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Message: <blockquote data-quote="corzican" data-source="post: 377324" data-attributes="member: 7546">Sorry about taking so long to respond.  My computer has been acting up the last couple of days.  I've managed to get it working with some duct tape, but I'm not sure how long it will stay up.  I'll try to be quick in case it blows up again.I've called this religion Solonism after the continent it originated from (Solonia)(Note: Looking for a better name for this).  The priests of the gods of earth (Annunnaki) are all people of non-clerical classes.  In this religion, only the gods of heaven (Innaki) are able to grant spells and powers directly to their followers.  The priests of the Annunnaki do not choose one particular patron, either.  A priest will ask for the blessing of Tammuzi(agriculture in general) at the beginning of the planting season for a farmer, ask for Geshtina (motherhood, specifically childbirth) to ease labor pains for a particularly difficult pregnancy, or Eluk(athletes) during a wrestling meet to hope that every leaves as healthy as they came.Now, the way this eventually worked out was rather interesting.  This religion originated on an island continent far enough from other civilized lands that they did not meet until ships for long-distance travel were developed.  Worship of the Innaki in the city-states (essentially large temples) stayed strong, and clerics are powerful rulers within and near the city-states.  The number of the Innaki doesn't increase and neither will the number of city-states, so the spread of that portion of the faith has remained close to it's ancestral lands.Worship of the Annunnaki, though, has spread fairly far.  A nation which I'm still calling "The Hobgoblin Imperium" since I haven't found a better name for it has adapted the religion, merging it with their ancestor worship.  There is no central organizing agency for the worship of the Annunnaki, and divine ascension in exchange for piety and victory is very tempting.  I figure that there are two movements in the one religion, one for the rulers and one for the common folk.Relationships with other religions varies.  Though people may have small personal totems for the Annunnaki in the city-states, no public temple or shrine can be built in the city-states for any other god besides the city-state's patron.  No shrines or temples for the Innaki are to be built outside the city-states either (though some clerics may have small personal shrines should they have to travel).  The priests of the Annunnaki can have shrines anywhere except the city-states, and will even share a building with another religious group provided they are similarly tolerant and don't have to compete for space during holy days.  The only religion in my world which consistantly causes problems with them is a monotheistic religion I've called the Krataen Faith, which has in their doctrine that all other religions are just fiend worship.  This is particularly rough between the two, since the creation myths of the Solonists described their gods emerging from Apsu, and the creation myths of the Krataens have fiends emerging from Apsu in order to destroy the Mother Goddess and the light she has brought to the world.As for how wizards, sorcerers, and other various magic users fit into the cosmology, that's a question I've tried to refuse to answer.  Well, not quite.  I haven't said "wizards know how to cast spells because of they tap the Heart of Magic" or something as such.  The few Solonist myths have mortals and monster both using magic like it was growing on trees, and the only story I've concocted of how mortals learned how to make crafts is the origin where they were created for servitude.  I haven't even thought about this for the Krataens; considering how hostile I've played them towards any magic-user (divine or otherwise) who was not dedicated to Krata, I would imagine their tales would say that these were the gifts of fiends to ensnare mortals souls.  The different religions don't even agree on the planar "geography" of the universe, so the fact that I don't have an answer for where magic comes from doesn't bother me too much.  It's just there and as far as the players its always been there.</blockquote>

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