layla | Worldbuilding #3: Religion and/or Magic

There is some really interesting discussion going on in the Dreamwidth comments to the earlier entries: here and here. I love this kind of worldbuilding brainstorming. And I’ve more-or-less decided to shift them from mountains to islands now — not because I feel like I’m being pressured at all (Schneefink, I definitely don’t want you to think that!) but because this is how my creative process WORKS. See, this is why it’s so hard for me to finish a novel. I am a complete flailbot when it comes to constantly changing my mind and being carried away by a shiny new idea. *g* And one of the reasons why I wanted to worldbuild Karamanda is because I have very little strongly established canon for them yet, and lots of things that could still change, or haven’t been developed at all.

Anyway, moving on to today’s topic!

Karamanda: Religion

Karamanda does not have actual, literal magic, in the fantasy-world sense. (Though it’s possible you could argue for some low-level magic being necessary to enable a being that’s roughly human-sized and human-shaped to fly. My kludge is that their gravity is a bit lighter than ours, but when it comes right down to it, they probably shouldn’t be capable of flying as easily as they can. The world doesn’t have magic in the traditional sense, but I reserve the right to claim magic for their flight if necessary!)

Traditional religion in the city takes two forms: the old religion (of which the Angels are the ceremonial leaders) and a somewhat debased form of it that is centered around the worship of particular kinds of birds — so there’s a pigeon cult, a sparrow cult, etc. There are also small groups of worshippers who follow various alternate religions introduced from outside.

The ceremonial life of the city is centered around a deity that is personified as a peregrine falcon, of which the Angels are its priests. This is the state religion, and all the official holidays and citywide public functions take place under this deity’s patronage. Falcons are sacred birds and may not be harmed. Angels keep them as pets (only Angels are allowed to) and hunt with them.

The different bird cults each have their own traditions and ceremonies. They are tolerated and mostly ignored; most of them include falcon reverence and follow state rituals/ceremonies while adding their own embellishments. Plenty of people are officially part of the falcon religion while privately following the teachings of one bird cult or another.

(If I do put them on islands, seagulls would be a major local bird; I should probably account for that …)

Crossposted to Wordpress, Livejournal and Dreamwidth. Comment wherever you like.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Worldbuilding is hard! I think this worldbuilding bloghop is a great idea, because it's very easy to overlook holes in one's own world. (Harry Potter, for example...)
I'm a bit disappointed that "economy" isn't a topic, because imo that's something not enough authors think about, especially in connection with history and politics, and if you make a list of "most important highlights" that should be in there. I just want to read more stories about how banks and industry and trade work in fantasy worlds ;)

More questions!
They worship the birds themselves, or bird-gods? More often I've heard about religions that worship animal-gods and the actual animals are their representatives/manifestations/symbols. It probably wouldn't make much of a difference, except if it's the actual animals it seems weird to keep them as pets. Are there temples?

Are you keeping Earth birds out of convenience? It would probably be annoying to invent a whole different animal life, but you have some leeway.

How isolated are the different cults? Is it strictly a family thing? How rare is it that someone changes which cult they follow? Does it have something to do with social positions?

Does the church have any political influence, are the priests and the politicians even separate? What are the church's teachings, are there any feasts/laws/afterlives? How many birds live in the city, is it loud, who cleans all the waste on the towers?

What about the footbound and the people on the rest of the island?

Worldbuilding #3: Religion and/or Magic

no subject