This is the monotheistic religion for a world with magic, and had many deities at one time. It now has three (and a half) religions associated with this one deity.
The Messenger claimed to be the (spiritual) Son of the Primal Deity, call BA’AN (or Primal One). This primal deity created the universe and all the other lesser Gods. Those deities were supposed to run the place while he was gone finishing things up. These lesser Gods took the credit for creating the universe and being true powers, rather than simply administrating things for the Primal One.  Upon his return to the world, He (the Primal One) took the reigns from those lesser gods and forbade their worship. He sent his (spiritual) son to inform the people of this change and his Avatars (Angels) to inform the lesser gods. Those lesser Gods that did not rejoin the ranks of the Avatars were destroyed.

Many people resisted the Messenger and his new faith.  They were entrenched in the existing order. Yet, all of a sudden, there was no clerical power. The Messenger, and his anointed followers, had clerical abilities.

People know that the lesser Gods were defeated as their clerics could no longer draw upon their power (i.e. no clerical spells). Thus people began to acknowledge that the Message was true.

The Messenger’s Church was built upon the ruins of the lesser churches. The religion has a Judeo Christian feel (centralist with focus upon good works/ life), except that the Avatars/ Angels are given special worship, much like Catholic Saints. The Messenger’s Church is the only source of healing (magical or otherwise), spiritual protection (spells vs demons, magic, and Evil), and wisdom. The Paladins of the church, tend to be witch hunters- those that hunt witches those that use magic beyond mortal control (i.e. infernal magics from the Outsider deities). They also protect priests who go out to spread the word of the Messenger.

The world was created by the interflow of the cosmic forces. The First one is distant and not a "god" in any sense.  In the spiritual turbulance of the cosmic forces, spirits of great power were created.  Many call these spirits Gods.  While they are things to be respected, they need not be worshiped. 

Pandjit was a magi and philospher several hundred years ago.  He used meditation, prayer (focused) dance, and soul access to determine the nature of the universe. He discovered a form of magic which did not require empowerment from any so called God or powerful spirit. This magic provided a strong degree of defense against the powers of the so called dieties and enhancement of the mind and body.

He discovered the re-incarnation of souls, that the Gods could only manipulate the destiny of a soul… rather than created it.  Everything occured in accordance to the interplay of cosmic forces.  It was the contemplation of the cosmic forces that lead to "Great Understanding". The greater ones understanding, the more a person could manipulate the world around them. 

The Movement his discovery created threw down the Priest Kings/ Wizard Kings (secular sorcerry was actually just empowerment by spirits that did not require worship, just barter and exchange).  New, more secular, rulers were installed. After the Removal, the movement lost momentum.  The various leaders in the movement touted their version of Pandjit’s teachings (and associated fighting techniques) were the best.  This fragmented the Movement, into dozens of sects supported by schools that taught their "way". 

Anyone who wishes to be considered "On the path (to Great Understanding)" simply declares themselves.  One should be able to back up ones claims by performing feats requiring "Great Undersanding". These feats and the philosphy behind them are taught at a variety of schools and retreats. While most of the schools teach martial arts in addition to the various mental techniques and philosphy, some school simply teach philosphy and the occasional non martial mental technique.

Most schools of thought/ technique have their own "uniform".  It is normally a shaved or partially shaved head with a painted tattoo, but some schools have uniforms as well.

Additions
This is more of an inspiration piece than something you should be using directly; unless you want to create a campaign setting around it.

The effects of Pandjit’s teachings will of course vary by tastes and game systems used. There are many options. Ideally a mental magics system or psionics would be the best fit. Mind powers, illusions, telepathy, telekinesis, various clairsentiences, etc, etc, would be the order of the day. Add to these some physical adept abilities (magics focusing on the body) then you would get everything you would need for this.

The next best fit would be an elemental magical system. This would be a fundemental universal force view of things. Add to this some things for the body, channeling the effect into the body would be an good compliment to the standard generate/ manipulate/ remove elemental powers.

