Keliosity

Keliosity entails the worship of the gas giant Coppelius, pictured here, as the deity Kelios.

Keliosity is a religion practiced by the Tabulon civilization of Uingffh revolving around the worship of Uingffh's parent planet Coppelius as the god Kelios. It is the tabulons' largest and most popular religion, with over half of the civilization practicing some form of Keliosity even after the fall of the Kingdom of Kaywell, arguably the most crucial spreader of the religion.

Keliosity is unique in how it straddles the boundary between polytheism and monotheism; though most variations of Keliosity contain multiple deities aside from Kelios, all of these deities are minor in importance, influence, and power compared to Kelios, who carries many traits of a monotheistic deity including transcendence and supremacy. In fact, some denominations of Keliosity deny the validity and/or existence of non-Kelios deities altogether, practicing Keliosity as a strictly monotheistic religion.

Worship of Coppelius as a deity predates modern recordkeeping, but began to materialize into Keliosity in roughly 10,000 BCE. Keliosity existed as a religion of moderate influence until the 12th Century, when the rise and later expansion of the Kingdom of Kaywell allowed Keliosity to dominate tabulon society. When tabulon society began to modernize and Kaywell's influence began to wane, Keliosity's popularity began to fade in favor of secularism, but the revival of Kaywellian imperialism in the late 21st Century led to a revitalization of Keliosity attached to the ancient Izlondian civilization. Keliosity maintained prominence until Kaywell's final fall in 2199, after which it entered its current trend of slow decline.

Keliosity currently contains four major denominations. Traditional Keliosity is faithful to the original form of Keliosity developed roughly 10,000 years ago. Kaywellian Keliosity is the form of Keliosity promoted by Kaywell during its first imperial conquests, when the nation imbued its artistic and intellectual characteristics into the religion. Izlondo-Keliosity was created and promoted by Kaywell during its later interplanetary and interstellar conquests and views the Izlondian civilization as the divine disciples of Kelios. Lastly, Keliocentrism, as its name implies, is a purely monotheistic version of Keliosity that centers Kelios and denies the divinity of all other deities depicted in traditional Keliosity.

In addition to the main four, a fifth denomination briefly existed and gained prominence during the late 22nd Century: Esoteric Keliosity. Esoteric Keliosity was a radical sect of Keliosity that advocated for the complete genocide of non-tabulon sentients and the authoritarian control of tabulons in the name of divine salvation. After the liberation of Kaywell's territories in 2199 following a devastating coup led by Esoteric Keliostics under the fascistic Imperial Sovereignty of Garmageddon, the newly-established Ingffhaestian Federation outlawed Esoteric Keliosity, which by then had already fallen out of the populace's favor.

History

Origins

Worship of Coppelius has enjoyed prevalence in tabulon society since prehistory due to the prominence of Coppelius in Uingffh's sky. Such worship formalized into Keliosity, however, roughly 10,000 years ago in the Ulstonian supercontinent's Kaywell region, where Coppelius can get particularly bright and prominent in the sky. Initially restricted to a few of Kaywell's many small kingdoms, Keliosity soon spread throughout the Kaywell region thanks in part to the region's lack of a dominant religion at the time. Keliostic missionaries and religious figures like Sargon Kerborigin and Solidia Nebra also proved instrumental to Keliosity's spread. Some missionaries attempted to spread Keliosity outside of Kaywell, but had limited success due to other regions like Kelargar already practicing a different major religion; some settlements beyond Kaywell carried out the prosecution and exile of Keliostics in an effort to preserve religious purity.

Keliocentrist Movement

At some point roughly 4,000 years before the Common Era, a small group of particularly devout Keliostics began denying the divinity of the religion's minor deities and asserting Kelios as the one true god of Keliosity. This marked the birth of Keliocentrism, a new, monotheistic Keliostic denomination that only worshipped Kelios. Throughout succeeding years, Keliocentrism began to spread throughout Kaywell, with some predicting that Keliocentrism would become the new dominant form of Keliosity.

However, the Keliocentrist Movement's spread would quickly face barriers. Many of the region's small kingdoms and nations held traditions closely connected to one or more of Keliosity's minor deities and thus rejected Keliocentrism. Particularly culturally rich mini-kingdoms passed legislation restricting the rights and/or spread of Keliocentrists and Keliocentrism. The actions of these traditionalist kingdoms corresponded to a larger-scale realization of the importance of non-Kelios deities in Keliosity, halting Keliocentrism's spread. Nonetheless, Keliocentrism maintained significant cultural influence throughout later centuries and millennia, with the denomination continuing to accept new followers.

Creation and Spread of Kaywellian Keliosity

In the year 1150, a trio of nobles named Otho rei Oronius, Gauss rei Keyman, and Nero rei Hadrian united the Kaywell region under the Kingdom of Kaywell, which would quickly transform into a thriving arts and cultural center under their fair rule. This led to the creation of a new form of Keliosity: Kaywellian Keliosity, which combined the intellectual and cultural emphasis of the newly-united kingdom with the doctrines and beliefs of traditional Keliosity.

The Kingdom of Kaywell's popularity caused Kaywellian Keliosity to skyrocket in popularity, quickly overtaking both Keliocentrism and traditional Keliosity as the dominant religion of the Kingdom. Kaywellian Keliosity only spread even further when the Kingdom began to enter a period of imperialism and conquest in later centuries; Kaywellian Keliostic missionaries would travel to foreign lands to convert (sometimes forcefully) natives to their religion, allowing Kaywellian Keliosity's followers to increase in number. By the Kingdom's first territorial peak in 1700, Kaywellian Keliosity had spread to over two thirds of Uingffh's population of tabulons.

Denominations

Kaywellian Keliosity

Symbol of Kaywellian Keliosity.

Izlondo-Keliosity

Symbol of Izlondo-Keliosity.

Keliocentrism

Symbol of Keliocentrism.

Esoteric Keliosity

MAJOR WIP