prophecy, worship, and blade for the asks?
Oh hi again! Nice to see you again! :)
(Questions from this ask game!)
33. PROPHECY - Are there prophecies in your book?
There's not any in Souls of Black, my Minecraft inspired story, but there is one in Call of the Void, which is my Percy Jackson inspired story. So, it sorta had to have one lol. Buttt, the prophecy does involve the female lead, Ruby Darkshine... >:) *grins evilly* If you want to know more about her, I know I did a big babble sesh called a Character Spotlight on her, which you can find on this masterpost.
24. WORSHIP - Is there religion?
Oh buddy. Buckle in, because there's so much religion in Souls of Black >:)
The biggest religion is called Abyssalism, with its followers called Abyssalists. People of this religion worship The Black, which is the mysterious void where everything in the world, including people, originate from. They see it as a generous deity, and one they have to be thankful to for making them exist in the first place.
The Black—or 'The Abyss', as to say Its true name is blasphemous if not of proper rank—is sentient and their creator, and a generous deity.
The Abyss grants them life and second chances, so they should be thankful and respectful to it, as it encourages them to live their lives to the fullest.
To take advantage of The Abyss' generosity by killing someone repeatedly is horrible and you Should Not do it.
They pray to The Abyss for guidance, and have the practice of setting food out as a sacrifice to It when eating.
Abyssalists have a more 'standardized' naming system for the tiers of their reserve, which for everyone is a section of The Black assigned to them to hold things for them (so the inventory system from the game). The closest tier to a person is what Abyssalists call their Inherent Blessing, as it is the start of their reserve, which is the thing that all people Awaken with. The next three tiers of their reserve, they call 'Gifts', First, Second, and Third respectively. They view them as such because The Abyss could have just stopped with the closest level of their reserves, but didn't. And so those next three tiers are gifts from It. Alongside this naming system, while Reaper (the equivalent of an atheist) refers to pulling things from her reserve as 'summoning', Abyssalists use the term 'requesting', as they are asking their god to allow them to pull the item from Its depths.
Abyssalists believe heavily in the concept of karma, as that is similar to the basis of how The Black works; which is in trades. They believe that horrible deeds will summon horrible luck and events onto the person in due time.
Most Abyssalists believe Soul (SoB equivalent of XP in Minecraft) to be a good thing, a Life energy of the world, and some even believe it to be the remains of ancient Awakened people, now called The Vanished, from the time of the Remnants.
Adding to the above, Remnant are ancient structures around the world, held in place and preserved by The Black for mysterious reasons. Abyssalists view these as sacred places, and most don't even dream of going into one, as they don't want to risk disturbing it and angering The Black.
Some characters in Souls of Black of the main cast follow this religion, such as Phoebe, Galisa, and Doc (though he's on rocky waters with his beliefs at the moment).
The second religion is actually a sect of Abyssalism. This one is called Nothosis, with its followers being called Nothians.
Nothians, like Abyssalists, believe in The Black as a god, and one to be thankful to. However, they have become tired of the lives that It gives them, due to the suffering and death that they always face regardless. Instead they seek eternal death, and to be with The Abyss forever. They believe that The Vanished achieved this, and are searching for how to do it themselves.
They're a cult, did I mention that? :)
The other main religion, moreso the second biggest religion honestly, as Nothosis isn't too widespread/publicly known, is currently called Idealism, with its followers called Idealists. I may change the name in the future if I find a better word I like, but currently I like Idealism.
What is Idealism about? Well, there's a belief in the world of Souls of Black, called the Paradigms. They're whispers on the winds, and usually regarded as tavern tales and entertaining stories. But overall, they're regarded as traits that The Black instilled in the people it's Awakened.
The four Paradigms are Power, Energy, Will, and Spark. Each Paradigm therein has a Code; a statement about what it stands for.
Unfortunately, Idealist beliefs and interpretations—whether the Codes are meant to be benevolent for the good of all, or used for selfish reasons—of the Paradigms, as well as their origins, vary wildly. Some believe that the Paradigms were actual people during the time of The Vanished. Others believe the Paradigms are simply ideals from The Black. Others even believe that they're sentient things, like The Black, that watch over them like gods.
However, the Codes of the Paradigms is the main belief all Idealists share, as well as the belief that a balance of all four is integral within people. Additional to that, some people do believe that people can exemplify a singular Paradigm naturally, and it's up to them to try and partially embody the other three as well for at least partial balance.
Characters of the main cast in Souls of Black who are Idealists are Wolf and Coder.
The main protagonist, Reaper (with the other being Doc), is actually an atheist, or what an Abyssalist would call an Unfufilled. She views The Black as simply a tool people can use, not so much something really sentient.
I hope that was interesting, because I entirely forgot that I have an entire other question 😭
12. BLADE - Are sword fights common in your book?
YESSSSS YES THEY ARE!! They're common in both Souls of Black and Call of the Void. Moreso in Souls of Black, though, as that book is more medieval-y/Victorian era, while Call of the Void is urban fantasy.
Alongside that, Souls of Black is very survival heavy, with everyone out to kill each other if they view it as a better option than letting them live. So fights are very prominent, and I love them to death :3
Thanks so much for the ask, Kero! Hope this was interesting, and hope to interact with you more as time goes on, you seem cool! :D
