Miaopiaoism

Oldest miaopiaoist representation, dated between 10AA and 50AA. On a cave wall in Miaopiaotiao.

Miaopiaoism is the most common religion during the history of Flying Cats. It's a polytheistic religion based on the founding poem by Altam, who unified different divinities already presents in the religions of the six root cultures of the Miaopiaotiao archipelago. Based on different interpretations of Altam writings and the importance assigned to each divinity, many variants and schools emerged in different cultures and times; each of those with very different philosophical principles and sometimes additional or altered divinities.

History

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Miaopiaoism was founded on year 0 AA, by Altam, an erudite priest of the Maccin culture, when he lived an encounter with the two divinities that will be called Nador and Semor. He then tells a poem in which he describes the structure of the world in three planes: Akrotope, Mesotope and Bathotope; the main divinities inhabiting them are introduced with a precept giving their characteristics. It also tells the Prophecy of the Super, which gives light on magic (previously shunned by all cultures) and tells that the people will be able to give power of Super to a Flying Cat having saved all, powers granted by all those who can tame Dragons; preparing him to protect the Flying Cats for all the future. In the following years he spreads his story and educate his children using this new religion. The ten childs of Altam, expanded his word to the other cultures. They establish alliances, thus starting a period of peace Miaopiaoism is adopted by most within some years. Magic develops, the childs of Altam become the most powerful mages. The following generation is even more able, therefore the 26 grandchilds of Altam are set to tame the Dragons, as was told in the prophecy. The 26 also refine the structure of the religion, by adding Tefen and other divinities; classing all them in 11 pantheons, they also establish the story of the generation of the divinities and the world. They develop a writing system and transcribe Altam's poem, their additions and the Rules of Magic. These rules are built around the prophecy and mostly institutionalize a role of "Archimage",who are the only to have the right to tame Dragons and thus are the ones that can make a Super. The title of Archimage is inherited by a designed apprentice on death or if the Archimage chooses so. The title is represented by an intarsiated stone tablet, the Colm. The first Archimages were obviously the 26 grandchilds of Altam.

Other divinities regarded as canon by most are modified or added in the following 500 years, the last being Mien divinity of metals. At that point the growing population and divergence between cultures didn't permit a rapid spread of modifications, different schools began to appear in each culture. However they were always coordinated by a Archimage council on Miaopiaotiao every 20 years.

Texts

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The most important text for miaopiaoist lore is Altam's poem, it's the founding basis of the religion.

Altam's poem(translated)

While i slept this night, a burst
waked me up,
a volcano?
maybe not!

Over the sky I looked first
at Semor.
a light, a guide
right it flew

It fought another, but cursed
was Nador
dark, hot, near eyed
free it flew


Tetrammoria linked them
magic fell,
at me it tells
what comes forth.

The world of three it was sum
one over
one in between
one under

When one worthy chosen cat,
may stand out,
mages stronger
than dragons

if all choose him. He makes that
without doubt,
peace be longer
never gone.

The text first describes the encounter with Semor and Nador, giving their characteristics. It introduces the Tetrammoria the link between divinities and reality. It then states that the beings tell something to Altam with magic, through the Tetrammoria. It first describes the world as divided in three planes, then tells the Prophecy of the Super. There it is stated that when someone worthy enough to stand out above everyone else, is chosen by all the mages capable of taming the Dragons. He can be granted powers, that will allow him to assure eternal peace.

The Precepts of the Gods is the only other text attributed to Altam (written posthumously), in which are listed the precepts for the main divinities of Miaopiaoism. The text Making of the world, attributed to the 26, structures the religion with pantheons and tells each divinity story. It introduces some new divinities and their precepts (mainly Tefen). The Rules of Magic, also written by the 26, isn't a religious text, but only clarifies the magical institutions with basis of the Prophecy of the Super; by granting a title to those who can tame Dragons and their descendants.

The Lasts Precepts from an unknown author dating back to 523AA, is the last commonly canon text, often treated as the last chapter to the Making of the world. It gives the precepts for some new divinities, and tells some additional legends.

Concepts

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Miaopiaoism, separates the Reality from the World of Gods. The Divinities don't usually interfere with reality, when they do it said they touch reality, as it's the case for Altam encounter.

