Religion of the Empire

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Teachings of the Great Wolf Mother

The Teachings of the Great Wolf are by far one of the more popular religions that are taught in the Republic, something around 80% or more of the population practices The Teachings. This religion is a monotheistic religion with the Great Wolf seen as a god of sorts. The Great Wolf, often called “Great Wolf Mother” or the “Great Wolf, is sought to be the creator of the universe and the Fenvaria species. As she is the one that formed the demihumans from the stone and snow of Scandinavia. Once her children were created, the Great Wolf then bestowed them several teachings that gave them a moral code and law. These laws would cover things like adultery, keeping a holy day, and other moral laws. In the teachings of the Great Wolf, the Great Wolf only expected one thing in return for her gifts, the ultimate sacrifice. Not a regular sacrifice, but one in the heat of battle. Those who fought and died on the battlefields or had died while serving the military would be greatly rewarded. They would earn their place in the Great Wolf’s army, one that would come to their aid in a time of need.

Upon giving the laws and teachings to the fenvarians, the Great Wolf would choose seven of the wisest and brightest of her children. However, six would ascend with the Great Wolf and serve as judges of the afterlife. Leaving the seventh son, who was weaker but smarter than the other six, on Earth. Not sure why he was left on the planet, the seventh son would vow to do his best to prove himself in the heat of battle and through non-stop devotion to the Great Wolf. Thus, he would begin to spread this idea across the region of Scandinavia. The only way to true salvation was proving one’s worth through combat or feats of great courage and bravado. While having an undying loyalty to the Great Wolf mother as she protects and rewards all for their sacrifice or their feats of insurmountable courage. This seventh pick would eventually become the Grand Prophet and would serve to guide the whole religion. Under that rank, there are three Grand Popes who serves as the Grand Prophet’s council.

Usually in each household that practices the teachings of the Great Wolf, there is a small shrine that is used to worship both the Great Wolf and the relatives that have died in military service. These shrines usually have one or several smooth granite tablets that have engravings on them, each one of these engravings has a name of a relative that has fallen in combat. For those who follow the teachings of the Great Wolf, it is generally customary to bury the dead. As the fenvarians believe in death, a person can still give back to their nation and continue their service in other forms. For the teachings of the Great Wolf, this burying of the body allows the soul and spirit of the deceased to pass on to the afterlife and effectively join the Great Wolf’s army. Thus disturbing the dead is quite the grievous crime (usually warrants for execution and then their body burned) and according to some warrant for eternal damnation.

Ghosts are seen as two different entities, first, they are seen as protectors of gravesites and tombs or they are seen as guardian angels in a time of dire need. To see several ghosts is considered a promising omen as it means that they are watching over you. However, this omen can quickly turn sour if you are caught disturbing the remains, then the ghosts will become angry and attack you or haunt you until you die.

Cycle of Life
A major component of the Teachings aside from the duty of strength is the cycle of life, which is a collection of ideas that the universe works in an infinite loop. Where life and death are constants, everything has a lifespan to help foster a new generation.

It is stated in the Teachings that the Great Wolf Mother was the first being to be born from the universe, granted with the powers of infinite wisdom and immortality. At first, she was happy and proud of her gifts, spreading life to all planets she came across, delightful to share the gift of immortality with them. However, as time went on she became sad and lonely as she had no one to visit her up in her heavenly hold. Desperate, now understanding the loneliness and folly of immortality, she took back the gift of immortality from all life in the universe. While this would lead to death, she also blessed each creature she made with the ability to create life. Allowing the creatures of the universe to survive and populate but also allowed more people to visit her in her heavenly hold.

Views on Immortality
For many of the demi humans and the followers of the Great Wolf, they believe that immortality is an omen that has been cast down by the Great Wolf Mother to make one suffer. For their sins or their transgressions against her by taking away everything they hold dear and by making their life a miserable prison so at some point they realize that immortality is simply too dangerous. From which, they might kill themselves in some fashion as they cannot grow old. But, why would such a thing as immortality be seen as a divine punishment?

For many, it breaks the cycle of life that the Wolf Mother gave to us so that we may never go through the pain and loneliness that she felt during her time. That her followers may cherish the moments that they have with each other and work to prove their strength to her. So, by breaking this cycle, those who wish immortality are arrogant to the Wolf Mother’s teachings or simply do not care about the changes their actions will make. Other more radical views might be that those who seek immortality are simply putting their interests and ambitions ahead of everyone. Or that they view themselves as superior to any god/goddess out there, that they simply do not need them to do anything.