Cult of Aygir

The Work of Titans

Titans are mysterious beings who were (it is believed) tasked with the creation of the land. Some stories describe them as the size of mountains, and some put them at closer to the height of a tower, with powerful magics of creation and destruction. Pure speculation; it is further believed that most of them buried themselves in undeath to dream beneath the roots of the mountains once the world was complete. There is even a special type of gem found deep within mountains known as a "titan's heart", which Goblin engineers (that is, all goblins) use to create their terrible devices, channeling the fires of Profundum through the gem as a conduit. A dread primordial demigod, Aygir is one of the unsexed titans that predate even the Cult of Karna.

The Worship of Titans

When the world was finished, Aygir did not want to dream of a new world. They had fallen in love with their handiwork, and wished only to look upon the happy folk who walked upon the hills they had shaped. Karna spoke to them angrily, but the titan would not forsake their dream. Doctrine of the Cult of Karna holds that Aygir was cursed to never walk upon the land. In wroth, Aygir created the Sunsteda Bay Islands, a thousand defiant rebuttals. You cannot take these from me, Golden One. They are mine, and I am theirs. Aygir melded with the Sunsteda Bay Islands and Karna was, after an intercession by Lady Chartreuse, satisfied of their claim.

Titanic Creed

Since time immemorial, the Kingdom of Orisaar have avowed themselves to Aygir. Even those that forsake their homeland to become pirates still pay homage to the titan. The Cult of Aygir professes that their faith is a valid subset of the solar faith; it is merely that their isles are not the province of Karna at all, according to their own titanomachy. They are not solar apostates, but the subjects of a locally-prevailing Higher Authority. They maintain that the rebel titan allowed themselves to be chained to the ocean floor by Saint Drang, an ancient hero who swore fealty to Aygir on behalf of himself and all his descendants. It is speculated that this is why the Amaranthine Line of Drang has never failed; why would the titan allow it? The Cult of Karna views them as a slightly outlandish but ultimately harmless cultural curiosity, subordinate to and part of the larger solar faith. The solar Cult of Speed views it as dangerous idolatry, an intellectually bereft and morally dishonest religion oddly befitting the squat fishermen. Potamic Speed faiths, being themselves rather animistic, find no fault. 

A Cultic Milieu

One of the primary aspects of Orit culture in the context of Aygir worship is through ties to the past. Most families dedicate a room of the family home to the preservation and display of ancestral skulls. These are usually preserved and decorated with clay and paints to restore a lifelike appearance and arrayed in honor of their greatest exploits. Sea captains may sit on a plinth with a compass, for example.Especially old and wealthy families preserve the entire bodies in this way, and the rooms can be quite large (or at least, large compared to rooms typically occupied by living Orit).

Many use these rooms for the channeling (and occasionally, possession) of ancestral spirits. The Cult of Aygir offers a service that 'resurrects' the spirit to facilitate this practice; an imprint of the soul is retained in the ancestral skulls, which resonate as one voice when called upon. The living are able to commune with the aggregated spirit of their ancestors in these hallowed rooms. In this way they are judged, guided, and reminded of their past. It is believed that the spirits are in touch with the very animus and anima of Aygir.

Their Example

While Orisaar society is very socially complex, insular, and traditionalist, they value most highly the capacity to dispute with dignity. Their own god defied its master for love, and found peace. The titans were the striving ones, the creators of the world. Through their works, people of Orisaar seek their true selves. They prefer to say less and let their work speak for itself. They are laconic in speech but passionate in their Rassláttur, with a work ethic that looks inward, also.