Abstract
Religion in the world of Arcadius is polytheistic, worship is split between several gods, and you pray to the god that's relevant to what you're struggling with.
For example, if you need luck on a journey over sea, you'd pray to the sea god or goddess.
Gods
Note: The names used in this list are meant to be faction independent. Faction specific names are listed below.
Main Gods
- Imperator Divius
- The First Emperor, ascended to godhood after death, the hero-god of
humanity.
"Imperator" meaning Emperor, of course, but "Divius" means god, but in Latin, there is a difference between a god that has always been a god, and a man that became god. "Deus" is the word for a god that has always been a god, "Divius" is the word for a man that became god.
- Deus Mare
- God of travelling and of the sea.
"Mare", which is the latin for "Sea".
- Deus Bellum
- God of war, bloodshed, combat, struggle.
"Bellum" meaning "War".
- Deus Fodina
- God of work, resourcefulness, miners and builders.
"Fodina", latin for "Mine" (As in a place for digging).
Less Important Gods
- Deus Amor
- Goddess of Love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion.
"Amor", latin for "Love".
- Carceres
- God of the Dungeons
"Carceres", latin for "Dungeons".
Names of the Gods and Goddesses
Each faction (Latins, Pirates, Vikings, and Dungeon Dwellers) hold their own name for the gods, with some overlapping.
Most importantly, each faction has a separate name for the hero-god of humanity, as each believes themselves to be descended from the first emperor's faction, or lineage. It is important to note that there is no way of confirming if the emperor belonged to any faction or if they ever has children.
It is widely considered that "Divine Bloodline" (Descendants of the first emperor) has died out.
Table of Names
The following is a table of names of gods and the names each faction gives them
| Name | Latins | Pirates |
|---|---|---|
| Imperator Divius | Adis | --- |
| Deus Mare | Judius | --- |
| Deus Bellum | Mars | --- |
| Deus Romance | Juno | --- |
Religious Structure
The organization of the religion itself depends on the faction in question, with some factions having more organized and power religious institutions than others. The religious organization of a faction is meant to mirror that faction's attitude towards freedom. Less organized factions are more loose, more free.
Latins
The Latins have the most organized and institutionally powerful church
out of all factions. Latium
Additionally, Latium, is be the home of the "Temple Maximus", or "The Great Temple", a grand temple featuring all the gods of the pantheon. But more importantly, it is also the seat of the Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest.
Each god that's worshipped in Latium has its own temple, and a
Pontifex that represents all temples of that god in the
College of Pontifs
Worship is often performed by offering sacrifices at temples to the gods. The type of animal offered is what determines the god being prayed to.
Pirates
The religious structure of the Pirates, when compared to the Latins, is almost non existent. Worship is shown by giving offerings, commonly in the form of money, to a shaman or priest. Offerings are given before travels, battles or celebrations.
Note the lack of any Colleges, or any institutional form of religious organization. It's more lax, loose and free. This is reflective of the pirate's free and loose culture.
Creation Legend
The Creation Legend is lore that is mostly intended to be unknown to the residents of the world of Arcadius. This section will summarize the creation legend of Arcadia.
In the beginning, there was Kaos, a primordial being made up of nothing. Kaos created the next 2 gods, Uwmus and Juhuna. The gods, created Econia, a plane of heavenly forests, seas and nature. They created the next generation of Divines, giving birth to Deus Amor and Deus Mare.
Those now roaming the planes of Econia, were not "Gods", but rather Divines, beings that lived unending lives, but were relatively powerless. Only some, born with powers were granted the title of "God". But make no mistake, Divines can die, just not from old age.
With the Divines roaming the plane of Econia, they began to enter competitions of strength against each other. The anger, drive, passion and bloodshed of these competitions quickly created Deus Bellum, the god of war, combat and struggle.
Kaos, Uwmus, Juhuna and the others, seeing Divines bludgeon and kill other Divines in these competitions, needed the gods to divert their anger somewhere else. As a result, they met and created Carceres, a god whom they assigned the task of creating a battleground, an arena, or anything in which the Divines could compete.
The Result of Carceres' work was the Dungeons. In creating the Dungeons, Carceres lost themself in it, and became part of the living organism that now makes up the Dungeons.
The Divines, excited by this new battleground, entered in droves to fight and battle. But in Carceres' realm they found not a battlefield, but an ever shifting maze of ruins, fortresses and temples. Littered with beings no one had ever seen before. Most rooms contained weak husks, imitations of the Divines' own forms, some without skin, some with decaying skin.
It became a massacre. Thousands of Divines, and even Gods being slain. Kaos, Juhuna and Uwmus were furious with Carceres, who had created a nightmare for the Divines. But they were unable, or unwilling, to enter his realm, retrieve and punish him. They weren't sure Carceres even existed anymore.
As it took the lives of the Divines, it absorbed them, fused them together and created from them even stronger beasts. The stronger beasts becoming Guardians of the fortresses, gates, temples and hordes of Carceres' realm.
The slaughter the Gods could live with, as tragic as it was. What made the situation untenable was when Carceres' realm began growing. Its gates burst as the very structure itself began consuming Econia.
Kaos, Uwmus and Juhuna met and decided to seal the forsaken realm of Econia, and the beast consuming it away. They banded together with the remaining Gods and Divines.
They took the vat plane of Econia and wrapped it around the Carceres' growing monstrosity. They smothered it in earth, rock soil and magma, the beast screamed in agony but it gave way, its expansion stopping and new realm being left, now wrapped around the Dungeon.
The Gods, created a paradise for themselves, named Arcadia. A lush garden of palaces, forests all situated on floating islands.
Below Arcadia, where the remnants of Econia lay, wrapped around the Dungeons, they created the Terra, the earth. To Terra, they banished the Divines. The gods forced the Divines to forget all they knew, they removed very essence of their immortality, condemning them to mortal lives.
Notes
- Latium, is the capital city of the Latins factions, and the central city in which the server’s spawn is located.
- “College”, in this case refers to the Ancient Roman types of college, or rather Collegia, which were more similar to Medieval Guilds, than modern colleges.