NationStates

Hello everyone!

Here I would like to hear about religions in other nations. It can range from a completely new religion to a branch of an existing religion that applies to YN! You can be as detailed as you want with it, I just want to see your creativity!

Our national religion is Modernized Norse Paganism. This is the religion that around 59% of our population follow.

Modernized Norse Paganism is a fairly new religion, popping up in the 20th century. The core belief is that citizens will be sent to Valhalla after death, but judgement will not be determined by how one fairs in combat, but rather how one lives their life. This was an effect from Christianity being heavily adapted in the modern age. The principals to follow are those similarly set by Jesus, although there is no mention of Jesus within Modernized Paganism, only the role model of a perfect citizen which closely resembles the original principals set by Christianity. There is no true core 'Holy Book' to follow, but rather different copies set to theorize what truly happens in Valhalla. Valhalla is viewed more as a heaven, with greater positions to Odin determined by a person's manner in life. There is no Hell, only lesser positions within Valhalla. Odin is not seen as God, but rather as the shepherd of the afterlife. Most citizens are agnostic when the question of "Who is God?" arises, with most claiming "We won't know until the next life".

A major religion in Crossoveria is Hefflism.
Hefflism is a religion practiced by 37 million Crossoverians. It's followers believes that nature is a sacred part of life. Hefflists care very well about endangered animals, and that any animal that might go extinct soon is sacred and can not be approached by humans in any way. Hefflists now accept humans into the world, though this was not the case before 2021.

The main goal of Hefflism is for humans to share the land equally with animals. They believe that animals should be as important as a human. Even though they did call for humans to go extinct, after the collapse of a radical Hefflist group called the ACE, Hefflism changed it's perspective of humanity.

For people who just started practicing Hefflism, meat will be tolerated, as long as the meat is not from an endangered animal. This means that eating beef is allowed, but eating tigers is strictly forbidden.

Extreme Hefflists took extra measures into their beliefs, and that includes removing children from the gene pool. The now extinct organization from Crossoveria called Anti Child Exposure Inc. went as far as turning over 7.2 million kids into animals, in several different countries.

The rules for Hefflism are put in a book titled Da Wimpus Diary. Da Wimpus Diary means "The Holy book" in Crossoveriaanz, the main language of Crossoveria. It details the creation of Earth, humans, and the religion.
By the way, Crossoverians are polythestic, which means they believe in different gods and goddesses.

According to Da Wimpus Diary, the supreme god, Ahr Authori (Ahr means god), sent his 7 children, Teahnusrats (the god of the sun), Biolonimal (the goddess of animals), Biotnalp (the goddess of plant life), Skaieulb (the goddess of the sky), Dnalssam (the god of land), Retaw (the goddess of water), and Riatherb (the goddess of air), down to Earth 4 billion years ago. The gods and goddesses found no natural life (which is pretty obvious considering the timeline), and they felt like they needed to change the Earth into a habitat where animals and plants could live.

The 7 sacrificed themselves to create a habitable landscape on planet Earth, and that led to the creation of reptiles, and eventually, mammals. Ahr Authori was happy, at first, but then god real mad when he discovered Humans walking across Africa. The population had skyrocketed to 7 billion, and that made him angry and worried for the animals. The ACE formed with the idea that Ahr Authori sent them to remove juvenile humans from the gene pool. Hefflists still aren't sure why the ACE only target white children. However, after the ACE was defeated, Hefflists had believed Ahr Authori had a change in heart and that he let humans thrive on Earth, as long as they don't cause more extinctions to happen.

Even with or without the ACE, the same could be said for the Red Tabetan Rabbit. The Red Tabetan Rabbit is still a very sacred animal to Hefflism, which is why its the national animal in Crossoveria. However, due to deforestation caused by humans, Red Tabetan Rabbits are endangered. Da Wimpus Diary says that hurting a Red Tabetan Rabbit is a serious sin, and will get you straight to the underworld if you kill one.

