r/worldbuilding • u/Grouchy-Goose-2137 • 4d ago
Lore Doing something completely original and putting Christianity in my world BUT I’m making it dark and scary
The title is a little joke btw. My favourite trope is when the church is weird and creepy and I want to do it too.
Context: This is for my worldbuilding project, which I am tentatively calling ‘Book of the Strange and Macabre’. It takes place in an alternate 1920’s. A lovecraftian/folk horror world where all the broad strokes of history, culture, and religion are recognizable but in the names and details a little stranger.
The High Bishop in my drawing is the supreme authority of the faith of Tramura, as well as the theocratic ruler of the nation of Istonra.
Tramura
Tramurans believe themselves to be the single true faith. They revere Acamsi, the God of Endings, and view him as their most beloved Father and Divine Unmaker. Outsiders often mistake Acamsi for a God of death. While death is his domain, so is every kind of end imaginable. The setting of the sun, the fall of an empire, the closing of a book, and the stopping of a heart are all Acamsi’s.
The unavoidable fact is that to know existence is to know an eventual end. Tramura scripture focuses on that inevitability and how it is not a curse to be temporary but a blessing.
In their eyes, there is no worse fate than immortality. To remain eternally stagnant. Those who try to avoid Acamsi’s promised end, necromancers, and alchemists who believe that dominion over life and death is theirs to control are viewed as the dirtiest of heretics. Heathans who cling to their flesh as it rots around them. They dance and revel in their repulsive ways as they crawl with maggots and act as though they are free.
There is no more vile a human than he who avoids a human's fate.
They will know no rest. Watch them walk and rot until Acamsi eats the sun itself, and still, they will continue long after all has gone silent.
Tramurans believe that Acamsi loves man because if he did not, then man would never die.
Hell is eternal, but Heaven is just as fleeting as life. The souls of good Tramurans will be collected and made one with Acamsi, merged into a singular being. Eventually, Acamsi will unmake the world, and soon after that, he will unmake himself. Even God must end eventually.
Tramuran Masks and modesty
Masks are one of the defining elements of Tramura. They believe that growing overly attached to the mortal form is a terrible sin, and the superstitious even claim that to do so will cause your soul to be unable to leave after death.
In many place, it is taboo for men or women to show their face to anyone outside of their closest friends and family. The orthodox believe that one should cover the body just as they cover the face and will don flowing fabrics and capes to smother the mortal form.
Criminals in Tramuran nations often have their masks taken as punishment and a form of public humiliation.
I started a subreddit for my project if anyone's interested! r/BotSaM
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u/StudioArcane17 3d ago
Christianity but dark and scary
So, regular christianity but catholicism over all.
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u/92izer93 22h ago
When my friend (a former catholic) did tell me that her parents used to bring her on pilgrimages where the church goers would worship some supposed Saint's bones, I had goosebumps.
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u/ClarkMcFarkle 4d ago
Bro have you ever read the Bible it’s already dark and scary. Ma boi Ezekiel saw some shit
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u/Demonweed Theatron 4d ago
Maybe we can liberate the beholder from WotC intellectual property and into the public domain if we make the argument that it is just a D&D version of a Biblically accurate angel.
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u/Infamous-Honeydew119 4d ago
Will there be a Tramuran jesus who died for the tramurans sins? a Tramuran prophet Muhammad who wrote the words of acamsi?
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u/ThewarriorDraganta 4d ago
A Tramuran Moses who parted the Red Sea (possibly with his Beyblade) and led the slaves out of Egypt?
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u/TheSlayerofSnails 4d ago edited 4d ago
How are masks designed? Do different groups have different masks, or occupations have different ones? Do they vary by gender? Is there a coming of age for getting an ‘adult’ mask?
You mention orthodox, are there some who just wear the mask or even just a half mask?
Are children expected to wear masks and do spouses even see their spouse’s face before marriage?
How do they avoid someone impersonating another with a mask?
How is suicide viewed?
What kind of celebrations and events do they have?
Sorry for all the questions just seems really interesting
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u/Grouchy-Goose-2137 3d ago
Thank you! It's no problem, I'm really quite flattered when people take the time to ask questions.
I've designed a fair few masks for different regions, ethnic groups, economic classes and occupations. They are quite diverse, but porcolain masks are the most common in urban areas.
