mkb10/22/24

M. 10/7/2024

I worked on the religious aspect of the worldbuilding for this project. I had notes on this magic system based around emotion and supernatural patrons— the Obsidian vault got lost in the fire, but I still have the commonplace book with scattered notes throughout. I was able to recreate a satisfying amount of the lore.

In the living Ettingrad— filled with humans alone— there is one cell of supernatural beings that grant mortals with power. They are called "Sadists," because they feed off of powerful emotion— usually suffering— and catalyze that energy into their own strength. The Sadists do not exist in either the Mortal Realm or in the Epilogue; they exist somewhere out in the Aether, watching, watching.

In ancient times, lives were offered as blood sacrifices to the Sadists— offered in gruesome spectacles designed to evoke visceral emotion. The rituals to create such a link between the otherworldly and the mundane have long since been lost, but the blood-soaked stone altars remain potent sources of connection with the bloody patrons. The stone of the altars (stained red) have been carved into wieldable artifacts known as "crucifixes." Those crucifixes are engraved with literary "Passages" that evoke a particular emotion. Magick, Bloodletting, Martyrdom— they're all names for the very specific brand of spellcasting that acolytes of the Sadists employ. To successfully cast a spell, the martyr has to empathize with the emotion of the Passage, which then creates a magical effect dependent on the content of the writing.

Bloodletting is a sacred practice, and is held and employed by a very insular group of citizens in Ettingrad.

Let me break it down.

Not everyone knows about the Sadists; in fact, very few do. There are martyrs (casters) who, yes, do know (Ym); there are martyrs who, no, do not know (Nm); there are commoners (Co) who are not spellcasters at all.

I: Industrialists; value industry. The few who do know about bloodletting— even just a miniscule amount of speculation regarding unexplainable effects— seek to turn that into a power source for their industrialization.

C: Cultists; value Sadists. They seek to pervert others to the Sadists' cause, typically through the use of crucifixes with dried "marrow."

R: Religious; value community/the people. Very few religious clergymen and followers know about the Sadists. There is a religious sect in Ettingrad known as the "Common Faith," which ignorantly takes tales originating from bloodletting and creates sacred rites and practices around them.

W: Witches; value bonds. All witches are only Ym (which is why they aren't in the chart). Witches seek to create implements of spellcasting devoid of corruption. They do so by breaking the "Taboo of Erosion"— grinding crucifixes to dust, mixing dust from multiple crucifixes, and using that to cast— and by breaking the "Taboo of Masochism"— engraving Passages on bones of martyrs— living and dead. As they regularly break these taboos, witches function in small groups (usually three or less); they cannot trust most.

"Marrow" is the residual blood remaining in crucifixes. It serves as a human filter for the corrupting influence of the Sadists. Cultists purposefully induct new initiates with dried up crucifixes to allow for this to occur.

Let's talk about the misguided faith of the Commoners.

The Common Faith is the religion that the majority of the citizens of Ettingrad subscribe to. It maintains cultural aspects of bloodletting— primarily with the continued use of Old Runic— the language used by the sacrificers of yore to communicate with the Sadists— in its sacred rituals. There are "saints" of the Common Faith— people with supernatural powers. A significant portion of these saints are Children of Stone.

When a martyr dies, but the emotion coursing through their veins at the time of their death is potent enough, that Essence— everything that made up that person— is sucked into the crucifix they were using. That Essence within a crucifix is known as a "Motive," and, if wielded by another martyr, influences the casting with its personality and memories. The unfinished business that ties its Essence to the Mortal Realm can be absolved, but only if the Motive consciously "gives up their ghost", sacrificing their pain for someone else's good. The most iconic of these Motives are known as "blood giants"— golems formed of bloodstained stone that move of their own volition. Tales are whispered about blood giants— about their vicious nature, lashing out at anything that moves— but to most, those are folktales. Regardless, if a Motive "gives up the ghost," the stone of their crucifix vessel cracks open, and an organic child is borne forth. These are the Children of Stone.

Children of Stone are unique in a number of ways. They do not retain memories of their past selves; they are a blank slate. And, as creatures who have transcended their suffering, they can perform magical effects without the patronage of the Sadists.

Seeing as they don't know the cause of their powers, it makes sense why people would flock to these individuals— ordinary in all ways aside from one.

There is a small cult following a purported Child of Stone named Clay Reaper. He is, in fact, not a Child of Stone; he merely coerced a witch into carving runes into his bones, and sewing him back up— giving him supernatural powers as long as the wounds cause him to suffer.

Any Gods/Spirits/Supernatural Beings: Sadists.

At least One Story: The spellcasters of a thousand years past sacrificed hundreds of people on their stone sacrificial altars. The suffering evoked created an indelible bond between the Sadists and the mortals. Now, with the sacrificial rites long since lost, the stone of the bloodsoaked altars is used as the base material for various magical implements, known as "crucifixes." Passages evoking powerful emotion are carved into the crucifixes in the ancient language, Old Runic, to implore the Sadists to give the martyrs power.

At least One Custom: When a martyr dies, their corpse is riddled with lingering soulful magick. It is seen as desecration by some, but for the crafty witches, the death of a martyr presents the opportunity to create new, organic crucifixes constructed of the dead martyr's bones. This additional layer of humanity offers a buffer between the corrupting influence of the Sadists and the next spellcaster.

At least One Holiday: The Day of Industrious Fortification. Multiple times a year, ne'er-do-wells are rounded up and placed in the "Cathedrals" located throughout the city. These were actual religious cathedrals, but the city was forced to sell them to the industrialists to pay off its debts. The industrialists repurposed the vaulted grandeur into a confined arena. Seating in the higher alcoves provides the eager audiences with a view into the bloodbath below, as the proclaimed "sacrifices" are forced to battle each other to the death. Channels and pipes funnel the blood of the sacrifices out through a series of aqueducts, into the river "capillaries" snaking throughout the city. On the Days of Industrious Fortification, the rivers run red.

At least one famous cryptid arose from these occurrences: the Old Man of the River— a bloated figure that stares hollowly out from reflections of the rivers streaked with blood. Casual passersby are in for a shock, when a purposeless glance into the water below reflects not them, but an obese old man mirroring their movements. The Old Man of the River was one of the leaders of the sacrifices a thousand years ago. His acolytes— crazed and bloodthirsty— one day chose to pin him down on an altar positioned over a spring, and sacrifice him. His blood ran down the altar, into the bubbling font.

Any Beliefs or Morals held by the people:

1. The Taboo of Erosion. Stone naturally erodes, and thus it is superbly disallowed to carve new runic Passages into existing crucifixes. The resource of bloodstained altars is nonrenewable; it must be preserved.

2. The Taboo of Masochism. It is taboo to carve runic Passages into organic material— living and dead. There is no "marrow" to filter the corrupting influence of the Sadists; living masochists often become possessed by a mindless drive to inflict suffering upon others.

3. The Taboo of Corruption. While a distinct sect of cultists to the Sadists do this, it is generally taboo to present new martyr initiates with crucifixes devoid of "marrow." This is to prevent the corrupting influence of the Sadists upon unsuspecting new initiates.

Description of Education and Worship: There are two aspects to this. 1) The education and worship of those of the Common Faith. 2) The education and worship of martyrs.

The Common Faith raises its acolytes from birth, overseeing naming rituals, bonding rituals, and rites of passage. The Faith finds itself no longer in grand cathedrals, but in humble temples erected throughout Ettingrad. The clergy promotes love for the collective— for the people— and selflessness above all. This often took place in the form of group mind-melding— a form of collective meditation, directed to further a shared spiritual experience.