You could use just about any other theme for a magical system as well. A system of force sorcery, (solid energy - shield, blast, and other solid forms) would be great compliment to the church.

Magic Level: Any

In this world, each race had its own Spirit, or Diety it revered. It personified the race.  The Mythic people (Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, et al) had worshiped their spirits since before time began, long before Humans crawled out of their caves and became a speaking race.

Humans had been helped by the Mythic people, much like one would help a child; yet also treated them like a vermin, removing them when they were too much trouble.  The Human tribes became semi-nomadic, moving along to avoid the ire (anger/ annoyance) of the Mythics. It is during this time that Humans connected with their Spirit.  The Spirit of Humanity took to sheparding its people.  In addition, the spirit adopted the Human Companions… the Wolf/Dog, the Horse, and to a lesser extent Buffalo (the only herd beasts of the land).  The Mythics had never domesticated companions, they simply created what they needed.

When a genocidal war broke out between the Goblins and The Forest Folk (fur covered humanoids, gentle giants (well bigger than humans) of the forest), Humans took in the few surviving Forest Folk. The Goblins had destroyed the Spirit of the Forest Folk. It was then that the God of Humanity became the God of The People, for it was the first time The Spirit of one talking people had “adopted” another peoples.  It was no longer a matter of blood, it was a matter of helping those who needed help and sheparding The People. The blood of the forest folk has limitedly been mixed with that of Humanity.

Eventually Humanity became strong and developed enough to become less nomadic.  They developed town and ceremonial sites in territories just outside the populuated Mythic’s lands. Eventually exiles and free spirits from the Mythics found their way to the Human sites. Humanity and their God usually embraced any soul that joined them. Human nomadic tribes and those that groups that had never touched The Spirit, slowly learned of the God of the People. Speakers taught them the ways, helping them in any way they could.  Humanity prospered and grew under the grace of the God of The People.

The Mythics’ spirits slowly began to weaken. The Mythics, who counted upon their Dieties for empowerment, also slowly weakened. Reluctantly they began to trade and interact with the Humans they had previously scorned.  After a while, they treated the Humans as equals (though they were often lesser equals… “sniff”). Humanity developed cities and encrouched on more and more of the Mythic’s lands. Small pockets of Mythics lived among The People.

The independent Mythics have nearly faded away. Their Spirits’ can barely support them, if they have not faded away completely.  There is only one God, The God of The People. The Speakers acted as Shepards and Helpers for The People.

In the begining there was a great Darkness. Then there was light. It was Helion.

Bits and pieces of Helion fell away in that brilliant moment. They are in the sky as stars.

Seeing the world, he breathed life into it. The world smiled at him. He breathed life into the air that moved. He breathed life into the water that stood before it fell and flowed. He breathed life into the earth, and it slowly moved. Sometimes he breathed and some air spilled over, thus bringing fire to the world. The elements played upon the world.

Sometimes he would be close, sometimes he would be far away, just to keep things changing for the elementals.

Then new things came to be. These things began to grow. These things began to move. They grew and moved for a time, then went silent. They needed to be renewed. Helion traveled the sky, bringing light and life to all its parts.

Time passed. Helion granted life each day. He even blew life into the moon, so it could gently grant slight life at the night.

The new things lived and played with the elements. They would eventually die away, their gift of breath exhausted. They would return to the elemental state, to someday receive the breath of life again.

He eventually blew enough spark into a beast to fan a small flame. These beasts kept the flame inside them, never allowing it to burn out. With little thought, they were selfish. They used their flame to destroy the dance, rather than join in. They seldom spread their eternal flame into other like he had. He blew out a few of their flames and the rest of the kind fell silent, seldom to bothers other ever again.

But he grew lonely. He was high above all, shining down on them, forever seperate. There was no one to really understand what he did. No one else to know. Late one winter he despaired. Carefully, quietly, he blew the spark of thought into a few forms. They rejoiced. Helion grew happy.

