#🔮.new favoured traveler

[potionpeddlerpatchy]

"Just be mean and stop wasting people's time"

Yes, thank you. I have nothing else to add. Just wanted to emphasize how much I agree with this by sending an ask about it and also... Hi ! It's nice to meet you :)

Well hello there!! Its truly really nice to meet you too! I know I followed for a little bit now, just haven't yet made the proper introductions yet!

I'm Patchy! Gracie's other wife! And I followed you because... well gotta keep tabs on my wife's wife to make sure they're okay and all that jazz!

So, guess we're friends now~

Also... bless you for this. Glad to see we're on the same page here. Not gonna lie was a little nervous thinking this was gonna be aggressive so I am very happy itz not and we have the same view point on this!!

Anyway, you're always free to stop by for a chat, would love to get to know ya more 💛💛

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Do Gallifreyans and Time Lords have any active religion(s)? How much do we know about their old and new religions overall?

How does religion work on Gallifrey?

Ooo, fun! Here's a brief whistlestop tour of it because, unlike most things, a lot is known already and I could write an essay.

🌌 The Creation of the Universe

Gallifreyan legends tell of the Universe's birth from a sentient singularity called 'Eru' or the 'Great Old One Azathoth'. The Mother Goddess used the Aurora Temporalis to create Time itself, and in turn, seconds were created by the Temporal Phoenix (who was apparently imprisoned in a time loop by people known as the Philesians).

📜 Old Times

Shobogans were the original indigenous people of Gallifrey, and some say they were immortal until Death's Messenger came to Mount Perdition. (Rather, an ancient species of religious zealots named the Kotturuh brought the concept of mortality as a 'gift' to the universe, limiting the lifespans of other species.)

Shobogans worshipped a pantheon of gods known as the Menti Celesti ('heavenly minds') and made offerings to them in alcoved shrines in their homes, particularly if they'd had good fortune. The primary gods included Pain, Death, Time, and Fate (Osuda). There's also the mystic virgin moon goddess Pazithi, for whom one of Gallifrey's moons is named. The Devil was the Dark God Valdemar.

The Shobogans also believed in reincarnation and said that after death, souls ended up in a mysterious sea, where you can hear them whispering - which is probably their concept of Hell.

😇 The Order of the Pythia

The Order of the Pythia was the central religious institution during these times. The Pythia, chosen by the Menti Celesti, was the supreme spiritual leader, ruling over the Shobogans. This role included responsibilities like being the Mouthpiece of the Gods and the Guardian of the Great Book of Future Legends. The Pythia and her Sisterhood performed sacrifices and rituals to gain favour from the Menti Celesti and foresee the future.

🔮 The Decline and Transformation of Religion

During the Time of Chaos when Rassilon stuck his finger in, the influence of the Pythia flopped big, leading to the collapse of the order. The surviving Sisterhood relocated to the planet Karn, becoming the Sisterhood of the Flame under High Priestess Maren. It was also at this time the ousted Pythia condemned Gallifrey to be barren - this is known as the Curse of the Pythia, which I'm sure you'll already know about.

🚀 Beliefs and Rationalism in the Era of Rassilon

In the era of Rassilon, a lot of Gallifreyans moved towards a more scientific and rational understanding of the universe. The discovery of the ratio 1 to 812, crucial to quantum string theory, reinforced beliefs in a creator but distanced them from traditional worship.

⛪ The Black Council

Somewhere between Rassilon and the 1st Doctor, Gallifreyan religion included the Black Council of Cardinals, Time Priests, and other religious figures, led by the Supreme Pontiff of Time. However, significant reforms thousands of years before the Doctor's time restricted the religious class's power, eliminating their access to Time Travel and genetic benefits. By the time of the Doctor's exile, the position of Supreme Pontiff was abolished, and the monasteries dissolved.

⏲️ Modern Era

Despite all these shifts, about 25% of Gallifreyans in the modern era still worship the Menti Celesti, with private prayers to Time and her sisters. Modern Gallifreyans don't really understand or give merit to the concepts of good and evil, and sins are virtually nonexistent. Allegedly.

Related:

What does the Gallifreyan political and social environment look like?: Overview of the general structure of Gallifreyan society and politics.

What are Gallifreyans’ thoughts on entropy?: How Gallifreyans see and fight the concept of entropy.

What is looming and how does it exist alongside natural reproduction?: Overview of looming and its place alongside natural reproduction in Gallifreyan society.

Hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[ervona]

Lu and Vinnie megapost as I've been working on their respective backstories. they're kind of a set

🔮 Balune

Lu was born to a merchant class family in Ched Nasad. She was raised by her father through a loophole sort of deal involving her and her twin, serving as his apprentice. Lu's father is by chance the "master spellcaster" Baeloth Barrityl. The two have always traveled a lot... but after the disaster of Ched Nasad they left the northern drow cities for Sshamath, city of mages. Lu has taken to her new city with heart and is trying her best to learn magic as an art, though being a sorcerer with her natural affinity for elemental air complicates this. Lu was originally based on my first charname in Baldur's Gate, and she retains a part of her own motivation, to define herself and be independent from her father's plans. Lu is close to her father, her mentor and oldest friend, though he is the eccentric evil mage that he is. She mostly wants to be accepted, as a daughter and as a mage who forges her own path rather than just following his. She's fascinated by surface weather and dreams of making it a magician show for the Underdark

🎻 Vlonavin

Vinnie was a commoner in Menzoberranzan who came to be sponsored and eventually adopted in noble house Xorlarrin, in a time before Zeerith's younger daughters were born and they had few priestesses, especially in the younger generation. She obtained the rank of priestess and even came to represent her house by working as a secretary at Arach-Tinilith later, but in the meantime she'd worked for the matron and her children. She had (in what order...) a romantic entanglement and three children (two were twins) by the matron's nephew Tsabrak, and things were looking up for them all until the war of the Silver Marches... her failure to protect her children and partner brought on a world of hurt and she distanced herself from house business to take up work at a more distant outpost. Vinnie struggles with her place in the deeply class stratified society she was born in, and the confusing ebb and flow of Lolth's favour, the holy lady she'd sworn her service to. In her free time she likes to practice playing the lute

extra facts... they were both attempts at making cute, preppy drow women as I don't see that so often. they evolved each in their own direction, with differences in nationality, class background and other things (one is trans, one is cis, etc etc)