ASTROLOGY

Founded  9,800 BV

Astrology is an old method of study and thought adopted first by the titanic mystics of old on Thangaria who later brought the practice with them to Tralodren. The understanding was that as part of the cosmos, constellations and the movement of planetary bodies had a part to play in the unfolding of the cosmos’ existence. And each of these constellations have an aspect about them that could influence those who lived below. This influence could be helpful or hurtful, depending on the given body ascending or descending across the heavens and therefore increasing or decreasing its influence.

Those who teach and study this philosophy are called Astrologers. Both they and the ones who follow them think the heavenly bodies were able to influence one’s personality and even destiny at birth as well as helped or even hindered one’s actions at certain times of the year. 

MYSTICISM

Founded  10,000 BV

Mysticism is a unique philosophy that served as the seedbed for all future religions on Thangaria and Tralodren and had its largest following before the rise of Vkar and the pantheon. From then on it was a slow decline, with some adherents finding their way onto Tralodren and continuing it for a few generations in ever weaker adherence and number of followers until finally it died out with the removal of the titans from Tralodren.

Those who practiced this philosophy were called mystics and were first more like tribal shamans who had come to a greater understanding of the world and reality in the cosmos. But in 9700 BV there arose a split among the mystics. At first it was more philosophical but in the decades that followed it became more substantial and dominate in their ways and practices and thoughts. The major schism occurred over how one saw the cosmos and their place in it. Some wanted to focus their attention solely on the Cosmic Entities whom they held should be worshipped for their creation of the cosmos and all in. Others wanted to keep focusing on the cosmos itself and all aspects of the cosmic elements and other things related to them. They wanted a greater understanding of their place and how to even advance that while learning more about the reality in which they lived, including how to better understand and even master various aspects of it. Those who held to the worship of the Cosmic Entities took the name of priests. What they would teach would became known as the Cosmic Truth with those who sided with them called Cosmins. The others kept the name mystic, but changed their focus onto the wider cosmos and how one can tap into and even use it for their own good. And in the generations that followed they’d turn more and more into a scholarly pursuit that would actually lay the foundations of what would later be called magic in the modern day.

And it is this more scientific approach to how things worked and were connected across the cosmos and how one can tap into it for various ends that became and continued to remain the main focus of mysticism. And while it fell out of favor in time after the fall of the titans on Tralodren it still carried over a few ideas and concepts—at least on foundational matters—into the start of the modern day understanding of magic and wizardry.

Later, toward the end of the Fourth Age of the Wizard Kings, it made a small return but in a more quasi-religious way, which was soon called modern mysticism, classifying what came before as classical mysticism. This modern version would keep itself to smaller circles, usually in more urban areas where there was access to greater amount of knowledge, thought, and theories one could explore, but never increased into anything too large of a gathering nor movement.

There is still a focus on understanding of the cosmos but instead of looking solely toward the Cosmic Entities—all the cosmic elements have a sort of spiritual natural to them. Learning how to better tap into, relate, and even blend into this reality is part the path many seek to now follow. The gods are understood on an abstract level, being seen either as beings who have progressed further into their own understanding of the cosmos or even as possible manifestations of the cosmos itself—even a cosmic vessel or guise the cosmos uses or speaks/acts through.

These concepts are still rather mutable and open to personal interpretation, making this philosophy something that can easily and often is adopted and blended into other beliefs.

Basic Tenets

The modern version of this philosophy espouses the following tenets:

• Seek to find a balance in your life and place within the greater cosmos.

• Spirit is meant to balance the mind and the body—each are individual but also combine into a greater whole.

• Everything has a purpose. Every action has a reason.

• There is always something deeper at work, guiding our paths and directing our actions.

AMARISM

Founded  7008 BV

This is perhaps one of the oldest of the philosophies known on Tralodren. It is also one of the only ones to have such a unique pedigree of creation and establishment since its founding in the distant days of the ancient dranors. Before the coming of Marat and the fall of the dranoric race, there was a dranor named Amar who took great study on the means of seeking out the perfect version of all lesser life. He was obsessed in bringing about the best the gods have given them lest the plants and animals fall into a lesser state than what they were created to be.

In this Amar was a strong proponent of selective breeding and pollinating of plants to bring about their best yield and strongest—what he thought—original intent. With his death his followers, mere sages like himself, continued his work but thought to see if they might be able to bring about a better result than before, leading to the alteration of plants and animals to heighten their perceived better qualities.

This process continued for many years until the coming of Marat and the curse upon the dranors. It was around this time that some sages thought to take what Amar had put forth and turn it on themselves, bringing about a better and non-cursed version of their race. And it was by this thinking and the efforts tied to them that they brought about mortalkind. Even so, they didn’t give up in their efforts even until the end of their race; having nothing to show for it in the end.

When those who survived the Great Shaking started to rebuild their lives some recalled Amarism and started to stretch it into other areas of life, namely political and social arenas wherein they tried to bring about a blending of good ideas and purging of what were seen as bad ideas or the weaknesses of certain things. With this mindset also followed the desire to make oneself better and make one’s race better overall. In so doing racism in various forms flared up in various spots over the lands where this philosophy was taught and practiced, but by the middle of the Shadow Years it had gone into more an underground type of belief that was seen more in terms of breeding a superior race from the mixture of all the races of Tralodren, thus becoming the ultimate race to inherit the world—or as some would later see it: the means to reverse what the dranors, by their curse, had wrought.

While there are still aspects to Amarism that focus on other ways of life: the true religion (many believe in a form of pantheonism), the ultimate society (factions still debate upon the matters of what is and isn’t the best), to the betterment of self, what has become the major focus—that is the perfection of the perfect race—remains hidden from most open circles of debate. Some sages and scholars believe there’s a whole underground society of people hidden away working on ways to bring about their desired end via whatever means they can (wars, politics, the arts, education, etc). While not all are so conspiratorial, the taint of such a presupposed outlook has placed many Amarins to keep their beliefs to themselves most of the time—especially when in mixed company.

