Religion
There are several religions that thrive in Dargon's world. The most prominent religion, that of the prophet Cephas Stevene, is monotheistic and very reminiscent of western Christianity. However, other (mostly pantheistic) religions also exist. These include the Olean, Manifest, and Beinison pantheons.
Olean Pantheon
One of the most ancient religions in Baranur, the polytheistic Olean Pantheon contains the following gods:
- Ol, Father of the Universe
- Nehru, God of Battle
- Celine, Goddess of Tranquility
- Saren, God of Suffering
- Shilsara, Goddess of Lust/Desire
- Cahleyna, Goddess of the Moon
- Kurin, God of the Sun.
Long, long ago, at the beginning of time, there was a Circlet of power. The Circlet belonged to Ol, the only being in existence, and it strove to bend Ol to its will. Ol's will was the stronger, however, and he used the Circlet to create new things around him: the stars, the planets, and the moon.
He created beings to inhabit Makdiar, but discovered that they had a tendency to do dark deeds. Ol knew this was the work of the Circlet, the power which allowed him to create these things, and so he determined to create beings of greater power, and of pure thoughts, to oversee the world of man and save it from destruction.
The Circlet had its influence on these too, however, and thus were created Nehru, Celine, Saren, and Shilsara.
After seeing all his creations twisted away from his perfect dream, Ol grew angry and sought to destroy them. But, upon glancing at the life of his creations, he stayed his hand and instead took pity them. He saw the evil of the Circlet in their faults. Thus, he rid himself of the Circlet, and cast it into the center of Makdiar, imprisoning it for all eternity.
At about this time, the sun and the moon awoke, and saw their influence on Makdiar far below, and gave their influence name. Thus came Kurin and Cahleyna.
Man saw the power in all these beings, creations of Ol, and called them gods, and worshipped them; and, from time to time, these gods granted man favors to ensure his worship, for it is the worship which grants them power. Oleans always eat pork on holy days in reference to a myth that Ol first gave a pig to each of the gods to show them the earthly lives and needs of man.
Manifest Pantheon
The All-Creator looked about Him and saw only blackness and emptiness. He was alone, but loneliness was something He did not mind for He was everything there was to be. The emotion He felt now was boredom, for everything that was, everything that could be, was him.
And so, He played.
He played with the blackness and created light. He played with the emptiness and created Form. He played with the elements - earth, air, fire, and water - and created Life. This life was man, and He put man on Makdiar, and set it spinning around the light, which He called the Sun.
It was a simple thing, that thing which He did, and He soon grew tired of it, too. The All-Creator looked to his creation and found man to be interesting in his randomness. Man created and destroyed on a whim, and the All-Creator knew that this was wrong. He looked at man and saw he needed guidance, and He thought guidance should come from one lesser than He, for He might instill fear in the hearts of man.
He again grew bored with His power, for there was nothing which could task His will, and so He sought to instill it upon other creatures, but not man for man would use it to destroy. He created gods in which He sought to manifest all of man's potential, both the good and the bad, to show man his faults and his qualities. He then filled His gods with power, all of His power, and became an ethereal spectator, for He knew man and god would provide Him endless entertainment, and thus were created:
- Arom-Nok
- Illiena
- Eilli-Syk
- Cydrian
- Kessra-Nik
- Muskadon
- Balen-Ruk
- Osiniana
These gods, however, knew what He could not: that when all was destroyed, the universe would fold in and the All-Creator would once more be.
Illiena, Cydrian, Muskadon, and Osiniana did not want this for they wished to please the All-Creator and teach his creation called man. Arom-Nok, Eilli-Syk, Kessra-Nik, and Balen-Ruk, however, despised man, the All-Creator's first-born, and wished to end the All-Creator's dream. They sought to destroy everything the others sought to protect. And so they struggle, as they have struggled, against each other, with and opposed to man, for thousands upon thousands of years.