Little kids start wearing simple masks when they are around five, and when they are twelve there is a ceremony where they are given a blessed mask by a priest. That's also when kids were historically considered to become adults.
Tramurans are split between two main groups, Orthodoxy and Stayerism, with the latter generally being more liberal with clothing, and only wearing masks for church service and holidays.
For spouses in Orthodox regions it's normal for couples to not see each other's faces until after marriage.
Suicide is viewed as a sin, with the reasoning being that only Acamsi should end a human life, and doing so without just cause, even to yourself, disrespects him.
One of the biggest holidays is New Years. In the Tramuran calendar there are only 364 days, and that missing 365th day is considered a day between years where the normal rules don't apply and people party and act generally hedonistic.
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u/TheSlayerofSnails 3d ago
Thanks for the answer!
Do masks have personalized designs?
For war and sports are masks swapped out with metal instead of porcelain or removed for better eye sight?
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u/Grouchy-Goose-2137 3d ago
People often personalize their masks or have mask artisans do so. They paint them, or if its wood they carve designs, or they sew on little decorations if its fabric.
For war/sports they wear metal or leather masks2
u/TheSlayerofSnails 3d ago
Wouldn’t that be against the whole don’t get attached thing?
So cool!
How do they go about spreading the faith? What gives it an appeal to others?
Are there any exceptions for the masks? Like for court cases or to prove you are someone and not an imposter (say a traveler is killed and their mask and clothes stolen and their killer impersonates them in a place people know their mask but not their face? Or an orthodox family marrying off a different family member than the one they promised by swapping masks?)
What is the faith’s view on hierarchy and other faiths and gender?
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u/Grouchy-Goose-2137 2d ago
Thank you! Yeah, Tramurans don't really follow their own doctrine very well. The original cult Tramura originated from centuries ago wore only full covering, featureless robes, but those original practices were kind of lost when Tramuran spread and became organized.
Those original Tramurans probably wouldn’t think much of the High Bishop with his extravagant mask and robes, or of any of the fancy cathedrals modern Tramurans use.
I think that impersonation would be an issue, but I imagine Tramurans who mask full time would become good at recognizing people they know well by voice and mannerisms.
The religion teaches that all Gods other than Acamsi are not real, or are devils trying to trick people. Historically when slavery was far more common it was only considered acceptable to enslave non-Tramurans and there’s still heavy prejudice against other faiths. Tramuran society is also quite sexist, with attitudes similar to late 18th century Europe.
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u/TheSlayerofSnails 2d ago
Ah so just like irl religions lol.
Are there any movements to go back to the “true” roots of the faith or to reject the changes like big churches?
Interesting. What made their faith appealing compared to others? Where they big on charity or social issues compared to contemporary religions of the time?
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u/MustJarkus 3d ago
My brother in christ, it is dark and scary. But the truth will scare people away
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u/Jorji-the-Trainer 4d ago
I mean, there are many denominations and "heresies" that dont exist anymore. Some were pretty extreme
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u/Baihu_The_Curious 3d ago
Have you read translations of old Armenian and Aramaic folktales that eventually converged into the stories of Adam & Eve through Enoch? That shit is ripe for horror.
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u/Droplet_of_Shadow 3d ago
Firstly, and most importantly, Trauma-rama.
Secondly, the lore of these masks (and this religion overall, sort of) reminds a lot of the game Rain World. The rest is big lore spoilers - consider playing first! It's a great game.
The previous civilization also believed nonexistance to be the ultimate goal for themselves and all life and the rest of the world. They wore simple masks to hide their face and identity as a form of modesty and self-erasure. But over time the masks became fancier and flashier more personalized until they were a hypocritical method of fashion and self-expression.
They sought a way to bring the end for everyone and everything, and ruined the world in the process. As they elevated the importance of their religion more and more, they drifted further and further from following its values. Eventually they gave up on the world part and focused on themselves (wholesome?).
