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Beliefs:

Avagen (Church of Eyes, Zeronysian): Summed up as "the rules are made to be broken." The basic idea is that rules and laws are limitations and should be ignored or actively broken at whim and will, that being bound by rules is an insult, and that authority should be destroyed.

Zhao (Church of the Crab God, Brachyuran): Summed up as "systems are made to be broken." The basic idea is that all systems are full of entropy, which surely erodes them. They are meaningless and to be ignored. This includes rules and laws, but also any other system as well. Anything is possible and probable. Madness is revered as enlightenment.

Afterlife:

Generally speaking, when a follower of the Mad God or the Many Eyed God dies, their fate is randomly determined. They believe that no one can know what happens to their soul when they die--that the forces of chaos will determine if it is reborn in a new body, cast into torment in the Hells, trapped in the limbo of the Grey Lands or the Catacombs, consumed by Chaos itself, or torn to pieces by entropy. Other possibilities exist, but these are the primary assumed fates.

Primary model:
  • Zeronysian: Founded by the Prince of Zeronys, child of Avagen, this nation's primary religion was chaos. The worldwide chaos church is based on this ancient church, though it has evolved to revere Zhao in the wake of Avagen's demise, to hate hope as much as order, and to focus its powers as much on entropy as lawbreaking. Title: The Eye.
  • Crabman: Zhao's favored version, this mad faith focuses primarily on unpredictable shifting and on obsessions. There is no organized religion, simply unfettered worship in the form of mad devotion. Title: The Father.
  • Reever: Focused on the chaotic nature of the sea and the legendary reever Diamond Zell, Zhao/Avagen is considered the patron of evil reevers. The idea of being free from responsibilities is a primary motivation here, and the brutality and violence inherent in the world is a prime defense of their actions. Diamond Zell is revered as a legend to be revered. Title: The Frothing Sea; the Diamond's God
  • Ancient: The Cult of Avagen's Chosen follows this form. The focus is on the injustice of laws and the destruction of order. Members of the cult believe that they are the scions of the original chosen. In ancient times, this church was the Zeronysian church, but now that branch evolved and this one did not. Title: The Eye.
  • Cult of the Mouth: Founded by Paralaxyl in his madness, this cult focuses on chaos as a force of nature rather than a deity. They worship the idea of chaos, and their powers derive thusly. The face of this cult is often mad children and strangers, but there is a secretive group that is more focused. Title: Chaos.
  • Discordian: More or less Earthly Discordianism, but with Shemmish replacements of the major parts (ie, the apple was fought over by Thamia, Sallyra, & Carolia). Belief is in the goodness of chaos & the impending eschaton brought on by order. Every member is a "pope" and the rules are made to be broken. 23 is sacred. Title: Mother of Discord.
  • Mischievious: Scattered, playful, largely harmless, this version of faith is for Poh, the Lost Goddess of Mischief, and has no strong footing anywhere (even if the Lost Gods are accepted). They believe that pranks and foolishness are the foundation of a good happy life, and that no one need take themselves seriously. Also a subset of celebration. Title: Mother of Mischief.
  • Pandemonium: A planar view of chaos. Chaos is both creative and destructive, a tool to be used. Both good & evil (& neutral), it is called the "dark balance," and it is considered a primal force to be feared and respected, used sparingly & cautiously, and held at bay. Title: The Abyss.
Major world views:
  • Srisian: In Srisia, all faiths are secondary to the Spider Faith. A complex hierarchy determines where each faith falls in the empire, and true to its nature, chaos's is variable. Based strongly on the Zeronysian view, the Srisian chaos church is modern and focused, but it is also not well trusted by others and its members often come & go. The main difference between it & the Zeronysian church is its rejection of any of the ancient tenants and its focus on completely Zhao-based chaos faith. Title: The Crab God.
  • Vesturian: Like in Srisian, all faiths are secondary to the Dark Faith in Vesturia. However, the chaos church of Vesturia is in high favor, and its members are well respected, though, of course, quite mad. Also based on the Zeronysian church, the Vesturian church differs in that it reveres Avagen as its founder and makes note of Zhao as his successor & somewhat lesser, though still important and revered. Titles: The Ancient Chaos & the Mad God.