Basic Tenets

There a several ways the philosophy has been adhered to over the ages, but the modern form espouses the following tenets:

• Work toward the betterment and even perfection of self.

• Strive for the betterment and perfection of all races.

• Endeavor for the best and most perfect society for all.

CYRINISM

Founded 6230 BV

Cyrinism is the name of the philosophy founded by Cyrin, an ancient dranor who lived in the days of Marat, who put forth the idea that all that was to be known was just the natural world. And by better understanding the cosmos one could better understand oneself and your place and purpose in said world. Such thinking eventually led down the path that saw the questioning of the gods and their fall into disfavor. Many of his students would eventually see them as nothing more than natural beings as themselves, denying there was any afterlife or even spirit and holding to a soul only—one’s mind, will, and emotions—wrapped up in flesh.

Those who follow Cyrinism are called Cyrinists and look to solve challenges they ponder and face through physical/natural means only. All that is and can be learned, they hold, can be discovered through the five senses and the mind; the rest is fantasy and wild speculation. There isn’t really a means of improving oneself but rather the focus is on finding out where you belong and where others and what others should be doing so all can be in balance and the great cosmic wheels move forward and onward in perfect harmony.

That such a belief could find hold in the dranors during the days of Marat is no real surprise. But later generations of mortalkind adopted another outlook based upon this foundation. This mindset stated that though the gods might not be all the priests think they are they should still be honored for their higher rank on the ladder of being just as the rat should respect the wolf who is far more superior to it.

This sat better with some who still wished to honor the gods and others who didn’t think too kindly of those who would deny them as had the dranors of old. This, of course, isn’t to say that other philosophers don’t take to the way and method of Cyrin’s original position even though this second interpretation became more common in the circles of thought that bare his name.

In time the new way version of the philosophy became known as Modern Cyrinism with the original version getting called Classical Cyrinism.

Basic Tenets

Depending on the time period and place a practicer or school is based there may be some minor changes or additions, but overall all Cyrinists follow these basic tenets:

• There is nothing but the physical world; only what can be touched, experienced, or seen.

• Seek the Cosmic Will and you will thrive by fulfilling your ultimate purpose.

• There is no spiritual reality nor afterlife, only the body and soul: one’s mind, will and emotions.

  Disharmony in a given situation or environment is often the result of one or more people not being in their place or trying to make a place for themselves outside the Cosmic Will.

BOLINISM

Founded 5320 BV

Bolinism is the name of the philosophy founded by a Telborian named Bolin Miders on Talatheal in the years following the Great Shaking in what would later be called the Second Great Decline. Having survived this time of great upheaval, he took to the side of thought that said all that is real and worth knowing is that of the spiritual side of things. The natural world is nothing but a pale shadow of the true things that lie beyond normal sight, these being the spiritual truths upon which all are built and made from. Bolin saw the gods as the highest form of spiritual reality and the shapers and guiders of the spiritual truth that makes of up the cosmos. To learn of them while looking to the natural world as a shadow of the truth that is behind and beyond it is the chief way to better understand the cosmos, oneself, and one’s place in it. Spirit, it was said, was the truth reality and as such superseded and predicated all that came into being in the physical reality.

This philosophy was popular among some who sought a reversal of the less godly thoughts of the Cyrinists—especially after the Great Shaking and the First and Second Decline. Bolin would die content that he had made a positive impact on the world and people’s lives in general.

However, as the generations of philosophers went forward through time an elven student by the name of Hector, caused a split in the way Bolinists pressed on for knowledge. He stated that the gods were not the highest form of spiritual truth and reality but a reflection of still a greater and ultimate reality that was the true spiritual reality from which all seen and unseen things descend and reflect.

Hector called this highest form “the Fount” and soon brought others to his way of thinking. Therefore there’s a split in the way how Bolinism is pursued but it’s a peaceful one. The philosophers don’t have any harsh words or destructive things to meet out to the other, each content to agree to disagree on the matter for the sake of peace and keeping the unity of the general principles upon which they do agree. Those who hold to Bolin’s original premise are called Classical Bolinists while those who side with Hector are called Modern Bolinists.

Like many philosophers they don’t have that large a number of followers but they are often received well by priests, some Bolinists actually becoming priests as they continue their quest for a greater understanding of reality. Naturally, the priests see the positive side in having others outside their ranks promoting the gods and spiritual things and often times have supported and helped them at various times for mutual gain.
Outside of Hector, though, there has never been any other to try and change or challenge the teachings of Bolin or anyone else who has added to his work. 

Basic Tenets

While there are two different takes on this philosophy each adheres to these basis tenets:

• Spirit is the true reality, superseding and predicating all that came into being in the physical reality.

• The physical world is only a reflection/shadow of the spiritual, and thus not as real or consequential as the spiritual realm.

• The physical realm is temporal but the spiritual realm is eternal.

  The gods/Fount are/is the highest form of the spirit and thus reality.

CALLISM

Founded 1217  BV

Near the end of the Shadow Years  an  Elyellium by the name of Callum was seeking to find some meaning to life, searching out the truths of all the faiths and the two major schools of philosophic thought at the time (Cyrinism and Bolinism). He wasn’t totally satisfied with what he came across, however, seeing holes and problems in the way it all was put forth and so began to form his own take on what he thought to be true, forming in time his own philosophy that found its own life after his death. In general, Callism states that true reality is a mixture of physical and spiritual realities but they can not fully be discerned, used, or enjoyed apart from the soul or mental aspect of being. The mind was what helped give it all sense and purpose and allowed one to balance between these two worlds as well as better order one’s days and life. To Callum the mind was to be used to list and put order to the cosmos, to define and discern all reality into workable laws and structures to all things from one’s life to the cosmos in which one lived.

