They call them birds.
Not joking, they’d look at a giant sauropod and say “woah, that’s a big bird.”
But then again, rats and elephants are both mammals.
Yeah, basically, though you don’t need a licence unless you’re living in the city, in which case the licence is for for your vehicle and not the animal. Most people in rural homesteads own plenty of animals: cows, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, horses, etc., so just throw in hippalectryons, perytons, striderfowls, etc. in there as well, and no one bats an eye. Though if you want to take them into the city, you may typically need a licence so the animal is registered, but that’s more so for analytics purposes.
Actually, now that you mention it, I may need to look into this more. Thanks for tthe heads up.
Like Earth, people just hop along the coasts. That’s how it was in Earth’s history as well. Sailing across oceans is a relatively new thing, and it’s often risky and fraught with peril.
Nice, I like the idea of different brands of airships. That actually sounds very realistic, and I’d say my world also has airship brands, though that’s something I haven’t delved into yet. Now that you mention it, I need to go into this.
No wait, I forgot about the real prompt/didn’t go into there at all. Morthaur is not a religion, it’s a philsophical concept that all the religions adhere to. Morthaur isn’t actively worshipped (more on that later), it’s just a cosmic principle that just says ‘nothing will last forever’. If Covid (or any plague) happened in my world, people will still act like normal people, but they’ll know that it’s inevitable that this would happen, and that it will soon pass.
I’m not sure if I’m explaining this correctly. The concept is a bit complex. There are other concepts like Desire, Maya (illusion) and Dharma (duty).
- Desire is the force that created our universe, but also the root of all suffering. An individual desire food, desires love, desires rest, and that’s why we exist, because every since the birth of the universe, desire has been active. However, you also suffer because you want something and can’t get it. If you desire food and don’t get it, you suffer hunger. If you desire love and don’t get it, you feel depressed. The person who does not want does not suffer. So true enlightenment can be gained by being self-aware of your suffering. That doesn’t mean Desire is bad, but it’s good to be aware of its effects.
- Maya is the force of illusion, transformation, projection. The people believe that all things that exist stem from a single source, the One, the Absolute, and Maya is the force is the that makes The One appear as Many. So in reality, everything in the universe is a fragment of the whole, including you and I. So when you learn to look past the web of Maya, you can see that all your joys, all your fears, all your achievements and sorrows are illusions. Only the One is real. And in doing so, you become One with the Absolute, and escape Samsara.
- Dharma (moral duty) is the dark that’s assgned to you. Sometimes it may feel like you have no control over anything. No matter what you do, the world is going to hell anyway. There’s too many dictators, too much corruption, too much injustice, too much unrighteousness. So it may be a bit depressive and it feels like nothing matters. In that moment, the Sacred Texts remind us that it is not our responsibility to think of what else is happening, only what we must do. That is our dharma, and nothing else. If you do your duty correctly and the world still collapses, you can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing you did what was in your power to do, and the rest is not your responsibility.
Also yeah, these concepts apply to our own universe too, because these are genuine philosophical concepts. Morthaur exists in own world, and influences everything.
As for religions, my world has these main religions:
- Church of the Radiants: the most prevalent religion in Alendir, centred around the worship of the Radiants (also called Light Gods or the Exalted Six): Aelinor the Engineer, Ajúr the Life-Giver, Azir the Warrior-Poet, Anín the Navigator, Mithral the Defender, and Kaal-Ei the Grim-Reaper. They believe these gods to be the creators and current rulers of the universe.
- Church of Aši: an equally prevalent religion in Alendir and the Forest Kingdom, this religion worships Aši the Preserver, whom they believe to be personification of the universe itself. They also worship Morthaur and Kaal, but Aši is pivotal to their religion. They believe Aelinor to be the Avatar of Aši. They believe when adharma has risen to its zenith, Aši manifests Himself to bring balance to the world.
- Church of Adi Morthaur: the most prevalent religion of the Forest Kingdom, their worship is centred on Adi Morthaur (the First Morthaur), whom they believe to be the lifeblood of the universe. Adi Morthaur is worshipped in six different forms: The Wildfather, The Hermit King, Kaal Fear-Killer, Lord of the Dance of Apocalypse, the Mother of Mountains, and Adiguru (the First Sage).
- Cult of the Cosmic Force: the second most prevalent religion in the Forest Kingdom, this religion worships the Cosmic Force, whom they personify as the Great Mother Maya. They have many goddesses, all considered incarnations of the Cosmic Force – the Mother of Mountains, the Black Lady, the Star Mother, and the like.
Cool! This looks very Christian (I think).
So that means your angels and demons are simply animals like humans, but people assign them mythic status?