Religions

Throughout the lands of Shinseina, there exist many types of religions, cults, and beliefs of the sorts that people worship. Some of the main ones are listed.

One of the many churches of worship to Kami located all around Shinseina. This one is called the 'Grand Church' and is located in Subete.

Kanti

Kanti ("the way of God") is the indigenous faith of Shinseina, and it is estimated to be the largest religion on the planet, with over 60% of the population believing in it, or at the very least recognizing its grandeur. The Religion is believed to be the oldest recorded religion, believed to have dated back to the very first ever race of sentient beings that were directly in contact with Kami. It is believed that the belief took many forms as it slowly evolved through time, coming to be known as the Kanti of today and remaining as Shinseina's major religious belief.

Kanti does not have any known founders, as most records of its creation date back thousands of years, nor does it have any sacred scriptures that people are to read or worship. Propaganda and preaching are not common either, because Kanti is deeply rooted in the Shinseina's people and traditions, making it extremely unlikely to find someone that doesn’t believe in, or isn’t aware of, the religion.

"Kanti's God" is called Kami, as they are thought to be the ‘one true god’, with some members also worshipping their Son and Daughter. They are worshipped as sacred beings who are responsible for producing/creating all things important to life as we know it. They are worshipped for creating the winds that carry the air we breathe, the rain that waters our crops and our lands, the mountains, the trees that produce our fruits and oxygen, the rivers that house the animals and water to drink, and people an essential part of the world.

In contrast to many monotheistic religions, there are no absolutes in Kanti. There is no absolute right and wrong, and nobody is perfect. Kanti is an optimistic faith, as people are thought to be fundamentally good, and evil is believed to be caused by dark history and troubled life. Evil is decided on what one willingly does to purposefully cause misfortune onto others. Consequently, the purpose of most Kanti rituals is to do purification, prayers, and offerings to Kami.

There is no such thing as heaven or hell in Kanti, no underworld for sinners or palace of virgins for saints. In Kanti it is believed that after someone dies, they are reincarnated once more into a new life, retaining no memories of the life they once lived. It is believed that the actions you do during your life determines your new life as you are reincarnated, whether you are reborn as a person or animal. Some people in Kanti don’t believe this is necessarily true though, with some believing that after you die, if your actions were good enough, that Kami will remake you as an angel to watch over the world.

Kanti churches are the places of worship to Kami, and their children. Most churches celebrate festivals in order to show Kami the outside world and the outside world to Kami. Kanti priests are tasked with performing Kanti rituals and often live on the church grounds, where they are responsible for managing the affairs. Women can become priests, they are allowed to marry but can not have children of their own, as it is believed the priest should see all people as their child. Priests are aided by younger women, Shrine Maidens, during rituals and shrine tasks. Shrine maidens wear white, robs, must be unmarried, and are often taken in by the priest.

Shanti

Shanti ( "Beauty in Creation" ) is a faith that is more deeply integrated and believed by the elves and members of the Beast Clan due to its link to nature and beauty. The Religion itself is referred to as a branch of the Kanti Religion, even though it may not be, making it widely known by members all around Shinseina.

One of the many shrines located within the Beast Clan territory and places that worship the religion.

Shanti, much like Kanti, does not have any sacred scriptures for its believers to know of, however, it does have a founder. It was believed to have been founded by a great Beastmen Woman, by the name of Freya Yunlong. It is said that while on the move with her tribe, she grew mesmerized and very fond of the world she saw, the beauty that was created to decorate this wonderful planet. She was saddened that such beauty was not properly appreciated for what it was and that its creator got no thanks for their hard work, and as such, she made up the religion of Shanti.

The Religion instantly took off within her tribe, as many of her fellow tribe members felt the same way about the world. As they traveled around, word spread about their belief to the many other tribes and settlements they stopped by. Soon enough, the religion was large enough to be known throughout the entire world.

As time passed the religion became one in its own, completely separating itself from Kanti and focused solely on Kami's daughter, Goddess of Creation. They believed that it was, in fact, her that created all the beauties of nature and all things amazing in the world, they believed it was her that granted life to an empty planet and things needed to sustain such life.

Due to their worshipping her, they believed her Brother, God of Destruction, was an evil being. They believed that any being that was cruel enough to destroy what she made was not a being that could be good in any way. Thus he was appointed as an evil figure towards them, a big bad guy told to scare kids and sinners.

Shanti as a religion is mainly to the Beast Clan and elves, but, every now and then they throw amazing festivals and invite anyone to join in and worship the Goddess.

Damati

Damati ("Destruction of All") is an unhealthy and cult-like faith believed by a lot of people that were deemed to be ‘evil’ or ‘insane’. While it's currently a very minor and more of an underground cult, there was a time in which it thrived alongside the bigger religions, with hundreds of believers all over the world.

Damati, unlike Kanti and Shanti, has a sacred scripture that is said to be written by the founder of the religion hundreds of years ago that goes by the name "Satan". This scripture was mainly lost during the old purge of the religion, with few pages of it still remaining to this day, being kept by hidden believers.