Tapping into the work already done to this extent in Bolinism and Cyrinism, Callum simply merged these philosophies with the common held beliefs in the religions of that time. In this Callum sites the gods as supreme forms of the balancing of the spirit, soul, and body, with the rest of the beings and items in the cosmos being ranked lower from there. He allowed room for abstracts (such as the concept of Awntodgenee and Nuhl) but put them in definable and measurable terms to better understand their place and one’s purpose in their interaction with them.

Needless to say it is a complex and sometimes confusing system of thought that has, over the years since its founding, become more of an esoteric religion with “prime beings” and special ceremonies and duties being assigned to the philosophers and followers who adhere to Callism. It has even gone so far that in 800 PV Callum was elevated to a sort of divine position with a cult based around his worship. This and other ideologies held by the Callimists have prompted the other major philosophical schools to deem Callism a strange religion and no longer just a philosophy, though not all who follow it hold to the alterations made to it by others. Though these same do not seek to try and put and end to how its practiced by these more esoteric minded Callimists.

The prime beings for these Callimists are Reason and Providence, which are seen as unknownable forces that help guide the cosmos. They have their hand in all things and one is best served seeking to adopt more of the ways of reason and submit themselves to the direction of providence in their lives. Callum is held as a semi-divine being who helped bring the greater light of this revelation to others, helping them tap into their true potential and the greater purpose of the cosmos. As to the ceremonies, they are fairly generic and simple affairs with more show and pageantry over anything else. As such it’s little wonder most priests and religions across Tralodren don’t take them too seriously nor hold their ways and ideology in any esteem.

Basic Tenets

Depending on the time period and if one chooses to go more in the esoterically religious side of things or more secular there can be some variances in the overall philosophy. But no matter the path chosen, at the core the following tenets are believed:

• Reality is a mixture of physical and spiritual realties that cannot be fully enjoyed and understood apart from the soul.

• The mind brings order to the cosmos and life.

• The gods are the supreme example of the perfect balance of spirit, soul, and body; this balance should be emulated in one’s life.

ELEMENTALISM

Founded 1534  BV

Elemantalism was developed during the Great Ascent by a Napowese man named Chou Chul  who came to believe that all was connected to the composition of the sixteen cosmic elements to various degrees. These compositions made other lesser elements and even life—even the gods themselves. It stood to reason, therefore, that all one had to do was make a study of the various combinations and one could have the means to cure sickness, improve one’s life, even rise to the divine. Since it focused so heavily on the nature and use of elements it is little surprise the philosophy was named after that rather than its founder.

Those who practiced the philosophy were known as Elementalists and took what they learned far and wide over the ensuing years for whether he knew it or not Chou had helped lay the ground work, in part, for the coming of the wizard kings. In his assessment of the natural order and how the elements comprised and composed all reality (spiritual, mental, and physical) he helped bring those studying the ways of the ancient magi into greater light and thus set up some concepts and understandings that would later bring into being what would eventually become known as magic insofar as mortalkind has been able to come to understand and use it.

Chou himself wasn’t concerned with magic but, like many philosophers, was interested in truth as to the reality about him and how to improve his place and the place of others in it once he found where they were located. By ascribing moral and various virtues to the elements and their nebulous combinations he soon became part sage and part healer, prescribing and mixing up all sorts of various elixirs to helped relieve a whole host of maladies. In this he also gave birth to modern day sages who took on some of his work for alchemy, metallurgy, and a host of other areas of interest.

As the generations changed and the ideas and message of Chou came to first the Western Lands and then eventually to the Midlands and from there to the Southern Lands by the end of the Fourth Age of the Wizard Kings, it had taken on some various elements that brought it into a sort of religious outlook wherein the elements where semi-divine things and thus all things they made had a sort of semi-divine nature to them. Filling the void left by the absence of the worship of the pantheon in many places at this time, it soon caught fire among many more who either took it whole cloth for themselves or tied it into the worship of the wizard kings—the ultimate example of those who can wield and control the cosmic elements.

Following the years before the Third Wars of Magic and then those after the Divine Vindication there came a decline of favor and support for Elemantalism. New understandings in various ways of life and the place and ties it held with the wizard kings turned many away and shunned others who would still follow it, diminishing its once wide circulation over various parts of the world. By the middle of the Age of Ash only Napow and select parts of the Western Lands still clung to Elemantalism—the rest having turned their back on something that was seen more as superstition of a sort and too far removed from any known truth or reality to be of any great good or use to anyone. The return of the worship of the gods also helped to stamp much of it out in many parts of the world.

Basic Tenets

Depending on the time period and place a practicer or school is based there may be some minor changes or additions, but overall all Elementalists follow these basic tenets:

• All reality is a mixture of the cosmic elements.

• Any problem can be solved if the right mixture is found.

• The cosmic elements in their purest form are semi-divine, therefore anyone made of them has a varying aspect of that same semi-divinity in them.

NUMERALISM

Founded 2000  BV

This form of thought came about by the workings of a Patrician sage named Leander Niko who took a step outside his studies of mathematics to something that transcended the common formula he was working with in his studies. While using his skills to predict an eclipse during that year he suddenly realized that if this matter could be so well predicted by mathematics than it stood to reason that others could too. And if that was so then it must be that all things had an aspect of mathematics in them—that is must be comprised of numeric variables and expressions. If this then was true than all reality—the cosmos itself—could be explored and explained through numerical terms and formula.

So began a philosophy that was not named after its founder but rather the crux of the thought it spawned. Those who came to side with Leander’s view became known as Numerians and the philosophy Numeralism.

Leander and his followers taught that all things could be solved and explained by numbers. If you know the variables to plug into an equation then you could solve things such as when a person would die, when one would be born, the movement of planets, the nature of choices one could make, the route they could take, and so much more. All things—all life—could be understood and even changed for the better.

