The Marcandrian culture officially worship three deities, whom are seen as the patrons and mentors of their nation. These three are sometimes collectively referred to as the diostri, and have all heavily influenced the marcandrian culture. These three deities are: Callera, goddess of art, beauty, liberty, love, joy, passion, and revelry; Fiori, goddess of agriculture, empathy, growth, healing, hope, and life; and Meranzi, goddess of liberty, knowledge, exceptionalism, commerce, and trade. These three are seen as sister deities by the Marcandrians. However, none know - and few care - whether they are sisters in a literal or figurative manner. Most Marcandrians are tolerant to people worshipping deities besides those of the diostri, even though no other deity is considered part of the Marcandrian pantheon.
The marcandrians view the diostri as being directly responsible for their prosperity. When they first arrived to what would become Marandria, it was Fiori who made their land fertile, and thus allowed them to prosper. It was Meranzi that taught them the art of trade, to always seek personal and society progression, and to always strive towards further enrichment. It was Callera that taught them how to live joyous lives filled with love, beauty, and revelry. It is however imporant to remember that the diostri represent the ideals of marcandrian society. The reality of any culture is always less than the ideals set forth by their deities.
It is extremely rare for a marcandrian to not worship all three deities in the diostri, although most tend to favor one above the other two. Most are also not particularly vocal about their beliefs, leaning more towards a live by rather than a preach of type of worship. They do pray to their deities, although few follow a pray every morning type of schedule when it comes to prayer. Most instead pray specifically when in need of guidance from their deities for particular events. Clerics and those particularly devoted individuals are of course exceptions here, and tend to pray more regularly.
This casual style of worship should not be not be seen as a lack of devotion. Most marcandrians have a sense of pride and love for their deities. The diostri is a fundamental part of their nation and culture's identity. As such, an insult aimed at their deities to most seen as an insult to the marcandrian way of life. Insulting their deities is therefore a quick way to earn the ire of a lot of marcandrians.
Callera is depicted as a young human woman of unearthly beauty dressed in a near-transparent gown of the finest silk. She has lustrous, impossibly long red hair, which sometimes assumes the appearance of flames. The rest of her appearance may change each time she manifests, to always reflect what is considered to be the most beautiful. However, her long lustrous red hair persists regardless of any other permutations in her appearance. Callera sends guidance to her followers through visions visible in one's reflections, which they are to interpret based on how the worshipper's reflection was altered. This alteration can be both in the worshippers own appearance, as well as an alteration of their surroundings.
Callera is seen as one of the most benevolent beings in existence, who truly loves and seeks to protect her followers. She is also seen as whimsical - altering between deep passion and casual flirtation. Those with a more critical view of her may also call her vain and fickle in her affections. Callera is said to enjoy attention and sincere flattery, while avoiding the horrific and boorish. She also abhor the destruction of beauty.
Callera is the Marcandrian goddess of art, beauty, liberty, love, joy, passion, and revelry. The Marcandrians view her as a the epitome when it comes to living joyous and fulfilling lives. To Callera, the beauty of life is sacred. She preaches that life should be filled with happiness, beauty, love, and celebration, and that one should spend one's lives following one's desires and dreams. She also advocates strongly for spreading and sharing her values to others.
The Marcandrians credit Callera with teaching them that there is a difference between truly living and just surviving - that it is not enough to simply stay alive, but that one should live a fulfilling life filled with joy, passion, and love. A life void of these qualities is a life without worth. Marcandrian behavior, especially among high society, is therefore often attempting to reflect the ideal set by Callera - as she is seen as the very epitome how to live a joyous and love-filled life. She is also credited to be the reason behind the Marcandrians' joy of art, and thus why Marcandrians often seek to collect beautiful and luxurious items. Consequently, Callera's dogma is also partly why Marcandrians may appear vain and often seeking to one-up each other, trying to gain status by having the most valuable and beautiful of assets.
Worship of Callera is most dominant among the higher (richer) portions of Marcandrian society, though her influence permeates all of it. Worship of Callera is highly communal - revelry, dance, song and love are after all often more joyous in the company of others. Callera is primarily represented by the Joybringers in Marcandria - a rather loose and informal organization where temples operate mostly independently from one another.
Holy Symbol: Face of a beautiful red-haired woman
Titles: Lady Firehair; The Lady of Love; Goddess of Beauty and Love; Most Beautiful one; The Fickle and the Beautiful; The Princess of Passion
Dogma as bullet-points:
Fiori is depicted as a slightly below middle-aged woman (late 30s looking) with sun-tanned skin, who is often described as “a rose in full bloom”. She is depicted as having a lean but toned figure, having muscularity similar to that of a farmer, yet carries herself with both strength and femininity. She has long shiny white hair with several thin braids that are filled with wildflowers and weaved ivy, accentuating her natural beauty. Her depictions usually has her wearing simple yet elegant dresses with embroidery and patterns of buds and flowers. Fiori seldom speak directly to her followers. She instead communicated through subtle signs - spread among fields and flowers - and only discernable through careful observations.
