Interlude: The Rise and Fall of the Harem Faith

An excerpt from Chapter 4: Faith, from “The Line between Ages”, yet unpublished, by Political Historian, Faver Uresis:

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As one of the most ancient nations on Gaia, Lyrican institutions most often accommodate tradition, often to a disgusting extent compared to nations of modernity. The border between Lyrica and Icasius-Artemia, for example, is of such stark contrast of minefields on one hand, and chevaux-de-frise on the other, that it inspired the title of this text.

Such microcosms of history as Lyrica offer a unique insight into the institutions of old, and as one might suspect, faith was of such utmost importance to our ancestors that it could not be disentangled from the concept of governance. Our goddesses and gods, after all, govern the natural world, and so is it not a natural extension of the thought to consider the mortal races governed by them, as well?

Indeed, this modern idea—that the natural world governed by goddesses is to be considered distinct from the political world governed by the mortal races—was born only in recent memory. ‘We are born with autonomy granted unto us by divine will, and so why have we not demonstrated that we are autonomous?’ It is such a simple idea, but one that tore away Faith from Governance. It even inverted the previous dependence of Governance on Faith, because now, the different temples depend on the government—for financing, advertising, and all the toils of their continued existence.

No other temple demonstrates this dependence to such a chilling degree as the Temple of the Harem God.

They were a minor faith, whose followers were mainly reincarnators with memories of another world. Despite their meager influence, they were a pillar of Gaia, for under their wing, they guided many, if not most, of the Heroes of history. One can even say that the Temple of the Harem God is among the top killers of the demon lords of memory, rightfully only second to the temples of the goddesses of Reincarnation.

At the onset of the Mortal Age, when governments were weaned from the direction of the temples, the Temple of the Harem God stood as one of the first to accept this change. Despite their lascivious reputation, most newly-established national governments acknowledged them and played patron to them, their patronage having been paid back in kind some 200 years ago at the appearance of the most recent demon lord. The Hero of the Harem God defeated him, and the Temple proved, once more, the honor of its old age.

Of course, 50 years ago, the Curse proliferated, and many blamed the Harem God. Its followers were hounded, and the damage, done. With no patronage, no funding, and only infamy, even as the different nations finally recognized the true nature of the Curse, the Harem Faith had already been eroded, evaporated like a mist.

However, oh, that is not the case in our favorite case study.

Ironically, Lyrica was one of the first nations to recognize the threat of the Curse. Their traditional ways labeled anything novel a threat until proven otherwise, and in this case, it served them well. Anyone found with the strange new Blessing from the unnamed god was locked away, treated like the carriers of a disease, and sometimes, even killed. One would think that they would treat the Temple of the Harem God with the same vilification, but no, they did not!

Their courts argued feverishly to defend the Temple, pointing out first, than anyone, that the Curse and the Blessings of the Harem God were not the same. Through the iron-handed rule of the Royal Family, the stubborn dedication of its institutions, and the great filter of its thousands of writs and laws, it was declared that anyone found denouncing the Harem God or His Temple shall be put to death for blasphemy—and many were, and then there were none.

Today, the Harem Faith lives on in protected bubbles of tradition across the known world, but none more fiercely defended than Lyrica.