Magic and faith was seen as people expressing themselves through various equations and formula. This isn’t to say that Numerians were anti-religion, faith, or magic just that they didn’t see it in the same light and so put it in a different category than others. The same was true of life itself, which Leander became obsessed about making better for all. Too this end he thought of seeking out what he termed “the Prime Formula”—which was nothing short of the ultimate key to solving the establishment of the cosmos. 

This search dominated the rest of his life. When he passed to Mortis his followers continued to press toward the mark he left them, letting this be their chief aim while various subdivisions of study took root over the centuries that followed. These divisions were more or less areas of greater study and interest for the Numerian over a more general approach to things. Such divisions were health and life, nature, cosmology, relationships, politics, the arts, morality, future events, manufacturing, and other such matters that might catch or have caught someone’s attention in times past. But all, in some way, look to press toward the Prime Formula and so complete their ultimate prize.

This philosophy is not that far removed from Rexatoius, being something that has held the interest of the Patrious and few else since its founding. Small schools have been established and pop up from time to time, often near other places of learning, but nothing in the way of grand establishment or a hierarchy of any sort has developed over the centuries, though each Numerian looks to speak and share their insights gained for peer review and better enlightenment so as better grow in their understanding for the betterment of all Numerians.

Basic Tenets

While those who take to Numeralism might have some variations to their overall approach all adhere to the following tenets:

• Everything can be resolved and predicted with the right equation.

• Everything has a variable; find it and you can figure out its path and future.

• All things exist and are upheld by an interaction of equations.

  Freewill and fate are simply resolutions of lesser aspects of the Prime Formula.

BIRONISM

Founded 1500  BV

Alfred Biron was a gnome growing up during the days of the First Great Ascent. Like many gnomes of his age he was taken with moral philosophy, seeking a way to bring about the best government to his people. He was among a group who subscribed to a form of moral philosophy of the time that had some roots in Cameronism, joining with one side of this group that stated all were born inherently good and moral beings; capable of doing good and growing to even greater levels of it if not unduly limited. Instead, a person knew what was right and wrong and what worked best for them. Evil was then not the inherent nature of mortalkind but the results of having that good nature frustrated.

Alfred, though, took it a step further for he thought the best government would be one that works with the genius of the ones being governed by it. That is to say a government that didn’t hinder the inner greatness of the person but allowed it to thrive in a framework that allowed the best growth and development for all. In this way of thinking governments were seen as moral or immoral as to how far they hindered the individual. Have the right government in place and society would mend itself and mortalkind would rise to its true potential. Government then was not something to help if it grew too oppressive which in turn hindered the individual and in so doing frustrating them—leading to rebellions, wrath, crime, and other social ills. If one were to find the right government one could have harmony and peace in the land.

Those who followed this line of thought became known as Bironists, and pressed for reforms and social agendas that took away as many limitations as possible to bring about more rule of the self-governed. This was established in the family as well, the child being left freer as they were raised, being thought to be good (though it wasn’t as universally accepted as the governmental themes). While some might label them anarchists, Bironists look to keep order, just more in a framework that helps and encourages one to aspire to greater things with as little limitations as possible.

Biron got to see his philosophy take off in favor with many and start to become the major governing philosophy of the nation shortly before his death. It has since remained a major form of thought in the Western Lands and later found its way into other parts of the Midlands—especially following the Divine Vindication. 

Basic Tenets

While those who practice Bironism can and have added in minor additions of thought based on their culture, political history, and such, the philosophy over all follows these basic tenets:

• Mortalkind is inherently good.

• Evil is created through the frustration of the inherent good.

• The less people are ruled the happier they are.

  A truly moral government is one that rules the least.

CAMERONISM

Founded 2768 BV

It is widely understood that this was the first moral philosophy on Tralodren, and from which all the others would later arise. It came about on Antora by the a half-elf named Vanrin Ithana. His mixed Celetoric and Elyelmic parentage already put him into a challenging position after the Imperial Wars and with the rise of the First Great Unrest, he was seriously starting to question if there was any hope left for the world.

It was during this time he came upon a hidden cache of ancient teachings belonging to Cameron Goldeneye. This near mythical greater godspawn was credited with the creation of the foundation for Tralodren’s basic moral code. In reading the text (which he miraculously found himself able to due thanks to his learning of ancient languages, which helped him translate and possess a rudimentary understanding of what he was reading) he came to find his answers in a brighter hope for the world.

There was a common way to move forward, a common path for greater harmony and peace and success in all areas of life. And it was with this understanding Vanrin would set out to develop and share what he called Cameronism with the rest of the world. This idea of a universal way of life—a cosmic code of morality and good that could work for all people of all times— had five main components, which Vanrin named foundations:

Truth—Always speak and live in truth, seeking to promote and protect it.
Kindness—Possessing a desire and effort to be kind to others in all you do.
Reciprocity—The idea of doing only good to others; what you’d want done to and for you.
Thankfulness—Understanding that no one owes you anything; any good you receive is a gift you should be mindful of and appreciate.
Humility—Being aware of your weakness but also enjoying and developing your strengths and accomplishments, but not to the point of pride.

Vanrin also established an idea that would have long running significance not just in the circles of moral philosophy but in life in general. That was that people are born with a free will to make choices for good or evil, they are not inherently good nor immediately evil, though could be corrupted over time to such a view. One also could, by default, find themselves slipping into evil by simply not observing the five foundations.

He would die in the Western Lands in, knowing that he had sowed the seeds for a powerful new way of life and thought that would forever influence Tralodren in some large and subtle ways. And even into the modern day pockets of priests tend to share a positive view of the philosophy—these who worship the Light Gods especially—since it tends to support and strengthen much of their own tenets.

Those would would side with it and practice and promote Cameronism are called Cameronists.

Basic Tenets

The five main components serve as the main tenets of the philosophy.

