Faith and Religion

The faith of the people of Xæth is one typical known as Phæxism, from 'Phæx' which approximately translates to 'Way' in regards to native Xæthoons describing their faith as the Ways to properly honour and worship their deities to early foreign contacts. It is a polytheistic faith believing in numerous deities, chief among them being the Goddess of the Sun: Syranoosh. Syranoosh is believed to be the mother of both mankind and the various Gods and Goddesses of Mundus. The Xæthoons do not reject the religious beliefs of non-Phæxists and instead very much do believe in the existence of the numerous other religions of Mundus. However, they believe that all foreign deities are children of Syranoosh or corrupted versions of the Sun Goddess herself. And in fact Phæxism is a religion not accepting of conversion, as it is believed that people should not abandon their people's Gods for those of another; the exception to the non-acceptance of conversion are those with Xæthoon ancestry who do not follow the Ways and wish to rejoin the faith of their ancestors. All non-Xæthoon peoples and deities are believed to be the children of Syranoosh and one or more of her eight husbands: the Gods of the Moon, one associated with each of the moon's phases. The people and deities of Xæth, however, are believed to be the favoured children of Syranoosh who were born of her womb without any need for congress with her husbands. It is for this reason Xæthoons sometimes refer to themselves as the Children of the Virgin Sun.

In the earliest days of Xæthoon civilization, Phæxism did not truly exist as it does today. Prior to their settling in Xæth the ancestors of the Xæthoon people were illiterate and passed stories of their gods and legends through word of mouth. While the tribes worshiped much of the same major deities, there was a great variance in the legends of the Gods themselves and how one worshiped them; in that time not all Xæthoons could even agree on something as simple as their creation myth. This changed with the unification of Xæth into the Empire it remains today. Starting around the 15th century they was a move to consolidate and standardize the faith of the Xæthoon people, based around the beliefs of the Jiloolan people who dominated Thælyrn. Throughout the years there would be a slow codification of the land's religious beliefs through a series of Councils consisting of priests from all over the Empire and presided over by the Empress.

According to the traditional accepted Phæxist creation myth in the beginning of the universe there was nothing but Vy and Mool. The two are considered the primordial Gods, Vy being the Goddess of the Sky and Mool being her husband the God of the Earth. The pair existed for an indeterminate period of time alone in the void, until the two began to have children. Their children were almost without number, each one being one of the numerous celestial bodies in the sky. The most important of these, as said before, are considered to be Syranoosh and her husbands as they are the primogenitors of all humanity.

Gods and Goddesses

Syranoosh: The Goddess of the Sun, Syranoosh is worshiped and revered across the whole of Xæth. She is traditional viewed as a matronly and merciful figure, who is filled with little but boundless love and compassion for her children. But, like a proper mother, she is believed to be strict and punish those who stray who hopes that they will find their way back to the proper path.

Allaxara: The Goddess of Law, Allaxara is believed to have been the firstborn of the Xæthoon deities and was the leader of all their siblings. She is believed to have brought the concepts of law and order to the Xæthoon, ruling over their with a firm but fair hand. Upon her ascension from Mundus she is believed to have left the tribes of the Xæthoons in the hands of her numerous demi-god daughters, from whom every family of the Old Nobility claims descent from.

Hylla: The Goddess of Fertility and Beauty, Hylla is traditionally depicted as a heavily pregnant woman often surrounded by her many husbands. She is the patron and protector of pregnant women, as well as often being associated with the rains and good harvests.

Ivaan: The God of Festivities, he is believed to have taught the people of Xæth the secrets to brewing alcohol as well as being associated with harvest rites alongside his wife Hylla.

Yra: The Goddess of Civilization, while her sister Allaxara brought law and order to the Xæthoon it was Yra who taught them how to be civilized. Through her various children, she taught the Xæthoon people how to write, to build, and to forge. Everything that was needed to separate humans from beasts.

Lyr and Lær: The God and Goddess of War, it is thanks to them that the Xæthoon learned to defend themselves. Lyr is the Goddess of Strategy while her husband Lær is the God of Strength; they are considered to be two halves of a greater whole as without strength even the greatest of strategies will fail while without strategy ones strength is wasted and turned aside by ones enemies.

Rin: The God of Death and Judgement, Rin is believed to judge the souls of those who die by their actions in life. Those who are judged worthy are allowed spend the rest of eternity within the boundless love of Syranoosh, while those who fail are returned to Mundus to be reincarnated and given another chance at life. The exception being the most terrible of souls, who are believed to destroyed utterly.