Book I (Ap.B): The Dreamers; An Orcish Creation Myth

This story was related to me by Yghchrizta, Shaman of Clan Rhanseyh

Most stories such as this start with, ‘In the beginning’ but for orcs, there is no beginning. Orcs have no creation story dealing with the universe, only with what we understand to be the real world. Outside of this world live the Loutha, or the true people. We know little of the Loutha, even though each of us is a Loutha.

The world as we know it was created when a Louhtha, whom we know as Liruna, the mother of dreams, became so tired that she fell asleep. Some believe that this was an unusual occurrence, because the Loutha are tireless beings, but others believe that no Loutha had slept before, simply because sleep hadn’t been invented yet. Either way, when Liruna fell asleep, she dreamed of a strange and wondrous world, and as she slept the world grew and her imagination created wondrous and terrible things to fill it. Liruna was alone in this dream and became frightened, so she awakened. Liruna was captivated by the world her sleeping mind had created, though, and wished to sleep and dream more, so she convinced her closest friend, another Loutha named Hosin, to lie with her so that she would not be alone as she slept.

Liruna and Hosin dreamed together, and they traveled the dreamscape side-by-side, creating whatever their imaginations could conceive. They slept for what we would consider an eternity in the dream world, crafting the sun and the stars, the earth and its seas, and creating the rules which would govern their movement. But, eventually the wonder of their creation faded in their hearts. What at first had been new and strange, was now commonplace and ordinary, for no matter what they might imagine, they could create nothing which surprised them. Eventually they began to see their world as bleak and desolate, so they awakened again.

Liruna and Hosin told the other Loutha of their dream, and told them they needed help making more dreams, and so the other Loutha slept as well, each one dreaming new and strange things – trees, flowers, birds, and beasts. The dreaming Loutha became the Louan, the builders of this world, the first people, who could command and shape this world around them just as Liruna and Hosin had. The Loutha would sleep and become the Louan, awaken again as Loutha, and then return to sleep, and each time they slept, they created new dreams – until they also began to run out of things to dream.

The Louan were sad, for they had no more to do, but then a great Louan wisewoman, Taya, had an idea – she would awaken, but vowed that when she returned to sleep, she would be sure not to remember anything of her waking life, or the dreams she had had before. So it was that the first of the forgetting peoples came to this world, for when Taya returned, she knew nothing, not even her name, or what would happen when she reached the end of her dream. The other Louan told her who she was, how she had come to be there, and what would happen, but despite this, everything had become new to her again, and she was happy for it.

Eventually Taya woke from her sleep, and as a Loutha, remembered everything that had preceded her awakening. She was overjoyed by the experience, and after a time, decided to do it again. The rest of the Loutha did the same, and before long, few Louan remained in our world – they were replaced by the forgetting people, the dreamers who did not remember their waking lives. The Loutha who chose to forget became new and different things, people of all shapes and colors, and who dreamed new lives, with new stories. Each would dream for a time, then awaken, and dream again, remembering nothing. Only rarely would a Loutha return to the dream as a Louan, to shape the dream with their power of remembering. 

This shapes our understanding of not only life and death, but magic as well. We know that there is no life or death as others think of it, only the dream which we pass through briefly, and when we awaken, we become Loutha again, remembering all of the dreams we’ve had before.

Further, because we know there is no life, only the dream, we know we have no limitations. We can change anything. Like the Louan, the first people, we can shape our world and ourselves as we please if we have the will and imagination to do so. This is why traditional orc shamans do not write spells or incant special words, or gather herbs and burn incense. They know these things are not truly necessary for magic, and we believe that magic can still be made the old way, as the Louan did it. Many among the other races do this as well when they first learn the ways of magic. They learn to shape the world in simple ways through thought alone, but when they try to do more, they are taught the way of spells, and so many forget the power in their hearts.