FULLERISM

Founded 1369  BV

Douglass Fuller was a gnome who rose up to challenge Bironism. A moral philosopher from the other side of the coin that Biron subscribed to, he put forth that mortalkind is easily led astray if not kept from veering from the right path. To this end, he held that if given free rein the tendency birthed is with more power and freedom comes more abuse of the two for the detriment of all.

Fuller stated that there needed to be clear limitations on what can and cannot be done; should and should not be tolerated; these being set down by a majority so as to keep the greatest hold over all. Laws were needed to stem back the tide of dark potential and evil that could arise from unchecked lusts and ambitions while also encouraging the best of mortalkind to rise and flourish.

While some have labeled Fuller and those who followed after him, called Fullerists, as being harsh and autocratic—even dictatorial in nature—they are far from such a view. As they hold to being regulation on persons so they hold it should be done to the government itself. Strong advocates of not getting too much power to only a few without any checks or balances or laws holding them was seen as foolish and ultimately destructive. Since governments were run by mortalkind it was wise to keep them in line too since they could fall into the same trouble as any, only more so for they have access to more power and authority than others.

Needless to say all of Douglass’ life following his rise in attention and influence was a rocky one as he battled back and forth with various forces from many sides to bring his beliefs into reality, ultimately setting up another major school of philosophical thought that would long outlast him and find itself crossing over into the Midlands and other parts of the Western Lands.

Basic Tenets

While those who practice Fullerism can and have added in minor additions of thought based on their culture, political history, and such but the philosophy over all follows these basic tenets:

• With unchecked power and freedom comes more abuse of both for the detriment of all.

• Clear limitations should be encouraged from and on all for the good order and continued peace of all.

• People are easily led astray if a clear path is not kept before them.

  Too much power in anyone’s hands is never good for either the person who wields it nor those over whom it’s wielded.

NEELISM

Founded 1100  BV

Kenton Neely came to prominence around Breanna for his powerful denouncing of both major gnomish moral philosophies that have risen over the previous centuries. Like many of his time he had favored one over the other, starting out a Bironist but then moving toward Fullerism when he started seeing more guidance and order was needed than what Bironism sought to put forth. However, he wasn’t one to side too long with Fullerism either as he thought it went too far the other way. Discontent and frustrated with his options, Kenton decided to make a third way for himself and others like him to follow. While he didn’t give it a name it soon became attached to his own, becoming known as Neelism. Those who followed after it becoming known as Neelians.

What Kenton taught was a balance of self and society through a series of personal laws and values in combination with a free government that imposed rules in a meaningful and effective way. Rather than look to legislate morality as he held Fullerism did or rely upon the ultimate goodness of another to keep things moving right, as held by Bironism, Kenton said that mortalkind had the free will given them by the gods to make their own choices but one needed to be protected from the choices made by others if they imposed upon another for the betterment of all.

In his mind, government was more a protector of others’ rights and lives while also allowing one to be self-governed to a certain degree. Should one prove to be unable to govern themselves, it was also the job of the government to make sure they did not become a terror to others who were so able and thereby ruin the virtue of the society. Checks and balances were key to all this on various levels from personal to governmental. The family was to have ways of keeping order, using elders and blood ties, marriage, and other things to help raise and keep children and each other from getting too far out of line and ruining the virtue of the family and then in turn the society as whole.

In stating that mortalkind (and indeed all creation) is both good and evil—possessing a propensity for whichever it looks to yield itself to—he started a great series of debate among the moral philosophers and even priests that has continued to this day. His philosophy also opened up yet another direction for gnomes and others elsewhere regarding governance that didn’t fall into one of the two opposites put forth up until then. As such it has seen itself adopted more openly and readily by those outside Breanna over the years as a possible model for bettering or crafting governments so as the people under them can reach their fullest potential.

Basic Tenets

While those who practice Neelism can and have added in minor additions of thought based on their culture, political history, and such, the philosophy over all follows these basic tenets:

• Everyone has freewill and thus the potential to work good or evil; whatever they yield to at the time will be what’s produced.

• A moral government allows for self-governance as long as one does not ultimately hinder another with their chosen actions.

• The family is to watch over itself, the town itself, and the nation itself; each working together toward the better end.

  The right balance of freedom and control will ensure the best life and options for all.
  

TALAKISM

Founded 2660  BV

About one hundred years following the founding of Cameronism, there was a Telborian priestess of Ganatar who had lost her faith in the gods and anything meaningful anymore. Turning entirely to a secular mindset, this priestess, named Vanessa Talak, would set about finding a new way to live across the ruined landscape of Belda-thal at this time of the Great Unrest and other hardships.

A product of her time, Vanessa was rather cynical about absolute truths and morality, coming to believe that such things were artificial constructions put on by people, religions, and kings to try and control and even hinder a person’s free will. And the longer she dwelled on the topic the stronger her belief that good and evil weren’t really what others said they were. She came to believe that the inherent state of all life is morally good—that is morally true. It was when outside rules and edicts were created to define a perceived evil that said evil itself came into being and thus had to be curbed.

She rejected the teaching of Cameronism as naive and restrictive. Since everyone is already born good they had no need to adhere to some universal code of conduct. And religions weren’t any better; kingdoms and cities also proving corrupt and oppressive. One instead had to be true to their own selves—being and doing right to their own nature—if they wanted to really walk in the truest sense of personal reality. And it was up to the person alone to find and do this for themselves. It could not be anything other than self-provoked and conducted. Because anything else trying to contain, mold, or frame one’s path was really seeking to pervert and corrupt the inherent goodness of your being within.

In time Vanessa began sharing her thinking with others, bringing them into the folds of what would later become known as Talakism. Those who would follow and spread her teachings would becoming known as Talakins.

Being a purely secular way of thought that divorces the mind from belief in anything other than the material world and the here and now, it’s little wonder it wasn’t and isn’t received well in most religious circles. And its take on a more loose and even unrestrictive way of life and living has often put it at odds with nations and people looking to establish and maintain basic civic order.

