Here's a few gods/cults from Cedonia for your consideration. * * * Coron, God of the Dead ---------------------- The worship of Coron is perhaps the oldest in Cedonia, predating even Lucia. Cedonians generally believe that when a person dies, Coron takes up their soul and examines it. If the person was a priest of another god, or extremely devoted to a particular god, Coron releases their soul to their patron god, if he finds it worthy. The worthy souls of those who did not focus in their worship on one particular god are kept by Coron; there have been doctrinal arguments over what it is, exactly, that he does with the souls. The souls of those persons who Coron deems unworthy are eventually reincarnated until they achieve worthyness. Souls of those who die by accident or violence are also reincarnated. Coron's priests say that souls are like jewels, and how a person lives affects the quality of the soul. Accidental and violent death cut short the process, so the soul is sent back to be finished, while the souls of the unworthy have flaws that need to be polished away by another life. However, those who willingly led lives of depravity and villany are punished by being imprisoned in the Halls of Nightmare for eternity. Besides judging the souls of the dead, Coron also is the guardian of cemetaries and is an unyielding foe of necromancers. The reason for this is that a necromancer can use the connection between a soul and the body it once inhabited to call the soul back to Celandra, and force it to reanimate the body as a zombie. While he is strongest in Cedonia and the surrounding lands, the Wrath of Coron may fall upon any who try to interfere with death. Yaga and Mithrak, Twin Gods of War -------------------------------- While Yaga and Mithrak are both war gods, they represent very different facets of war. A real-world analogy would be Ares(Mars) and Pallas Athena(Minerva). Yaga is the personification of everything that makes War into Hell. He is called "Destroyer or Armies, Destroyer of Cities" and is associated with panic, rage, terror, horror, murder, and fear. He is also believed to be responsible for bringing disease to encamped armies and besieged cities. Yaga is not so much worshipped as appeased. Ceremonies to Yaga try to direct his attention to the celebrants' opponents, but more often than not only succeed in attracting Yaga's attention to both sides in a conflict. The Cult of Yaga, while not suppressed, is very unpopular in Cedonia. Mithrak, on the other hand, is known as the Patron of Soldiers and The Strategist's Friend. He embodies War as Science. Generals pray to Mithrak for inspiration in making battle plans and for aid in discovering the plans of the enemy; soldiers and civilians pray to Mithrak to protect them from Yaga. Priests of Mithrak are often battlefield medics and surgeons; their powers of healing are usually limited to battle wounds, complications of wounds, and the control of camp epidemics. Priests of Mithrak can bless stores of food to keep them from rotting or being eaten by vermin; they can also bless sources of water to make them safe to drink. Mithrak is also the patron of weaponsmiths and armorsmiths; weapons and armor blessed by the Church of Mithrak are more durable and reliable than unblessed weapons. In Cedonia's army, membership in the Church of Mithrak is nearly universal. The relationship is so close that when a soldier reaches the rank of Sergeant-Major he is ordained as a Deacon. Andrew __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
