Medieval America Mark III
- Thread starter Flashman
- Start date
Heresy: yes. I had written a post on New Vegas in the old thread that I deigned not to add to the canon because it wasn't poorly written. I plan on rewriting it at some poin
Excellent post that I hadn't seen, though I would add: I've also mentioned Rainier as a home to the "Cascadian Lama", though I didn't expand on it. That's open t anyone who wants to.
Beelem (Eastern Oregon): The High Desert
tehskyman
Banned
Beelem (Eastern Oregon): The High Desert
Before the Regression, when state borders were being drawn up, far too often they were drawn without consideration for the local geography. Oregon is a good example of this. It like it's neighbor Washington spanned two very distinct regions, divided by the Cascades. In Washington's case the eastern part was conquered and became the District of Columbia. Not so in Oregon.
The high desert east of the Cascades could not be called "Oregon" as that referred exclusively to the lands west of the Cascades. It couldn't be called "Washington" or "Idaho" as this region was never part of either state and both names have already been taken up by separate entities. Nevada doesn't feel right either, the two landscapes are too different. So what does that leave the poor shepherds and mountain men to call this harsh steppe home of theirs? Well they'll just make up their own name!
So for years after the Regression, they debated around low campfires what to call themselves. Interim names were thrown around but "Desert People" just doesn't feel right you know. Well as time went on, one tribe conquered the rest. They were headed by a man who claimed to be from the Bureau of Land Management or B-L-M for short. His tribe called themselves Beelemites and eventually the name stuck even as the original tribe splintered upon their leaders death. Eventually this region came to be known as Beelem after the tribe that first conquered this land. And now Beelem is the land of the dry steppe and wild Mustangs, home of raiders(when convenient), horse eaters(only the wild ones) and traders(when profitable).
Though this region once generally practiced its own pagan faith, after the Columbian Crusade, the spread of druids and monks into this wilderness gradually converted the Beelemites to Buddhism. And so they raid the infidels that surround them, storming into the Klamath and Snake River Valleys and stealing anything not held down.
Before the Regression, when state borders were being drawn up, far too often they were drawn without consideration for the local geography. Oregon is a good example of this. It like it's neighbor Washington spanned two very distinct regions, divided by the Cascades. In Washington's case the eastern part was conquered and became the District of Columbia. Not so in Oregon.
The high desert east of the Cascades could not be called "Oregon" as that referred exclusively to the lands west of the Cascades. It couldn't be called "Washington" or "Idaho" as this region was never part of either state and both names have already been taken up by separate entities. Nevada doesn't feel right either, the two landscapes are too different. So what does that leave the poor shepherds and mountain men to call this harsh steppe home of theirs? Well they'll just make up their own name!
So for years after the Regression, they debated around low campfires what to call themselves. Interim names were thrown around but "Desert People" just doesn't feel right you know. Well as time went on, one tribe conquered the rest. They were headed by a man who claimed to be from the Bureau of Land Management or B-L-M for short. His tribe called themselves Beelemites and eventually the name stuck even as the original tribe splintered upon their leaders death. Eventually this region came to be known as Beelem after the tribe that first conquered this land. And now Beelem is the land of the dry steppe and wild Mustangs, home of raiders(when convenient), horse eaters(only the wild ones) and traders(when profitable).
Though this region once generally practiced its own pagan faith, after the Columbian Crusade, the spread of druids and monks into this wilderness gradually converted the Beelemites to Buddhism. And so they raid the infidels that surround them, storming into the Klamath and Snake River Valleys and stealing anything not held down.
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Laskan Folk Religion
Laskan Folk Religion
Whale-bone totems
Technically speaking, the Laskans are Christians, but only technically.
The Laskans believe that across most of the world, things operate totally typically and as you would expect from the Bible. But in the Lands of Laska, things get turned upside down. The primary cause of this is an extension of the Biblical belief in ghosts: namely, that souls in Laska cannot ascend. The theory goes that spirits try to ascend to Heaven on Halloween, before the winter chill sets in and makes the ground too hard for souls to escape their graves. Unfortunately, however, souls in Laska are caught by the Aurora borealis: blanketing the sky, it traps the souls who attempt to fly towards the sun, which is believed to be the gateway to Heaven.
