Volapaws

Summary

Volapaws as a faith is a muddied thing, intertwined with political machination, treachery, and human usefulness. Over the centuries it has taken many forms and names, some not even related to each other at all upon inspection. Nonetheless, the singular unifying element tends to be a kind of worship, regard, or belief surrounding Aerintor, perhaps the greatest human warrior to ever live. The very beginnings of the faith itself can be traced to just before the downfall of the Imperium.   By the time of Aerintor's ascendance to renown across Aerthen, Lophern, and Votyoger, she had acquired a large cult following. Her physical prowess and capable command on the battlefield against Veltrona's most powerful beings was nothing to laugh at. Those who followed her took up a then a chant of her infamous saying, "To break the wings of dragons". It boiled down into 'volapaws', a word hated by many draconic beings that lived in the era of the Imperium. Thus, these original followers constitute the first, and perhaps only legitimate, cult of Aerintor.   Following the downfall, Aerintor's sudden vanishing left an air of mystery around her. No body was found, and not even her hated enemies could affirm she was legitimately dead. Seemingly taking out the notorious Imperious herself, this all but deified Aerintor immediately in human cultures in Aerthen. What evidence there may have been was buried in the time of the Great Darkness. When the skies cleared, all sorts of micro-cults had formed claiming lineage to Aerintor or her followers. Sectarian violence followed swiftly, and centuries of bloody conflict ensued. Eventually, one group won out in the far eastern coastline of Aerthen.   Establishing a monotheistic doctrine, they revered Aerintor as a warrior goddess ascended. While they codified what words of hers that could be found, her unyielding righteousness soon became a problem. Inconvenient, in a way, to rulers and those wishing to propagandize. Thus the first rewritings began, a fact lambasted by dragons and baarham. The latter of which, especially, hold Aerintor in high regard.   She is in fact perhaps the greatest revered person that isn't a baarham themself. It is quite compelling to hear from those who had actually lived in that time, let alone fought Aerintor themselves or worked alongside her. Still, this too became inconvenient, and teachings of mistrust and warnings spread in the faith. It became an insular thing, only respecting those who had a life span as short as any other human's.   After all, when those who know differently die out, the lies continue onward. Thus they become truth in their own perverse way.   This baked in xenophobia did not mesh well and ended up splintering Volapaws into several distinct sects. The original pro-human variant, the one respecting draconic truth, the one that disregarded deification for factualism, and the fourth which ended up a branch of another faith from Nerzin. These four waged a battle across Aerthen for dominance, be it in the minds of the people or on the battlefield. In the ensuing centuries, the body count they became responsible for stood staggeringly high. Eventually all four of them met their end as a major power, for a fifth one emerged. Acknowledging draconic truth but seeking human supremacy, it embraced pursuing freedom and the power to defend it earnestly. All others could be tolerated, if they did not infringe upon this.   The popularity of such an idea won over the masses, even if its teachings remained inconvenient for nobility. So has Volapaws remained since defined by the fifth and final of the great sects. The new centralized congregation spread across Aerthen, its missionaries found in almost every corner. Today, the heart of Volapaws sits in the Aerthen Imperial Federation, being the dominant faith of the Federation. It is also the ideological vehicle through which much of Aerthen's honorable-warrior cultures have arisen from. At least, in the human portion of the world.   To acquire merit, to succeed and obtain honor, is done through personal glory found in difficult situations. War and combat is the easiest example to point at, but also running humanitarian operations, innovating on life-saving methods, and other ideas are valid as well. Volapaws demands this, so that when one dies, they're worthy of fighting beside Aerintor herself. To do otherwise is to become dishonorable, vain, and contemptible. The exact details beside this varies significantly within the faith's various microcultures, but the overall unifying idea remains apparent.