Eventually he chose a form that was correct for him. He blew not jsut a spark of thought, but fanned it into a small spirit flame. Through these flames he would live among then. He whos flame burned most bright had the touch of Helios and all wisdom. He led the people. They propered multiplied and diversified.

Now things had been accidently created - Shadows. Where there is light, there is dark. As Helion granted light to the world, he also granted dark. They decieved those with flames (probably responsible for Eternal Flame Beasts being Selfish), turning them away from the light and the warm of Helion. Making them rely only on their own flames (and diminishing those along the way).

Mothon is considered a Demon Cult by the other religions. Each City has their own archetypal deity with lip service being paid to the other deities of the pantheons.  These official churches have big temples, public worship, the endorsement of the government, and the weight of tradition. However, any magics they produce are just that magics, not miracles. So these priests use a magic system, just like any spell caster.

Mothon is called The Spirit of the Darkness. That is true, though not an appealing name. It was “he” that was the primal darkness. He created space, light, and time. He created spirits by seperating Mothon and Not-Mothon. He created the world, the stars, and the universe.  He created time and set things in motion. He created spirits to balance the material.

Mortals created all this other stuff that was not in his plan like oppressive governments, slavery, organized religions, and so on.

Mothon is not a friendly god. His image is that of “Evil”. Though the visage is frightening, it is the truth (accurate). Mortals seem to judge by appearance. He is neither “Good” nor “Evil” as those are Human Constructs. He is the supreme Order Bringer, being the creator of the universe. Yet, he does not set down Law. That is not his view of Law, that is Human’s view of Order and Law. Mortals can not understand Mothon directly, they do not have the perspective and the knowledge of the Great All.  They can only understand Mothon through analogy and by what Mothon is not.

Mothon does not require worship. He is not a weak thing requiring the adoration. The Worship of Mothon is secretive and personal. It is all about the contemplation of the Eternal Dark and One. Those that follow Mothon receive the ability to create “clerical” miracles, to alter reality slightly to fufill Mothon’s will. Small groups gather together to discuss their meditations and contemplations of Mothon. Together these groups quietly seek The Truth.

Of course, other priests call him a Demon. That he grants inhuman powers to his worshipers, rather than proper spells. Mothon worshipers are hunted by the government as subversive. Those who have a vested interested in the falsehood produced by mortal made religions wish to obscure The Truth of Mothon.

This mythology acknowledges the existance of powerful spirit beings. While some cultures would think them Gods, those that acknowledge the divine one would not…. thought they do have a piece to play in the hisotry of the world…they are just spirits.

The Adoni is celebrated in several regions of the world, sometimes under a different name. Some of the details are different, but it is basically the same myth. This is not a full religion on its own, but a mystery cult within a larger pantheonistic religion.

“Upon the lower world (material universe) the spirit flowed. There it fought the Great Dragon. From the bones of the Great Dragon was built the material universe. The Powerful Spirit Beings played with this new toy, forgetting their place in the universe.”

The Adoni was born by a mortal mother moved by the spirit. She was turned into a tree for a time by Powerful Spirit Beings. A wild boar, symbol of natural force, rubbed against her bark and the Adoni issued forth. The time was midnight on the winter solstice, a day celebrated by those that know of The Adoni.

He was raised by local priests. During his time with them, he was the one who taught them. He expressed the concept that the Human body was a perfect copy of the more complete three tiered universe. Through the study of the human form, and the perfecting their of, humanity could regain the knowledge of the higher realms. Since their enshrouded souls are truly stars/ suns, it is Humans that are the divine.

The Adoni was originally represented as an androgynous deity who represented the solar power which in the winter was destroyed by the evil principle of cold. Though a male, he had female traits (these very… but he is said to have been a very beautiful man who would often cry.) The Adoni embodied mortal power, one who could be aware of the lower realm and the two higher spiritual realms.