Yes, Hefflism does believe in Heaven and H311, they just have different names for it. They call heaven Paradise and H311 Satanland. According to Hefflism, if you didn't follow Hefflism and you live in Crossoveria, you go to Satanland. If you followed every rule in Da Wimpus Diary, it's straight to Paradise for you.

Our major religion is Christianity although a more different kind of Christianity known as dominant Christianity.

What the people do is go to a church ofc and read the Bible ofc but after that they have to pick a flower as it’s a sign of good luck. The type of flower can choose how much luck you’ll have for example a sunflower would give you better luck than a dandelion. You can’t really do anything to the flower except hold it till the end then you pluck out a petal from the flower unless if it doesn’t have any then hold then whole thing. After that you get to give a piece of your fricking clothes to a picture of Jesus. This represents the appreciation of Jesus by giving him a gift. And then after that you pray in Gorarian or if you don’t speak Gorarian or your not fluent at it, English. Then you leave, pluck one of the petals from the flower you’ve been holding or if there’s no petals you keep the whole thing. Dominant Christianity is practiced by 67% or the people here in Goraria.

It's not a significant major religion, in fact, there are only few members of it, and it's not even recognized as a religion by the government.
Arataism named after the first king of Haremm, is the belief that Arata Shinomiya is a god who became man to unite and liberate the people that would soon form Haremm (basically Jesus but more rebellious and less holy). Under the belief all descendants of Arata are prophets sent by the gods to ensure the survival and prosperity of the nation. The Royal Family and the Government as a whole has denounced this belief.

My State is theorically non confessional. But, Catholic church, as the predominant religion, is the most influential and powerful faith in my country.
More than 2/3 of people are catholics. From the rest by numbers: non religious, protestants churches, sunni Muslims and orthodox, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, confucians, shiites muslims, shiks, and others.

The religion professed by the vast majority of the Cosmic people is commonly refered to by outsiders as "Cosmic Faith" and by it's followers as "The Belief". It has only one deity, the Great Spirits, which is an entity tought to be trapped between the imortal and the mortal realms, cursed to live in a painful semi-existence, sometimes benevolent sometimes merciless towards the people of the mortal realm. He is worshipped by "raiding crusades", with the captives taken in those expedition being sacrificed in the Great Zigurat of each city. However, the core tenet of the Cosmic faith is the worship of Death. The Cosmic Church teaches that the people's lives on the mortal realm are only a mean of letting the inhabitants of the imortal realm be temporarily free to live their most primal and wild instincts, without having to cope with the rules of the imortals. Because of this, Death isn't feared, instead it is revered and thought of as a mean to return to the imortal realm. Similarly, the Necro-Priests teach that life has no meaning besides the satisfaction of one's deepest desires and the full imersion in the moment- in a rather proto-nihilistic and hedonistic worldview. The Necro-Priests are the hereditary caste that is regarded as being tasked by the Great Spirits with overseeing the mortal realm and it's temporary inhabitants. This is due to the claim by the Necro-Priests that they share a common ancestor: The First. The First is the only of the Great Spirits to ever have dwelled in this land of mortals. Eager to experience firsthand the life of the creatures his kind had created, he became mortal. He sired many children, from whom the Necro Priests claim to descend. But, during his tenure in the mortal realm, he committed a grave mistake. Being enamored with the creatures of this world he began to preach against violence and war and all the teachings of his kind. Awash with anger, the Great Spirits forever banned him and his descendants from entering in the gates of the immortal realm, trapped after death in a limbo between both worlds. Thus they were separated from the warriors. While the warriors yearn to die, the Priests fear death, for that only suffering awaits them on the other side. This way, they can see more clearly, their vision unstrained by the desire for joining the spirits. And they hope that, one day, they will end their penitence and be free to join the Spirits once more.

Also called: Tsaotak
Folowers: (81% of population)
SFR is a very old religion dating back to over 3000 years ago and is known for having unclear founders, has no Gods (only spirits), karma and believes in improving the self to improve society.

