Rising Tide: A Dark Seas Expansion for Torchbearer, Five Reasons Not to Write a Persecution Flip Story, Why Fantasy Writers Should Embrace Their Heritage, What The Black Company Teaches Us About Dark Stories. If the gods of preservation can talk to people through their pocket dimension, can the gods of destruction do it too? […] DIY OF THE DAY: Start your own religion […], […] John Howell starts his article for Thought Catalog by proving that he doesn’t really understand atheism or religion: […]. Any criticisms and/or opinions are welcome, any sorry if this rant annoyed anyone. “Well, you’ve got three choices,” she answered. Learn about us. The one advice I would have for your story is to introduce something to prevent Roo from talking to the Sonahana gods through most of it. In saying that, many fantasy stories don’t create their own base for religion or the origin of their created world, rather they use our world as a basis, Christianity or the Big Bang are two examples. Become a patron or learn more. That will significantly change the power dynamics in the society. On the other hand, everyone could mistakenly believe their stories are metaphorical reminders to treat the land well, when there’s an actual subterranean monster that could rise and devour them at any time. To answer your questions, no the Gods of Destruction can’t directly communicate with living things, but their aura of negative emotions and impulses spreads out of their prison dimension (like a stench) affecting pretty much everything outside and causing terrible disturbing nightmares/visions to normal people while also powering up people who completely give into their darkest urges and commit horrendous vile acts of evil by their own volition, this corrupting aura is also what powers the magic of the Chaos Mages (or The Eyes of Veda as they are called in Quin). Darkness offsets the light, whether it be an actual religion or the undercurrent of rebellion against the King. Unlike those who claim to be atheists, you are honest enough with yourselves to realize that as a human being you are hardwired to be religious, but at the same time you don’t like the standard choices on the menu. There’s a good chance it caused, or was caused by, a great social upheaval. So think about how religion could interfere with or guide your characters in new worlds. C1 should fall in love with C2 during the course of the book, or, if already in love, their love should deepen. 8) You need an opposing force. Also, what you can do is, if you have a very creative mind (which we all do have), is write your own fantasy fiction, with it's own religion or religions, with a god or gods which you have of your own creation. Yes, it would have a supreme God who creates both the world and the spirits, then oversees overthing without interfering. As the tension in your story climbs, the gods of destruction can grow powerful enough to block (or even distort) communication between the Sonahana gods and their followers. Realize that every religion has several layers. She’ll question her faith a lot more if she’s on her own. In a thriller or crime novel, particularly, the situation typically grows increasingly dire for the protagonist. It also should be noted that the sharing only happens during the Harmony ritual not all the time but i still know a lot of people in real life could have serious issues with something like this regardless of the other benefits of this religion (and therefor some people in the story should too), and there are many benefits for joining Sonahana even tangible ones not just spiritual ones, the disciples of Sonahana gain magically enhanced strength/speed/durability, and the more they stay true to the tenets of this faith the bigger the effect, it’s non-lethal power (mostly involves manipulating the effect of gravity on their own bodies) and mostly used for defense but it allows them to defend themselves and others from all sorts of danger, if a disciple uses that power puerly for selfish gain they simply lose it gradually until they stop using it like that, as for the tenets of this faith, i haven’t finished fleshing them out but they are mostly quite like the basics of many known religions (like the Ten Commandments, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t rape .. etc etc) except the difference here is in how they are applicated and what happens to those who break them, another important factor is that anyone (from any race, age, sex or rank) wanting to meet any god/s of Sonahana can do so simply by relaxing, closing their eyes and calling out for them (specially those who truly need their help), their spirit is then immediately taken to the spiritual realm where they can talk to those gods directly, their bodies are left behind encased in a crystal-like barrier until they return, but if the one seeking them wants to do so for selfish gain that will harm others or wants their help doing something that breaks the tenets of the religion they usually fail to reach them. Could you chip in? The Ancient Egyptian gods were represented by animals and they had names. So think about things that move you. What’s different between now and the time the system was originally founded? But the part you wrote about Sanderson’s Second Law and that limitations are greater than powers caught my attention, that’s because my idea is focused on making that religion all about positive spiritual reinforcement not fear mongering, torture or severe physical or eternal punishments, there is still conflict between the disciples of this religion and others mostly due to external factors, i.e … violent fanatics from other religions like the followers of the gods of chaos and destruction hunting the Sonahana disciples down or threatning to kill anyone who joins the Sonahan faith, also those who are too absorbed into their urges or desires don’t bother joining Sonahana cause they gain nothing from this religion to satisfy their excessive bodily urges, as well as those who are brainwashed from childhood to follow a specific religion without questioning it or are just too afraid to leave their comfort zone and try something different (like the followers of the Mother of Creation who revere her without ever seeing her or knowing for sure she exists, or the sub-sect that worships her to the point of refusing to create anything at all, cause they believe creation is a godly act no lowly creature or human should do, so they make no clothes, no tools, no houses, they just live naked in nature and eat from trees and bath in rivers, ..etc etc). 4. One all-powerful god and a group of less powerful spirits? Create or affirm your own rituals. The followers of your belief system won’t be an undifferentiated mass. Ask yourself how accessible the canon is to the system’s members at large. Forums > General > General Chat > If you have the freedom to create a new religion. Is it love, truth, collective humanity, the cosmic mystery, a more traditional God without the human-made garbage. So, let’s get started. Then i read the articles by Sanderson you referenced here, the ones about his writing laws regarding magic systems, it made me think of a way or two to limit access to both the powers given to those who follow Sonohana and also to the gods themselves, but without any of those limitations being prohibitive or permenant (like i said it’s a religion supposed to be about positive reinforcment and self-improvement), i have a couple of ways to do it some related to Roo like the one you suggested (i.e Roo facing an unexpected situation forcing her to act in a way she never thought she would) and other reasons related to the gods themselves, what’s important to me is that whatever the reason is it has to fit with the main themes i’m trying to present in the story. The creation of Sonahana sounds like a great exercise for you. Go beyond choosing which gods are worshiped or how many. Every year, over 40,000 novelists strive to write 50,000 words in November for National Novel Writing Month. 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