Religion in Tosgiv

Introduction
In contrast to the polytheistic religions of their neighbors, most people from Tosgiv worship only a single god they call The One. This god is never worshipped directly though, with worship instead being directed to the Conduit, a person who is thought to be able to communicate directly with The One. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Conduit and the Emperor are the same person, cementing his position at the top of society even further and making his power over the people yet more absolute.

When an Emperor passes away, it is believed that they ascend to become part of The One. As such, statues and figurines of past Emperors are revered as religious idols, and frequently find themselves on display in homes, temples, and cities. When an Emperor dies shamefully or abdicates instead of remaining at their post until they die, any statues or figurines of them are destroyed or burnt, believed to be unworthy of worship because the Emperor failed to ascend.

Most citizens worship the Conduit through simple sacrifices. This comes in many forms, ranging from the sacrifice of household items to things such as limbs, blood, or items of great sentimental value. This self-less giving translates to much of the average citizen’s life. All of these items are believed to go to the next life, where the cycle continues on through each stage. They actually end up recycled and moved about the empire as if they were fresh goods. Because of the belief of this life is only one of many, people do not question the wear and tear on such goods.

Places of Worship
The tiered cities of Tosgiv typically count more than one place of worship. The main church tends to be located somewhere in the middle of the mountain or hill, in the areas of the middle class. It typically features a graveyard where Tosgivites of the Artisan and Soldier castes are buried, provided the city is not coastal, in which case a graveyard is missing. In Abfall’s oldest and largest cities, a cathedral takes the place of the church. The capital also boasts the Hall of the Conduit in the Imperial Palace, a private place of worship for the Conduit only the Imperial Council and high-ranking members of the clergy are permitted to enter. Finally, two chapels can also be found along the winding streets. One sits near the top of the mountain and is only accessible as a private place of worship for the city’s ruling nobles and lesser nobility. The other chapel stands near the gates and is meant for the poor and farmers visiting the city.

Unsurprisingly, the chapels on the noble tiers are the most lavishly decorated, featuring all sorts of artwork and stained glass windows. The ornaments and figurines that are strewn throughout these chapels are all in excellent shape, as if newly fashioned. Churches on the middle levels still feature decoration but with notably more stone and wood instead of precious metals like gold or silver. Decorations are also less pristine and plentiful in general, but the building is still not as barren as the lower chapel, which features little in the way of decoration. What ornaments do exist are in bad shape, pointing to their origins as hand-me-downs from the religious buildings higher up in the city.

Within the chapels, churches, and cathedrals, the Conduit is the focus of worship. Most citizens worship the Conduit through simple sacrifices at the altar, overseen by a priest. Other tasks of the Tosgivite clergy include sermons where the latest religious commands and propaganda of the Conduit are recited to the populace every day at noon and the possibility for absolvement of one’s sins through confession. More often than not, confessed sins find their ways to the ears of military or criminal organizations, resulting in blackmail at best to a person disappearing altogether at worst. Any such actions are naturally dismissed by the clergy as the will of The One.

Omens and Beliefs
Stumbling upon a figurine or painting of an Emperor who failed to ascend to become part of the One is considered a very bad omen, said to cause a person seven days of bad luck. Doing anything of note during this time is ill-advised, and if word gets out about one’s discovery, they will be shunned until the seven days have passed and the artwork has been burned and destroyed.

Likewise, there are various other superstitions that are common throughout Tosgiv, though not all of them are strictly religious in nature. Tying a colored cloth or ribbon around an object is said to ward it against disasters, originally a concept from Ferozi faith, and it’s very common for people to have a ribbon tied around some part of their house to keep it safe. The floor is not considered to be a safe spot, and there are two superstitions associated with it. Putting a purse or any other container with valuables in it on the floor is said to guarantee a loss of wealth. If you sprinkle salt behind someone on the floor, it is said to motivate them to leave your house. A favorite against Imperial tax collectors. Additionally, accidentally sweeping a broom against a woman’s leg is said to lower her chances of having children.

One final superstition regards knives and daggers. Handing a knife or dagger to someone is not looked fondly upon in Tosgiv, and is believed to be a declaration of hostility towards them. If one wishes to pass a knife or dagger without such a meaning, it must be put onto a surface that is not the floor before being picked up by another person, and you cannot have your hands on the item at the same time.

The Afterlife
Tosgivites lack belief in any sort of afterlife, save for the ascension of a Conduit to merge with The One. Instead, they believe in a form of reincarnation, where the spirit of a deceased person will find its way to the next life. To be born again to a new family, though this can only happen once a person has properly departed from their old life. A variety of burial rites exist to expedite this process, depending on both a person’s caste and the location of their home, though it is believed to happen regardless of intervention by living relatives if the individual lived a pious life in service of The One. Once a person’s spirit has departed from the body, it is not regarded as anything more than a shell. As such, bodies that are discovered somewhere are simply disposed of, as the person’s soul is believed to have already departed. Only when a body is still warm will they be given a burial, provided a relative of the person can be tracked down take the body and eventually perform the rites.