This isn’t to say Talakins are anti-law and order, just that one has to rule and govern themselves, as best fits their natural selves. Self rule and responsibility for one’s actions are key elements to Talakian teachings. Self preservation is also a key aspect of the natural good inside all. So fighting wars, protecting others and yourself, and other things are also not devoid from nor alien to them either.

There have been branches of Talakism, however, that have grown into new directions and taken on some dark an even conspiratorial agendas with the idea of deposing all established rules, laws, and morality, but these are the more extreme fringe and not the mainstream of thought. Further, such sects are quickly dealt with by the authorities in the most effective manner to ensure such sentiment isn’t propagated nor championed by anyone else.

Basic Tenets

While those who take to Talakism might have some variations to their overall approach all adhere to the following tenets:

• All are inherently good, that is morally true.

• Evil is an external construct set against one’s internal code.

• The greatest good is to find and walk in your own inheritance goodness, free from all else that would hinder, pervert, or detain.

  No one can walk your own path but you.

MOORISM

Founded 490  PV

Moorism was founded by a well-traveled gnomish scholar named Kelrin Moore who settled down after his time of world trekking in the city of Alkart (Belda-thal) to start plotting out what he’d learned. A man of his time he was intrigued by the new era in which he was living and hungered for a new way to see the world in these times. And after seeking various peoples and places across the Northern Hemisphere for answers came upon the revelation which would later be called Moorism. Though for much of his life and even a few years after it, it was known by what Kelrin often called it: “the Level Road.”

Kelrin surmised that life was well and good for anyone who was able to keep a happy balance in it. Pleasure was good but too much indulgence would push out other needed things and so could ruin a person. And while work was also good, focusing entirely on it to the exclusion of all else could also ruin a person in body if not in other areas. A balance then was needed to be struck—in all areas of one’s life—in order to keep a happy and prosperous and productive life.

He was famed for saying that the road one walked in life was best enjoyed when it was kept level. This allowed you to continue forward without any wandering into any leanings into one extreme or the other. Trouble and misery, he declared, were the result of getting off that level road into one ditch of extremes or another.

A good life, said Kelrin, was the active pursuit of constantly leveling your road and knowing what to maintain and what to abstain from. While some over the years have labeled it something of an extreme philosophy meant to force others into some sort of stern existence, in practice it does just the opposite. For being too harsh would be unbalancing one’s life, which should be a balance between levity and sobriety.

In principle Kelrin puts much emphasis on the individual, from which much of that person’s life comes, but also makes sure that people know they have to also look out for the rest of their nation, race, and community in general. For if all individuals are walking their level roads then the larger community will prosper and be at peace.

This message of a more tolerant and moderate life took greater hold during his death when his followers spread it far and wide for the next twenty years. And while they made some good inroads into various areas, they never really saw great success save for the northern portion of Belda-thal, and the Telborian-dominated lands, along within and around gnomish communities, including Breanna.

Those who practice Moorism are called Moorians.

Basic Tenets

While those who practice Moorism can and have added in minor additions of thought based on their culture, political history, and such the philosophy over all follows these basic tenets:

• Keeping a level road allows for a level life.

• The avoidance of extremes secures a peaceful existence.

• The more balanced an approach the better its success and benefit for all involved.

  The wider the road the more people can walk it and thus the more who need to help keep it level.

NATTERISM

Founded 89 PV

Natterism was founded when a ninety-year-old half-elf named Baxter Natter brought his thoughts to light during a celebration in Haven to those who would listen. Being an explorer and inquisitive soul he had read and searched out much in his life and had come to see a certain truth that he thought would be revolutionary to those who heard it. Taking Numeralism, Elemantalism, and adding in astrology, he brought forth a new philosophy which he called “the Way” much to some people’s interest. The name never stuck, but Natterins still refer to this blending of thought as “the way to truth.”

For the next thirty years he taught small groups who’d travel to Haven to hear of his insights, which some called quasi-religious, others a joke to any serious train of thought. The main focus of Natterism was that everything was guided by three things: astrology, which covered the matters of the spirit and destiny; the elements, from which all was composed; and mathematics, which held it all together and helped to keep things moving forward. If one could understand their own self through discovering where they stood on all three areas then they would be better able to find their place in the world and from there better able to make sense of the world and how to be a better part of it.

When he died he left behind a large enough group to keep progressing his ideology, which they took into the wider parts of Talatheal with mixed results. Some even spread it to Colloni but in the end this seemed a philosophy that would only hold to a select few and primarily be based in Haven. Over the ensuing decades the philosophy became more of a sort of secret society with symbolic references and hidden truths to keep what they taught and had learned from those who were without and further make those who were within more elitist in nature. By the time the Age of Ash ended Natterism was more like a cult than school of philosophy but no one really seemed to mind nor hinder it in its forward progress toward even more esoteric and “hidden truths” that Baxter would have never allowed or expressed as part of his overall vision.

To those outside it, Natterism is seen as a somewhat harmless group of superstitious and strange folks who have a little too much book learning and free time on their hands. They are not perceived as a direct threat but have been watched and investigated from time to time by the Haven authorities and elsewhere who have taken a greater interest in their activities over the years.     

Basic Tenets

Those who follow Natterism adhere to the following tenets:

• The stars steer our spirits, the elements engender the cosmos, and mathematics holds it all together. Even the gods are subject to this truth.

• The way to truth is found when one seeks the truth of the cosmos and their place in it.

• There is no true free will, all options and ideas have been figured into the grand scheme and governed by the stars.

  To bring order to one’s world one first must bring order to one’s self.

VIGILISM

Founded 100 PV

Following the Divine Vindication there came a time of new thought and interest in matters of faith and reality following such a brutal battle between the former wizard kings and all of its aftermath. And while the land would heal and move on, finding a home in the previous religions or patterns of thought from before, others were hungry for seeking something else.

