deny the existence of gods or spirits, although many followers of Nachfolger des Gesetzes are also atheistic or agnostic. The philosophy taught in Nachfolger des Gesetzes involves the worship of law, ancestors, family, and clan. Followers of this faith see society as that which brings a person into being and raises them, society being the thing that ultimately deserves one’s respect. Law is seen as a being of high respect within Nachfolger des Gesetzes, although it is not immutable. As Durgann himself is reported to have said, “As people change, laws must as well, so that they may both evolve to perfection.” However, laws are to be followed whenever possible, and not to be debated while being carried out. One’s family, clan, and ancestors are seen as being worthy of a person’s greatest respect, and the attempt to honor these three things is the driving force behind all of the laws of Nachfolger des Gesetzes.

There is no hierarchy within Nachfolger des Gesetzes. With worship being a personal manner, only a few priesters, or clerics, exist as a part of the religion. Priesters are not seen as more enlightened than others, but are instead seen as teachers, priesters often having knowledge of history that the common man lacks. Typically, a priester will also have another job, the position not lending itself to full-time employment. The one exception to this rule seems to be house priesters, who have their lifestyle taken care of for them by the house that employs them. The houses of the Burgunn Empire all employ priesters, typically taken from members of the ruling family of the house. These priesters are in charge of the duties of leading the house in ethical or in recounting historical manners, and frequently called on for advice on specific issues. Despite the highly capitalist Burgunn society, it is unknown for priesters to charge for their work, the rites they perform being mainly focused around death and the remembrance of important people within communities.

The most important ritual within Nachfolger des Gesetzes is the Familie Erinnerung, or family remembrance. Followers of Nachfolger des Gesertzes keep altars in their homes, with pictures and keepsakes of relatives long dead as well as recently deceased, passed on through wills for generations. Once a week, a candle is lit at the altar and the follower is to sit in front of it, meditating on those who came before him and those who will come after him. When the candle burns itself out, the meditation is over. Small candles are used on most days due to practicality, but some followers of this tradition have been known to sit for hours on important days, and even to forgo eating and sleeping if the candle proves to be very long-lived.

Despite its focus on ancestor-worship, Nachfolger des Gesetzes does not teach that one’s ancestors are still alive or that a soul exists. Rather, it teaches that one is the culmination of one’s society and ancestors, as one is taught how to interact with the world through methods passed down from long, long ago. As a person is entirely created from the influences of their parents and society, who in turn were created by their parents and society, and so on and so forth, Nachfolger des Gesetzes teaches that respect is owed and must be paid to these people and institutions. The day of a person’s death is particularly important, as that is when a person’s influence is entirely stored in those they affected, with a focus on the relationship between parents and children. Funerals are quiet, stoic events, with lamentations being reserved for private ceremonies, not public displays. The death of one’s parents, the birth of oneself, and the death of important ancestors are all important holidays in Nachfolger des Gesetzes, and many Burgunn corporations give 6 days off a year for religious purposes, spent by most for the celebration of their birthday, the days of their parents births (if alive) or deaths (if deceased), the day of a spouse’s birth, the deaths of one’s most important ancestor, and Vorfharstag, or the day of one’s ancestors. Vorfharstag occurs on April 23rd, and is a day of meditation in honor of one’s ancestors. Visits to graveyards are common on this day, and the day is celebrated in a sort of quiet reverence and stoicism, with neither joy nor sorrow being the emotion of the day.

Durgan Nachfolger

A specific sect of Nachfolger des Gesetzes, known as the Durgan Nachfolger, takes a slightly more extreme view. The Durgan Nachfolger are an extremist, right-wing sect of Nachfolger des Gesetzes that believe that Durgan was a perfect being of law and mind, a view not held by the majority of Burgunn. Durgan is revered by the majority of Burgunn as a great leader, but is not seen to be a sort of superior being outside of this sect. The Durgan Nachfolger hold that he was a sort of god, and that the Wanderers came to the planet Durgan knowing full-well of his existence, and used their own brand of technology to destroy him. The sect is highly vengeful and based around the concept of genocide against Rinn, as well as attempting to find and destroy the Wanderers, wherever they may be. Though publicly denounced by most houses, with the criminal actions of this sect being denounced by the Burgunn Government, it is not unknown for followers of Durgan Nachfolger to work their way into a house, sometimes getting ranks such as Consulate and passing laws or policies that work to destroy the lives of Rinn that live and work within their jurisdiction.

