Stone Throne Religion
For true monotheism, one must leave the northern lands and head south into the Jungle of Fangs. There the people worship the Queen Ascendant as their goddess supreme. The Congregation is only mentioned in passing as if servants—the Queen pre-dates them, after all. While they recognize the Congregation’s power (and worship of them is not forbidden), the Queen Ascendant is the more present icon and symbol of power. Ritual sacrifices (either token blood sacrifices or animal sacrifices, with the ever-present watch of the Handmaidens to ensure they don’t slip back into the old forms of human sacrifice) take place every week on Fourth-day and on feast days, with people offering up their wealth or other items on occasions of need.
Fourth-day services are conducted by two different types of clergy. Altarites serve in all areas, down to the smallest villages and directly perform the blood sacrifices and ritual offerings. Sacred Dancers, aided by priest-caste musicians who mainly play the flute and drum, reside in the larger settlements and travel in circuits around the villages. A small village might see a Dancer twice a year (on the major feasts), but rarely more than that.
A common or lai-caste service usually consists of a short homily--a story from the history of the nation and/or the life of the Queen, mingled with exhortations to virtue and against transgressing the caste boundaries. This is followed by a ritual offering from each family present. Those that can offer a pigeon or a dove (or even a larger animal, although that's saved for major feasts usually) which is slaughtered and the blood, mixed with an alcoholic beverage, is consumed by the priest. A small amount is smeared on the forehead of the head of the offering house in a coiled shape (representing the coil of a snake). Poor families that cannot spare a dove have their finger pricked and a drop of blood smeared on their foreheads in similar fashion. Another drop of blood is mingled with the ceremonial drink. These sacrifices serve as proxies for the worshipper's own soul and that of his or her children and family. If a Dancer is present, the dancer then presents a sacred ritual dance illustrating the story. The flesh of the offerings is roasted and eaten by the congregation as a whole. Lai-caste services only differ in the size of the offering.
Noble-caste services vary wildly. The more pious ones attend the same services as the common and lai folk of their region, often providing a cow or several pigs as a sacrifice/feast. Others have private priests (and the very powerful might have private Dancers)--rumors abound about the orgiastic nature of those services, although this is frowned upon.
In return for this bounty of worship, the Queen is very active in the religious life of the people. She communicates regularly with Her servants, admonishing against evil habits and improper actions. A common watchword/warning is “the Queen’s eye is upon you,” or “She watches,” said when someone is edging too close to wickedness.
The dwarves of the Stone Throne are the foremost zealots of the nation. Dwarven services never involve Dancers and always involve personal blood-letting (in more than token quantities). The resulting blood-wine is shared by everyone instead of the meat of the sacrifices. They occupy places in the clergy at a rate that belies their sparse numbers, and they are the most active missionaries, spreading the word of the Queen everywhere. Here, calling something “dwarven theology” is a compliment—it is to say that the argument or idea is totally solid and irrefutable. On the other hand, the dwarves are also notable for being absolutely inflexible. Transgressions against even minor parts of doctrine are dealt with mercilessly.
The residents of the south are most likely to mingle worship of the Queen Ascendant with kami-veneration or other syncretism and are generally the least religiously focused, although a resurgence of religious fervor has occurred recently. The north is the most devout region.