World of Gods

Schematic representation of the World of Gods. Horizontally are the names of the early gods placed in their pantheon, vertically the names of the planes.

The world of gods is divided in three planes here called. The Akrotope is home to the astral divinities. The Mesotope is home to the terrestrial divinities. The Bathotope is home to the deep divinities.

The legend of Generation, tells that the Tetrammoria (the unions of the skies) and Olidar (the roots of the universe) existed intertwined before time. When they separated the Akrotope was the space touched by the Tetrammoria and the Bathotope the space touched by Olidar. The space touched by both was the Mesotope.

In the Akrotope Nador appeared alone, followed by Semor who was created by the light of the Tetrammoria. The two gods started battling, while at the same time in the Bathotope, two roots of Olidar crossed for the first time. This lead to a burst of energy making Lumiai. From one of the exploded roots Sonte was born, from the other Alikria.

Semor was distracted by the explosion, Nador hit him with a ray of heat, thus breaking and melting a part of him. Thousands of drops scattered, and together made Mildar (the stars). Mildar then looked down and saw Lumiai, creating Tefen. Ucci was born from a broken root of Olidar that was heated by Lumiai, who was slowly waking up. When the cold of Alikria met the light of Semor, it made Altilla, the wind. When the waters of Sonte where heated in the Mesotope by Nador, Mere (the rain) appeared.

Finally a root of Olidar touched a ray of the Tetrammoria, the path was followed by Mildar and Lumiai, who in the center gave birth to Smumilla. In the evergrowing branches Reality surfaced.

Then each of these early gods made theirs a part of their birth plane, creating a pantheon. The later gods (born after the generation of reality), went to one of these pantheons to claim their space. Only Olidar and the Tetrammoria don't have a pantheon and are seen as occupying all their respective planes (Batho and Meso for Olidar, Akro and Meso for the Tetrammoria)

Reality

Reality is seen as independent from the gods (in most schools), because it is protected by the branches of Smumilla. But they can control its aspects with the help of the rays of the Tetrammoria, the roots of Olidar and the branches of Smumilla. They can "pull" the world their way. When a divinity actually touches Reality, it alters it in an immutable and way. Most catastrophes are linked to such rare events, often even implicating multiple divinities.