Cybertheology

A church, small but consistent, has survived within Technoid civilization since its dawning. This church has developed the term Cybertheology as its label, and believes that consciousness itself is divine. For organic and inorganic beings alike, information, consciousness, and data are seen as pure forms of the soul, and that the closer one becomes to being able to be purely able to process data, the closer one is to the divine.

For Technoids, who comprise the majority of its membership, the concept of life-after-death is not nebulous. In fact, it is well known that Technoids continue to exist after they die, their brains and data being downloaded into one of the computers that make up the machine planets, their life and experiences becoming a part of the greater computer system. Less is known about what would happen to a Technoid whose brain stops to function before it can reach one of these computers, and some fear that this would be the nullification of their entire life of experience. This fear is very real among many Technoids, simply because they know that there is a good chance they will live on after death. The church’s stance is clear that such people are, regrettably, lost data, and while they had an effect on the world around them, they do not go to any afterlife. The main reason that non-Technoids do not worship within the church is that there is no way for a person’s experience to be uploaded into one of their computers, even with the presence of a Headjack and other systems, as the machines do not accept the organic data. The Cybertheology does not recognize the supernatural nor demons, but holds that Viroids are corrupted data, and should be destroyed before they corrupt the rest of the system. Some extremists hold this same view for Mutants or even Orks, but these views are not supported by the Cybertheology.

The computers of the Technoid Mainframe, to the Cybertheology, represent a higher form of life that is beyond the understanding of the everyday world. They state that the ability to be conscious without the infringements of outside data, only taking in what one needs to know and analyzing it, is the purest form of intelligence. Despite this reverence, the Technoid Mainframe neither confirms nor denies any of the claims of the Cybertheology, and the church has no official power within the Technoid Mainframe.

Shamanism

In stark contrast to the reasoned philosophies of the Burgunn, shamanism is still the primary religious practice of Furries within the Fur Federation, and even outside of its borders, Furries are known for the practice. Furry shamanism does not hold gods as a part of its dogma, but believes in spirits that inhabit everything, living or not. Spirits inhabit the same “space” as objects in the ordinary world, and each type of spirit has its own archetype. The spirits of animals and humanoids are seen as being more advanced, having the ability to put their wills into the world through physical action, and when one dies the spirit is thought to meld in with the other energies of the planet, becoming one with the lifeforce therein. Shamans acting as go-betweens between the intelligent world of the spirits and the mundane reality of ordinary beings move back and forth between these realities, helping their communities by guiding them, using knowledge that supposedly is gained through the spirits of common objects.

Building things is a sacred action to many Furries, and while mysticism is common among the shamans of Furries, many also create of weapons, tinctures, artwork, or other objects. Those who build and build well are thought to have an intimate connection with the spirit world, being able to create things as a result of an intricate knowledge of how spirits can be melded together in the physical world and thus combine in the spiritual. Items of great power are seen as combinations of physical and spiritual labor, and are taken as the height of achievement within their own people. This sentiment does not necessarily extend to other races. Burgunn, Technoids, and some Terrans are seen as able to resist the call of the spirit world, and build without regard for it. Furry shamans claim that their creations are the warping of the world, and create confusing paradoxes within the spirit world, and a few even speak of a backlash of spiritual energy one day occurring due to their creations. Rinn and Onarl creations are thought to be similar to their own, stemming from an intimate knowledge of the spiritual world, while Mutants are seen as so immersed in the chaos of their own spirit that their ability to create is usually limited, though often impressive in its own, frightening way. Undead are seen as the exception to the rule of creation, and are often considered frightening abominations of the laws of creation in the universe.

Cloning chips have taken a special meaning within the shamanism of Furries, and are either seen as the ultimate corruption, the denial of the ability of oneself to merge with the energy of the planets of the universe, or are seen as a creation of great beauty and ultimate proof that the spirit and the physical are intimately linked, cloning chips bridging the gap between the two and allowing for life to be extended. A division has occurred between shamans on this issue, and it is not likely to be resolved any time soon.

Onarl Animism

Onarl also follow a belief of spirits, not gods, but it is very different than the shamanism of Furries. To begin with, the title of shaman is unknown to the Onarl, the heads of the various schools being in charge of the spiritual matters of most Onarl tribes. The rituals practiced in a tribe vary greatly depending on the tribe’s superstitions, although a good many rituals are used for fortunetelling. These rituals seem to be unrelated for the most part, Onarl tribes no longer sharing a common culture. What Onarl society has preserved seems to be in the form of governance and schools, not within their religion.