Fiori is seen as wise and quiet, given to neither pomp nor pageantry. She is seen as a patient goddess, being slow to anger and not prone to hasty actions - although she's also seen as ponderous. She is depicted as vibrant and caring, one who loves her worshippers, and who enjoys nothing more than showing them how to enrich their lives using the land she's given them. She is in a way the peaceful and loving mother of Marcandria.
Fiori is the Marcandrian goddess of agriculture, empathy, growth, healing, hope, and life. She is the Marcandrians' goddess of the land, believing their fertile lands to be one of her many gifts to them. She promotes the spreading of kindness and empathy - to nurture hope, healing, and growth. She preaches reverence towards nature and it's beauty. To her, violence and destruction is to be despised. Damaging without also repairing - such as chopping down trees without planting new seeds - is anathema. To bring blight to the natural world is to evoke her fury.
The Marcandrians interpret Fiori's dogma to also preach perseverance, to always keep growing - and that in doing so, you'll one day be able to reap the rewards for your efforts. Fiori's focus on health and hope makes her very dear to the lower castes of Marcandrian society, particularly among those who work and live off the land and it's bounties. The upper echelons on the other hand tend to downplay her importance, preferring the more luxurious and lavish lifestyles promoted by Callera and Meranzi. Fiori is therefore sometimes referred to as the “peasant goddess”, though demeaning her like this publicly is rare. Due to how close the Marcandrians believe their three goddesses to be, insulting one of them is for many seen as an insult to all three.
Worship of FIori is highly individualistic, lacking central authority. Fiori is primarily represented by the Greenwardens in Marcandria - a common name given to the numerous independent yet similar temples and groups scattered across the Marcandrians' lands and cities.
Holy Symbol: Blooming rose over grain
Titles: The Great Mother; The Grain Goddess; She Who Shapes All; She Who Heals All; The Lady of Hope; The Mother of All Flowers; Heartmender; “Peasant Goddess” (derogatory)
Domains: Life, Nature, Light
Dogma as bullet-points:
Meranzi is depicted as a vibrant and vivacious young woman, with a slender figure and a pointed face. She has long luxuriant hair the hue of spun gold along with golden eyes. Her gowns are woven of gleaming, gem-studded strips of precious metals, with her gold-soled boots being made from links of laced pearls. She is said to manifest as the sprouting of daffodils (flower), to give signs of favor, hope, or inspiration. Her most devoted followers are said to receive her golden-colored irises, which is believed to be a sign of having earned her favor.
Meranzi is viewed as an active and enthusiastic deity who enjoys to personally and actively watch over promising individuals and events, but who rarely lets her involvement get known. She is seen as innovative, yet also stubborn and persistent - driven to accomplish a goal, and to then move on to the next one. She is also seen as being flexible - willing to try out alternative methods when traditional one's fail to produce satisfactory results. People who achieve great things are often said to have had her favor, but the accomplishment is always accredited to be caused by their own abilities.
Meranzi is the Marcandrian goddess of liberty, knowledge, exceptionalism, commerce, and trade - with commerce and trade being viewed as her primary values. It is her belief that the pursuit of commerce and mercantile trade is the best way to reach personal and societal enrichment, the best way to create a golden future in which all intelligent beings can prosper. Meranzi promotes that which promotes commerce and honest trade, while denouncing that which seeks to limit or damage commerce or trade.
The Marcandrians interpret Meranzi's dogma to promote improvement and exceptionalism. They believe it is those most skilled and most intelligent, those who manage to reach new heights and who exceed what has been done before, who'll drive society towards a golden and prosperous future. Marcandrians thus greatly respect those who display success, and consequently look down upon those who display failure and incompetence. Marcandrian society can therefore often be seen as a "race to the top", where everyone seeks to reach greater success and thus greater respect and status.
Meranzi's dogma is the one most engrained in Marcandrian society - with the Marcandrians' meritocratic viewpoint having much of its roots in their interpretation of Meranzi's dogma. She is thus the most worshipped out of all deities in Marcandria. Meranzi is worshipped by people from all castes of the Marcandrian society, though her worship is most prominent amongst merchants, peddlers, artisans, traders, and nobility. The representation of Meranzi in Marcandrian society is dominated by the Meranzeum, which serves as the nation's official “clergy” to Meranzi, and is one of the largest and most influential factions in Marcandria as a whole.
Holy Symbol: Upright coin with Meranzi's profile, facing left.
Titles: Liberty's Maiden; The Golden Lady; Our Lady of Gold; Lady of Progress; Lady of Knowledge; Lady of Excellence; Lady of Commerce; The Merchant's Friend; The Coinmaiden
Domains: Knowledge, Trickery
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