Churches and Volkhvs

Before Spiritism, there were hundreds of religions practiced by the Pentagonal Dominionists. Some were about worshipping Demon Lords, some were about worshipping the Gods in their before-worlds (the alternate timelines their ancestors came from), and some were just plain made-up. But the point is, people had churches full of art, relics, statues, and they performed rituals, wore ceremonial garb, and had rules of conduct. When the ‘real’ Gods apotheosized, they had to decide how they were going to design their religion. They each had different ideas and desires. Ultimately they decided on a ‘separate but equal’ stance, where a person worships the God of the element they were born to, but they still acknowledge that the other Gods exist and can pray to them in special circumstances. Other details are dependent upon each Spirit. One thing they agreed upon though, is that churches should serve a *purpose* in society. They shouldn’t just be places of worship. This served two purposes: it ensured that no one’s job was *just* to serve their God. People who were traditionally ‘priests’ in the pre-Spiritism religions often did not perform difficult jobs, but were still given power. It led to them being arrogant and prideful. The Gods did not want their priests having an attitude like that. It also ensured that *people* would come to church. Want medicine? Go to the Plant church, and say a prayer to Cherribell while you’re there. Want to educate your child? Do so at the Mind church, and while you’re there, thank Lucognidus for saving the world.

I should also state that you don’t have to biologically belong to a God to be their volkhv. Because volkhvs perform certain jobs, the jobs are open to whoever wants to do that kind of work, regardless of their elemental alignment. If this happens, the volkhv is expected to worship both the God they serve (career choice) and the God of their element (biology). Their choice has no effect on the blessing system I discussed last week, as that is an entirely biological process. For example, say a Death elemental chooses to become a Stone volkhv. That person is expected to worship Sawyer and follow his rules to keep their blessings. They are also expected to worship Machenerate, though they don’t have to follow her rules in regards to blessings. This is actually something the Stone church *seeks out*, because they aren’t allowed to hurt animals, but sometimes the only way to help an animal is to put it out of its misery, so they get their non-Stone elemental volkhvs to perform such unfortunate tasks.

There is a job within each church called the ‘keeper’ and they *are* required to be the same element as their God, but their job is specifically in the religious aspect. They are more closely aligned to what we would think of as a priest. They perform the daily rituals and prayers performed at their church.

Regarding donation: people are expected to give donations (can be money for all but the Mind church, but is more commonly items usable by that church) to the church of the God they worship, but also to the God of the day of your birth. For instance, if you were born on Veter, Windesoar’s Day, you’d donate to a Wind church periodically regardless of what element you are. You would also donate to the church of the God your belong to.

Death: Death churches are the places where bodies are brought to be sawdusted. In rural/farming communities, they often have a small Death church where animals are brought to be slaughtered. Death volkhvs prepare sapienti bodies by removing clothing and other effects, and placing them on an altar until a shinigami arrives. For slaughtering animals, there is a different spot, often a fenced-in field with food for the animal, so they are comfortable. The shinigami have means of killing in completely pain-free ways, so the animal is not harmed. It also doesn’t affect damage their body. After the animal is killed, the Death volkhvs take the corpse back to the farmer, who may then sell it to butchers and renderers (who then sell byproducts to people like the merchants of bone). It should be noted that shinigami are dead souls (ghosts) and not actually visible to the Death volkhvs (living people, mortals). Typically, the Death volkhvs will leave a body/animal alone and check up on it after a few hours, out of respect for shinigami who like to work in private. (Those of you who have read MoKaM may remember Shiro the shinigami and be wondering why he was visible to people. The answer is… it’s complex. He was on a special mission from Sawyer and had a spell cast on him to make him corporeal. This is a very odd situation which will get explained in more detail in MoDaH, and not at all indicative of what normal shinigami do.) Death churches may have statues/art of Sawyer alone, but it’s pretty common to see him with his wife, Laynie, as well.

Wind: Orphanages for children and babies of all elements. It should be noted that the orphanages of Aloutia and Cosmo are, honestly? Pretty fucking nice. All the real-world stereotypes of living a hard knock life and being abused by caretakers is nonexistent in Aloutian and Cosmonite Wind churches. Now Ophidian Wind churches will only accept girls (boys go to auction as slaves), but they’re still pretty nice for those girls. There also aren’t many Wind elementals in Ophidia due to Windesoar’s law against slavery. Most Wind volkhvs in Ophidia are not Wind elemental, and the keepers tend to be poor women who refrain from owning slaves for religious reasons, though the other non-Wind elemental volkhvs might have a slave and “encourage him to work in the orphanage.” As long as the keeper does not order the slave around, she will keep her blessing. So why are Wind churches so well-stocked? Windesoar is a demanding God, and Wind elementals are expected to donate to their local Wind church even moreso than other elementals. Like, they will be publicly shamed by the church keeper if they are stingy. In addition, the churches share resources with each other, so a big church in a Wind-dominated city will share food, blankets, clothes, etc. with churches that don’t have such a large Wind elemental population. (Even still, with people being born on Veter donating to a Wind church, it’s usually enough to keep them supplied.) Wind churches always have a statue of Windesoar that portrays him with legs and wings, even though he was not born a Wind elemental and the wings are his own creation.