In the story “died” for three months in the tomb, then rose triumphantly admist the acclamtions of his priets and followers. His death was supposedly by a boar, he was gored to death. His body was taken to its tomb, where it stood undecaying for the three months. When he returned, he continued to teach others in secret. These teachings are the great mysteries of universe and humanity’s place inside of it.

Those that excell in the study of The Adoni’s mysteries are said to gain supernatural powers, beyond those of mere spell casters.

There used to be many Gods.  They were petty, cruel, and plagued Humanity almost as badly as the Demons of Sogoth. They bore more Gods. They fought with each other. They were unworthy of the divine mantle.

One of the Godlings of this time was called Argon.  Argon’s parent, one Tibrius, Diety of Widsom and Wise Warfare, gave his son up for a time, so he could be raised as a mortal.  It was only upon the youth’s 21st birthday that his divine herritage was revealed.  Argon was to be The Diety of Humanity (not the species, but the quality). Argon learned The Great Wisdom from his father, tempered it with the wisdom of his mortal life, and took on his destiny’s mantle. To forward the cause of Humanity, things would have to change.

Slowly and carefully, Argon killed several dieties. He arranged each death’s blame to fall upon another deity. This created a spiral of vengence killing after vengence killing. While this dance of divine death occured, he kept arranging things to distract and divert the attentions of other deities. A crisis here, a disaster there, a few whispers to create jelousy, a few more to create longing, and so on. During this time he visited the the Priests of the time. He converted over several of the priesthoods who had lost their diety to the divine war. He taught them the new way. He and his then converted those of other Gods (since they were ignoring their worshipers, this became easier and easier to do). This weakened the remaining Gods who could not divert their attention from their conflicts and affairs. Soon it came down to divine family vs family. Then as divine powers were destroyed again and again, their powers began to dry up. Still they warred. The final battle occured as the Dieties fought over the last font of divine power. Argon used his powers to keep the God’s Battle from spilling over into the mortal world. When the dust cleared, there was only one diety left upon the great field… Sogoth the Demon Lord.  Both were tired and wounded, but Sogoth had his bleeding wounds (the ones he has to this day) . Sogoth asked for mercy, claiming only to have fought to prevent any of the others from claiming this ultimate power. He asked to go back to his Hell and rule over his Demons and Lost Souls. (He also said he admired Argon for arranging all this).  Argon showed him mercy and let him live.

Now Argon was the only diety left. He granted the priestly powers to any who would embrace his new way. To this day, the priests follow his directives about "right living" and proper deviotion.  They teach those same ideals to us, the flock.

(Note: thanks to Ancient Gamer for a nice chat and ideas)

Put simply, the one true deity is the ultimate Judge, that judges all beings after death, little concerned with the Living, and rarely intervening on their behalf. When a soul faces The One, The One knows instantly of all deeds and thoughts of the deceased, and for a tiny split moment of the eternity considers this one life, aware of its past lives, if there are any.

After the judgement, the soul can be dealt with in three ways:
1. Unchanged it will be re-born again.
2. It is put into the Bowl of Rebirth, as countless other souls before, where it dissolves. From the Bowl are new (random) souls created.
3. It is “put away”. (The exact interpretation of this varies, see below.)

The One has several servants, that are slightly more active in the world, sometimes granting power to their worshippers. While they may be considered gods in their own right, the final authority of The Judge is never disputed, confirmed by the teachings of The Servants and theirs followers. But beyond this base, there is a jungle of conflicting beliefs.

The most important question, that worries all believers is: what are the judging criteria of The One? Second, and not less important, what is the punishment, and what the reward?

Note, for instance, that the option 3. of “putting away” is explained by different beliefs as:
- the annihilation of a soul
- tearing it apart, and make it suffer forever
- put away as a display for the God(s) because of some exceptional feature
- becoming an eternal servant of The One or The Servants, or a low ranking angel
- becoming one with the universe, merging with The One and his creation
- or become immortal spirits (adding yet another dimension to the world).
- perhaps re-made into actual natural spirits
- or a superior soul (as MoonHunters avatars)
- ...and possibly more

To show the complexity a bit more clearly, let’s apply a scale to it: lowest could be utter annihilation OR eternal pain; middle reincarnation and top ascendancy to a superior state of existence.