The religion itself is believed to have been formed a few hundred years ago, by a man referred to by the name of “Satan” who grew obsessed with the idea of destruction and death to all things. It is believed that while on a journey, the man witnessed the power of destruction first hand, with an entire mountain turning to mere dust before his eyes. From the scriptures that people did manage to retain, it is said that this sight made the man realize the true beauty of the world, and that all things that exist will one day cease to exist. This thought made the man obsessed with the idea of destruction, and he began worshipping Yomoko as the ‘one true god’.

The religion shortly spread to other people that believed in the craziness the man spouted. Soon enough the cult had hundreds of believers that thought that death and destruction should be all there is in the world, and that the world should return to what it once was, nothing. However, this religion did not last long, as it was shortly purged from the lands of the world due to the breaking of laws and cult-like rules. This caused hundreds of people that believed in the religion to either be executed or forced into hiding where they secretly practice it, causing it to become an "underground religion".

The religion of Damati is now illegal to practice in the world of Shinseina and anyone found taking part in it is to be killed.

One of the few remaining ruins of what used to be sacrificial alters for the cult. Most have been forgotten with time or left in ruins.

Pagan

Pagan ("Other Gods") is a very cult-like faith that is very small in size and popularity. It is believed by very few people and often viewed as a heretic religion due to the nature of how it is practiced.

Pagan, while similar to other religions do not have a sacred scripture, they have multiple forms of ritual scriptures and customs.

One of the few recorded Pagan Rituals that were conducted, and has been deemed barbaric and illegal by many.

Most customs are very old and have been passed down for generations with little to no change to it. Almost all of these ritual scriptures are considered sacred to the tribe that practices them, and no outsider is permitted to even glance at it.

The faith itself is often seen as a barbaric and unorthodox belief, due to the fact that most of the rituals and ceremonies involve that of animal sacrifice, and in some cases even the sacrifice of a person's life. Most of the faith's members do not follow the laws of clans or common sense that people follow, they often partake in weird activities and customs such as incest, polygamy, kidnapping, and other such things.

Pagan does not have a concrete founder, and only speculations remain as to who could have started such a cult-like belief. With the most popular story being that it was founded thousands of years ago in a small town that was strived for hope in dark times. It is believed that someone by the name of Pegea introduced beings to the townsfolk that could aid them during trying times. It was these townsfolk that later came to worship the beings that aided them as Gods and spread the word of their worship.

Pagan believers are known as heretics because they do not believe in Kami, or their children. They believe that the "true gods" are the first faunas that walked the world, often worshipping them and offering sacrifices to appease them. They often refer to them as "Pagan Gods" or "Old Ones". While being a Pagan is not illegal, it is looked down upon and if caught breaking the law will result in an arrest.

Kyogi

Kyogi (“The False Gods”) was not even a religion or cult, to begin with, as it simply lacked the members and belief to be one. It originated around 4500 years ago when a group of people that believed themselves to be godly in nature began seeking the power of godhood through various attempts.

The original group consisted of a mere 6 people: Timerous Vincerithina, Yetherin Manurivana, Chris Cuntkin, Alexandra Mantizu, Leohandate Stronghold, Henchmate Freshbottom. These 6 people joined hands for the sole reasons of seeking power, a common goal amongst them, and called themselves the “Partnership Of Godhood'' (POG). Status, wealth, authority, none of this mattered to these 6 when they were together, all forgetting the former lives they once lived in exchange for the life they will live.

They began as a weak group of adventurers, traveling the lands and slaying monsters in search of relics of the past and ancient arcane magics, however, this soon enough changed when the men learned of the existence of the Demi-Gods through ancient scriptures. They were beings that were created by the Gods in charge of governing aspects of the world, always around but never seen, with powers far beyond anything possible by mere mortals.

The group now had a plan of what to do, a way to attain Godhood; they planned to capture and extract the essence of a Demi-God in order to infuse that essence into the very fiber of their being. This they did. It was a very tricky and difficult task to capture one, but not impossible for these powerful men, as they were finally able to seal the Demi-God of Storm in a tomb and extract the essence from it.

They used arcane magic, now lost to time, in order to suck the very life essence of the Demi-God out and split it six ways among themselves. Making them beings closer to the gods in life form, while in the process killing the very same Demi-God they extracted the essence from.

The Gods took notice of this action, but they paid no mind to it, as it didn’t affect the grand scheme of things, simply creating a new Demi-God of Storms to replace the fallen ones. But the group didn’t stop with just one; now filled with a taste of power and greed they sought out more, capturing yet another Demi-God to extract power from. The Demi-God of Earth. The action was repeated and the power was once again split amongst them all, gaining new powers and strengthening the Godhood within them.

This action made the Gods take notice once more, and this time they were not pleased with the actions of the men. Once was fine, but defiling the Demi-Gods they created to watch over the lands twice was too much. Filled with anger and disappointment, Yomoko punished them for their actions. Striking them down with his divine powers of destruction, and supposedly erasing them from the world.

This was how the story of POG came to an end, or at least how it was told to have. That being said, the nature of the cult and the whereabouts of its remains are still unknown, the altars have been well hidden and it is said that magic has been used on it to mask its location from detection.

Some believe it to be the symbol of POG, however, with too few records this can't be confirmed or denied.