Factbook: https://www.nationstates.net/nation=she ... id=1310590

Here I discuss things not written in the factbook:

The Novan Exemplarstate is an atheist state as a rule, though it has largely replaced traditional religion with a quasi-state religion based around nationalist idealism and a cult of personality based around the hero worship of venerated national legends. This aspect of the state's political ideology, Apotheosism leads to some pretty interesting twists, like how the country's elective monarchy closely resembles the election of the Catholic Papacy despite its state atheism, or the pomp and circumstance often reserved for the Divine Right of Kings despite being a state built around science, reason and secular humanism.

Most Zartobanians follow Eastern Orthodox Christianity, followed by Rodnovery, Atheism, and Sunni Islam.

Most Chiloshians subscribe to the Polytheistic Alhıkaďo (Note: IPA [ˌɑˈɮɨ.kɑ.ɖo]) faith. It has a moderate-sized pantheon of major gods and goddesses centered around the king-god of the ethereal world (a plane existing beyond human vision at most times but coinciding in location with the world), and also recognizes innumerable minor gods and nature spirits. It is a rare example of a religion that is both polytheistic AND iconoclastic (maintaining that attempts to faithfully represent a god's appearance is blasphemous), and instead represents the gods with ornate symbolic graphical patterns associated with them.

Alhikaďism promotes daily prayer and occasional pilgrimage/retreat to sites in remote areas to engage in introspective meditation.

The Repobiliki Gohulei la Bankaiia / Gohulian Republic of Bunkaiia
Quick Overview
The quasi-Theocratic Directorship republican northern Indian Ocean island nation was founded when a few hundred Mazdakite refugees fleeing the Orthodox Zoroastrian Sassanian Persian Shahanshah Khosrow's persecution in the 530s made their way south toward Yemen and got lost at sea. The island that they stumbled upon was sparsely inhabited by the native Austronesian Safiloavan people and had was also infrequently visited upon by Indian, Arab, Persian and Egyptian traders.
The Mazdakite Persians and animistic Safiloavan people peacefully divided the nation in between them and supported each other.

Years later, a king from the Alupa Dynasty of Tulu Nadu, Southern India funded a commercial/exploratory expedition manned by Tulu-speaking Yapaniya Jain Bunts. They would be granted a sizeable land on the coast between the two most important Mazdakite-Persian-Safiloavana cities in Bunkaiia; Ponaiga and Hufaiietha.

Overtime, various religious groups, including, Catholics, Protestants, Miaphysites, Jews, Sunnis, Shi'ites, Baha'is, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and several minor religions have also found their following in Bunkaiia.

Dominant Religions' Overview
- Doshi-din / Doshi-dinism / Doshi'ism = The modern descendant of the pacifists, altruistic-hedonist Mazdakite religion is well-known for their fierce stance against slavery, marriage, and war. The Doshidin god is an impersonal entity that solely exists to allow for the passage of Time and for events to take place. The elements (water, earth, wind, fire) and the natural world are sacred. Free will does not actually exist and all beings are reincarnated. The goal of life is to limit damage and harm done to others and increase pleasure, care, and love in the world.
Personal floral groves are granted by the Bunkaiian government to all Doshidini upon the completion of a series of pilgrimages within Bunkaiia; which occurs around the age of 16. Personal floral groves are commonly used for religious, meditative, and private purposes. Plant-based diets and lifestyles are mandatory for all except on special events, when most invertebrates (e.g. locusts, shrimp, jellyfish, sea cucumber, snails, slugs, caterpillars, sea urchins, scallops, etc.) are permitted to be consumed. Octopuses and squid however are always banned due to an ancient Safiloavan taboo.

- Kokoli-din / Kokoli-dinism / Kokoli'ism = The original Tree and Ancestor-worshipping animist Safiloan religion has changed much since the early introduction of Doshidinism in the 530s, which immediately overhauled many of the dietary practices. Initially, Safiloan people continued to fish for a couple generations, but after the famous Bunko-Doyan Bloodless Civil War, fish were finally granted the same rights as other vertebrate animals and are now forbidden from being consumed. The Safiloan culture and heritage is most vibrant and visible in the eastern autonomous region of the Doyan Islands

- Pinonimic Karaite Judaism = The Bunkaiian Jewry a.k.a. the Pinonim are merchant and peddler descendants from the Yemeni & now-extinct Somali Jewry that migrated to Bunkaiia after they started suffering from persecution in the Islamic nations of Yemen and Somalia. Many old Jewish traditions and customs are still used in this community. One of the largest universities in Bunkaiia was established by the Pinonimic community in the lakeside town of Chaykarosh, which eventually grew an autonomous region. Some of their notable synagogues are actually located in the caves that surround Ceikarosh.

