ARCHIAN (Basic)
Fundamentals:
In the beginning the cosmos were naught
Then from an egg burst forth Arceus
Who proceeded to create all the universe
Then built his home in Karthaas, on the land of Tulaan
He then built a Poke'mon name Mew
Mew begat the second poke'mon, so on
Mew's children became angry and killed mew out of jealousy
Arceus unleashed his wrath on the world
Then he calmed and gave the world the chance to redeem itself
under his gaze he lived with Pokemon, teaching them
until he was satisfied
whereby he tore a chunk of the earth from the ground
and created paradise
MAJOR BOOKS OF THE ARCHIAN CANON:
BOOK OF BECH'TANG:
>> Tells the story of the creation of the world and the birth of the all-mother, Mew and her journey to create the many animals in her paradise bestowed to her by Arceus: The Land of Mew, Surs'Sradzel.
>> The transcribed visions of the holy prophet Bech'Tang, as written by his scribe (and lover) Vorach'Muran
BOOK OF VALAAR:
>> Teachings of Mew during the Era of Fantasy, whilst Pokemon lived with Mew and learned of Arceus through her. Tells of the disputes made by and resolved by her, each to teach a lesson of life to the creatures.
>> The written version of thousand-year old oral stories, compiled by Convechion Wura'doz
BOOK OF ORASUS:
>> The tale of Toch's murdering of Mew, damning all creatures to the fate of being able to die which Arceus delivers unto them a thousand fold.
>> A compilation of nightmares by Rogorn'Vadash. Heavily edited for content over the centuries -- the original version included much more gruesome acts of sexual and physical violence as Pokemon came to grips with the concept of mortality and limited time to live.
BOOK OF MERSANIA:
>> A collection of short teachings and proverbs given to the now-mortal Poke'mon by Arceus during the era of reconstruction and forgiveness.
>> Written by an ancient conduit, Mersania, directly from Arceus himself.
BOOK OF DIASO:
>> Various stories of the old kingdoms of the split lands of Mew and the founding of the first kingdoms of the land of dead fantasy (Where this land is located is a subject hotly debated - most religious scholars have begrudgingly accepted it to be Quayoff though Illaminians of New Golden Orthodox will insist it refers to their land instead.
>> A collection of transcribed and translated historical documents from thousands of years ago.
BOOK OF IA:
>> The story of the first conduit, Ia, and her journey to befriend Arceus and bridge the gap between mortals and the divine. Details her many adventures through the land, meeting the god deep in the crater of Paradise.
>> Discovered parchments from Ia's handmaiden, the whole story pieced together from what's left.
BOOK OF SANSHIYAD:
>> Various short stories of other gods and their lessons to mortals and each other. Inducted into the Conduicy Orthodox to appease Quayoff but will end up removed from the Conduit Orthodox canon in 2nd Turn during the slimming down of the faith's pantheon.
>> Written by a prophet of Quayoff, name unknown.
BOOK OF TERMINAL:
>> A long prophecy for the world when Arceus lowers paradise back down into earth, burying all that live within, and he rules the world until its final breath, rending judgement to all mortal Pokemon, deciding who shall reenter the divine and who shall suffer the doom of mortality.
>> Written as a smear piece by Illaminamo's New Golden Orthodox but was incorporated into the Conduit Orthodox canon with the only alteration being that paradise will remain floating over Arceliaze and will become the new castle of the Archian armies, with Arceus as king and the Conduits as queen.
((There's several thousand more books going over various stories, historical events and more lore, but this was a quick overview.))
Conduit Orthodox (Archian)
This maintains the story of Arceus as-is.
This believes that the direct descendant of mew is the conduit, and the conduit's veins runs with mew's blood. Ia was the first descendant of Mew to find Arceus again.
Thereby, Arceus speaks through the conduit. However, in the time of Jianguo, the Conduit speaks to all gods. The Conduit, with the blood of Mew, is the mortal world's ambassador to the divine.
All sermons in temples come from passages of books chosen by the conduit.
The Conduit is also traditionally expected to do communion where mortals can talk to her and thus she can pass on their messages to Arceus.
Arceali 'Nodes' act as sub-conduits, taking confessions and offering forgiveness through the Conduit.
Arceus speaks to all Pokemon through the wind and trees etc, and Arceus sees their actions.
The goal is to be good enough to reach Paradise or simply cease to be. Follow the teachings of Arceus, worship him, honor the conduit.