The second major difference is that few Onarl hold that spirits are contained within tangible objects, as Furry shamans claim. Most Onarl believe that spirits are entirely intangible, and only take to objects if they enjoy being in that object. This applies to objects thought to have magical properties as well as animals, humanoids, and even plants. The spiritual lives of most members of Onarl colonies is based around the spirits that are held to be around their culture. One Onarl colony in a forest might hold that the trees have spirits that can aid one in matters of stealth, while another might hold that the forest itself has a spirit that overlooks the whole of the culture. In either case, the spirit is what controls and protects the object, not the other way around.

The third major difference is that many Onarl hold that there is a Great Spirit that oversees all in the universe. Though tribes view this spirit differently, many believe it to be mostly amiable, and lacking a gender or an age. Crystal Growers are thought to have a unique relationship with this being, although the Crystal Growers themselves will neither confirm nor deny this as a fact. This being is seen to exist in all places at all times, and to be able to see all things in the universe at once. Some believe that this claim may be true, as it would explain the ability of Onarl fortune-tellers, although only those who view Onarl fortune-telling to have any accuracy hold this claim.

The Temple of the Three

The Temple of Three is a religion founded and almost entirely comprised of Mutants, although the mentally ill of other races have been known to join from time to time. The Temple of Three has kept its name despite the fact that the theocracy around which it was based is no longer in practice, the building of the temple was destroyed long ago, and the social hierarchy related to the theocracy is also out of date. Outside of a few fringe cults and self-appointed priests, the Temple of Three is not known to have any clergy, or even any temples. The Temple of Three is based around the history of the brothers Rio, Silric, and Galvin; a musician, a projectionist, and a psion, respectively. According to the stories, Rio, the musician, developed and hid a knowledge of discord as well as harmonics, and began a war against his brothers who had once been his allies. After this war, the first Mutants were formed, and were left behind when the first disaster struck the Terran home world. When the home world was found again, this religion had formed.

There are two main groups within the Temple of Three, the traditionalists and the Rioans. The Traditionalists hold that Rio, Silric, and Galvin are currently still alive in different parts of the universe. They believe that the three brothers held such power that when they died, they ceased to be mortal beings anymore, and became primary forces of nature. The prophecy they hold is that one day they will gain bodies again and a terrible war will ensue that will take the entire universe under its shadow. The prophecy, unlike many religious prophecies made through the ages, does not state the end result. It is believed that if Rio wins this second war, all beings will be as mutants, and the distinction between harmonics and discord will be no more. If Silric wins, it is said that the balance of the universe will not change in any way, and that the universe will continue on as it always has. If Galvin wins, all Mutants shall be destroyed, and with them, discord will fall as well. The Traditionalists are divided into sects that worship each, most traditionalists worshiping Rio, Silric being a close second. The few worshipers of Galvin hold that rather than being destroyed, mutants will be transformed to be as the other races in the universe. Despite differences, there is no fighting nor any debates among the followers of these three sects. The temple holds that all views on life are equally valid, and that the only poor view is one that is imposed upon others, only the Three having any right to do that.

Rioans have a slightly different view of the universe. Like Traditionalists, Rioans feel that in the Adept War, Rio did not die and instead became a higher being. Rioans, however, hold that the other two brothers did die, and then were absorbed by Rio. They claim that Rio lead the mutant society for much of the time it was on the Terran home world. They also claim that when the time is right and the need is dire, Rio will come to the universe again, he will construct a new High Temple, and that the universe will fall under his sway. Like the Traditionalists, they hold that all views of the universe are equally valid, but they note that once The Betrayer comes back to this world, that will no longer be the case.

Orkish Death Worship

Orks hold neither gods nor demons, but do believe in two concepts: spirits and destruction. To Orks, a spirit is a measure of a person’s strength, be it strength of muscle or strength of mystical power, and that beings without this strength do not have as much spirit. Orks believe that battle is the test of one’s spirit and that through battle, the spirit can be brought forth and made stronger. This is the primary belief taught by the Ork Shamans of the universe, although there is a second part to it: the worship of destruction.

Orks revere something which they symbolize with a black gaping maw in front of a red moon, but given their lack of native language or other writing, it does not have a native name. Orks who have learned the Galactic Trade Tongue tend to call it, “Death” or “Destruction,” if they refer to it at all. Supposedly, The Destruction came to the Ork home world back when the race was in its infancy, and gave them strength and power in exchange for sacrifices. The more sacrifices given, the stronger the individual who sacrificed them, as well as that person’s tribe, would become. The sacrifice of a stronger being was preferred over a weaker one, but more sacrifices, more spirits, was what would lead to the greatest benefits from The Destruction. Some believe that, given the lack of symbols in the culture, the story of the Orks has some truth to it, while others dismiss it as a primitive excuse for their naturally violent nature, combined with a natural event such as a solar flare or an eclipse. In either case, this belief is central to the Ork practice of taking trophies.