Reference: The Gnoman Empire - Religion II

Under the dominant philosophy of Polyaspectism, all deities are assumed to be equally plausible, so the Gnoman Empire documents and formally recognizes many thousands of deities. Obviously, some gather more recognition and investment than others, however.

Theus

Pueraria's move to enforce Polyaspectism as the official religion of the Gnoman Empire resulted in some complications, as it married an innately chaotic philosophy to an incredibly structured legal system. To deal with the resulting disorder, her son and eventual successor, Pragmus I, established the First Church of Gnoman Polyaspectism, a structured institution tasked with officially managing and overseeing the worship and records of the Empire's gods. Pragmus himself was posthumously deified as Theus, the Gnoman god of organized religion, and eternal head of the church he founded. Due to the bureaucratic nature of Gnoman culture, Theus is also sometimes called upon in otherwise secular matters of legislation and organization, especially when ambiguous grammar may be a source of conflict. Biblical texts of any religion are considered holy to him, and to a lesser extent any formal doctrines, edicts, mission statements, and to do lists can fall under the scope of his influence. Theus is a sworn enemy of any gods devoted to anarchy, atheism, sloppiness, or improvisation. He is considered the divine frenemy of Dubia, the Gnoman's chief goddess of uncertainty. Per drawings from Pragmus's childhood, Gnomans generally depict Theus with two pairs of angelic wings, white armor, and a blazing sword of divine energy.

Dubia

In life, Dubia was Serise, Pueraria's daughter and Pragmus's older sister. As princess, Serise used her freedom and influence to become one of the most feared critics in Gnomania, but never herself showed any aptitude for an art - by her own admission, she could never create something that would satisfy her own standards. This likely contributed to her mother's decision to pass her over as successor to the throne, and resulted in a complex dynamic between herself and her younger brother. Serise had an unerring ability to point out weaknesses and faults in any idea or plan, making her feared by both sides of any debate held before her brother. She was posthumously deified as Dubia, a goddess of critical thought and skepticism, and is often called upon by Gnoman judges, scientists, or anyone else who wishes to see the potential faults in their own plans. Most commonly, she is revered by Gnoman agnostics and even moderate atheists, who believe that Dubia (if she exists) will defend their souls (if they exist) against any divine judgment (if it exists) that may be incurred by their skepticism during life. It is generally taboo to speak her name in restaurants, theaters, or during weddings. Dubia's representation is unknown, as Serise was never satisfied with anything she described as a child. As a result, in Gnoman iconography she is generally represented by an imperfect circle.

The Faceless

Secrecy is extremely important to Gnomans, especially to Left-Hands serving in the Sinister Legions of the Gnoman military. The Gnomans believe that there must be a god of secrets, but also believe that the true identity of the ultimate master of secrecy and concealment must be unknowable. Somewhat confusing outsiders, however, it is inappropriate for the followers of the Faceless to acknowledge this in conversation - as his/her devotees, they are expected to aid him/her in maintaining his/her mystery, by spreading misinformation at every turn. There is an annual Festival of the Faceless, but it is not held on a set date - instead, each year the followers of the Faceless interrupt another deity's festival, declaring for the day that that deity is, in fact, the true identity of the Faceless.

Reference: The Gnoman Empire - Religion I

The predominant religious philosophy of the Gnoman Empire is Polyaspectism. Myodes, third king of Gnomania, promoted the religion in order to stabilize his growing kingdom, and Pueraria, first Empress of the Gnoman Empire pressured the Gnoman Senate to recognize the religion as the formal state religion after the conquest of Facia.

Central to Polyaspectism is the idea of uncertainty in supernatural matters. Where most Kaleidan religions promote absolute certainty with respect to spiritual matters - to the point of questioning or even denying the mundane, Polyaspectism takes the opposite approach. To polyaspectists, only the physical, tangible world can be absolutely known - anything in the realm of the spiritual or metaphysical is beyond the capacity of mortal beings to observe and comprehend, and is therefore open to speculation. The traditional metaphor of Gnoman Polyaspectism is that of a wax seal created by a signet ring - the observable world is said to be akin to the impression made in the wax seal, while the 'true' world is comparable to the ring that made the impression. From the wax seal, one can make inferences about one specific aspect of the ring, but can say nothing else about the ring with any certainty. Accordingly, the existence of every deity is considered equally plausible, including those worshiped in other religions. Denying the existence of any deity is taboo and potentially heretical.