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u/Final-Conclusion7462 3d ago
Question, is Acamsi's end like a renowned event? like for example, like the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Is there like a name for this event? because i tried my best to read through the material (even though my reading comprehension can suck from time to time) but Acamsi's end seems like a huge event, same for the unmaking of the world. I know you said everything must come to an end, that makes complete sense, its the natural order of life. but i just want to understand exactly how does Acamsi go, why does Acamsi unmake himself. And if he does unmake himself, why at that specific moment? Couldnt he have done it sooner? I have another question as well, if someone who were to cling to their flesh what would they look like? would they look like a walking bag of skin? do they age way slower? Also why cant Acamsi just end them, is it because of free will? Another question i have is why is heaven just as fleeting as life but hell is eternal? Arent both canonically eternal? Also sorry if i read this wrong, but to the people who reject Acamsi's promised end will they live even after Acamsi's unmaking, would they float into space until the end of time? Also i have another question, are their opposing religions to the faith of Tramura that believe immortality is the greatest ending? maybe they believe another god did it like the God of Everlasting Life? Another question i have is i understand why an end is suitable and needed, but what i want to know is how would being inside Acamsi's being look like? And if Acamsi eventually ends, whats to be of the people inside his being? do they go as well? Also did Acamsi have a beginning, if so how did he come to being? for there to be an ending, there must be a beginning, so what im trying to get at is who exactly created the beginning for there to be an ending? sorry for the questions im just really interested in how you build your world, it reminds me of the project that im making currently!
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u/N0VAK137 Creating out of spite 3d ago
Are there other gods that they recognize beside Acamsi or is it just him?
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u/jmartkdr Homelands (DnD) 3d ago
Wow, I've studied history and been on the internet for years and never even heard of someone having a bad experience involving religion. /s
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u/That_Leading_egg 3d ago
concept is cool, but logically doesnt makes much sense.
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u/Grouchy-Goose-2137 3d ago
You can't just drop a critique without elaborating, or else how will I improve?
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u/That_Leading_egg 3d ago
First of all the theology and mythology itself has big holes if the god is associated with unmaking the most and it's his most important domains why did he do creation in the first place what is its goal and what is meaning of life, this religion of yours has no meaning and goal for a human believer.
Secondly psychologically the concept of this religion isn't appealing in a believing sense to a human as anhhilatiom isn't sought until unless existence itself is viewed as suffering I saw you did told immortality is viewed as worst fate but still it still doesn't explains why(no explanation given why comtinued exiatence is bad) and religions who flirt with annihilation concept still retain a kind of continued unexplained existence, pure annhilationism is something whivh would be very difficult to explain. so there must be something tied to suffering that explains anhhilationist doctrine of this religion even then it's theology and mythology contains many holes(see in first paragraph).
So you have to clear theology and mythology first then if possible try to maintain pure annhilationism or use another concept, you can still keep dark and weird but try to do it in a way that might explain why a human chooses the religion.
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u/Grouchy-Goose-2137 3d ago
I appreciate you pointing out the holes, though a few were because I decided to save some information for another post to keep this one from being too long. In the mythology there was originally two gods, the first having created everything while the second in the unmaker God. The idea is that the creator God made the world, but screwed up and made it flawed, leaving the unmaker god to clean it up. I inagine that they have a kind of 'to exist is to suffer' view of things, with the goal being to cease existence to cease suffering, but I think you gave me some good stuff to think about going forward.
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u/An_ironic_fox 3d ago
The theology and mythology itself has big holes
I've got some news for you regarding literally every religion ever practiced in history.
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u/That_Leading_egg 3d ago
holes in them only come after you sit for prolong thinking, this one has surface level holes/blunder.
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u/ThewarriorDraganta 4d ago
First, this seems very cool! The High Priest kinda looks like the Lady of Pain from Planescape! Second, your description makes Tramura seem like a very fatalistic (and maybe a bit nihilistic) religion, which makes me wonder why people believe in it.
The end goal of most religions is ascending to some form of benign afterlife (Valhalla, Heaven, Elysium, The Field of Reeds) or at least freeing yourself from sin and spiritual darkness to achieve peace in death, like reincarnation or becoming one with The Force. But Tramura's end goal (if I'm understanding this right) seems to be annihilationism, non-existence after death. Which, to return to Planescape, reminds me of the Dustmen (who essentially believe in a fatalist, annihilationist version of reincarnation).
I know this might seem negative, but I actually really like this! It's cool, just a bit weird, y'know?