Such was the case with a young half-elf named Tristin Narlsmith. His unique parentage of a Celetoric father and Elyelmic mother started his way of thinking beyond the normal realities of his parents’ races. Never really content in his place in the world he keep seeking for greater truths and realities.  

He came to believe that what was thought reality was instead a dream—one in which every sentient being was slumbering and living out what they thought was their  life. This opened up his eyes to two truths. The first was that there was a reality beyond this that was the real truth—the present one being a shadow or construct of the first. The second was that since what was being dreamed wasn’t real what was thought of as always stable and true and the foundation of reality wasn’t as important as first thought.

Therefore mortality, truth, existence and purpose were whatever one wanted them to be. Since the present reality wasn’t real there wasn’t any real lasting consequences to contend with only a temporal one. And if one could learn to master the dream—to become able to guide it—then the dreamer would become equal to a god of their own life, living their preferred life and growing into greater understanding and abilities (mastery) of the world around them.

Indeed, those who understand this truth were said to be “awakened” from their previous stupor and therefore able to better guide and direct their lives. For the dream, said Tristin, was a shared one and the world was in a constant state of conflict as other beings tried to mold the world (whether consciously or unconsciously) for their own ends. Therefore those who wished to triumph would had to hone their own self awareness and intentions to better mold and direct their current and future paths. They had to be vigilant at all times. And it was this tenet that would give rise to the name of the philosophy.

As to what was beyond this reality—what this true reality really entailed, Tristin never had an entirely clear idea. Though death wasn’t seen as a release or a form of waking to this other reality. He surmised that it was quite possible that it was just a changing of the dream and the dreamer would and could start a new dream with a different reality to work out that might or might not carry traces of the former dream and memories in it. These memories could help lead one to awaken again or could just as easily leave one to start all over again from the very beginning.

But before his death, Tristin would come to adopt the belief that those who are dreaming are really gods themselves—existing and slumbering far outside this known reality. This dream was shared due to the divine nature of the dreamers and therefore the purpose was to discover your true self and help it better manifest in the dream to help you full awaken and restore oneself to their true divine state.

This final revelation took hold quickly among his followers who didn’t really swell in rank more than than a few score until after his death when there was a small increase in the larger Telborian cities for the next century until the philosophy had garnered enough criticism and rebuke from the main quarters of society to keep it from growing further, pruning the numbers back to smaller die hard adherents who would keep the philosophy going until the modern day.

Those who follow Vigilism are called Vigilians who also refer to themselves as the Awakened—especially in private gatherings. 

Basic Tenets

While those who take to Vigilism might have some variations to their overall approach all adhere to the following tenets:

• You are the only truth that needs seeking; find your true self and you mold your world/reality.

• Reality and therefore truth is whatever you wish to make it.

• Resist the urge to return to your stupor; constant vigilance is needed for a truly good and productive life.

  All around you are others seeking to mold their own world unless you create your own instead.

EKURISM

Founded 4056 BV

Ekurism came about by the musings of a minotor named Ekur who was interested in a just society. He sought a way to create one by looking to a model of a shared community and having all the aspects of that culture (art, the economy, government, etc. ) look to uphold and keep to a similar idea of moral good for the whole.

In his just society he didn’t see the need for kings. Each man, he said, should be his own ruler, working and living in agreement with his fellow citizen in common bonds of peaceful relations. He advocated for a bartering system instead of coinage claiming that it was not right for coins to be used for goods for it took unfair advantage of those that produced the goods and allowed others to do nothing in exchange. It also allowed for much unfair and uneven practices. Trading services and goods was the fairest and best way to live, he said.

Laws would be communal in nature in both their implementation and enforcement. All would be able to enforce the law and all would be called upon to defend their nation if it came to war but one would not go out willingly seeking for one. Stewardship of the land and resources was also a component of his ideal society as well as a loose government of equals, who’d be allowed to convene for larger issues of importance when matters of quick and decisive deliberation needed to be made.

This way of life did much to ruffle the feathers of his fellow minotors and he was branded everything from a rebel-rouser to an atheist in the process. Eventually he moved with some of his followers, called Ekurins, to one of the Gartaric Islands and there set about to try to live out this ideal life. To his great sadness the whole press toward that goal never materialized, instead finding Ekur setting himself in a place of a lesser king and the people given way to various forms of strife and even outright hostilities with each other. In a matter of years the whole experiment had failed and Ekur lay dead by the hand of one of his most formerly loyal adherents.

In the decades that followed each of the handful of people that still thought Ekurism was a good and true idea for right living made an effort to fine tune and spread the message. But it never really caught on to any great degree again save among those of sages and scholars who tried to see how one could remake their world, step-by-step, into the one Ekur said was not only possible but the truest way to live a virtuous and fulfilled life. To this end many Ekurins now look to enact more social reform and change than anything else, but even this in small stages and then not after some debate on the matter for there still is not an uniform consensus on how the matter should be done. Naturally, the modern day following of this philosophy is very limited and tied only to Sargona.

Basic Tenets

While those who take to Ekurism might have some variations to their overall approach all adhere to the following tenets:

• Everyone is their own master; working together with others for the common good.

• Fairness in all things is the bedrock of a healthy life and society.

• Glory and place are not things that should be strived for outside of the community.

  All are equal before the other, each having their own worth and place of equal value.

KORLINISM

Founded 5000 BV

The oldest philosophy to appear in the Southern Hemisphere, Korlinism was first proposed by a jarthalian sage named Korlin. Following the troublesome years that had proceeded the Great Shaking and the establishment of those who now had come to make their home in the Southern Hemisphere it had now created, there was much thought given to what the future might hold. Korlin was a student of history and the more he studied the matter out the more he believed to see patterns develop that let him predict just what might be unfolding in the not too distance future . . . and even beyond that.

