Religion, Faith, and Mythology in the Wikke Archipellago
Magic and Myth: In the same way that different cultures on different islands developed their own magical frameworks that didn't necessarily mesh with each other, so too did different cultures come up with answers to the big philosophical questions of Where Did We Come From and Where Are We Going. Untangling different versions of the same stories that have made the rounds from island to island for centuries being changed in the retelling is a complex anthropological task at the best of times, especially when different islands had different attitudes about what stories were Right and what were Wrong.
Consolidation of Conviction: Trying to consolidate so many different mythological conventions and folkloric traditions from the top down would have been an uphill battle at the best of times, so the vast majority of religious groups that survived to the present day never made the attempt; such groups largely devote themselves not the big questions of past or future, but rather the practical realities of the present. Many of these religious practices started as a means of preserving and teaching practical spellcasting in some form, which had an immediate application in one or more key areas of life, and any overarching ur-mythos grew out of the organization as different members tried to reconcile competing versions of folk tales, with various degrees of success.
Heart Of Earth Temple: The Temple is devoted largely to the questions and nuances of life, death, and undeath. The practical applications of that kind of magic were the growth and general health of agriculture and livestock, diagnosis and treatment of illness, and the managing of grief and death both individually and socially. Earth Priests are trained not only in magic but counseling and ecology; the ethos that has grown (pun intended) around the Temple is that undeath is a natural part of the life cycle, in the same way that mushrooms grow from dead wood and scavengers are drawn to carrion. What is commonly felt most keenly as a loss is actually a transformation or transition, though the feelings of loss are completely legitimate in the face of such a dramatic change. Most Earth Priests profess a belief that the world and all in it grew from some primal seed, and has been growing, pollinating, dying back, and regrowing with the seasons for as long as time has any meaning; a circle has no beginning or end after all.
Order of the Sacred Flame: The Order's fire symbolism takes a back seat to their emphasis on creation and transformation in their mythology, as their day-to-day activities are defined by actual work done and leave little time for abstraction. As befitting a religious order of crafters and tradespeople, the Sacred Flame has cultivated a literal creation myth that operates outside of the various origin stories known throughout the island, one where the entire world was the product of a deity, but significantly this deity was an apprentice or journeyman as opposed to a master. Thus, the world and all which dwells within it are rife with flaws, and yet much of the world does function adequately despite not being perfect; this is an important lesson about the nature of creation, the usefulness of even flawed instruments, and how perfectionism is a dead end trap that prevents the development of further skill. Trying to reconcile different competing myths is sidestepped by removing the conflict one degree; the apprentice creator god goofed when creating time itself so all these different myths concurrently happened in different pasts that got awkwardly welded together into the common present.
Alchemical Society: The nature of Alchemy requires a detailed understanding of astronomy and astral influences, so it is no surprise that the Society has some of the most advanced cosmological knowledge in the islands, and indeed the world. There is no overarching theory, rather three competing theories that are frequently debated and amended with new telescopic sightings and measurements; the Grand Cycle theory, the Singularity theory, and the Imbalance theory, each with their own implications for the central Alchemical premise of "As Above, So Below". The Grand Cycle theory holds that, much like the orbits of astral bodies in the sky and the progression of the seasons, everything exists in an eternal recurrence or oscillation, and as such had no true "origin" in the classic meaning of the word. The Singularity theory holds that there had to be some sort of cosmological prime mover that set the universe in motion, which is generally expressed as some sort of enormous explosion that eventually gave way to self organizing behaviors. The Imbalance theory broadly follows the Grand Cycle theory but postulates a great calamity that knocked the heavens out of alignment, explaining why Alchemists must go to considerable effort to concentrate magical energy to create Elixirs or perform the Great Work, rather than such energy cascading through the environment in a chain reaction of perfect transformation and evolution.
Confraternity of Eternity: Paradoxically, the semi-monastic organization dedicated to introspection and self development that eventually became the Confraternity holds considerable stock in the various folkloric tales and traditions of the Archipelago - for the specific reason of deconstructing them and picking them apart. The rationale is two fold. First, tearing apart old and beloved stories is a way of finding personal convictions and contentions that aren't necessarily obvious to outside view, and once a member of the Confraternity is aware of the emotional vestment they can start working on overcoming it. Second, the critical analysis of folklore acts as a springboard to critical analysis of more personal stories that people tell themselves, which acts as a further obstruction towards self development. Confraternity monks do not endorse any particular creation myth, but they do not disbelieve them either - they take them apart simply because anything that CAN be taken apart was put together by somebody else, but clothes, tools, and houses are put together by people and that does not make them any less real.
The Last Great Adventure: The treatment of the dead and the earthly remains of a person are the strongest convictions of many different religious and social groups, simply for the reason that death is a subject that drastic ramifications for the individual and for society at large. Grief and mourning are strong emotions which color the entire experience of losing someone close, while socially there are questions of inherited legal assets and liabilities, and finally the improper handling of a corpse can be a serious public health problem. Differences in creation myths, daily rituals, and holidays can and have been mediated and moderated between different religious orders with a minimum of friction, but those religious practices surrounding death, and dying are at best an "agree to disagree" truce between all parties and at worst have resulted in the ongoing low-level religious clash in part of the nation of Veck. The Heart of Earth Temple requires burial in some form to either preserve the body or advance its decomposition for various forms of undeath, while the Order of the Sacred Flame mandates cremation so that people rejoin the primal fire that created the world and their bodies become fuel for further transformation. Likewise the Alchemical Order has no mandate for burial at sea, but considers that to be the easiest way to restore the alchemical energy from the body back to the natural world, since water is the key medium for alchemical influence. The Confraternity believes that the spirit reincarnates in a new body after the old one fails so the body can be handled in any way that prevents the spread of disease, but there are complex funereal rites intended to aid the spirit in maintaining as much self awareness and therefore developmental progress as possible between bodies. All of these practices are practically and philosophically opposed to each other, and common ground is impossible.