While it is believed that most souls of people who pass on are reborn, there are stories of souls that get lost to the sky and sea. Most Tosgivites believe that if you disrespect or disobey the One or the Conduit, your soul will wander aimlessly without guidance to a new life, lost forever. A similar belief exists in the islands of Feroz, where it is believed that causing disrespect to your ancestors and family line will lead to the same unfortunate result after death.

Religion in the Fringe Regions
Views on religion become more diverse the farther a person travels from Abfall, with the fringes of Belar being almost indistinguishable from outside lands in terms of religious views, and the far reaches of Feroz being notorious for heretical beliefs that oppose mainstream religion.

In the Border Zone, religious beliefs are heavily influenced by the polytheistic religions of Artesia and Zattaria. This version of the religion reconciles the core belief of The One is the only god and polytheism by considering the deities of other religions as either fragments or prophets of The One. For those living near the Artesian border, The Pantheon of the Many is seen as the collection of many shards that together compose The One. All the deities are simply singular aspects of the god, and each aspect carries a shard of the ascended Emperors of old with them, granting them their divine power. For the villages close to Zattaria, the Zattarian twin deities Lianreen and Firaneth are believed to be a set of prophets for The One, both tasked with carrying out the will of The One under different circumstances and keeping balance in the world. The involvement of these prophets is believed to be restricted to natural phenomena, as the Conduit is still considered to be the main mouthpiece of The One through which the god’s will is relayed to the people.

Worship is directed to the shards of The One in the Pantheon of the Many or to the Prophets respectively, both of which is deemed acceptable by these communities because it doesn’t break the rule of worshipping the One directly. The Imperial Inquisition is less forgiving about the practice, though. However, with their efforts focused on the more violent heresy in Feroz, they hardly ever have the manpower to spare to deal with the outlying villages in Belar. Many in the Inquisition, however, have vowed to purge any trace of Artesian and Zattarian influence over religious practices once the situation in Feroz is under control.

In the far reaches of Feroz, subjugated island communities have fused their original beliefs with those of the Empire. Before the Empire arrived on the island shores of the archipelago, the Ferozi people practiced ancestor worship exclusively. With the advent of the Empire’s missionaries, the people slowly shifted towards the Imperial idea of The One. However, they never truly let go of their roots, considering influential figures in their own family history to have been touched by the divine, thus rejecting the Conduit’s sole claim to a connection with The One. Needless to say, this form of worship is considered the highest heresy and is actively hunted down by the Imperial Inquisition. The practice is especially popular in the outer reaches of the archipelago, where anti-Empire sentiments are already strong.

Religious Festivals and Holidays
While not usually as highly anticipated as the more festive, non-religious holidays, ceremonies dedicated to The One nevertheless play a significant role in the lives of every Tosgivite. Not surprising, considering everyone who fails to show commitment to the religion not only risks the wrath of the god himself, but also of the Conduit, who just so happens to control the Empire itself.

Initiation of the Conduit
The rarest of the religious holidays, the Initiation of the Conduit is a lengthy process that takes place after the Crowning of the Emperor. Over the course of several weeks, the newly minted Emperor will undergo a pilgrimage to the great cathedrals of Abfall, located in the old cities that originally banded together to found the Empire. Citizens are expected to line up along the streets and bow as the Emperor and his entourage pass by. Once the group has reached a cathedral, the head priest of the cathedral gives his blessings to the new Conduit and performs a sermon to all gathered within, which is usually a mix of nobility, the Emperor’s entourage, and people from the Artisan and Soldier castes. The procedure is then repeated for every city in Abfall that hosts a cathedral, always ending at the grand cathedral in the capital where the Emperor is officially inducted as the Conduit.

Imperial Parade
This holiday celebrates the founding of the Empire under the first Conduit. It is mostly a show of force where the Imperial armies march through the streets. The Artisans follow the rest of their caste in the parade, clad in colorful fabrics while holding large canvases with depictions of past emperors made specifically for the occasion. The peasants must watch, as not viewing the parade is considered disrespectful to the Empire and therefore subject to all kinds of creative punishments. Despite being another of the Empire’s propaganda tools, the atmosphere during the parade is quite cheerful, and usually leads to full inns and taverns come nightfall.

Communion Day
Communion Day is a holiday that happens once every season. Four times a year, the Conduit secludes himself in the Hall of the Conduit for an entire day and night to commune with The One and hear the god’s wishes for the next season. During this time, nobody is permitted to enter the Hall unless it pertains to a matter of absolute urgency. For 24 hours, the Emperor is alone in the room, not sleeping, eating, or doing anything but listen to the wind howling through the Hall. Citizens are expected to show solidarity with the Conduit and are expected to skip all meals for the day while making a more substantial sacrifice than usual to aid the Conduit in his efforts. Due to nobody being permitted entry to the Hall of the Conduit on Communion Day, there are no records of what happens there outside of the accounts of Emperors themselves.