Some of
the more common religions/sects in Jera are listed below:
Technotheologists
Punks make
up the large number of the technotheologists. It is a unique view that
God is Himself the master of all machines, the greatest being the earth
itself. In order to understand God, one must learn to create as He does,
harnessing the powers of the earth and the physics thereof. They connect
things technical with things spiritual. They feel that only through knowledge
of how things work on the earth can one truly understand God for the creator
and inventor that He is. The symbol of the Technotheologists is a prism
with light shining through, separating out the fundamental colors of light.
They are very into the use of crystals in their magic weaving, for most
of them are magic users of one variety or another.
The largest
concentration of technotheologists lies in Trondheim, where most of
the magimotive cars are built by factory volumages. The punks have
constructed a shrine to the faith, where they conduct their ceremonies,
which resemble college physics classes more than a church service.
Powered by a windmill on the side of the shrine, gears spin and drive
all sorts of complex devices, the largest a model of the planets of
silkspace.
Brotherhood
of the Flock
The Brotherhood
of the Flock, or simply "the brotherhood," believe in a universal creator
and savior of all. The belief is that God has countless worlds with His
children inhabiting them, that there is nothing unique about Jera. With
the advent of Spelljamming and contact with other worlds in Silkspace inhabited
by humanoids, many have taken this as proof, or at least strong evidence
to support their claims. They go on to say that man, left to himself, is
inherently evil, or at least will do evil things when separated from the
presence of God. God is a perfect being, and cannot allow sin in his presence.
Since all men sin, there is a need for a way to bring man from his fallen
state to one where he no longer is kept from God's presence by his sins.
For this reason, they claim that a being other than a sinner need suffer
for the sins of others. The savior that paid the universal sin is for all
of God's worlds. They claim that following the creation of Jera, God walked
and talked with his new creations, mankind. They believe that the purestrain
humans are the fathers of all of the other races native to Jera. They look
forward to a time when they believe that God will visit mankind again,
after he has cleansed himself sufficiently. They oppose violence in any
for except in defending oneself, and have opposed all wars in Jeran history.
No one is sure how far back that the group dates, but it is known that
they predate the great war. They claim to have a prophet that recieves
revelation from God to guide their day to day dealings, and that God will
speak with anyone that suppiciently prepares themselves to recieve revelation.
Grand Unity
Alliance
A group of
former sects form the Grand Unity Alliance. Their beliefs are rather scattered,
stemming from that fact that they came from the coalition of many religions.
The common belief in days past was that God could not come back to Jera
until such time as all of the beliefs came together in a unity of faith.
It was to this end that the groups united together, to hasten the coming
of God. In theory, this might have been a good idea. The problems that
arise stem from the fact that the church members come from such different
belief systems that the unity that they seek is in word only. In fact,
the number of divisions within the faith number more than the number of
groups that originally united to create the faith. Several groups have
already splintered off as a result of their particular pet belief not being
included in the official dogma of the group. What dogma IS official is
outlined in the "unity Creed." The book rambles on and on, contradicting
itself at every turn in an attempt to appease all of its representative
members. About the only thing that all subdivisions of the faith definately
agree upon is that mankind will have the chance to return to earth after
they die to live another life. Perhaps their incessant bickering convinced
them that one lifetime could never be sufficient to work out the mysteries
of life, the universe, and everything.
The Bringers
of the Void
The Bringers
of the Void believe that there will come a time when evil being from another
plane of existence will flood into Jera. They believe that the only way
to save oneself from this is to assist the dark souls into the world, hastening
the time of their coming. They regularly summon demons and delve into the
occult. They tend to keep to themselves and erect no public shrines unto
their faith. They meet in secret because the cult has been outlawed in
all major cities in Asterland. Its members are shunned wherever they are
found out with good cause. It is general knowledge that their summonings
have broght death and suffering upon many towns where they were previously
welcome. The Bringers of the Void wear a jet-black pendant as their identifying
symbol.
The Fatalists
The Fatalists
believe that the world will soon end. They believe that God has become
tired with the wickedness of His creations. They believe furthur that
no modern revelation is possible, and that no other way exists for
men to know what is expected of him. For this cause, they believe that
all effort to know the will of God is vanity. They believe that God
will understand when judgement comes those that acknowledge their ignorance
and accept their sinful state openly before Him. The group acts no
different than those around them. If they are different in any way,
it would be an "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" mentality.
They are very sinful in the traditional way of looking at things moral,
but they openly admit their unworthiness before God, which they equate
with repentance, which brings forgiveness. They have lavish festivals
funded by the rich of their numbers, who see no use in storing up wealth
when we are all doomed anyway. They eat until they vomit and drink
until they pass out. In all, it is quite a way of life. The Fatalists
have adopted the sword-pierced heart as their symbol.
 
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