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Bellayne

by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary Davies

Pax Bellanica (Tarastia) - Justice, peace, order, law
Felidae/Mother Ocean (Calitha) - Ocean, travel, adventure, prosperity, fertility, merchants
Belbion (Vanya) - War, pride, conquest, honour
Tawnia (Ordana) - Forests, nature, druids
Father Earth (Ka) - Protection of life, wisdom, prosperity, knowledge, magic
[i[Brother Shell (Mâtin)[/i] - Security, protection, sacrifice, guardians
Sister Grain (Ralon) - Fertility, prosperity, health, agriculture, healing
Ninfangle - Nomadism, travel, battle, hunting, epic deeds, bravery
Guy d’Arets (Guidarezzo) - Arts (especially music and song), talent, harmony
Kagyar - Dwarves, miners, metallurgy
Notes:
1. The nation of Bellayne doesn’t have a unified church like nearby Renardy, or a properly defined state religion. The monarchy authorises the occupation of the cults mentioned above without favouring one in particular, even if the temple of Pax Bellanica has had a remarkable impact on the constitution of the modern Bellaynish state based on rigid legislative and moral codes, is the patroness of royal house of Bellayne and holds presently the major number of followers. It is in fact in the name of Pax Bellanica and of Belbion that in the past have been announced by the monarchy’s military programme for “pacifying” the surrounding regions and bring order to the nomadic tribes of rakasta or for trying to keep at bay the nearby belligerents (we’re talking about the lupin, goblinoids or Herathians). Each region of the kingdom finally adopted one of the Immortals listed above as it’s own patron as follows:

2. In Bellayne there exist many monastic orders made up of elves, rakasta and especially tortles (a cherished minority of the state) that are dedicated to the art of improvement of the body and spirit, learning, training and working quickly every day. The monastic orders are independent from any religious institution and from the Crown, even if they respect the Bellaynish laws and are obligated to an oath of fidelity to the royal house in order to have the permission to build a monastery. Each order has a female branch and male branch, and is in fact expressly forbidden to members of the two sexes of speaking: any message between members of the two branches of the order was in fact written on a parchment or a letter and left in front of the monastery with which he desires to communicate. All the members of the Bellaynish monastic orders (definition that includes both clerics and true monks) are lawful or neutral, and no monastery accepts evil individuals among their adepts. The monks make vows of obedience to the prior of the monastery, and follow a doctrine based on the poverty and chastity in order to focus their own efforts on the study of the physical (martial arts, dancing, swimming), scientific (herbalism, botany, alchemy, medicine) and mystic (meditation, arcane and religious knowledge) disciplines. The majority of the orders follow the concept of Universal Order (so are philosophers of Law) without being loyal to particular Immortals, while a minority are consecrated to Tawnia, to Pax Bellanica, or to the Immortals of the ancient tortle pantheon (Father Earth, Mother Ocean, Brother Shell, Sister Grain). Independently from their belief, the monks haven’t made proselytes nor sought to of spread their faith beyond the walls of the cloister. Bellayne also boasts various military orders that however aren’t bound to any Immortal, in order to avoid a commonality of state and religion as instead has been true in nearby Renardy (with the election of the Bishopric of Kittings, the only Bellaynish territory given to a religious order for a way of granting secrets and of the acquired assets on the field by the temple of Belbion in the war against Renardy). For this the Royal Guardian, who has the task of protecting the members of the Royal Family, thus as the Defenders of Bellayne, who instead watch the borders and the internal situation, are formed of honourbound without any link with the Immortals. The Heralds of Bellayne instead are true and proper journalists that gather and broadcast news (there are three principal guilds, the Heralds of the Sun, those of Time and the Royal Heralds), while the Company of Oldsbury gathers all the Bellaynish artists. Other orders are of a single race: the Company of the Shell admits only tortles, the Red Company only rakasta, while the Friends of the Forest only elves. The Victorious Blades of Kittings are the only existing religious order, formed by fearless followers of Vanya. Each company is registered in the office of Leominster and is declared legal only after having gained the approval of the government.
3. Felidae is an elven Immortal that the Bellaynish rakasta have absorbed, and who with time has also assumed some of the traits once attributed to the two Immortal ancestors of the rakasta, Ka and Ninfangle, almost completely hiding their cult. Indeed, she is patroness of travel, oceans, fertility and good luck and she is preferred to the other two Immortals as her cult is more about the order and the maintenance of the balance in respect to those more chaotic and savage of the ancient Immortals.
4. The cult of Tawnia was inherited from the elves that originally lived in the region, and which the rakasta have absorbed. Now she is worshipped in a particular way by the inhabitants of the Forest of Wyndham and by most rangers, that have espoused the philosophy of Tawnia and defended the sanctity of the forests and nature with drawn swords in the face of the attempts of the nobles of clearing the unproductive forests in order to make space cultivated fields and orchards.
5. The cult of Ninfangle is spread in particular among those rakasta that reject the known order and adhere to a more primitive and nomadic style of life, as well as among some rakasta adventurers that live in the kingdom.
6. Guidarezzo is honoured by the Bellaynish with the name of Guy d’Arets, the greatest writer, musician and poet in the history of Bellayne, those that have invented the modern Bellaynish language thanks to his principle work, the Recital of Oldsbury, about six centuries ago, and author of the most important lyrical and musical works of the kingdom. It isn’t clear if it was the work of a rakasta, an elf or a human, but it is certain that it had been the work of the greatest Bellaynish composer, and today all the poets and arts that pay homage in the great cathedral of Oldsbury together with the great characters and sovereigns of Bellayne. There exists a contest with the nearby Renardois, who insist in claiming that Guy was in realty an apprentice of Saimpt Soubrette, who stole some of her work and translated it into the Bellaynish language. According to the Renardois therefore, the Bellaynish have simply copied in a bad way the work of the lupin Immortals and try now to also take control of the birth of Guy d’Arets for pure demagogy, while for the rakasta it would have been Saimpt Soubrette who copied from Guy d’Arets.
7. Kagyar is the Immortal revered by the dwarves who moved into the area in the last century, through a coal seam. For this his cult is localised only among the dwarves and miners.
8. Noumena is known as News in Bellayne, lord of knowledge and investigation and patron of the Heralds. He embodies the idea of the quest for knowledge and of knowledge through analysis, practise of logic and learning, and has a small following among the sages, heralds, bards and inventors, even if he doesn’t possess any true and proper priests.