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edenfallingOkay, so. Background. My version of Calormen has a nine-deity pantheon: five gods, four goddesses. (Three of them are even mentioned in canon, yay!) The fifth god, Azaroth, is god of death, darkness, and silence. Also deserts. Anyway, the clergy of the other deities are gender-linked; women serve the goddesses, men serve the gods. In big temples, Azaroth only has a priesthood, but in rural areas and smaller city shrines and so on, it's basically equal opportunity. His clergy do funerals, mostly. Also sometimes they're healers if there isn't anyone around who serves Soolyeh or Nur.
There was, actually, a way for Aravis to get out of marrying Ahoshta without killing herself. The catch is that by Calormene lights it might be worse than death. It involves renouncing your name, your family, your possessions, your afterlife -- basically everything. You give all that to Azaroth. In return, you get out of whatever obligations were making your life unbearable, because you are not that person anymore. After your death, Azaroth will recycle your soul. You will be reborn as someone else and maybe do a better job the second time around.
Calormenes do not think reincarnation is a good thing. Not at all. The idea is for your soul to live in the lands of the gods after death, as part of your family. Also, breaking family ties? Very bad. Throwing everything away is more shameful than suicide. At least suicides keep their selves and their blood ties, and can make it to the heavens after a time of torment if they're very determined. Even if twice-born souls make it through life faultlessly on the second try, they will always bear a mark to show they gave up the first time around.
(This is theology, btw. Whether it bears much relation to reality... eh. It's a world created by a talking lion. And Tash, at least, is unquestionably real. Either everyone goes to Aslan's country regardless, or your afterlife -- because Narnian cosmology does canonically have immortal souls, even in Lewis's version of England -- is determined by your own gods. Pick whichever option makes you happier. My opinion on Aslan's attitude toward comparative religions need not determine yours.)
Back to the main subject! Nobody will help people who've sworn away their lives to Azaroth. They are not his clergy. They're just empty.
So they help each other. And since he's the god of death, generally what they do is band together and either do a lot of dirty jobs nobody else wants, or follow armies around as mercenaries, last-resort healers, and burial squads.
I need a name for them.
Nicknames include the walking dead, the living ghosts, the black-robes, the forsworn, the hollow ones, the nameless, etc. But the only official name I am coming up with is the Renunciates, which, well... shades of Darkover. And while there are similarities to the concept, this is not a female-only thing. Sacrificing your entire self to Azaroth is an option of last resort for anyone, and it's a LOT more severe than Bradley's Free Amazons.
If I called them the Renunciates, would that throw anyone out of a story? And does anyone have a better name?
There was, actually, a way for Aravis to get out of marrying Ahoshta without killing herself. The catch is that by Calormene lights it might be worse than death. It involves renouncing your name, your family, your possessions, your afterlife -- basically everything. You give all that to Azaroth. In return, you get out of whatever obligations were making your life unbearable, because you are not that person anymore. After your death, Azaroth will recycle your soul. You will be reborn as someone else and maybe do a better job the second time around.
Calormenes do not think reincarnation is a good thing. Not at all. The idea is for your soul to live in the lands of the gods after death, as part of your family. Also, breaking family ties? Very bad. Throwing everything away is more shameful than suicide. At least suicides keep their selves and their blood ties, and can make it to the heavens after a time of torment if they're very determined. Even if twice-born souls make it through life faultlessly on the second try, they will always bear a mark to show they gave up the first time around.
(This is theology, btw. Whether it bears much relation to reality... eh. It's a world created by a talking lion. And Tash, at least, is unquestionably real. Either everyone goes to Aslan's country regardless, or your afterlife -- because Narnian cosmology does canonically have immortal souls, even in Lewis's version of England -- is determined by your own gods. Pick whichever option makes you happier. My opinion on Aslan's attitude toward comparative religions need not determine yours.)
Back to the main subject! Nobody will help people who've sworn away their lives to Azaroth. They are not his clergy. They're just empty.
So they help each other. And since he's the god of death, generally what they do is band together and either do a lot of dirty jobs nobody else wants, or follow armies around as mercenaries, last-resort healers, and burial squads.
I need a name for them.
Nicknames include the walking dead, the living ghosts, the black-robes, the forsworn, the hollow ones, the nameless, etc. But the only official name I am coming up with is the Renunciates, which, well... shades of Darkover. And while there are similarities to the concept, this is not a female-only thing. Sacrificing your entire self to Azaroth is an option of last resort for anyone, and it's a LOT more severe than Bradley's Free Amazons.
If I called them the Renunciates, would that throw anyone out of a story? And does anyone have a better name?
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Date: 2012-01-21 09:17 pm (UTC)