Mirrorvalese religious beliefs
A guide by Miles Tarantil, alchemist and historian
The people of Mirrorvale are godless. They have their priests and priestesses, their temples and sacred spaces; yet where we of Parovia might call upon the Sun Lord or the Maiden of the Moon to aid us, the Mirrorvalese recognise no deity. They claim power only in themselves and in nature, invoking the elements in everything they do.
There are as many temples in Arkannen as there are stars in the sky. The lesser shrines are scattered throughout the lower rings, honouring the smaller powers: the heat in the flame, the dancing breeze, the opening of a flower to the sun. They all have their priests to tend them. Walk down any street in Arkannen and you will find an itinerant priest ready to tell you a fable in return for a coin.
The great temples, however, are all located in the sixth ring, and they are tended by women. Guarded by the warriors of the fifth ring, the priestesses of the sixth are renowned for their icy beauty and utmost devotion to the powers we cannot see. It is in the sixth ring that you would find the Temple of Time, in which a thousand clocks large and small mark one of nature's greatest mysteries. It is there you might see the towering Spire of Air, a needle-thin shard of glass, the tallest structure in all Arkannen save Darkhaven itself. It is there that water flows endlessly through the many wheels of the sacred Water Garden, and that you can walk beneath the interlocking branches of the Cathedral of Trees. Every force of nature you can think of is honoured by the priestesses of the sixth ring.
The funeral traditions of the Mirrorvalese are straightforward. They do not believe in any kind of afterlife, saying that when a man dies his body returns to the elements from which it came. Thus they say no prayers for the dead man's soul. Instead, an offering may be made at the appropriate temple to give thanks for his life: the Altar of Flame for a blacksmith, the Cathedral of Trees for a carpenter, and so on. In the more rural parts of Mirrorvale, the body is usually buried on family land, perhaps in a favourite garden or beneath a field in need of sustenance; many farmers say that their crop never grows better than when a loved one's body is buried beneath it. In Arkannen, where open space is limited, the body is more likely to be returned to the elements on a funeral pyre.
Return to main Arkannen page
The people of Mirrorvale are godless. They have their priests and priestesses, their temples and sacred spaces; yet where we of Parovia might call upon the Sun Lord or the Maiden of the Moon to aid us, the Mirrorvalese recognise no deity. They claim power only in themselves and in nature, invoking the elements in everything they do.
There are as many temples in Arkannen as there are stars in the sky. The lesser shrines are scattered throughout the lower rings, honouring the smaller powers: the heat in the flame, the dancing breeze, the opening of a flower to the sun. They all have their priests to tend them. Walk down any street in Arkannen and you will find an itinerant priest ready to tell you a fable in return for a coin.
The great temples, however, are all located in the sixth ring, and they are tended by women. Guarded by the warriors of the fifth ring, the priestesses of the sixth are renowned for their icy beauty and utmost devotion to the powers we cannot see. It is in the sixth ring that you would find the Temple of Time, in which a thousand clocks large and small mark one of nature's greatest mysteries. It is there you might see the towering Spire of Air, a needle-thin shard of glass, the tallest structure in all Arkannen save Darkhaven itself. It is there that water flows endlessly through the many wheels of the sacred Water Garden, and that you can walk beneath the interlocking branches of the Cathedral of Trees. Every force of nature you can think of is honoured by the priestesses of the sixth ring.
The funeral traditions of the Mirrorvalese are straightforward. They do not believe in any kind of afterlife, saying that when a man dies his body returns to the elements from which it came. Thus they say no prayers for the dead man's soul. Instead, an offering may be made at the appropriate temple to give thanks for his life: the Altar of Flame for a blacksmith, the Cathedral of Trees for a carpenter, and so on. In the more rural parts of Mirrorvale, the body is usually buried on family land, perhaps in a favourite garden or beneath a field in need of sustenance; many farmers say that their crop never grows better than when a loved one's body is buried beneath it. In Arkannen, where open space is limited, the body is more likely to be returned to the elements on a funeral pyre.
Return to main Arkannen page