PANTHEON (As of C0 of the Xth Poch):
(NOTE: This pantheon of lesser gods only existed in Conduit Orthodox during C0 of the Xth Pochs. After the 2nd War of Arcea the pantheon was slimmed down to Arceus alone while only Archian/Traditional Quayoism retained these. In Jianguo's time, however, Conduit Orthodox recognizes all of the following)
- Yveltal - Designates to Mew (Conduit) mortals to die
Symbol of Death
Sometimes a war or execution symbol
- Xerneus - Designates to Mew mortals to come into life
Symbol of Life
Symbol of Mercy and Harvest
- Palkia - Designates to Mew what to construct on Karthas
Symbol of Creation
Symbol of architecture and building
- Dialga - Designates to Mew the history of the world
Symbol of Time
Symbol of Holidays and Seasons
- Girantina - Designates to Mew what to destroy
Symbol of Destruction
Symbol of the end of the World
Symbol of new beginnings
- Thundurus - Performs storms under command of Mew
Symbol of rainstorms for food
- Tornadus - Performs winds under command of Mew
Symbol of windstorms for spreading seeds and pollen
- Landorus - Raises the mountains and erodes the land under command
Symbol of Earthquakes for creating the mountains to split the land of mew
- Heatran - Heats the center of the planet
Symbol of Lava Flows + replenishing topsoil
- Cresselia - Coordinates with Dialga to give a temporal reference point
Symbol of the Moon, keeper of the navigational stars
- Zapdos - A sword of Arceus
Symbol of Quick Military
- Moltres - A sword of Arceus
Symbol of Scorched Earth in warfare
- Articuno - A sword of Arceus
Symbol of Execution by Winter
- Groudon - Duke of land society
Symbol of land society
- Kyogre - Duke of aquatic society
Symbol of aquatic society
- Rayquaza - Duke of air-based society
Symbol of air-based society
- Mew - Ruler of Karthas
Symbol of mediation. The emissary of the mortals. The Conduit.
- Arceus - The almighty
The all-father to every god and creature of Karthas.
Unlike Quayoff, the pantheon is focused less on what gods do to affect the world and focused more on what they do for mortals. Essentially, who the Conduit needs to talk to in order to make good things happen for Archians.
POSITIONS (Terms as of C0 of the Xth Pochs - Modern Terms may be different):
Conduit - Highest Governing Force in all of Arcea and the mouth of Arceus
Convechion - Holy men promoted to guard the interests of various parts of Arceus's World. They cover a region, acting essentially as a sub-conduit with blessing directly from mew.
100% religious title, commonly held by nobles but often achieved by rigorous study. In this era Convechion are not exclusively nobles and many nobles aren't Convechion.
Syr'Nods - Operates a Sector of Temples, living in a Nexus, which is a place of study and worship for any holy men. Attendance required for Convechion.
Z'Nods - Operators of individual Temples. They take the instructions of the Conduit delivered by the Syr'Nods and distribute to lower chapels. They also own the land of the monastery that houses the operators of the chapels. Temples are major places of worship and centers for Conduits to offer Communion.
Palchyrs - Ochyrs that have opted to forgo any ascendance to instead teach at a Nexus.
Ochyrs - Devout men that run individual local chapels. They take the sermon plans of their Z'Nods and perform them as they see fit to their individual congregation, taking donations for their chapel and temple upkeep.
Guichion - Child workers that focus on religious study for children. Often a first step to becoming a full-fledged Ochyr.
Seldyr - An understudy of an Ochyr.
New Golden Orthodox (Archian)
This version of Archian was created a hundred years ago a bit after the first war of Arcea (AKA the Illaminian War).
New Golden Orthodox omits the part about mew and simply says Arceus became disgusted with the warring Pokemon and unleashed his wrath. He offered the teachings in recompense but became so disgusted that he left for Paradise.
Pokemon communicate to Arceus via golden altars.
Pokemon work with priests to gain Arceus's favor that they might eventually go to Paradise, or else endlessly reincarnate on Earth.
Quayoism (Archian)
Proper Quayoism has spread up to Mayl, Yuani and, of course, Taeriana. The only difference between Archian Quayoism and Traditional Quayoism is that Archian Quayoism upholds the Conduit as the supreme envoy of Mortals to the realm of the divine, but no other changes to practice or canon are made. Convechion are not acknowledged, and only Pokemon at rank of Ochyrs are welcome to run the chapels / shrines for each of the divine Poke'mon. Although the Conduit is seen as the supreme envoy, she is NOT considered the only means by which mortals can talk to deities, hence the use of the individual chapels to talk to each divine with the help of an Ochyr. (This likely began due to these villages being very remote from the Conduit).
They worship different patron Dieties with Arceus as the dominant emperor of the universe and Mew as the loving mother.
Traditional and Archian Quayoism believes Arceus to be an emperor and the planet of Karthas is but one of hundreds of conquests. Sanshiyad is also a conquest and is considered a planet of servants to the almighty while Karthas (the home of Pokemon) is a planet of enlightened worshipers.