Here, in the Aurora borealis and in the star constellations, the ancestors of the Laskans are trapped. But it is not a poor existence: far from it. Rather, it is a land of triumph and heroes, mead and fighting, sailing and whaling. It is always sunny in the lands of Aurora, and your deeds can have an impact on the face of the heavens, whether it be the shimmer of the aurora, the flight of a comet, or even the supernova of a star. It is not just home to ancestral spirits, however: saints, both old and new, roam these lands, along side the Archangels. The Lands of Aurora will come to an end in the End of Days, when the Saints and the Ancestors descend alongside Jesus Christ to lead the Laskan people in establishing the Millennial Kingdom.
The idea of Aurora has had a profound impact upon the culture of the Laskans. For one thing, it has allowed a means to immortalize their ancestors and heroes, with the many historical sagas having their settings moved to the Aurora in a manner comparable to the Dreamtime of the Australian Aborigines or, indeed, the slow reverse euhumerization that all cultures undergo when history turns to legend.
More importantly, however, it has given them a way to explain the world around them. The environment of Alaska is capricious and harsh: what loving god would do this to them> Well, the answer is that the weather and natural processes aren't controlled by God himself: after all, he's the master of the universe. He's got more important business to attend to. Instead, any number of ghosts, demons, saints and angels control the more day-to-day problems we have, as extensions of their heavenly machinations.These spirits can be appealed to with idols, offerings, and even animal sacrifices.
There are certain ancestor very prominent in the mythos, known across the land. Eventually, there is no doubt that these figures will one day become as to gods, with the Godhead a slowly shed and dimly understood concept, replaced by Jesus Christ, King of the Gods, and the Holy Spirit. But, that time is not yet. All thanks to the machinations of a single unified church.
Whale-bone totems
Technically speaking, the Laskans are Christians, but only technically.
The Laskans believe that across most of the world, things operate totally typically and as you would expect from the Bible. But in the Lands of Laska, things get turned upside down. The primary cause of this is an extension of the Biblical belief in ghosts: namely, that souls in Laska cannot ascend. The theory goes that spirits try to ascend to Heaven on Halloween, before the winter chill sets in and makes the ground too hard for souls to escape their graves. Unfortunately, however, souls in Laska are caught by the Aurora borealis: blanketing the sky, it traps the souls who attempt to fly towards the sun, which is believed to be the gateway to Heaven.
Here, in the Aurora borealis and in the star constellations, the ancestors of the Laskans are trapped. But it is not a poor existence: far from it. Rather, it is a land of triumph and heroes, mead and fighting, sailing and whaling. It is always sunny in the lands of Aurora, and your deeds can have an impact on the face of the heavens, whether it be the shimmer of the aurora, the flight of a comet, or even the supernova of a star. It is not just home to ancestral spirits, however: saints, both old and new, roam these lands, along side the Archangels. The Lands of Aurora will come to an end in the End of Days, when the Saints and the Ancestors descend alongside Jesus Christ to lead the Laskan people in establishing the Millennial Kingdom.
The idea of Aurora has had a profound impact upon the culture of the Laskans. For one thing, it has allowed a means to immortalize their ancestors and heroes, with the many historical sagas having their settings moved to the Aurora in a manner comparable to the Dreamtime of the Australian Aborigines or, indeed, the slow reverse euhumerization that all cultures undergo when history turns to legend.
More importantly, however, it has given them a way to explain the world around them. The environment of Alaska is capricious and harsh: what loving god would do this to them> Well, the answer is that the weather and natural processes aren't controlled by God himself: after all, he's the master of the universe. He's got more important business to attend to. Instead, any number of ghosts, demons, saints and angels control the more day-to-day problems we have, as extensions of their heavenly machinations.These spirits can be appealed to with idols, offerings, and even animal sacrifices.
