#astior

[wordwalkers]

what religions are there?

Kan’sa

I am sure there are more than these in small scale worship and cults, but these are the most common:

The Spoken Truth is the predominant faith of the Mortal World and of Fahla’surni. The faith is central on the teachings of the Speaker, their Will, and believes in unity to preserve peace. For this, individuals such as myself are given the task as World Walker to help guide mortals to a better life.

The second largest faith is not a singular thing. It is the worship of Elder Spirits, which are considered local deities to high concentrations of life and magic. There are some central tenets in the faith about reverence to other Spirits and the preservation of faith, but there is much variety in this.

Beneath the surface, most dwarves believe in an entity called the Stone King, collecting as the Followers of the Earth. This faith originated back when dwarves discovered the regeneration of metals, which is said to be a gift from the Stone King who now slumbers in the core of the world.

Astior’s central, and highly enforced, faith is in the Requite Gods, a pantheon equally tied with the aspects of the world as it is with the afterlife and demons coming to plague the surface for its crimes.

Far to the north, there is another pantheon I am not familiar with. The dragonkin worship what they call the Ocean Gods, a pantheon tied with the islands, and often volcanoes, around their main settlements. 

The most common other faith I am aware of is the Reapers of Life, though because of its disorganization, I believe it is still considered a cult. They believe in controlling life through controlling death, though not all of the means I believe are entirely ethical.

[wordwalkers]

what are the months of the year?

Claire

On the calendar of the Spoken Truth, the months are Brightmorn at the start of summer, Goldbloom, Highsun, Sunend, Copperbloom, Frostmorn, Nightsun, Snowbloom, Whitesun, Sweetmorn, Greendawn, The Holy Month, and Mistsun during the end of spring.

On the Astorian calendar, the months are Paha, Zielel, Jeha, Jopha, Achiel, Azel, Reihyr, Ocel, Saha, Cuhiel, Malel, and Nauha, in order of correlation to the Spoken Truth’s calendar. The Astiorian New Year however is at the end of winter at the beginning of Ocel.

[wordwalkers]

Astior is dystopian apocalypse setting, got it

Yeah, kinda, basically.

Astior is based off of Slavic mythos, which from my experience, a lot of them seem to fit very grimdark settings. And the entirety of Russia in the winter kinda just fit with the barren, cold wasteland that the terrain had become.

[wordwalkers]

the requite gods are super old... but requite means return... what are they returning from? or it could be the undead for the ''return'' meaning

Kan’sa

That is a very good question. I don’t know, fully. It’s be a name for so long, and Astior is old. Very old. Most of the texts from its predecessor nation have been lost as well, and it isn’t exactly a friendly place to travel.

I once had a friend joke that the Requite Gods were the Great Fiends themselves, considering how willing the nation is to let demons loose on their lands. I find that hard to believe that anyone would willingly follow the Great Fiends, even under another name, or if there was an merit to that why the Spoken Truth wouldn’t have stepped in.

But I suppose the agreements with Astior to look over the Prisons of the Great Fiends is already tenuous enough, perhaps it’s not something worth risking investigation.

[wordwalkers]

astior doesn't look cut off, why are they secluded? are they just isolationist?

Claire

Oh, Speaker, you’ve decided on one of the most delicate topics there are in politics.

Very well, Astior.

Astior is led by an oligarchy called the Requitium, seated by the Requite family. As the name suggests, the Requite family has a very holier than thou opinion of themselves. Divine right kind of opinion. Of course, it’s been that way for centuries.

Magic is strictly outlawed by anyone beside the Requite family, but it would be more apt to say that the family would wish for everyone to believe that no one but themselves can use magic. Something that becomes difficult to enforce once you involve other nations, which has led to Astior being very selective with who they speak to.

That isn’t the only radical belief in the nation though. There is also the assertion that there are no other species other than humans (which the Requite Family of course are). Every decade or so they go as far as to purge any other species members they can find in the nation to enforce this, which as led to many hidden cities within Astior’s wide steppes and ice deserts.

Further, the Requite family is not beyond weaponizing their proximity to the Wastes to ensure absolute submission of its populace. Astior is already a very scattered nation, much of the countryside being ravaged by incoming demons as they sit (and begrudgingly, in my opinion, protect) by the Prison of the Great Fiends, where demons first crossed our plane. This leads to a number of pocket cities where they can find scraps of fertile soil, something that the Requite family is quick to support until it is fertile no longer. There are maybe three cities outside the capital that have survived more than a century in Astior and I hear that the nation is littered with ruins. 

In the end, I would say that most nations agree that there is a mutual isolation with Astior. They keep their borders protected and don’t let anything cross from those gates, and most nations on their borders will leave them be. There is only so much any one of them could do with the entirety of Astior and its infestation, and they have refused to protect their people so that a choice few can hold on to the power that they have, so the problem is...immense. Some argue Astior is little more than claimed Wastes as it is.

[wordwalkers]

the requite gods sound badass. is undead stuff big with their followers? or is it only the gods that do undead armies?

Kan’sa

I would imagine only the gods. Magic is strictly outlawed in Astior, so any kind of magical practice like that I believe would be very much frowned upon.