Mew is a general of Arceus who helped to induct Karthas as a protectorate under Arceus. Arceus also left lesser gods under Mew's command to govern the various forces of the planet to make it run like clockwork (Same deities as C0 X Poch Conduit Orthodox)
Each lesser god is pleaded to for different matters. Each branch of the church has an agreement as to what god takes care of what aspect of the world, from harvest to flooding relief to justice, etc. Each god has a long, long set of lore to them and a church must choose one to focus on so that they may assist the people when needed when it comes to matters regarding a deity.
All churches, of course, revere Arceus and Mew. Quayoff is split into multiple parishes that each have churches for each lesser god, making sure there's at least one for each in every town (sometimes in villages, too, but typically you go to town to find a church you need).
Quayoff believes that mortals rebelled against Mew, killing her mortal body but not her spirit. Her retaliation with the other gods was swift. She tore out a chunk of the planet with a message to Arceus to come deliver judgement to all mortals. Mortals now wait for Arceus to arrive to deliver harsh punishment to the non-believers and retribution for the true followers who would obey their emperor and his general.
Quayoism (Traditional)
One of the oldest denominations of worship from which Conduit Orthodox / Archian Quayoism finds its roots. Traditional Quayoism remembers and honors only Arceus and the several lesser gods who walked the world in the Era of Fantasy.
Otherwise same as Archian Quayoism but it does not acknowledge the Conduit whatsoever. Common in central to southern Quayoff.
Alo
A western Arcea religion common in the Rocky Hills and Tall Woods, stretching among villages all the way to Lake Lit'Zi. It celebrates Celebi (Selabini) as the arbiter of the timeless woods, both in all the forest gives and the ways it punishes. She heals woulds and gives the forest life. She's also able to expunge evil possessing a Pokemon's soul (sickness). She is also the record-keeper, mistress of time, ensuring every Poke'mon exists at the time they must and never before. Children who die in childbirth or shortly after birth are deemed 'too early' by Celebi and it is believed the Child will be reborn at a later date, safe and sound.
She's said to have forest guardians that keep wayward Pokemon out of her domain. They may lay a curse of darkness (sickness / infection) on a Pokemon for trespassing. Some villages have integrated belief from greater Archia that these guardians are 'humans', omitting the harbinger of war part, while other villages keep it.
Belief of Celebi is actually an offshoot of Traditional Illaminian belief, from the West side of the Rocky Hill from which there was occasional cultural spillover in ancient times.
There are several shrines deep in the woods for Celebi. One must be guided to the shrine by a wise man or wise woman (sometimes know as the village Aevermon).
In these regions Celebi often takes the place of Dialga and Xerneus. Other times she's considered their subordinate, working under their command directly with mortals.
Maefi'Sallan
A north Archian religion, spanning the north coast up until Dragon Mountain. It worships the running of the Shaymin, Pokemon considered the highest in the order of Maeids, keepers of nature's mechanics. They observe the harsh changing of the seasons, from winter to spring - the billow of winter to the lush fields of flowers in the spring. Deerling and Sawsbuck are considered high-ranking Seers of the seasons while Flabébé, Floette, and Florges are considered masters of the faith to be showered with love, as they often communicate with the Shaymin tribe. An Eternal Flower Floette is considered a goddess upon earth, an Etherial Shaymin given flesh to walk among the mortals and give them comfort amid the indifference of nature.
Giving oneself over to the dominance of nature is considered the best thing.
A dying Pokemon is sent to the meadows to be taken by the flowers.
The Shaymin come to visit in spring, bringing flowers from all over the world. The order of Maeids is expected to keep this flower field even during the harsh winter.
Blood is nourishment for the plants, just as the carcass is food for mushrooms.
Several sacraments and herbal potion-making come from Maefi'Sallan.
Natural occurring events and behaviors of Pokemon (Even Ghost Pokemon) are kept track of in both oral tradition and written tradition in parchments transcribed many times over. This also includes potion and ritual recipes.
The Shaymin are self-serving - it is recognized that each Pokemon is their own temple that they must selfishly keep. But they must band together to meet their individual needs and please the Shaymin, who may offer gratitude in the form of calmer winters.
Often Shaymin replace the entire Pantheon - Northern practitioners of Maefi'Sallan acknowledge the Conduit as a powerful religious leader and voice of the divine for forces outside the Archian North, but Shaymin rule where they may and those that follow Maefi'Sallan respect them.
Archians that live in the north just keep a wide berth from Maefi'Sallan practitioners and have a live-and-let-live policy. Many Archians semi-integrate the Shaymin into their believe as guardians of the north while still keeping their own pantheon as the supreme rulers of all of Karthas.