- Pushpambara Jainism = The Dravidian people of Tulu Nadu established two communities in Southern Bunkaiia. One, a sea-oriented salt merchant-based and trade-oriented coastal town of Maleibidulu and the other, a library and temple-oriented town in Samberiti. The two communities would later be allowed to form the current autonomous region of Maleibidulu-Samberiti, with it's capital at Matuvaiia; which lies in between the two much larger cities. Pushpambara (Flower-clad) like Svetambara (White-clad) Jainism believes in the equality of both men and women but similar to Digambara (Sky-clad) Jainism requires its clergy to abstain from the ownership of all earthly things including clothing. The Pushpambara mendicant ascetics however do ornate themselves with flower, which is where their name comes from.

Philosocom and its various bases throughout the cyberspace do not promote nor practice any religion. However, people of all religions are welcome and there is no discrimination.

Introduction
The official religion of The Commonwealth of Narland is Reformed Evangelical Christianity as expressed by the The Orthodox Church of the Pioneer, Presbyterian (OCPP). The OCPP is an open synod that allows participation of other denominations in matters of import. Affiliated denominations must be orthodox and catholic in the particulars whatever function is required of them.

OCPP Distinctives
>>>The OCPP distinctives besides a modified Presbyterian-Congregationalists polity, are the Westminster Standards, reliance on sound Doctrine, having a book of Church Order, and a voluminous Hymnal.
>>>They place great importance upon education and lifelong learning, tempered with the belief that no human action can affect salvation.
>>>Continuous study of the scriptures, theological writings, knowledge of the historic creeds of the faith, and understanding and interpretation of Scripture in the original tongues is highly encouraged.
>>>Discipleship, discipline, and training/mentoring of young families by older families is routine.
>>>OCPP congregations regularly enter into unions with other churches, such as Congregationalists, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Methodists for the advancement of the Gospel and the betterment of the human condition.
>>>They encourage both piety, open honesty about one’s failings and strengths, and a strong work ethic for one’s life in order to be good examples for other members of the community, and productive citizens for the rest of society knowing that any good that comes of it is but by the grace of God.
>>>A typical OCPP member will probably be discussing the 5 Solas, quotes from great hymns and Scripture, especially the book of Romans, and display a love of dialogue, discussion and debate.

Presbyters of the Commonwealth
The Presbyters of the Commonwealth (PC) is the establishment of religion for the Commonwealth of Narland. While not an official branch of government, it is considered the Conscience of the State. It works in cooperation with other denominations alongside the duly Constituted government as a self-governing Public Trust at no additional taxpayer expense, and itself in cooperation with the State of the Commonwealth. The Presbyters of the Commonwealth otherwise functions in similar manner but a shade of the Church of Scotland.

Presbyters of the Commonwealth are chosen by electors within the various denominations within member States of the Commonwealth. They are selected for being leaders in their fields, their exemplary Christian virtue, and history of wise counsel and excellence in understanding. Member denomination give a vote of approbation for a limited time. Bad behaviour can and does ruin a Presbyter’s approbation. Should a Presbyter engage in moral turpitude he will be defrocked as well.

Religious Affiliation* in Narland: Church of the Pioneer 19% (includes Church of the Pioneer, Orthodox Pioneer Church and Free Church), Other Evangelical Protestant 18%, Roman Catholic 16%, Mainline Protestant 15%, Non-Denominational/Community Churches 12%, Indigenous Tribal Beliefs 8%, Unaffiliated 8%, Other Christian Faiths 3% All else less than 1%**.

Alizeria's official religion is the Church of Alizeria, which is considered a denomination of Christianity.