Plant: Apothecaries, herbalists, healers of various types. Plant churches are basically greenhouses, with emphasis on growing healing herbs and creating medicines. Some Plant volkhvs will also take an interest in growing other plants such as culinary herbs or decorate flowers/cacti, though this is usually a pet project more than a commercial endeavor. Plant churches often double as hospitals, though due to the skilled work and training needed to be a doctor, you’re more likely to see doctors who are any element. Mind elementals are common, since they tend to be a bit smarter than average anyway. Due to the close relationship between Cherribell and Lucognidus, it’s common to see statues/art of them together. Mind elemental doctors prefer this, as it means they can get all their required prayers in at once.

Life: Nurseries for eggs/babies. Life volkhvs care for the eggs of people in their community, and will often keep babies for about a week to ensure they’re in good health. There is a special kind of liquid, mostly made of milk, but with some essential extracts made by the Plant volkhvs, which Life volkhvs will bathe eggs in daily. This milk soaks into the egg’s pours and provides nutrients to the baby. Due to the Life element, eggs will hatch even without this substance, but it does help increase growth and the odds of survival. Life churches also store records of births and the certificates of adulthood. All Life churches that care for babies should have a Mantodea on staff, if not serving as a volkhv/keeper. Mantodea are a species of people who can consume the genetics of a person and ‘read’ parts of it. People born in Aloutia, Cosmo, and Ophidia are given a genetic information profile at birth that indicates their biological sex, element, species, and chances of certain conditions afflicting the baby as they grow older. Some Life churches perform a ritual involving placing an egg inside the hands of Entomothy, so his statues are often constructed so his hands are in such a position.

Fire: Fire churches are smithies. Volkhvs are blacksmiths, whitesmiths, silversmiths, you name it. Forges are lit with that fire  Each Fire church has a fire in front of their statue of Flamboil which is never put out. It’s considered bad luck, and offensive to the Fire God, for that fire to ever be put out. If it *is* put out, they won’t reignite it until Agneus (Flamboil’s day of the week) has passed. Sometimes the God will light the brazier on his own, and if this happens, it’s meant to be a sign that they have been forgiven. Flamboil may be portrayed in a variety of ways, so his statues are likewise varied. He can be portrayed as a man, woman, or completely hidden under clothes and a mask. He can have legs or a mermaid tail, as well.

Lightning: These churches serve as barracks and training grounds for military personnel. Volkhvs may be soldiers or commanders, but more often they are working support positions in the background. They may be quartermasters or involved in logistics or constructing training equipment. Few people actually worship Sparkato due to the sort of person he is, though a statue of him is still required so people can summon his demis if needed. He’s often portrayed in an innocuous, plain manner.

Stone: Stone churches are sanctuaries and hospitals for animals. They’re often huge structures on the outskirts of a city, with plenty of land for the animals to roam. Coastal cities often have their Stone church partially in the water as well, to care for aquatic animals. Like with Plant churches, there are many Stone volkhvs of other elements, especially Mind, who are focused on the medical/surgical aspects. Also as with Plant churches, Stone churches usually have their statue of Machenerate with a statue of Lucognidus. Because Machenerate feels anxious about being a Goddess and relies on Lulu for her mental well-being, many Stone elementals worship him as well. The Domovye, in fact, exclusively worship Lulu despite all being Stone elementals.

Mind: Mind churches are schools and libraries. All Aloutian and Cosmonite children, and Ophidian girls, are expected to attend classes at a Mind church starting at an early age. Parents are expected to give non-monetary donations to the Mind volkhvs as thanks for teaching their children. In some places, especially those with high Mind elemental populations, there is a mandatory worship service before classes may begin. Some kids don’t think this is weird, and they end up growing up as ‘proper Spiritists’ with deep reverence for Lucognidus. Some kids, usually later in life, see this as a weird thing and use it as an example of why they turned to atheism (note: in my world, ‘atheism’ doesn’t mean you don’t believe the Gods/Spirits don’t exist. It just means you don’t respect/worship them.) Lulu’s statues come in a variety of poses, but he has pretty strict requirements about getting his body and clothes just right, or else it won’t work for summoning demis.

Water: Water churches are bathhouses. If you’ve ever watched Spirited Away, think that, since it directly inspired the Water churches lol. They often have separate areas for blessed people and heretics. Blessed people often bathe in boiling water whereas heretics have to have cooler water. Aloutia’s groundwater is hot, so they can often pump it up and put it in the boiling side, then leave some out to cool for heretics. On the other hand, Ophidia’s groundwater is cold, so they pump it up, then warm it. They also use slaves in Ophidia to supplement the volkhvs’ work, so most water-heating is done by slaves. Water churches in underwater societies still serve as places to get clean. Inland churches might have just a statue of Liqua, dressed in all her finery. Coastal and undersea churches are obliged to have a monument to Deep Sea as well. Liqua hates this passionately, but there’s nothing she can do. If Water elementals inside Deep Sea don’t worship him, he will crush them.

Ice: The volkhvs who work at Ice churches work to make blankets, warm clothes, and collect firewood, coal, and charcoal to help keep people warm during winter. They also serve a similar purpose of Wind churches in that they will house homeless people and keep them warm and fed. In Aloutia, a country which prides itself on having no homeless people, it’s always temporary because the community will build a proper house for someone who needs one. Some Ophidian women who end up homeless may be in an Ice church for many years, though eventually, those who are there long-term will be asked to help volkhvs with their chores (Ophidia has no homeless men, since they’d be taken to a slave auction). Statues of Icsnow often show her sitting down, in a cradle, or being held by Lucognidus or Malakia, the Demigoddess of Winter.