Religion in Aveyrone

The faith of the Empire is the Way of the Wheel. It is an ancient belief system whose origins are lost in the mists of time. There are six deities, who are equated with the six Houses: the Bear, the Lizard, the Ox, the Wolf, the Owl, and the Cat. There are constellations with these names, which slowly rotate about a central point in the sky. Theologians take this as a symbol of the one greater, nameless God who rules over the rest, or perhaps is composed of the rest, but such matters are not the concern of ordinary people, who simply venerate the Six in their own right. The Way of the Wheel is a fairly philosophical religion. Its followers believe in reincarnation, and hold that each person is reborn six times, in order for them to experience as many aspects of life as they can. After six lifetimes, the soul is evaluated by the Six, who judge it based on how far is has progressed. If it is found worthy, it journeys to the Centre, the home of the One God. Otherwise, it is consigned to the Void, an endless emptiness, black and cold. So how are you supposed to get to the Centre? By being a good person, certainly, but also by learning and experiencing new things, as you strive to gain wisdom. There are various holy texts that followers of the Way of the Wheel read for wisdom and meditation, including The Blade of Reason, Six Paths to the Centre, and the Almas Genara, the oldest and most esoteric volume.

In actual practice, many inhabitants of Diablotin have little time or respect for religion, except as a convenient source of swear-words, and consider themselves to have done their duty if they make a yearly donation to the church. In the countryside, people are generally more backwards, and actually believe in this sort of thing, but a bit of time in the city often cures them.