Empire of Andrew

The Orson Empire wrote:

Religion in Orson:

The status and acceptance of religious beliefs remains a contentious issue in the Empire, as a result of centuries of dominance by the freethinkers.

Orsonian Freethought emerged in the midst of intense social strife, warfare, and the breakdown of power throughout Australia. In the period before this chaos, the Kingdom of Auruk was the dominant power on the continent, controlling 1/3 of the land directly and serving as the suzerain of numerous other independent nations; collectively, Auruk held influence over 80% of all land in Australia. The dominant religion (and one which Auruk actively promoted) revolved around land worship. Those that followed the religion believed that the land contained a "life force" that grants life to all fauna and flora. If the life force was not properly venerated, it would punish the Orsonians through droughts, famines, political chaos, and other calamities. The religion originated as a result of dedication towards terraforming the land of Australia from the barren desert it was thousands of years ago into habitable lands, and the strong fear that the desert would one day return (echoes of these beliefs still survive to the present, as Orsonians are some of the most ardent environmentalists in the world). As a result of these beliefs, while the nobility in Auruk theoretically held the majority of power, in practice it was the clergy. The priesthood was unified, largely adhering to the same practices no matter where they were on the continent, and were filthy rich; they had the sole right to collect taxes, and after giving a portion of the revenue to the nobles and the state, they could keep the rest. As political authority was tied to land, the priesthood could act as an effective check on the power of the nobles. The clergy had the final say on all inheritances and wills, and could judge if a specific heir was fit to rule or not; additionally, if a noble ruled in a tyrannical or corrupt manner, the clergy could have them removed from power and judged under religious law and their land could be seized, as it was believed that allowing such corruption to dominate the land would upset the life force; as one would expect, this was mostly used to remove rulers or even kings perceived as rivals by the clergy. Of course, the priesthood themselves were absolutely corrupt, ruthless, and self-interested. People had long caught on to this, but were often unable or unwilling to speak out in fear of being accused of heresy. However, by the late 7th century, Auruk was in decline. The king was so powerless that they were nothing more than a figurehead, and the noble houses largely became free to do as they wished. For the first time, they could focus on growing their own power without fear of retribution, and they immediately began looking to dismantle the priesthood. However, moving against the priesthood could upset the commoners, and the nobles faced the dilemma of needing a justifiable reason, a spark to set the whole thing off.

By 720 AD, that reason had arrived. A philosopher and priest known as Daro the Wise introduced the doctrine of freethought, the belief that while gods, spirits, and other beings may exist (if they even do exist), they should never be worshiped. Daro and his followers claimed that the nature of the life force was arbitrary and evil, and that true power over the land, peace, and prosperity rested with the people. Daro further claimed that all the rituals performed by the priesthood were nothing but "smoke and mirrors", mere excuses for them to indulge in their power plays and wicked fantasies. Auruk had already collapsed in 690 AD, so Daro's arguments may have been influenced by witnessing the death and destruction all around him, while the priesthood continued to conduct rituals that had no effect. His sharp criticism of the priesthood was not taken lightly, and they attempted to root out his heresy as a major schism began to emerge. The nobility, now fully independent, mostly adopted the doctrine and used it as an excuse to seize the lands and the wealth of the priesthood. The doctrine spread much slower among the commoners, but as noble houses began mandating the acceptance of the doctrine and putting land worshipers to death, they eventually came around. The priesthood dwindled to such an extent that it was effectively extinct by the 10th century AD. After the establishment of the Orson Empire, the priesthood was formally abolished by Emperor Duros (mostly as a symbolic move) and adherence to any religion was deemed illegal, making Orson the first in history to mandate state atheism.

While a few subsequent Emperors would attempt to revive land worship (all ending in failure), most would maintain strict adherence to the doctrine and were staunchly anti-clerical. As Orsonians began expanding into southeast Asia and India, Freethought was aggressively promoted and native religions suppressed and stamped out. Orsonians frequently used this as an excuse to seize land for themselves in these colonies, often forcing the native humans into slavery or indentured servitude in the process. Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism major religions encountered in these regions, significantly declined in prominence as a result. Those who refused to give up their beliefs were put to the sword, statues and idols were torn down, holy texts were burned, and mosques and temples were demolished (the suppression of Islam contributed to the rivalry between Orson and Marmara). These practices continued until they were made illegal in 1806, when the constitutional monarchy was established; the new constitution banned slavery, guaranteed freedom of religion, and established equal rights for humans and Orsonians. While technically illegal, discrimination against theists remains a serious problem in Orson, and theists may find it difficult to advance in society. Furthermore, the establishment of Turner's dictatorship intensifies this issue, as religious organizations can be viewed as rivals to the power of the government.

As of 2020, 88% of the population are freethinkers; this figure includes all humans and of the Orsonian species. Nevertheless, it is believed that large portions of the population hold religious beliefs in secret. As the Third World War rages on, the Inquisition and Imperial Military are deliberately targeting mosques, churches, and other centers of worship in areas under Imperial occupation, evidence that the anti-clerical nature of Freethought is far from extinct.

Novo Wagondia wrote:

I've chosen five personality traits which I feel best define each 'national character'. This is not to suggest other traits are absent; only that certain virtues are prized above others, and accordingly reflected in the conduct of the citizenry. Feel free to comment and draw your own traits; I would love the feedback!

Note: I felt I wasn't fully qualified to speak intelligently on Felucia, Sterk, or Cor, but would nonetheless love to become more familiar with your canon. I strongly encourage you all to choose your own characteristics and share it with the rest of the region, as I'm sure we'd all enjoy hearing what you have to say.

Corsahnim wrote:

Cybus1

Unknown to the populace, however, Andreas had plans to clone Johnathan, who was officially labeled as "imprisoned" (a front orchestrated by Library assets). It was in both national and Library interests that Johnathan take back his birthright, and so a strand of his strain of blacklight, combined with his contained biomass (from when Andreas effectively "killed" him) and he was resurrected; though it used an extensive cloning process that effectively made him lose all the effects of Mesmerization, which made him forget his first reign as Emperor of Corsahnim, along with an additional 40 years of his life before his "death."

The official story was that Johnathan was cured of his Mesmer in a psychiatric ward in an undisclosed location and was allowed back in the local population. When news hit of this major development in 2310. The people were pleased greatly, and they decided to give him another chance, understanding that Johnathan was a victim of extreme Mercerism. This was out of extreme loyalty to Johnathan; even Andreas approved of this, despite him leading the Second Rebellion. Johnathan, however, didn't lead the nation until 2345, being on a long vacation as he "wasn't ready just yet to lead a nation that grew without [him] to the size it currently was." In the meantime, Johnathan handpicked a leader to rule and micromanage things in his absence, who happened to be a purebred human named Thrad Nevar.

Corsahnim wrote:

Regardless of this oversight by Father Jackson, he thought it best that the drugs and techniques remain in current medical standards, as he understood better than anyone the need to forget traumatic events in dire circumstances.