There are certain ancestor very prominent in the mythos, known across the land. Eventually, there is no doubt that these figures will one day become as to gods, with the Godhead a slowly shed and dimly understood concept, replaced by Jesus Christ, King of the Gods, and the Holy Spirit. But, that time is not yet. All thanks to the machinations of a single unified church.
Laskan Orthodox Church
The Laskan Orthodox Church
The primary church of the Laskans is, surprisingly, the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church always hadan unusally large following in Alaska, a tradition dating all the way back to its colonial Russian past. When the world began regressing, the Orthodox church was prepared: after all, the entire organizational and liturgical structure of the Church came about during the Middle Ages, as opposed to those pussy post-Renaissance Protestants. Using its organized network across Laska, the different Orthodox churches coordinated their efforts, and worked to ensure their hegemony over the whole of the land. The local Catholic Churches quickly reconciled, ending the schism, but most of the Protestant churches were slower to do so. From Joono, the center of the Orthodox church, they either convinced them, forced them, or got a friendly local leader to burn them down. Eventually, thanks primarily to the conversion of most of the leaders of the first Great Raid, Orthodoxy was the number one religion in Laska.
As it turned out, Orthodoxy lent itself quite well to the slowly developing folklore of polytheism and ancestor-worship. Orthodox icons, considered holy and said to be capable of working miracles, were already halfway to being idols. As Laskans began building totems and fetishes and idols themselves, many were simply called "Icons", blessed by the local priest, and they were free to sacrifice chickens to it.
The Orthodox Church also ministers quite extensively in the wastes beyond Laska, among the Athabaskans and Inuit of Eskimoland. The common folk generally consider them heretics, unfaithful devil-worshipers that only put on the trappings of faith when, ironically, the average "Eskimo" is far more true to the Church's teachings than the average Laskan. While the Eskimos are perhaps more open about the non-traditional aspects of their Orthodoxy, which does incorporate a lot of Native beliefs, they are still generally more faithful.
The Church is loosely organized, but is theoretically governed by the Laskan Patriarch in the Joono St. Nicholas Cathedral, which has been vastly expanded from its original pre-Regression form. The Church moved to Joono as the Regression began, hoping that by moving to the state capital, it would be easier to spread their control across the state. It is difficult for the Patriarch to issue direct control over most of his priests, since they are often located in isolated locales, giving local priests a good degree of leeway that they have certainly taken advantage of.
The Holy Church of St. Nicholas as it stands today
Generally, Orthodoxy is not too hostile towards other religion. This is in part due to necessity- after all, they don't just have their own pagan populace to deal with: trade with the Buddhists of the Pacific Northwest and the Scientologists of California is one of the only things keeping them afloat. Buddhism has even made inroads, especially on Graham Island and the city-state of Kechikan, with smaller colonies spread throughout the Alzandar Archipelago. Though these converts and colonials have been excommunicated by the Orthodox Church, they still consider themselves Christian, seeing Buddhism as an addition, not a subtraction.
The Church has been getting less and less strict about canonization, with most of the heroes of Laskan history being accepted in. There have been several periods of iconoclasty, when the church (mainly in Joono, which is the center of the church and home to the the Laskan Patriarch) has tried to crack down on the "folk-saints", superstitions and idolatry, but this is always met with hostility by the common folk of Laska. Only time will tell how far the Orthodox Church will allow the Laskan people to fall into the pit of polytheism and sin- will it go down with them, a slave to cultural and economic reality, or attempt a glorious crusade upon the Laskan people?
The primary church of the Laskans is, surprisingly, the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church always hadan unusally large following in Alaska, a tradition dating all the way back to its colonial Russian past. When the world began regressing, the Orthodox church was prepared: after all, the entire organizational and liturgical structure of the Church came about during the Middle Ages, as opposed to those pussy post-Renaissance Protestants. Using its organized network across Laska, the different Orthodox churches coordinated their efforts, and worked to ensure their hegemony over the whole of the land. The local Catholic Churches quickly reconciled, ending the schism, but most of the Protestant churches were slower to do so. From Joono, the center of the Orthodox church, they either convinced them, forced them, or got a friendly local leader to burn them down. Eventually, thanks primarily to the conversion of most of the leaders of the first Great Raid, Orthodoxy was the number one religion in Laska.
