Borthanism is a religion which originated from the Trident and Libertine Peninsula. Its followers worship the dragon god Borthanas. Borthanists are largely connected the history of the city of Jaedaxia.
Origins
Borthanism has its origins in the natives of the Trident Isle. They were a dragon-worshiping culture. Although they are now extinct, they passed on their dragon-worshiping beliefs to segments of the Vagaran who later dominated the Libertine Peninsula, and were responsible for wiping out the previous inhabitants. This is actually all that is known about the natives of the Trident and Libertine Peninsula.
The tradition of dragon-worship eventually turned specifically to the cult of one dragon, the gold dragon Borthanas who took up residence on the Libertine Peninsula, long before Jaedaxia was built. At the time the peninsula was populated by Vagaran and possibly Baijani, living in small towns and villages. Pirates from the Trident had long plagued these people, and Borthanas, on his arrival, gave them peace by chasing away the pirates. In exchange for peace from the people, Borthanas agreed to protect the peninsula and its people. At some point the people lost contact with Borthanas, likely because he hid himself and his hoard deep beneath the earth. Only the cult leaders maintained communication with him.
No one knows when Borthanas died, but he did, eventually, leaving his hoard and all of his gold scales deep under Jaedaxia, protected by the Borthanists. One Borthanist belief is that Borthanas will be re-born as Kelthanas, and resume his role as patron protector of the Libertine Peninsula.
MGanzi Hal and the Decline of Borthanism
The city of Jaedaxia was built by the Empire, probably subsuming several local towns, and many local people migrated into the new city with its largely Imperial population. Carmelya worship proliferated, and Borthanism went into decline in the general population, but the core cult, still very large, came to be very powerful within the city, especially in Eastern Jaedaxia, which was largely Vagaran. They were so powerful that their allegiance allowed MGanzi Hal to take over eastern Jaedaxia, renamed Defiance, and use it as the capital of his secessionist state. The Wall of Weeping was built to divide the city.
The Imperial Legions broke Defiance's defenses. (Imperial historians claim that the people of Defiance opened the gates for them.) The Legions commenced a campaign to slaughter every Borthanist in Defiance. For centuries, it was believed that the Legions had been successful and that the Borthanist cult was dead, but a few managed to sneak into the Jaedaxian Underground, where they recovered and where the present dedicated members of the cult operate. These cultists are the only ones who know how to access Borthanas' den. The spirits of the Borthanists killed by the Legions possess the Wall of Weeping and are responsible for the strange things that go on in proximity to it.
Resurgence
For the centuries in which Jaedaxia was resettled by the Charismeans, its inner turmoil between east-west, then religions, then noble houses, its renaissance and its re-opening to the Empire, the small but intense Borthanist cult remained largely underground, although small segments of the population independently converted to Borthanism.
This is where the distinction between the cult and the religion must be made. The Cult is made up of the hardcore Borthanists, the ones who murder Dracons and roam the Jaedaxian Underground. Their exact numbers are unknown. The Borthanist religion, which now consists of 35% or more of the general population, worship Borthanas the Dragon-God but are not part of the activities of the Cult.
It's only in the past few eras that Borthanism became popular amongst the general population. On the night of the Kingdom's Surrender, the last night before Imperial occupation, Borthanist cultists openly announced themselves and took to the streets of Jaedaxia preaching the ways of Borthanas. They claimed that Borthanas, the patron protector of Jaedaxia, had forsaken the city in its hour of need because the people had lost their faith in him. This is also when activity resumed at the Church of Borthanas.
This marked the beginning of the rise of Borthanism, which has now more or less plateau-ed at about 35% of the population. For many, converting from Carmelyanism to Borthanism was an act of defiance against the Empire. It also began a period in which the Borthanists became more active in the city, taking a role beyond that of protecting Borthanas' den and powerplays in Jaedaxia Beneath. Borthanists were probably involved in the various insurgent factions during the peak of the Occupation. However, even with the rise of Borthanism in the population, only radicals openly announced themselves as such, because the Second Legion considers Borthanists enemies of the Empire, and the Church of the Faith, which was the first to denounce Borthanism as heretical, provided food aid to about a third of the city during the worst of the economic depression.
Borthanist Beliefs
- Borthanas is the patron protector of Jaedaxia and the Libertine Peninsula
- Borthanas will be resurrected in the form of Kelthanas
- Dracons are a perversion of the holy dragon race, and should be exterminated (it is dangerous to be a Diantar or for a Moraden to be discovered in Jaedaxia, especially with the recent rise of Borthanism)
- Borthanas is not an Aetherian, an Aeternian, or a Planetar. He is simply the Dragon-God.
Alternative Borthanism
Some of the inhabitants of the Jaedaxian Underground have a mutated form of Borthanism, in which Borthanas is the Dragon-God, served by 3 angels, intermediaries between him and the people. His angels are Jorel, Risthal, and Antediluvian. These people are disconnected entirely from society and their religion is essentially a pidgin of knowledge brought to them by the powers in Jaedaxia Beneath.
Borthanism in the Jaedaxian Government
Before the Secession and during the Kingdom, most of Jaedaxia's ranking officials were probably, but never confirmed, Borthanists. Their involvement in the Cult is unknown. For the house Richelieu de Mer, the ducal and then royal family, Borthanism was a personal faith adopted because it connected them with the peninsula's antiquity. However, the family were originally Carmelyanists, coming from Charisme, and during the civil wars championed Carmelya, along with the Country de Bourbauge, over the other Aetherian deities, essentially wiping them out. This left Carmelya as the only deity in Jaedaxia until Borthanism's revival.
Thane Kiredis Thayron, the last thane of Jaedaxia before the Occupation, was probably a Borthanist, and may have been strongly connected to the Cult. His thaneship was long and stable. He was responsible for lifting Jaedaxia's status as a closed city and opening it to the Empire, and his administration responsible for the Secession. However, he never once made a public appearance, and nothing is known about his history.
Overall
Borthanism is both a cult and a popular religion. The cult is far more radical, operates in the underground, actively protects Borthanas' den, and are the only ones who know where the den actually is. The cult is insurgent, subversive, and its two long-term goals are to 1) make Borthanism the only religion of the Jaedaxian people and 2) regain the political power it had during the reign of MGanzi Hal.
Borthanism as a more widespread religion is far more tame, and people often convert to it for personal reasons of faith or out of nationalism, as it's defiant to the Empire and the Empire's religions.
Borthanism remains heretical to the Church of the Faith and is grounds for arrest and execution by the Second Legion.
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Borthanism
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