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- Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2014 5:53 am
SenSx wrote:I never understood why the Dirzs denied their god (Merin) to find a new one Arh-Tolth while their whole society relies on science, and a litle bit on magic.
It does not make sense to me, and was made this way only for gameplay purpose, to give the scorpions priests to play.
The Akkylannians actually have quite advanced technology (gunpowder, and metallurgy second only to the Dwarves' and the Helianthic Smiths of the Cynwall). They are drawing on a lot of late medieval/early Renaissance themes about how faith and science are actually complementary, not incompatible or opposite.
The Heresiarch, Dirz, was originally a scientist motivated by religious fervor. After all, man is an imperfect servant of Merin, the One True God; what if we could make man better? What if we could perfect him?
Dirz began some experiments and learned a lot. Among his revelations: Darkness gems, tied as they are to the principles of perversion and dynamism, were the best way to modify flesh without destroying it.
Well, one thing led to another, and soon enough Dirz and his followers were being hunted as apostates. They fled to the deserts of Syharhalna. A new god, Arh-Tolth, was revealed to Dirz, and he began to worship this god of knowledge.
Culturally, the alchemists of Dirz descend from the Griffins, and they have similar attitudes about knowledge, magic, and religion. Keep in mind, too, that the Faithful of Arh-Tolth are Iconoclasts.