Where I Read HârnWorld, Part VII: Hârnic History

Religion, Redux

Now that we've been introduced to the Big Ten, we're given some general information on various topics like the nature of the gods and their churches. Needless to say, each deity has very different visions of what he or she wants the cosmos to be like, but the Concordat keeps their hostilities in check. The gods' conflicts are now mostly limited to Yashain and Kethira (Kethira, again, being Hârn's world). It's not as simple as "teams", though. Larani fights against Morgath and Agrik (who are also just as likely to fight each other), while Save-K'nor is neutral and Peoni is a pacifist. Sarajin, Ilvir, Halea, and Naveh sometimes participate (on either side) but are unreliable. Most of the open warfare between the gods takes place on Yashain.

The deities (according to the Libram of the Pantheon, which is more-or-less the Hârnic "Bible") established churches to promote their various agendas. Priests are "vessels" for the gods. Different churches dominate in different parts of Hârn.

Agrikans get stylin' duds.

 Clerics often enjoy privileged status, even though the polytheism on Hârn limits their influence. We are introduced to seven "circles" of church ranks, from 1st Circle (laity) to 7th (Pontiff). Pontiffs are supreme leaders of their respective churches, and none reside on Hârn (Hârn has numerous "Primates" (6th Circle)). Advancing through the ranks is not always a function of faith; politics plays a role. There's no explicit mention here of whether clergy gain mystical powers or spells. (Spoiler: They do, at least in HârnMaster Religion.)

Most churches have two or more "clerical orders" and their clergy will belong to one of them - this is apparently due to the "frontier" nature of Hârn, though I'm not sure why that follows. There are also "fighting orders", knights and men-at-arms who serve a church. Each fighting order will be sponsored by a clerical order.

Churches have access to "canon law" and can hold their own court for religious crimes (like blasphemy or witchcraft - that latter crime an odd choice in a world like Hârn's). Punishments will vary from church to church.

She's a witch! May we give her a stern talking-to, in our Peonian tradition?

There's a certain sameness to all this - the churches, despite their radically different deities, virtues, and sins, all seem to act much the same way. This, again, isn't entirely unreasonable. The adherents of these religions (other than Sarajin and Ilvir) are all culturally Hârnic; the similarities could be justified by the cultural norms of those peoples. Still, a bit more diversity (other than the annoyingly-different names for the same rank in similarly-structured churches) would not go amiss. As usual, there is more detail given in HârnMaster Religion, but not enough, in my view, to relieve the uniformity.

And that's it for religion.

The Earthmasters

Now we get to the history of Hârn. We start early - 15,000 to 20,000 years before present - with beings called the "Earthmasters" or "Ancients". We don't get much detail on them here except that they probably ruled all of Kethira, may have been shape-shifters, and left many ruins and artifacts behind. We're referred to two other articles: Godstones and Earthmasters - for more detail.

The Earthmasters left suddenly around 15,000 years before present. Several thousand years - the "Lost Years" - followed. The Sindarin (Elves) arrived around 10,000 years BP. The Sindarin arrived "from the east" with their god Siem and lived on Hârn for several thousand years; when Siem continued his travels, some Elves stayed on Hârn. (It sounds like the Sindarin, like the Gargun, are unique to Hârn - that they don't exist in any significant numbers elsewhere on the planet.)

The Dwarves show up around 7,000 years BP, summoned or created by Siem.The Sindarin and Khuzdul co-existed on Hârn for several thousand years (the "Codominium") until humans showed up and ruined everything.

Humans

Humans show up on Hârn around 3,500 years BP. A "henge culture" existed on the island of Melderyn around that time. These were the Jarin, mentioned earlier, who didn't bother the Elves or Dwarves much. They lived on the coast and became vassals of the elven king. However they soon (...well, in Elven terms) started to expand inward, clearing forests as they went. This would probably have caused problems except that other Lythian invaders showed up around 1,600 years BP. They start with raids and gradually move on to colonization.

(Basically, the Jarin are stand-ins for the Celts, and the Lythian invaders are stand-ins for the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. More or less. The Ivinians up in Orbaal who show up later are, of course, the Norsemen.)

A thousand years later, there's a great battle between the Elves and their Jarin vassals and the Dwarves, on the one hand, and the Lythian invaders on the other. The invaders lose, but the Elven king is mortally wounded. The Elves withdraw into Evael, leaving the war - which the Dwarves viewed as betrayal, hence, the standard "Elves and Dwarves don't get along due to an ancient insult" that we see in Warhammer FRP and perhaps, to a certain extent, in Tolkien's work. By around 1,200 years BP, the new waves of invaders had taken control.

Next - Melderyn is founded, and foulness is spawned!