Of course, some claim there are more steps on that ladder and the different religions/sects argue in what order the steps are arranged.

(Nr.2, the “Bowl of Rebirth”)
I imagine people, particularly of lower classes, that have the “I am at least as good as anyone else” attitude.

They are the base of the world. Where would be all the heroes and kings, were it not for simple farmers?

So No.2 may be the proper end for proper people, that get together with all their fellows at last, but will have the largest impact on others and on the world in the end.

(AG’s thoughts: )
And the opposite: annihilation, becoming a demon, becoming an anti-saint, becoming a spectre or ghost, becoming an inferior soul (rats, etc)?

And then, what are anti saints: Black souls? Reapers and harbingers of chaos and doom?

Annihilation of the soul could even be combined with undeath, for extreme punishment.

Eternal damnation and annihilation of the soul.

Would a saint simply be someone born as utterly pure? Like Mother Theresa?

The Cuada stared impassively into the face of the hapless victim who lay spread-eagled on the vast stone alter of the goddess Tiocha.  Looming up like a malevolent reef, the hideous and deformed visage of the stone idol gazed across  the vast expanse of the massive coral hall. The gaping shark like maw of the goddess seemed to await her next sacrifice with an almost palpable hunger. 

Muttering almost apologetically, the Cuada begun to chant. ''Glory before the gods, peerless son of the Matriarch. May you be one with you divine mother once again. The gods will never forget your selfless offering of your own blood''.

Mother of The Brave People

The Old One is the living core of Tarrod. Springing from the womb of Vaet when the being known as the Creator Serpent impregnated her, the Old One immediately begun ejecting a foam from her pelvis, out of which sprang all creation, and the various lakes and lagoons that cover most of Tarrod’s surface as well as the very Gods themselves. But this task so tired and weakened here, that she immediately fell into a deep slumber from which she never awoke. It was not death, but merely a state of stasis in which she will always lie. The foam continues to pour from her still, nourishing the waters of Tarrod and the beings that depend on them for their life. But this takes a terrible toll on the health of the Old One. As eons pass,the life giving foam seeping out of her continues to drain her of her health. Ultimately there comes a point of time when the Gods themselves must die to feed and replenish her strength. The blood they spill when they slay themselves to keep the life-giving foam flowing, restores her to full energy. Though the Gods sacrifice themselves, their death is but temporary. Out of the blood that remains, they emerge whole and new once again.

Religious and Spiritual  Associations

The Old One is the living force that animates Tarod via the medium of the foam that she secretes. As such she is present in everything, from a tiny minnow to the vast lakes that dominate the expanse of Tarrod. The Eshal belief that in order for them to prevail against their enemies and ensure that the waters of Tarrod are never depleted by Voooosahalkosh, the accursed demon of dryness, it is necessary to ensure that the the Gods of Water are sated with the blood and flesh of sacrificial victims since it is they who die in their turn to support the Old One. In ensuring that the spiritual chain of energy consumption which links the victims of sacrifice with the Old One herself,endures, the energy that the Old One utilises to ensure the sustenance of Tarrod can be returned to her, thereby preventing her from diffusing her vital strength too widely with catasthrophic results for the sumberged continent.

Time as the Brave People reckon it, is a monotonous expanse of space dominated by the ceaseless struggle between the demon of dryness and the Gods Of Water. The former seek to leach the Old One dry of all vitality and reduce her to a dessciated, withered corpse, thereby dooming the submerged continent to devastation. The gods for their part, seek to thwart this outcome by  nourishing the Old One with their lives should the Mother of All totter on the brink of death.

