When the Gates of Death were shattered, and the Immortal Emperor rose, the entire field of theological enterprise was obliterated. Speculation about higher powers and the afterlife seemed in poor taste. Still, humans need to organize their inner lives, and as they sought a new balance, religious veneration followed two main paths.
The Immortal Emperor lent support to the refocused worship of the mystery of life, seated in blood and bone and air, and recognized the new Church of Ecstasy of the Flesh. If religion must create an “us” and a “them” then all those living could be the “us” group, and those refusing to leave upon dying could be “them.” This did not create the hoped-for unity, but did provide a workable state religion with mysteries, rituals, structure, and costumes.
The other path was to worship things beyond understanding, and personify them. Humans once gazed at the stars before the sky broke; they drew pictures between points of light and gave them names and stories, granted them authority over their lives. So too with the Forgotten Gods, drawn from fragments of stories, inexplicable experiences, or the dreams of the mad. The point is to have secrets that allow people to love, fear, belong, and sacrifice, all without undue interference from the object of worship.
Living flesh minds its own business. But at some point, when the faithful whispered to the nothing, the nothing started whispering back.
From “Findings of a Heretic Scholar” by Fr. Dunswether Kakel
Since G+ is going away, are you collecting all of these on your site?
Ben Liepis These are chapter headers for the Doskvol novels that are coming out.
The first novel is in its very last stages and will be out shortly. The second novel has been released through chapter 15 and will be finished in a couple months, and will begin going through the polish for release.
I did think that since these snips are easily accessible it might be neat to make a booklet that just has these openers in it, like a Doskvol teaser. Probably after the third novel is done, since the first one has 16, the second will likely have 19, and the third would take it to about 50 total and be worth collecting. Put it on fun paper, add some art, make an event of it.
My Patreon for serial Doskvol fiction is here: https://www.patreon.com/andrewshields
Andrew Shields, put your stuff in a nifty “Duskwallian” package and I will buy it!