Thread "The Old Time Darsai Religion" in forum "Harkovast- the forum "

Posted at 6:01AM, Jan. 18, 2009

The Darsai believe the history of their religion goes as follows-
Thane did not always exist. There was a dark time before Thane, when the demons and dark forces stood unopposed.
Then one day, Thane came into existance.
The Darsai believe that Thane's warrior spirit was so strong that he literally willed himself into existance, just as Darsai will their spirit weapons to exist in battle.
Those who point out the paradox of this concept would be accused by the Darsai of underestimating just how awesome Thane is.
Thane battled the legions of the underworld, slaying demons and monsters in vast numbers.
When the battle was won, Thane was victorious, but badly injured. Once again calling on his unshakeable iron will, Thane willed Hevalla into existance so she could heal his wounds.
Hevalla and Thane fell in love and were married.
At this point Thane looked over the world he had fought so valliantly to save and saw the Darsai, a scattered and impoverished people.
However, Thane saw some spark of nobility in the Darsai and so appeared to them and taught them of the codes of chilvalry and laided out the foundations of teh fuedal order that Darsai society is based on. He selected the first king of the Darsai from amongst them and also selected the bravest and most noble to form the first knights. He entrusted to them the task of defending all that is good and righteous and to always battle evil and injustice where ever they saw it.
So the Darsai were adopted as the children of Thane and have fought to uphold his noble ideals ever since.

Hevalla is served by a priesthood, who dress in blue robes and are skilled in the arts of healing. Their symbols and rituals generally relate to water (such as droplet shaped pendants). They also imbue water with blessings that can instill it with magical healing and recouperative properties (the healing water of Hevalla).
Thane does not have priests as such, instead he is served by the noble knights of the Darsai, who show their devotion to him through their courage and martial prowess, as well as their devotion to the rules of chilvalry.
Unlike the Nymus, whose priesthoods deal specifically with the will of one particular god, the Darsai have a more blurred divide. Statues of Thane appear within churchs to Hevalla and much of the praise and worship will be directed to Thane as well.
Equally, the Knights happily give praise to the sacred lady Hevalla, fighting to defend her honour when ever it is required.

Darsai wear their faith on their sleeve, and encourage loud, public and difinitive statments of devotion. Why most Darsai don't intend to push their world view on others, they do consider it important to let others know what their world view is!

Interestingly, in the churches of Hevalla, the ceremonies are conducted with the lead priests back to the audience, speaking towards the statues of Thane or Hevalla at the end of the church. This is because the Darsai see the ceremony to be about communicating their worship and calls for aid to Thane, rather then about teaching the congregation (who, as Darsai, should known what is expected of them!)

Within Darsai society there is a small minority known as the Ashalites. These Darsai worship Thane and Hevalla, but also another diety called Ashal. They consider Ashal to be the mother of Thane and the one who created him to battle hells legions. Ashalites say this makes a lot more sense then Thane creating himself (though it does not address the question of who created Ashal). The Ashalites are known for their loud and highly musical services, where the congrgation shout out and dance in the aisles when the spirit of Ashal over takes them.
Ashalite beliefs are considered weird and offensive by most Darsai, but they are protected under law to practice their religion as they want. In the past Ashalites have suffered a great deal of persecution, often being blamed for any misfortunes that befell the kingdom or being taxed heavily when ever more revenue was needed. Fortunately for them, King Arak the seventh is known to be especially sympathetic to the Ashalites, much to the annoyance of more hardline members of the government, who see the Ashalites as no better then heretics who isnult Thane with their heathen ideas.

The worship of Thane also extends far to the north, to the continent of Jaydia.

The Al-Saigal are known for their fierce and absolute devotion to Thane. However, they differ from the Darsai since they believe that Thane has always existed (an idea the Darsai consider nonsensical, just as the Al-Saigal think someone creating themselves is nonsensical) and do not believe Thane has a wife. They worship Thane and Thane alone. To suggest the involvement of any other god is considered a terrible heresy by these people.

The Cansaibe worship Thane as the leader of a pantheon of five gods, each personifiying a different concept. Due to the oppression they suffer under the Knarl Empire, the Cansaibe are known to have become ever more radical and extreme in their religious views and their holy warriors are much feared for their willingness to die to strike agaisnt their peoples enemies.

Posted at 3:01PM, Jan. 18, 2009

Heh heh. Thane. Is he Thane of Glamis, or Cawdor?

Nyahaha! Hey, really, this Ditheism stuff gets even more confusing than polytheism, usually. Monotheism is where it's at, yo! Or totems. Those are fun too. Or, even better, Shinto. All your ancestors are gods, and thus have your good fortune in mind at all times, eh? Assuming you are Japanese, at any rate.

So. You are going to go over everyone's theology?

Posted at 4:01PM, Jan. 18, 2009

I don't know what glamis or cawdor are, but I'll assume that was a clever put down that has left me reeling!
Ouch! Burn on me!

I will keep doing religions are long as everyone is willing to keep reading about them.
People said on the reviews that they enjoyed the additional material on the forum, so I gave em some more.
If people are willing to read it I can put up some stuff about Tsung-Dao religion next.
Are you all enjoying this stuff so far?

Posted at 5:04PM, Apr. 12, 2009

I find that your attention to the detail of the religion to be very fascinating. I was just wondering if you had plans to include some of this information into the comic itself or if this will remain as just reference material.

Posted at 5:04PM, Apr. 12, 2009

Good question, yes this information will show up in the comic, but probably not in the detailed complete sort of way. For example, we have already heard about the Darsai having two gods and what their roles are.
Gradually over time more info will get slipped in.
It is going to be more like characters making off-hand references to things or giving each other brief explanations.
But the comic is not just a study of theology so they wont sit and give 5 page lectures like you get round here!

(actually, as luck would have it, there is a short bit about one of the Tsung-Dao gods in one of the updates I am doing tomorrow, so stay tuned!)

Posted at 7:11AM, Nov. 26, 2009

The Darsai believe that Thane's warrior spirit was so strong that he literally willed himself into existance, just as Darsai will their spirit weapons to exist in battle.
Those who point out the paradox of this concept would be accused by the Darsai of underestimating just how awesome Thane is.

So Thane is Chuck Norris?

Posted at 9:11AM, Nov. 26, 2009

D_Dude- Thane does not do push ups. He pushes the world down!

Superman wears Thane Pijamas!

Under Thanes whiskers there is not his cheeks, just a couple more fists!