Thus, to server any link in this cycle of sacrifice that feeds the gods is tantamount to dooming Tarrod to destruction. In history of the universe ever since its inception by gods so old  that their names are now lost, thrice has the terrible curse of cataclysmic drynesss engulfed Tarrod, slaying all life. Each time, the Gods of Water have driven off the demon of dryness and subsequently shed their blood anew to revive the Old One and the mortal races alike. Thus, as humans account for time, not a month passes whereby the Brave People do not seek out their foes to  prevent the catastrophe  from befalling Tarrod for the fourth time.  To this end, much blood is shed on the alters of the Gods of Water in order to strengthen them. Hence, every moment of the existence of an Eshal is devoted to this lifelong quest of aiding the gods in their perpetual conflict with the forces of death and drought. Any sacrifice, from a small fish to the ritual slaughter of a captured Anura chief is vital to ensuring the continued survival of Tarrod.

However, the Old One's essence is not distributed evenly among the denizens of Tarrod.  While the blood of alien races like the Anura and Curd can somewhat nourish  the gods and hence help to keep the forces of extinction at bay, it is the princes among the Brave People themselves who contain the greatest reserve of the Old One's essence. Due to their ties of blood to the Matriarch who is the very daughter of the Old One, they carry within their living forms a tremendous amount of power that can play an instrumental role in ensuring the victory of the gods. Thus, there have been times when the gods, speaking through their First Born, have demanded the blood of some of the scions of the Matriarch,a demand that is never refused.  The Brave People never oppose the dictates of the First Born who are the  physical extension of the very minds of the gods themselves.  Even the Cuada themselves do not hesitate to offer their own young to the ravenous hunger of the gods if it is demanded of them.

The Truth

The Cuada are not messengers of the gods. They are a race of parasites who seek to blind and   hence bind the Brave People to their will through their deceitful lies. Their demands for the deaths of certain Emperors is actually a means of ensuring that Eshal rulers who attempt to oppose them are quickly disposed off. Many an emperor who has been suspected of being a follower of the Wave Rider hearsay has met a premature end in this manner. Moreover, the ceremonies surrounding the Old One are also a convenient way of ensuring that they can be rid of the defective among their own offspring who due to some innate flaw, cannot successfully undergo the rite of saining.

The One is the primal spirit of the universe. The One shaped the Material, for as the spirit goes so does the dust.  The One is behind everything.

Every spirit, from a mighty dragon god to a low rock, is split off from The One at one point. From The One came the Many. The first are the Over-Spirits. These important spirits often split themselves up into lesser spirits, so they can lean and experience more; some of the overspirit’s spirits split up to be lesser spirits, and so on. As each spirit learns and experiences, it merges back into its higher self… so that self can experience the universe it created properly. To learn and experience, each spirit must lose some of its Oneness and its omni-knowing.  Binding to the material world blocks some of this.  It is most spirits duty to relearn these things lost so they can rejoin The One.

Unfortunately, some spirits gets lost… trapped in the material. They lose their purpose and their way. This is agains the wishes of The One, who morns the loss of its wayward spirits.

The Priesthood of The One waunder about the world, trying to divorce themselves of the material. Those who have the calling are those who feel the duty to relearn the spirit. They then try to pass the mysteries of the spirit on to others, in the forms of stories and riddles. They also provide advice on how best to achieve ones purpose, to work with the flow of cosmic forces/ spiritual energies, and to achieve happiness.

Long ago, several priests from a minor sect in the city of Vicea had a revelation. All of a sudden they understood the nature of reality. They began to teach their new ideas, which freed people from the missions of the various deities and focused upon their soul and their place in the universe and scheme of things.

It became very successful at attracting new members because it was a simple religion, with rules that were as complex as you wanted them to be, and a very government friendly tenents.

The Vicean Church is one that expresses the mysteries of existance and explains the process of life and death and lifebeyond. While other churchs have “aims” and “goals”, the Vicean church focuses on the soul and faith of its members and all peoples.