As it turned out, Orthodoxy lent itself quite well to the slowly developing folklore of polytheism and ancestor-worship. Orthodox icons, considered holy and said to be capable of working miracles, were already halfway to being idols. As Laskans began building totems and fetishes and idols themselves, many were simply called "Icons", blessed by the local priest, and they were free to sacrifice chickens to it.
The Orthodox Church also ministers quite extensively in the wastes beyond Laska, among the Athabaskans and Inuit of Eskimoland. The common folk generally consider them heretics, unfaithful devil-worshipers that only put on the trappings of faith when, ironically, the average "Eskimo" is far more true to the Church's teachings than the average Laskan. While the Eskimos are perhaps more open about the non-traditional aspects of their Orthodoxy, which does incorporate a lot of Native beliefs, they are still generally more faithful.
The Church is loosely organized, but is theoretically governed by the Laskan Patriarch in the Joono St. Nicholas Cathedral, which has been vastly expanded from its original pre-Regression form. The Church moved to Joono as the Regression began, hoping that by moving to the state capital, it would be easier to spread their control across the state. It is difficult for the Patriarch to issue direct control over most of his priests, since they are often located in isolated locales, giving local priests a good degree of leeway that they have certainly taken advantage of.
The Holy Church of St. Nicholas as it stands today
Generally, Orthodoxy is not too hostile towards other religion. This is in part due to necessity- after all, they don't just have their own pagan populace to deal with: trade with the Buddhists of the Pacific Northwest and the Scientologists of California is one of the only things keeping them afloat. Buddhism has even made inroads, especially on Graham Island and the city-state of Kechikan, with smaller colonies spread throughout the Alzandar Archipelago. Though these converts and colonials have been excommunicated by the Orthodox Church, they still consider themselves Christian, seeing Buddhism as an addition, not a subtraction.
The Church has been getting less and less strict about canonization, with most of the heroes of Laskan history being accepted in. There have been several periods of iconoclasty, when the church (mainly in Joono, which is the center of the church and home to the the Laskan Patriarch) has tried to crack down on the "folk-saints", superstitions and idolatry, but this is always met with hostility by the common folk of Laska. Only time will tell how far the Orthodox Church will allow the Laskan people to fall into the pit of polytheism and sin- will it go down with them, a slave to cultural and economic reality, or attempt a glorious crusade upon the Laskan people?
Updated the Table of Contents.
I take it this is taken from Black Lives Matter? A bit odd... is there a big BLM contingent in Eastern Oregon?
There's a big BLM contingent everywhere. Except North Dakota, no one remembers North Dakota.
tehskyman
Banned
I guess it is a bit confusing, but in this case BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management which does own most of the land in the area.
Part of the reason I was confused, but Teshky's explanation makes a lot of sense.
I'm thinking of turning LOTR lore into an actual religion. Of course, it will have some animist and old testemant influences but judging how mush of a devout christian Tolkien was, it looks pretty easy so far. I'm thinking of making the faith popular with the New Israelites and eventually, it will experience a boost thanks to the gunpowder trade. It will probably become a state religion during the late American Renaissance but for now, it's mostly a bunch of churches in the Rizzini territory. I also feel like turning the teachings of Muad'dib into a religion for the Chicago Muslim refugees.
tehskyman
Banned
But will people remember LOTR lore? Its not that popular and very few people actually know the deep lore of the series. Same with Dune. Yes it was an influence story but is it popular and do people actually know the teachings of Muad'dib? I'd say probably not. If you still haven't read the original Matthew White stuff, you probably should along with the TKII thread.
My thoughts exactly.
Also, the only canonical Muslim region exists in the Rocky Mountains. Check the OP.
Another Muslim region would be Dearborn, Michigan because it's got the second-highest Muslim population in the US, behind NYC of course. And I've always disliked how ugly the canon map of Islamic Colorado is. Why any medieval state would use straight lines for borders is beyond me.
tehskyman
Banned
Well considering the Core of Christianity is next door in Ohio, they probably fled to Colorado and/or got crusaded