/HAHA/'S RELIGION
Table of Contents
Introduction
From an outsider's perspective, /haha/ might look like a nation controlled entirely by the church, paying off the military to do what it wishes. A newcomer might even think that all citizens are devotedly loyal to Selen. While this is partially true; the further one looks at the citizens in /haha/, the more obvious it is that there is a tenuous line between the individual and the state, being constantly separated of each other with time. Thus, it is not a fair assumption to say that the Kingdom of Drakenland is entirely loyal to Selen. Indeed, the religious fragmentations during the antebellum period have led to different factions yearning for power, with different visions of how Kingdom's religion should truly be interpreted, and how the nation should be ran.
Religious Factions Within Drakenland
Throughout the chaotic and turbulent antebellum period, /haha/ enjoyed some time of peace within itself to develop the nation. Seeing it's end however, religious factions rapidly formed and were swallowed in the response of an opponent's move, attempting to hinder them at every cost. At the end of this haywire-filled political chapter of /haha/, three major factions emerged, all of them longing for the slightest bit of power. The factions themselves are called: Selenists, Dragonists and Heathens.
Now, we will go through all of them, and specify their goals and view of what /haha/'s religion should be.
Selenists
As the name implies, Selenism constitutes the absolute faith and loyalty to only Selen. Being strictly monotheistic, any positive mention or reference to any polytheist religion is heavily frowned upon. It is also an umbrella term for various other factions residing in Drakenland.
Selenism puts great emphasis in Heroism, in cultivating warfare like one might take care of a bonsai.
A warrior, that sacrificed himself for a greater picture that he will most likely never come to understand, has an infinite value compared to a monotous, self-consuming life.
War is sacred, not in the sense of any known religion, but as in it's superior morality compared to a spiritual and materialistic lifestyle. Thus, war and the path of the Goddess have merged into a single entity: one cannot live, or even be, without the other.
War is a natural constant, a method of purification for those who Selen deem to be unworthy, but also rewards Her sons gratefully.
A Dragoon's reality is objective, relying on a law of the divine, on a "more-than-life" basis.
Selenist reality is explained by two states:
The state of "becoming" is an inferior realm, being a transitory condition that paves the path of a superior way of being. For an example, the realization and acceptance that a Dragoon's duty is to serve Selen from the moment of their birth is a lesser state of being. The same could be said to a developing culture, or when a developing societal group is reaching towards the natural conclusion of the religiosity of war.
Victory in conquest simbolizes the domination of one's materialistic, carnal and spiritual life; eventually entering another realm of Being.
The second state of Being is a superior, permanent way of spirit that is rarely achieved. It indicates the conquering of decadence and defiance against corruption. Those who reach this state are known as Blessed Dragoons. These men are heroes not in the physical, materialistic sense, but in the spiritual one. A higher life, or something greater, manifests itself only in death of the physical body to ascend in a higher purpose. Indeed, destruction of the carnal body meant liberation of the spirit; a force of an immortal and infinite crown would triumph against the finite.
As one might expect, cult of Heroism is practiced to a great extent. It's unique however, in being carried out by the entirety of Drakenland; ranging from the city dwellers of Kalmar to the natives in Mount Ember.
The heroic experience, or moment, can only be found in risk of combat and painful tension must constitute the individual during warfare, of which it's inner cultiminations of passionate and fierce intensity transforms him into something almost "more-than-life".
The Democratic Movement for the Reform of Selenism
The DMRS, with it's members proudly calling themselves "Reformists" or "Democrats" to a lesser extent, is an underground political party being formally established in 1078 as a response by a significant percentage of disgruntled intellectuals to the resource - draining and on-going Elirian Incident.
Curiously, the movement created it's own branch of Selenism in order to justify their beliefs. It abolishes any sort of "bloody cults" that their Totalist and Purist enemies love so much. Their doctrine is not of pure inaction however, they wish to bring order and discipline to the lands beyond their borders; with whatever means necessary.
In fact, some reports came into light of Selenist's leadership that a number of POWs that escaped and presumably died were actually alive, serving the party.
The DMRS is an umbrella organization for all anti-monarchists. They all have very different goals and visions for the country, but are united under a tenuous line against the king and his court.
They hope to end the "Great Poisoning" of Drakenland, which shuts and oppresses the poor peasants. Indeed, who could govern a country better than those who lived through its problems?
Interestingly, the organization suffers from the same in-fighting that Drakenland has endured throughout all of it's history. Left and right-wing opposition movements being founded inside the DMRS harms any sort of cooperation between the two. Were they all that different from what they wanted to destroy?
Left-wing propaganda captured in 1083. Although most information is unclear or missing, it is believed that years of 1082-83 were the apex of DMRS' factionalism.
The founder, Serenus Maurer von Reuental, a noble being ironically descendent of a poor peasant family in Pomerlane, grew unsatisfied with the rule of Magnus VIII before the Great War and tried to rally other aristocrats to his side in order to stage a coup. Indeed, he went as far as convincing some Imperial Dragoon commanders to overthrow Magnus. All of his hard labor went unfulfilled however, when the war started. The war enthusiasm was too great for anyone to even listen to what he had to say. But not all was lost, the years went by without any end in sight, and victory they so dearly wished for never came.
His small following started to grow as more and more peasants joined the movement and started to view it as the only path forward for Drakenland. Not under the king, who could not even bother to learn of what they go through in their daily lives, not for the great nobility which has its hands tied behind their backs should they dare to speak out against Selenism, but for them, and for them alone. They always were the masters of their own fate, and they would prove it now.
A drawing of a study session between Reformist leaders. It is one of the few illustrations that depicts Serenus von Reuental (middle).