Christianity arrived in Alizeria in 1198AD, when King Gerald III declared it the national religion - however Gerald rejected the authority of Roman Catholic Papacy.

In his famous apologetic work, "Eye Bee Torking Aboot Godd" (1209) he wrote,


The Church of Alizeria also differs from mainstream Christianity with the canonisation of one additional book in the New Testament, The Gospel of Ian which aside from being the only book in the Bible to have been originally written in English teaches that Jesus had a brother named "Jeff Christ" who worked in a pub.

St. Jeff is canonised in the Church of Alizeria and considered the nation's patron saint.

The people of the Hallowed Domain of Kermitson adhere to the state religion, known chiefly as the Kermetic Cult.

The Kermetic Cult is a post-apocalypic chiliasic cult centred around the worship of Kermit the Frog as a wrathful, Old Testament style deity. The cult was established by the Prophet Kermitson (birth name unknown) who claims to be Kermit's chief intercessor to the world and possesses many powerful Kermetic relics, including the very corporeal vessel of Kermit Himself.

The story of the Prophet Kermitson serves as the basis for the Book of Kermitson, which itself is the chief scripture for the religion, as well as any and all media relating to Kermit the Frog that has been salvaged. The Book of Kermitson is notable in that it is written entirely in the 2nd person.

In practice, the cult has only a few devout believers, as most of the townsfolk either tolerate the cult due to its utility, or participate purely for the gratuitous festivals and rituals. However, through mechanisms ascribed as being divine by the Prophet, pilgrims seeking enlightenment have rapidly increased the local population and Kermitson himself, alongside his life partner Trent and core of Zealots, exercise a de-facto control over the township's government - running the small polity as a hybrid theocratic-thanatocratic state.

Whilst the cult worships Kermit the Frog primarily, it is not a monotheistic religion. Lesser spawn (the many siblings of Kermit) can be called upon, much like saints, and each, like saints, have patronage over various things. The religion and its doctrines are nebulous enough to avoid serious conflict with locals' beliefs, but the "worship of false Muppets" has been explicitly stated as an unforgivable act of apostasy.

The established state church is the Church of Nortend, which might be loosely described as an “Old Catholic” church, although the Church considers herself “Catholic and Reformed”. The Church split from the Church of Rome in 1615 in the Great Schism stemming from the authority of the Bishop of Rome to forbid the appointment of the generally orthodox Thomas Akeep as Bishop of Chepingstow, which ex officio held the temporal office of Lord High Chancellour. Slow, an undercurrent advocating for the reform of the Church along Protestant lines grew into a political controversy, which came to a head when the Roman-aligned Abbot of Staithway and his monks captured the Duke of Cardenbridge and hanged him.

The Church became dominated by Lutherans, with the strongly Lutheran Cardinal Frympell being installed as Primate and Archbishop of Sulthey, although William I refused to give his assent to any confessional document for fear of alienating some of his influential dynastic allies. At this time, the Latin liturgies had continued in use, despite growing opposition and illicit translations introduced. Under Frympell and his successor, Cardinal Miers, the Bible, Mass, Offices and rites were completely translated into English, the “understanden tongue”, which was prescribed by Edmund VI's canon Quia solliciti in 1711 which, though kenning that the Latin text was “official”, required public Divine Service to be conducted in English, leaving open the use of Latin only in private use. The revised texts were a compromise between the Lutheran Frympellites who desired a straightforward, public and communal liturgy in the common tongue, and the more traditionalist Akeepians who wished to retain the ornate, sacramental aspect of liturgy, with hierarchy and chaunt, encapsulated in the rhyme “Frympell wanteth English but Akeepers keepeth polish.”

When the newly crowned Queen Mary declared her intention to marry Charles de Oln, the Earl of Scode and noted Akeepian, there was great political concern that the Church would be pushed towards the Akeepian side. Already, barely a month after Edmund VI's death, Cardinal Lofthouse, the Bishop of Rockingham, converted to the Church of Rome declaring that despite believing in the Crown's temporal authority, he could not in conscience remain in communion with those who rejected the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species. The Olnite Matter played out in Parliament, as members bound themselves to the Scodeliers, in favour of the marriage, or the Droughers, against the marriage, forming the basis for the modern political party system.