He said this was possible by stating that history was really a series of cycles that repeated over a certain span of time. All one had to do was look to the cycles of the past and they would be able to make an informed prediction at what would come down the road. Not all of these cycles were in history but also in generations and even nations as a whole. Before his death he had completed a three ringed system in which each ring turned on their own and then intersected in the middle to produce the reality one currently lived in.

Nations had a cycle they went through, generations their own, and then history had a pattern it followed. None of this allowed for any free will, and was something of a point of conjecture with those who came to follow this way of thought, these being named Korlinists. If things seemed fated to take place at given times then there was little room for free will and self determination as some accused Korlinists of promoting.

This wasn’t their position—at least as held by many of them—who instead sought to use what they knew to allow for one to take advantage of these changes and convocations to implement different scenarios or even prepare for things to come; to lessen the severity of the negative affects while promoting the greatest good.

Seen in some circles as little more than would be soothsayers, they didn’t get much wide acclaim—especially not outside goblian lands—and among priests and others who look to express the option of free will and ability given to others to use it. While some of the Korlinists have been able to predict things in the future and even help and prepare others for them they have not always been able to do so with a high rate of accuracy, which has further caused many to view them in a less than favorable light. This has not stopped others from joining their ranks, though. And over the centuries of fine tuning they believe they are even better at proposing and preparing for what is yet to come.

Basic Tenets

While those who take to Korlinism might have some variations to their overall approach all adhere to the following tenets:

• Time flows in three cycles: national, generational, and historical, which when combined form the current reality and forthcoming events.

• A wise man follows the cycles and knows how best to shape his future.

• To know what shall arise in the future one need only look toward the past.

MALGARISM

Founded 4712 BV

Malgar was a hobgoblin who had grown up hearing the teachings of Korlinism and thought it had some truth to it but went about the wrong way of looking for it. He put forth the idea that there were no cycles to history, no matter how things might appear, but instead a progressive flow to it and time itself. What looked like cycles were really people going back to older options and ideas from previous ages because they refused to be schooled on them so as to not return to them in the first place.

Malgar was a strong proponent of a free will and free action to forge one’s own destiny. He was also an advocate of knowing the past fully—including your own—to see where you have come from and so better know where not to retread, instead knowing where you can fix your sights on next.

If history was progressive, as he put forth, then it could be changed and move forward however one wished. To better emphasize this matter he put forth the argument that if everything was cycle-based than one would not be able to alter it, as the Korlinists said was something they sought to do. The very fact that things can change and even break out of so called patterns was proof, argued Malgar, that history was linear, moving in one direction forever.

Those who came to embrace this philosophy where called Malgarists and sought to promote awareness in all people of their past (national and other) as well so as to keep a whole picture of what has come before. For, as already stated, it was through education of what has been that would keep you for repeating the same mistake others have made in the past due to the lack of said knowledge.

In this Malgarism wasn’t something that could be used to predict the future, but it was a mindset that helped one live their life that called for more informed decisions and a new way of looking at their future and their place in it. Such things were welcomed by more people than Korlinism but not widely taken to heart by priests and some of the general populations who took the press for learning histories as something meant to turn them all into sages or scholars.

Basic Tenets

While those who take to Malgarism might have some variations to their overall approach all adhere to the following tenets:

• History is progressive, always flowing forward and free and open to any and all alterations.

• Knowing the past can better shape your future; avoiding the pitfalls of what came before.

• One isn’t a slave to what has come before but free from and able to create any fate they wish for themselves.

OLANISM

Founded 4500 BV

Olan was an ogre who came to the notion that Korlinism and Malgarism were not totally incompatible with the other and actually helped the other out in their weaknesses, complimenting their strengths. He had come to believe that the argument put forth by Malgar about there being no cycles was a weak one but did believe that he was right on the progressive side of linear time lines. This led him to form what was later called Olanism—basically a philosophy that said time did indeed follow a linear path but there were also parts to it that were cycle-based. These, he said, were more often than not generational in natural and more thematic than actual.

To an Olanist all generations have their place and time to rise and fall and each has a certain theme that tends to govern their lives, this being molded in part by what has come before and where they see themselves going.

By putting the cycles in a series of themes Olan thought to solve the matter of exact repetition which he didn’t see taking place as often as the Korlinists said should be occurring , but allowed for the common themes repeated with each generation in turn, which he did see carried out—albeit in their own way and take on the matter itself.

Olan set aside ten generational cycles as the maximum, each rotating in turn from first to second to third and so on until the tenth, which would then be repeated by the first and so on. Nations and culture, said Olan, were the culmination of what had come before and what previous generations chose to emphasize and the newer ones take hold of or discard as well. In this history was progressive—that is moving forward and more fluid and open to free will but also repetitive to some degree as the themes of live/reality seemed to go on and on.

From this Olan was able to construct the Wheel of Life theory, a device that would help one predict what was to come to some degree and better be able to understand the world one lived in at the present. It didn’t dictate conduct or make choices for one but allowed them to see the options of where things have gone, are going now, and were they might go in the future, leaving one free to decide how best they wished to participate in bringing such a reality to pass.

This was a better accepted philosophy in more places, even crossing over the whole of the Southern Hemisphere, but it still wasn’t and isn’t something that widely was taken hold of by many who see it as something a bit too superstitious on one hand and illogical on the other hand. For on the one hand it supports freewill and the exercise thereof—promoting an open system—and then on the other it seems to express the belief in a closed system as well. Such seeming contradicts often don’t sit well with many who try to understand it, most preferring to go with only their faith in their chosen gods instead.  

Basic Tenets

While those who take to Olanism might have some variations to their overall approach all adhere to the following tenets:

• Time and therefore history follow cycles through a linear path.

• Each generation follows their own theme, which is repeated from those already passed and offered anew to each generation.

• Free will is present but so are patterns, blending together in the lives of every living thing.