Selenistic Purists
Should you ask the meaning of Selenism to a devoted Purist, they will definitely answer that it's the calling of all Dragoons, whenever they might be. They have seen the effects of paganism in their land, and what freed them from rampant disorder? Selenism, of course. No true Dragoon should run away from duty, the one given by the great goddess Selen. They must preserve Her words through action, through war. They are dominant in the Kingdom, and their followers are many. That has been the status quo for generations, made possible by iron and blood, not words.
Indeed, a Purist Dragoon is born with his duty imprinted in his soul, a sacred duty of waging war against the enemies of Selenism. Never again there will be a repetition of anarchy and chaos.
Behind the dramatic and brutal words spoken by all Purist priests, there lies uncertainty and doubt about their future. The numbers do not lie, the population is increasingly agigated. They have taken all measures to stop the spread of nefarious elements into their country, so what could harm a system that has never been even scratched? Had their methods grown old and predictable? Could they even trust the one besides them? For all matters, the Selenistic eye, the one that brought stability, as brutal as it may seen, is growing tired and god knows what will happen when it finally closes.
A popular depiction of the Battle of Saafeld. It is famous myth that sympathic civilians to Drakenland fought against the enemy.
Selenistic Totalism
The Totalists have always been unique, a rare phenomenona of the world. What happens if you unite the extremes of both main factions? War? Assassinations? Terrorism, perhaps? Maybe, but not here.
The Totalists were formed after radical Reformers and Purists defected their own factions in order to form their own. There is no in-fighting, but ideas achieved through mutual cooperations.
Their year of founding is uncertain, but is believed to be around 1085, after the right-hand man of Serenus von Reuental and a former senior officer, Constantine Sigurd Karl von Stade left a party meeting and was last seen meeting with influential Purists. Two months later, mass defections for both factions had spiked in an incident known as the "85 Defection Crisis".
Being founded by a group of occultist philosophers from all over Nijisanji, their manifestos and speeches quickly influenced their listeners. Their beliefs differ from mainstream Niji religions; being deeply rooted in esoteric, symbolist Selenist and Dragonist knowledge, Totalists are the most fanatical of all factions. In fact, one of their most noteworthy characteristics is the extremization of Drakenland's corvée system into a method of filtration of able-bodied men into a fixed social hierarchy.
The Totalists' foreign policy does not differ much from Purists, aside from focusing solely on slavery instead of religious extermination.
A common occultist belief in Selenism is that once the world is in the brink of anarchy and degeneracy, a prophet will come from the sky to the Dragoons riding a purple dragon with multiple heads. There, they will wage an endless war against the faithless profligates.
Levant of the Supporters of the Sun and Moon
The Dragonists are a mysterious and violent organization within Drakenland. Not much is known about the movement itself, other than the little amount of evidence produced by raids of isolated Dragonist bases by the Selenist government. In fact, it's official name was not even known until recent decades when their name was leaked during a supposed safe house raid. As such, it's name has been elevated to legend status despite the government's attempt to downplay the movement's severity to preserve stability.
The Dragonists are known for equalizing Eliria and Selen as goddesses, but not much else is known about their specific objectives. The movement is notorious for supposed attacks on public officials and military bases. The group is silent over the attacks, therefore it is difficult to confirm whether or not they actually committed them.
It is believed that the Dragonists' main base of operation is located in Mount Ember, making it essentially impossible to fully comprehend or destroy the organization.
The Dragonists have kept the Selenist government busy from dealing with its factionalism, and there is some evidence that Selenist religious factions are adopting a stance of an unusual alliance with the Dragonists. Whether they will continue to adopt that stance when they finally get their hands on the government has yet to be seen.
Analysis from Dragonist attacks have shown a good level of cohesion and tactical awareness among their troops, indicating that they might have been trained by outsiders or from Drakenland's own military. An investigation to see the loyalty of officers to Selenism is on-going.
Dragonist guerrilla fighters are active within the mountainous regions of /haha/, and have proven to be experienced in mountain warfare, preferring to use hit-and-run tactics on Selenist patrols.
An abandoned yurt believed to be a temporary base of operations for some Dragonists. Note a few belongings still left near the yurt. It is believed that the Dragonists are skillful in winter survival.
Indecisive Scum
What could be so hated in their own population to the point that all factions are organizing to fight it? What is the one thing that destroys a political party? What makes a person crumble? Indecision. The Reformists, Purists and Totalists hate their enemies with an obsession only seen through war. But inside, within all of their doctrinal standpoints and burning passionate speeches, there lies a certain amount of respect for those who decided their own path in life and fought for it. Their pride impedes them from speaking about it however, but that respect, that admiration is understood by all without uttering a single word.
There are many names and punishments for one that can't choose their path. "Heathens", "Devils", "Degenerates" and the most common one inside political circles: "Indecisive Scum".
This faction differs from all other groups for being not a formal movement; nor a political party, but instead a body of lower-class citizens that haven't been influenced by neither faction, being a witness to the political turmoil that Drakenland is trying so desperately to get rid of.
It is not known if this movement even exists after the purging of Non-Selenists by the order of the church shortly after Magnus was crowned king.
At one point, Selenist leadership decided that it was much effective to control the Heathens as some sort of terror propaganda; going as far as staging false-flag terrorist operations against Kalmarians, and holding show trials with alleged Degenerates, which were actually petty criminals being trialed for propaganda purposes.
They are not known by names, much less as people. They are monsters that will lead to the annihilation of the Kingdom. As much as there is hate in the name, there is fear; what will the future generations think of them? What will happen to my country?
"Faith in Selenism will set you free!" - A rare, recovered propaganda poster that was written in the Emberian dialect. After clear signs of hostility from the villagers in Mount Ember, all Selenist integration campaigns were unofficially ceased by the Selenistic Church.