Ultimately, the Scodeliers prevailed, assenting to the marriage (as required by the Charter of Liberties) which took place in 1742. The political damage to the Frympellites, who blocked the passage of an essential motion supporting the recovery of the islands of St. Parth and Hastica, was immense, and the Akeepians grew to dominate the Church of Nortend. Only in 1801 did Catherine of Hall assent to a confessional document, Erbonia Ecclesiastica, to definitively state the doctrinal position of the Church in 42 articles, which inter alia confirmed the virgin birth, the two natures of Christ, the Holy Trinity, three creeds, the seven sacraments, the belief in the real presence, the belief in continuous rightwising by grace through faith with works, the belief in predestination, the prayer for the dead and the bidding of saints, and the temporal supremacy of the Crown.

While the Majority of Aerlanica is not religious (on account of the whole civil war and multiple crises of faith) there is, in fact, a very small fringe cult that formed around Jonathan Blinds, the Prime Minister of Aerlanica. Hopefully this still applies.

This cult is called Blindism. And Jonathan Blinds HATES it.

Blindism is in itself an over arching term; While some believe Jonathan Blinds was blessed by a benevolent otherworldly being to free Aerlanica from tyranny, others believe he is, himself, a messiah of sorts, intending to lead Aerlanica to fortune and glory while others believe he is, himself, a god.

Most are following an ancient prophecy from before the first Aerlanican Empire, which rose in the 921st year of the common era. The Prophecy states that “When the valleys are torn in two, when the Third Empire falls after ten thousand cycles and when Aerlanica is reduced to nothing but ash, a leader from the old empire will tear apart the great veil and raise Aerlanica from the world and place it among the stars. There the ancestors will fight Aerlanica in violent combat, securing Aerlanicas place as a paradise in heaven.”

Jonathan Blinds, himself Agnostic, continually informs this fringe group that they are idiots and false. However some groups claim it is coming into fruition.

Firstly many believe "when the Valleys are torn in two" relates to the Aerlanican Civil War where Aerlanica, archaically called the Valleys of Splendour, split into the National Aerlanica Party and the Aerlanic Democratic Preservation Front.

Secondly, while the NAP did declare the Third Aerlanican Empire when the civil War started on the twenty eight of April, 2017 CE, many argue that the "Third Aerlanican Empire" existed in a De Facto state since the 1992 general elections which, as all other elections are, finalised on the 15th of January, Exactly 10000 days or "cycles" before the end of the civil war and the downfall of the NAP, June 2nd 2019 at which they saw the blackened brown state of the chemically scarred and flame scorched wilderness of Aerlanica, which was mostly the colour of ash.

The Old leader is, of course, Jonathan Blinds who was a General for the NAP before hearing one of Kasel's speeches and becoming non-align, eventually siding with Kasel and the ADPF.

People argue that the great veil was the isolation of Aerlanica, which was related to a "Great Curtain" around Aerlanica.

Raising Aerlanica to the heavens could be related to the reverse engineering of Spacecraft and the Aerlanicans achieving spaceflight and Rift Space technology and the Ancestors could be representative of the Primaeri.

There are, however, discrepancies and arguments against. Namely, the tablet was Palaric in nature, possibly relating to an ambitious decree to form three Palaric Empires, however nationalist tendencies were crushed when the Palaric Empire was completely Integrated into the Second Aerlanican Empire following the War of the Throne (1457-1478). Secondly, most of the claims are very vague and large stretches, and the Valleys could have related to the Palaric Valleys instead.

However, this cult persists and, unfortunately, cannot be suppressed due to the rights of freedom of religion.

The Londonium Church (or Church of London in colloquial speech) is a episcopal Protestant church following Liberal Christianity in theology and associated with centre-right paternalism politically.

It is known for accepting Darwinian evolution “according to physical laws laid down by God” (under which it includes Mendelian genetics and laws like gravity), advancing a design argument based on the universe consistently following laws of physics and has left-leaning views on helping the poor and on the ordination of women with views on gay marriage being split roughly 50/50.