  • Drow: Drow invert the major elven view of the gods, making the black pantheon prime and the others lesser. As such, chaos is esteemed as the creator of the natural universe. However, the drow are largely Dark Faithful, so chaos is generally treated as a secondary faith. While chaos is the nature of the universe, darkness is the order of it. Title: The Twisted God.
  • Tara'hinian: All faiths are allowed in Tara'hin save Undeath. As such, even the dark faiths exist. The Tara'hinian chaos church is an extension of the Zeronysian one, but watered down. In order to not be an enemy of the state, they focus on entropy and randomness. Title: The Father of Chaos.
  • Dalurinic: Under the sea, the view of chaos is generally guided by the tritons of Mesoine--a dark, evil force to be avoided. However, in the deepest areas, in Dalurine, chaos is revered as the force that makes the currents move and change, the frenzy of the deep sea fish, and the madness that is the world's blood seeping into the briny deeps. Massive, dark, squat temples speckle the realm, devoted to the unknown, lurking chaos, the beasts of madness, the staring abyss. Title: The Claws of the Maelstrom.
  • Deserts: In the deserts of Taggarus, chaos is feared as the swirling sands that make even the most experienced Windkin or Azeti lost. Some mad desertmen, however, find this alluring, & they sell themselves to the shadows of the day & the shifting world of the deep desert. As is the tradition, the deity is viewed with a combination of animal & human traits--this one with massive crab's claws for arms & a heavy set of robes obscuring the rest of his body. Title: The Clawed Sandstorm.
  • Goblin: While the mottled goblins deep in the planes view him in the Pandemonium view and worship him as their patron, the greater goblins of Shem view chaos faith as an allied faith to their primary Hatred Faith. There are often shamans in this tribes who serve chaos & preach it as the pitch of battle & the nature of the world. These men are viewed as tolerable lunatics. Amongst the black goblins, however, this tendency is viewed as both a weakness & a useful tool. Title: The Claw.
  • Trollish: Mottled trolls worship him in a raw, animalistic way, something to be appeased, a criminal lord who created them into a world of anguish, but also something to be revered for its raw power. Black trolls view the chaos god as a secondary deity to be honored as relevant to their dark ways. Title: Zul'Ktaktaeg (Troll Father of the Mottled Trolls).
  • Thalgish: The planar thalg view him as a patron-god, something to be honored as a father, a cross between planar & reever. Title: The Abyssal Raider.
  • Roma: Not the most unclean of the dark deities, chaos is still viewed as unclean & dangerous, the lack of control, something brought on by the gadje, a curse upon their people, who have lost their homeland. Title: The Unwending.
Other notable views:
  • Shamanistic: Tribal views of chaos tend to either associate it with weasels, bats, or crabs. If the tribe is good or neutral, chaos will be viewed as dangerous (to be avoided, or to be used cautiously). If the tribe is evil, chaos will be a major primal force to be assuaged & worshiped, the dark, animalistic god from the deepest reaches of the dark unknown. Titles: The Weasel, Bat, or Crab God, perhaps the God of Watching Eyes.
  • Gaape: The bat-like swarm of mad humanoids sometimes whisper the name of Zhao amongst their swarm, become an unstoppable wave of chaos, then fizzle out. Worship of the Swarm is all consuming amongst those most likely to do this, & they view it as the best possible way to end. Title: The Swarm.
  • Manic: As bands of roving pranksters, they worship something called the Bad Prank, which is a violent, deadly force. Faithful manics attempt to perform it as often as possible, sacrificing the victims to it.
  • Gnomish: Some gnomes do end up in their own obscure branch of the chaos faith, a branch that serves to work out the systems of chaos, entropy, & quantum mechanics. Title: Entropy.
  • Unseelie: Redcaps are the faction of the Unseelie Court that serve the Red Trickster, one of the Gods of Terror & Pain, but all Unseelie know of him & invoke him if need be to further their own dark ends.
  • Aeldian: There is no church in Mwyr Aeld but that of Envy. however, the chaos faith is sometimes nodded to with their embarrassed acknowledgment of the Green Eye.
  • Thief: The criminal underworld's international guilds view chaos as a friendly deity to their causes, the Lawbreaker.
Orders:
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Topic revision: r2 - 07 Sep 2012, BillyRayStupendous
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