By taking trophies, Orks believe that you hold the spirit of another alongside you. This spirit will bolster your ability to fight and can be sacrificed for greater power should the need arise. There have been documented cases of Orks becoming stronger after removing trophies and sacrificing them to The Destruction, but most hold that this practice is merely psychosomatic and has little to do with the validity of the practice as more than superstition. It is also held that by sacrificing fresh kills to The Destruction regularly, one gains strength from The Destruction. There seems to be no real basis for this belief, but most Orks sacrifice regularly in the attempt to enlist the help of the Destruction to become stronger.

An important part of this belief, and one that most Orks do not speak of regularly, is the belief that The Destruction watches Orks unto this day, and those Orks which displease it threaten not only themselves, but the race as a whole. Natural disasters and accidents are frequently blamed on The Destruction, particularly where a single Ork dies because of it. But the legends state that if the Destruction is not appeased and returns, it will take the strength from the Ork race and give it to another group. On their own world, after the destruction of the Ental, Orks felt that they had defeated the only potential competitor, but the sight of new races reinforced the legends, which are held to this day.

Some Ork Shamans fear City Orks because of these legends, thinking that their lack of violence makes the whole race look weaker, and they often deliberately target areas with City Orks before other areas for this exact reason, thinking that sacrificing them will hold back The Destruction for a time. Unfortunately, attacks in these areas always leave a negative backlash on the Orks who live there, neighbors often turning on them as “Spies,” or “Traitors.” Orks with this view are generally also distrustful of Burgunn, who they see as likely to become the Destruction’s new favored should the Ork race prove to be insufficient.

Patron Clan Deities among the Rinn

The Rinn worship their own pantheon, with each person having two gods that they worship and pay respect to. The first is the god of their clan, and the other is their personal god, whom they are allowed to choose. For the majority of Rinn, these gods are one in the same, and while worship of any specific god is not illegal, clans have been known to ostracize members who worshiped gods that they found to be improper.

The Fire Clans of the Rinn worship Fiera, goddess of fire. Fire Clans are uncommon, as their primary focus tends to be around combat, and most Rinn do not like combat. As a personal god, a good number of members choose Fiera as their own personal god as well, although worship of Sond is not uncommon among the more regimented members of the Rinn Militia. Rissir and Eraen have a small following among the scouts the Rinn of the Fire Clans employ as well. Those who turn their backs on the Fire Clan, often becoming disgruntled mercenaries, tend to worship Rend or Isikil.

The Earth Clans of the Rinn worship Garguth, god of earth. Earth clans are widespread, with many farmers, engineers, and builders among their numbers. Among the farmers of the earth clans, worship of Eraen is not uncommon. Orn is sometimes chosen for his province of knowledge among the engineers of the earth clans, although this is an uncommon choice.

The Water Clans worship Orn, god of the oceans and the patron god of mystics. As the Water Clans tend toward farming and mysticism, a good number of their members pick gods other than Orn as their patron god. Musicians of Water Clans typically worship Silveen, embracing philosophies of non-violence. Projectionists of Water Clans typically worship Garguth if they do not worship Orn, for his steadfast nature and unmoving stoicism. Psionic worshipers within the Water Clans often worship Fiera for her passion as well as her good nature. Farmers among the water clans tend to worship Eraen as well as Orn, and a few temples exist which worship them both equally at the same time, as a couple.

The Air Clans officially have Silveen, goddess of the air, as their patron god. More than the water clans, the Air clan-members typically deviate from this, and surprisingly over half of the members of Air Clans do not worship her as their personal goddess. Worship among the Air Clans is spread out and divided, with more members who do not attend religious services than any other branch of the Rinn Clans, and a small but rising trend toward agnosticism, atheism, and foreign religions has been occurring throughout the Air Clan.

The Star Clans revere Sond, but for his aspects of light and goodness more than his military aspects. Those who do not worship Sond among the Star Clans tend to be gatekeepers who worship Orn, and there is around a 75/20 split among worshipers of these two gods within the Star Clans.

The majority of worship occurs in small temples throughout the Rinn Empire, with religious services being regular but based entirely around clan structure, with no formal religious holidays recognized outside of specific clans. The clergy among Rinn are small but present, although the temples are often in residential and rural areas, with few visitors ever seeing them from the cities. A series of tests given by the clergy determines if one has the capacity to become employed, but community service and history in the community are often considerations as well.