The Vicean Deity is something of a mystery. Some say it is the primal god - the universal spark- that created all the other dieties and the rest of the universe. Some say that it is the God within all of us (with each of use being a shard of the primal god). The theology is thick with symbolism that each could be true, both could be true, and their may be more truths reachable through prayer and contemplation. There is no “personaification” of the Vicean Deity. Since there is no “God” with a personality and conflicts with other deities, the Viceans can work with other religions with ease. (And take on their disenfrancised members). They may call him All Father (and paint him as an elderly patriarch), but that is mostly because the Vicean Church comes from a patriarchial society. The “correct” way to do it is to paint the sun, not the sun in they sky (but that is commonly done), but the sun/ star in ones soul. Is it confusing. Yes. Of course this variability of faith allows the Viceans the most paths of good living.

The Church is centered on “right living” which is much like being a good and lawful citizen in most places. They help people for working to be better, to do good without looking for reward, to help others who need help, and to have faith in the Deity’s path of the world. For most Evil and hardship comes from not understanding the greater plan the Vicean Deity has laid out. “One learns more from adversity than one does from benovolence,” is a popular quote of the Viceans. (One lesson might be… So while the flood was terrible, it set up decades of good harvests.) In fact, they do not condem Evil Churches (unlike most Good ones). They see those people as living the “right path” that has been set down for them by the Vicean Deity for this life. Those people will be appropriately tortured in the lifebeyond, learn their lesson and become right walking people the next past through.

The Vicean cosmology is all about life, death, lifebeyond, and rebirth. Every wrong or evil act you perform empowers a spirit. They act upon your soul as a weight. Upon death, a right walking person, ascends to unity and paradise with the Deity. Those who do not make it, are reborn here… the demons they made in the previous life setting up their next. Those who have too many demons may have a layover in the spirit planes being tortured by demons of their own creation. Walking the Right Path means one will do what one should be doing for the people of the world, as the people make up the Vicean Deity and much as The Deity makes them. (Yes the cosmology is very slippery…)

Other deities are seen much like mountains, clouds, and oceans: just part of existance. They are important because they have power and effect the world, not because they are Gods. They should be respected and prepared for, just like one prepares for storms and winter. The Vicean followers will often make snide comments about how these “Gods” are selfish things, just in it for their own goals… not the assention of their follower’s soul.

Note: While priests of this church can perform “magic”, they don’t do it very often. In fact, it is a skill they only occasionally teach. While this seems counter intuitive, when compared to other churches and their claims of miracles and great power, it has worked well for them. Fear of magic has come and gone with the tides, as have many of these magically orriented churches, the Vicean Church continues. (In fact, the Church as helped fan such flames, as their church does not require a steady diet of magic and miracles to keep its members).

The Weaver is also known as the Celestrial Weaver. This primal diety took chaos and spun time, space, fire, earth, air, water, light, and spirit into existance. He then wove these things into the world, choosing things for their artistic quality.

Sure there are other spirits, he made them. Some of them claim to be Gods, but they are just powerful spirits.

Priests of the Weaver are embedded into society. There is one priest in every endevor, company, or village. They are advisors who help “those who do” follow the correct pattern, as set down by the Weaver. There are five ranks of priests who report to and are advised by the rank above them. Every rank is assigned a more important group, with only the top most weaver priests doing nothing but advising lesser priests and kings.  This way the vision of the Weaver can be maintained, society and event continues on as if they are supposed to.

Not following the Weaver’s pattern leads to chaos (or unluck). If you are not in your right place at the right time you will be cut from the cloth of the world. It fear of being removed that keeps people following the general advice of the Weaver Priesthood.

The reward for following your “pattern” is that your pattern will be re-used time and time again… a reincarnation of sorts.

The Weaver’s priesthood is astrologically inclined.  The stars are the language that The Weaver communicates his ideas for the pattern.