In Polyaspectism, everything that is, has been, or will be, exists not only in the observable, natural world but in the unobservable, supernatural world. This includes people, for whom the tangible, physical body and mind are only shallow impressions of a more complex entity. The other dimensions - are collectively known as the anima, or soul, with consciousness and unconsciousness being a bridge between the two. When a person's physical body dies and rots, the soul persists as a spirit, and if the person's legacy is powerful enough, the spirit may be elevated to godhood.

Note: In some particular cases, deities may also be formed from the collective will or consensus of many animae, creating a distinct entity some Gnoman writers refer to as a 'metagod'. 

According to some Gnomans, every anima is a god in itself, albeit one with a very limited domain. Other Gnomans might regard the anima as more comparable to a conscience (consulted when making moral judgments), guardian angel (interceding for its physical counterpart in matters of fate), or imaginary friend. In every case, though, the entity is considered to be both 'them' and separate from 'them'. This divergence between the physical and the spiritual is believed to be least pronounced among the young, and so most Gnomans encourage their children to think about their animae, describe them, and even try to talk to them while they are young, building a relationship between the mortal and spiritual aspects that will last throughout the Gnoman's life.

It's worth noting that, given the Gnoman's belief that the objective truth is unknowable to mortals, it is generally expected that children's descriptions of the anima will be outrageous and inconsistent over time, as the mortal mind struggles to understand its more complex spiritual counterpart. Gnoman philosophers and theologists have produced a large body of literature dedicated to interpreting descriptions of the anima, many of them written for parents as a means for better understanding and communicating with their children.

Note: Although Gnomans have a variety of colorful insults, the most severe are those directed at someone's anima, as making definitive declarations about someone else's anima infringes so severely on an individual's personal identity, that even praise can be considered taboo, if expressed in an inappropriate way. For example, to tell someone their "anima must be beautiful" would be offensive, as it severely oversteps personal boundaries by dictating someone else's anima to them.    

Unlike most other religions, it's well accepted that many Gnoman deities have been, or will eventually be, forgotten. Some may become irrelevant due to social changes, or they may be usurped by other deities. In fact, Polyaspectism lacks a traditional creation myth, partly because whatever entity was responsible for forming Kaleida is assumed to have long since passed from their knowledge.

Note: As an engineered race, the creation of the Gnomans and their close relatives are a matter of record, discussed academically by archaeologists, anthropoligists, and biomancers. The origins of the ancient humans that created them are unknown to the Gnomans, as are the origins of the physical world. However, such events are relative trivialities to Gnomans in the present - they enjoy stories and theories about such matters, but do not take such discussions especially seriously, dismissing any serious disagreements about the matter with the common phrase, "It's ancient history."

Some Polyaspectists fear that those deities, spirits, and even animae which are forgotten are consigned entirely to oblivion, and therefore place great importance on maintaining not only careful records of deities, but of family members and ancestors, to ensure that their spirits do not fade away entirely. They may even offer prayers and request unnecessary guidance from ancestral spirits and deities, simply to help them feel appreciated.

Other Polyaspectists, however, believe that the spirits of those who've passed remain relevant even when they have been forgotten, or are unknown. For example, a Gnoman traveling in a foreign city certainly does not expect to know the name of the local deity who governs pedestrian safety at a particularly busy intersection, but may have faith that such an entity does exist, and may reasonably trust his anima to make an entreaty to the unknown power on his behalf.

It is also considered acceptable to simply guess the name and nature of an unknown deity or spirit, and expect that - regardless of accuracy - the deity will appreciate the thought.