The head of the Church is Queen Elizabeth II of the House of Lundenwick.

The most common religion in axmanlandia is a cult called physics

There are rituals like peer review and experimentation

And a peer reviewed holy text called the standard model

Religio Romana: Via Harmonia

The Roman Religion: the way of Harmony, or also called Harmonism, or specifically Roman Harmonism. It is a polytheistic religion centered around the reverence of the gods especially Solar and Lunar deities, many other Goddesses and Gods, and the elements of Harmony. There exist other sects and cults of Harmonism, some that are regional specific that use the vernacular. Roman Harmonism features sun worship and the use of Latin in temple services and rituals. Other harmonism sects may use Irish or Scottish Gaelic, English, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, German, Greek, or Old Temple Slavonic. However, some rituals may be bilingual in both Latin and the local languages to help most people follow along. Besides the main Gods, there are demigoddesses and heroes. Demigoddess are either mortals that became divine, or smaller gods created later and heroes are notable mortals who did great deeds. The core central beliefs are in the Elements of Harmony: Magic, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, and Loyalty. These are the basic beliefs that form most of our ethics and spiritual power too.

The Realm practices a sort of modified paganism; It features a pantheon of gods based around the Greco-Roman Pantheon but also acknowledges the existence of a High God who rules over all other gods. The clergy, however, is more in line with Christian clergy, employing priests, bishops, nuns, etc.

The Northarian people largely practice a form of Christianity called Reformed Orthodoxy. It originated in the Byzantine Empire, but the original Reformers were driven out into exile due to their opposition to Imperial authority in the Church. They were forced to flee to Western Europe, where they were denied entry. Ultimately, the Reformers settled in Britain, but were later expelled from the island for spreading their staunchly antifeudalist and egalitarian beliefs among the Roman Catholic population. They fled to the only place left, Scandinavia, where they were welcomed. The Reformed Orthodox faith then spread wildly among the Scandinavians, and this would ultimately lead to the creation of the Old Church Norse language, as well as the preservation of the Runic alphabet as a commonly used system. Decades later, the Reformed Orthodox faithful would initiate a series of antifeudalist and anti-monarchist uprisings, known as the North Sea Revolutions, which ultimately led to the creation of the Northarian state as a political entity. The church was later infiltrated and even bought out by the ever-increasingly corrupt government, who used it in order to justify many of their projects, only to regain its independence following the 1947 Popular Revolution. Since then, the Church has convened in a representative assembly in Jerusalem to ensure that it does not grow corrupted again.

The Reformed Orthodox Church is best known for its teachings of egalitarianism between all groups of people, and in particular gender egalitarianism. It is a Christian Universalist denomination as well, believing that all people will ultimately acknowledge Christ and be saved. Churches also tend to be smaller in number, and many Northarians attend a house church. There is less emphasis on iconography; however, icons are not forbidden, though intricate designs are more favoured in Reformed Orthodox art. Old Church Norse, a slightly modified continuation of Old Norse, may be spoken in some contexts, such as prayer or certain songs and ceremonies, though outside of Scandinavia the language tends to be replaced with the local vernacular. It has often been considered "Eastern Orthodoxy's Protestantism" by the Protestant European nations, many of whose reformations were influenced by the Reformed Orthodox faith. Its effect on Northarian culture has been profound as well, as it has bound the nation together and contributed to a highly equal society.

Punishia's religion is the worship of a deity known as the Rune of Punishment, a magical spirit embedded within the leader's being. It has a power of great destruction, and due to its parasitic nature it can consume its bearer's lifeforce. In this narrative it granted its bearer the gift of agelessness, and is in fact the de-facto ruler of the Theocracy, having Razro, the leader, as a manipulated puppet. Although its worship is compulsory, citizens are drawn to the Rune due to its immense power and its previous impact on the world. Capable to destroy complete fleets of ships and even its own bearer, it is both respected and feared. Even though it is false, many believe the Rune to be able to gather armies around the one posessing it.