Religions. Sigh. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.  They have been such an intergral part of Human existance, that ignoring them is something you do at your own peril.  A lack of religion (even hidden away in the background) can completely destroy the verisimiltude that a world designer desperately works so hard to achieve. So here is brief outline of various kinds of theisms. 

Polytheism
This is a religion where there are many deities, of varying power, and usually many lesser spirits as well.  Each seperate “cult” (group of devotees) may decide that its diety is the “best one”, but all accept the reality of the others as genuine divine powers.  So while your primary worship may be to your city’s patron deity (or your craft’s deity), you will often turn to worshiping specialist dieties when appropriate, such as the Goddess of Love when thoughts turn to woo-ing.

A given cultural group with worship a specific pantheon - an interrelated group of deities. These deities will fit their cultural needs.  Now societies will defend their pantheon as the best and scorn other dieties. Polytheists generally will not ignore these other Gods. After all there are many deities, what is the problem with more. Now as cultures change, new deities will be added. Dionysis was added to the Greek Pantheon and Isis being adopted from the Egyptians by the Roman are prime examples of this.

Now please remember that 99.9% of all the people who have ever lived were polytheistic in worship.

Monotheism
This is the belief that there is only ONE deity. Every spirit thing not of the one deity claiming to be a deity (or a spirit of any power) are demons or fell spirits in disguise. Pure monotheistic religions are rare. Until modern times, they seem not to have existed at all. Most religions that are catagorized as monotheistic have an attendent pantheon of lesser angels, saints, divine relatives, and demonic opposition. Once you extra elements, then you don’t have a real Monotheistic religion.

Now some people have issues with trinities, or the One Diety actually having multiple aspects, being called monotheisms. I personally can’t see telling a divine being of immense power that it can’t have various aspects and still be one deity. So we move on. 

Henotheism
This is a belief systems similar to monotheism. In this category, there is ONE important diety, with a bunch of lesser ones who do the One Deities will. These lesser dieties are the angels, saints, divine relatives, and so on. Most so called Monotheisms today, fall into this cateogy.

Duotheistic
A related form of Henotheism, where the One Divine Power is divided amongst the two aspects, usually of opposing genders or allignments.  The most commonly known Duotheistic religions is Wicca, where the Goddess (Mother Nature/ Gaia) and the God (Horned One) are the primary force. The other, lesser known one is Zoastorism. This was once considered the first monotheistic religion, except its primal force was divided between the One Good Diety and the One Evil Diety, which were both parts of the same coin.

There are tritheistic and quadtheistic possible religions, just none spring to mind.

Dualism
This is often a modifier for a type of religion. Dualism is the doctrine that all the spiritual forces in the universe are in two camps, Good guys vs Bad Guys and they are constantly at war. Most monotheistic religions were actually dualistic henotheisms or polytheisms.

Spirits, Spirits, Everywhere
Just about every religion admists that there are lots of different spirits around. Each religious type has its own way to deal with these spirits. Monotheisms want only their one Good God to be worshiped, with other spirits being respected or reviled - but never worshiped. Polytheistic relgiongs don’t care about the spirits, as people should worship any spirits they feel the need to worship (since sometime the spirit chooses them). Most Henotheistic and duothesitic religions say that all spirits are part of the primal one, so the worship of any proper spirit is acceptable. If Dualism is in the mix, any worship and respect is reserved for “Good” deities and spirits.

Notes on the interaction of competing faiths
In most cases any faith will compete with any other faith in the same area. There are exceptions like Buddhism and Shinto in Japan, where each one fills an aspect the other is lacking; but generally religions tend to clash in some way and form. It becomes a competition, because as many historians have noted, the religion that controls a group of people also (usually) controls (or significantly influences) the economic, social, political, and military of said group. So the presence of a new way of worship can lead to a struggle over which worship will define the people.

Monotheists have an advantage over most other religious organizations as they are focused to one diety, one cause. The more deities involved, the less focused the grouping can be… because each lesser deity has its own sphere of influence.. and that influence may not be appropriate. Thus polytheists never think about turning to religious genocide.