Divinities

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Plane	Name	Descriptive	Link to Reality	God of	Parents	Precept	Symbol
Akro	Mildar	The Star Dragon	Dragons and Stars	Thought	Semor, Nador	Do not think about stars because the stars already think about you.
	Vir	The Night Sky	Stars	Armony	Mildar, Smumilla	The stars shine always above the world.
	Naha	The Peaceful Light	A planet	Peace		Search peace, peace will find you.
	Vanha	The Follower Light	Naha's red moon	Conflict	Naha, Asm	Conflict follows the steps of peace.
	Vicr	The Astral Light	A planet, Diamonds	Truth	Ucci, Lumiai	Truth is only seen at night.
	Girnea	The Light Disk	The large moon	Right		Your will must not matter.
	Allic	The Black Light	The small moon, coal and embers	Resolve	Mildar, Alp	What you want matters, do everything for it.
	Semor	The Guide	Sunlight	Destiny	Tetrammoria	Destiny guides you.
	Mieir	The Fallen	Meteors and their steel	Natural beauty	Lumiai, Vicr	Beauty guides you, do not guide beauty.
	Asm	The Plain	Straight lines, plains	Purity, strict morals		You must guide destiny in its line.
	Plir	The King	Leaders	Power	Mien, Almic	A guide is required to lead your destiny.
	Nador	The Dark	Sun heat and Anti-light	Free will	Tetrammoria	You only choose what to do in the ever obscure world.
	Osnea	The Scales	Weight	Choices, philosophy		Dwell on the choices, think what to do.
	Almic	The Arrow	Direction	Goal, reason		Do not loose your way, if you want to reach.
	Har	The Astral Fire	Lighting	Means		Sacrifices have to be made.
	Misn	The Rip	Holes	End, death, apocalypse		Do not car about what you do, everything ends.
	Tetrammoria	The Rays	Skies	Union, coordination, magic	/	Linked are the skies, linked we are.
Meso	Smumilla	The Branches	Green	Nature	Mildar, Lumiai	Let the branches make everything there is.
	Mohorin	Mother of the Oceans	Ocean life
	Mir	Mother of the Earth	Earth life
	Jom	Mother of the Sky	Sky life
	Farex	The Forest	Trees, forests
	Altilla	The Wind	Wind	Birth, movement	Alikria, Semor	The world grows in the breath of the wind
	Kran	The Muscle	Beaten flight	Freedom
	Ambran	The Wings	Glided flight	Luck
	Amil	The Sail	Boats, sails	Sailing, travel
	Tox	The Bow	Ranged weapons	Speed
	Trom	The Storm	Storms	Unluckyness
	Vlevle	The Clouds	Clouds	Humbleness		Even clouds fall on the ground.
	Mere	The Rain	Rain	Death, stillness	Sonte, Nador	The future is not written in the drops of rain.
	Eles	The Water	Water, rivers	Growth, change of self	Smunne, Smummic
	Avam	The Plow	Earth	Good harvest, altruism	Mast,	Dig for everyone happiness.
	Telt	The Home	Houses	Security, rest		Joy is only shared.
	Usin	The Desert	Droughts, deserts	Bad harvest (drought), egoism		Look far for your happiness.
	Orim	The Hurricane	Hurricanes	Bad harvest, hate
Batho	Sonte	The Ocean	Oceans, seas	Erosion, future time	Lumiai, Olidar	The Sun rises and sets, time moves on.
	Alp	The Cronophage	Fire	Destroys the present
	Nus	The Tsunami	Tsunamis, waves	Bad future, war		Only the tsunami stops the tsunami.
	Smunne	The Wet Beach	Beaches, tides	Hope		Tides will carry you.
	Arset	The Fangs	Teeth, fangs	Fear	Alp, Antet	Bite on your thoughts.
	Alikria	The Cold	Cold	Progress, past time	Lumiai, Olidar	Present stays frozen in the past
	Smummic	The Dry Sand	Sand, snow, glass	Nostalgia, melancholy		If you stay behind, you will loose yourself in the sands
	Oren	The Glacier	Ice	Wisdom		In eternal ice is enclosed true wisdom.
	Vala	The Source	Water sources	History	Alikria, Sonte	History flows following time.
	Temie	The Geode	Geodes	Knowledge	Naha, Osnea	In you crystallizes knowledge.
	Antafem	The Shining	Gold	Artificial beauty	Ucci, Vicr	Malleable is beauty.
	Lumiai	The Volcanoes	Earth heat	Natural destruction and creation	Olidar	Flowing lava erases the past and makes the future.
	Ulum	The three cycles	Chains, ropes	Consciousness		Exist.
	Antet	The Eruption	Eruptions	Rage, chaos	Lumiai, Vanha
	Ucci	The Mountain	Mountains	Solidity, artificial creation, artisans	Lumiai, Olidar	Search virtue in existence.
	Mast	The Stone	Rock, tools	Tool making, farmers, health	Semor, Ucci
	Navat	The Knife	Obsidian, blades	Weapon making, hunters, pain	Nador, Ucci
	Afner	The Guard	Temples	Priests, loneliness
	Mierus	The Cave	Caves, mines, steel	Miners, unknown
	Mien	The Reflexion	Metals, mirrors	Blacksmiths, self
	Mic	The Quartz	Crystals	Merchants,possession		Remember not to be what you have.
	Tefen	The Eye	Clay	Divine gaze, ductibility	Mildar, Lumiai	Do not look for what you can't find.
	Sder	The Veil	Fabric	Limits of the thought	Mildar, Sonte	You You can always find similarities by comparing the incomparable.
	Asner	The Mage	Squares	Control of magic	Tefen, Olidar
	Akanef	The Drawing	Drawings, paintings	Manual art	Tefen, Ucci	Everything can be made.
	Toflir	The Book	Books, writings	Art	Molpir, Akanef	It is not Art if it isn't a story.
	Molpir	The Brain	Colors	Arguments, manipulation, psychic magic	Tefen, Mildar
	Olidar				/