Aug'Dalga
In the region otherwise practicing Maefi'Sallan, the village of May'Sochi has remained isolated in its beliefs with a religion that is clearly ancient but has no clear origin point. 'May'Sochi' is an invention of Maefi'Sallan who has been trying to spread their religion into the region. But the locals call it "Sto-Hocul". Aug'Dalga worships Dialga, master of time, but less like a deity and more as a universal concept. Their religion has become something of a way to scientifically categorize the world around the village, using spirits and the ever-present Dialga moving time along. Aug'Dalga recognizes change over time and incorporates it into many of its studies of agriculture, seaweed fishing, herbology and alchemy.
Augur Dialga'ov - Religious leader of the Sto-Hocul chapel, said to be able to divine prophecy from Dialga, direct crop harvests and provide wisdom on matters spiritual.
Sibyl Dialga'och - The local preachers and soothsayers, providing cleansing of spirits both of body and home. The Augur Dialga'ov is chosen from the Sibyl Dialga'ochs. Though the Augur is special he shares prominence of leadership with all Sibyls.
Ealdorman - General leader of the village of Sto-Hocul, traditionally using his expertise and the wisdom of the Augur and Sibyls.
Seamstress - maker of clothes
Brickmaker - Builder
Soil Men - Farmers
Aug'Dalga sees Mist Island as a cursed land bringing about the darkness of Pokemon that enter it. They have several rituals to ward its influence while also sending expeditions to observe its corrupting influence.
As Dialga also exists in Archian it's assumed this is some cult specifically focused on Dialga. However, the word 'Dialga' was simply borrowed from Archian and, in fact, the deity is otherwise a different entity altogether.
Nosay'Vo-Anshallu
One of the oldest living religions in Tulaan, second only to some in Quayoff and Sundranix, spanning the region from Dragon's Peak all the way down to Yin'Neri. Nosay'Vo-Anshallu is the origin of the tale of Cresselia (Nosay) but also features a counterpart, Darkrai (Vo-Anshallu). They are night-bound divine workers that set the cosmos in motion, where the Sun is one of their machines. They put it up in the sky then bring it down to fix it. Nosay'Vo-Anshallu celebrates a culture of ingenuity and engineering, historically creating the best ships in the region. It's also the birthplace of many modern mathematics and physics studies (many of it starting in Quayoff but continuing on in Yin'Neri). The stars of Darkrai and the Moon of Cresselia is used to determine the month and to aid in watery navigation.
Nosay'Vo-Anshallu pays respects to the fish Pokemon under the sea, as those that sail above it make the other half of Karthas.
Darkrai is a god of navigation and mathematics, speaking wisdom to the ear of Pokemon when is time to writ. Vo-Seers are both religious speakers and mathematicians. The 'Fever of Darkrai' can leave a Mathematician with tossing dreams and hallucinations of equations, keeping them up at night with mind alight with thought.
Cressalia is the goddess of the moon, keeping time and the year. Navigation requires a measurement of time, thus do Cresselia and Darkrai work together to guide Pokemon across the world.
The both of them together, Nosay'Vo-Anshallu, make the world run like clockwork, from seasons to harvests and otherwise.
Many of the practices of Engineering and Mathematics come from the now-dead Kessi Empire's religion.
Generally, practitioners of Nosay'Vo-Anshallu fall into the category of either fully accepting Archian with Darkrai added or else fully rejecting Archian and keeping to their religion of Nosay'Vo-Anshallu in its purest form. Generally, those that embrace Archian are treated with scorn, though pure followers of Nosay'Vo-Anshallu are usually considered 'old fashioned' and 'dying out'. Integration has been rocky in this region.
Sundranix
By far the oldest religion in Tulaan, but mostly only due to preservation. Sundranix was the ancient religion of the Kessi Empire, worshiping Sundra, god of the sand and skies (later come to be known as Thundurus when integrated into Quayoffi belief. Followers of Sundranix will often refer to Sundra as Thundurus to clear confusion with outsiders). Sundranix was founded on a principle of engineering and mathematics to create complex structures that would please Sundra. Sundra gifted knowledge to mortals that they may spread his dominion over the whole of Tulaan and crush all other gods that invaded it (Sundranix believes Karthas belongs to Sundra and that it was stolen from him by a legion of petty, lesser gods, essentially codifying religious warfare as doctrine).
The sacred Kessi equation:
((2/3)*π*r1) + ((1/3)*π*(r1^2 + r1*r2 + r2^2)*h1) + ((1/16)*π*(r2^2)*h2)
Used in various architectural designs as well as ceremonies.
The teachings of engineering and mathematics have been Sundranix's legacy, spreading to Archian and Nosay'Vo-Anshallu (A distant descendant of Sundranix).
Only Qease' lightly upholds Sundranix, the final village in the world to practice it.