Since I created the thread, I figured I should probably go ahead and post myself.
Summary: āLost Guardiansā is the story of an enslaved people, the Anithos, who are rallied into action by the appearance of the legendary Guardians. Brutal conflicts between humans and the Anithos clans take roots in religion and prejudice. Galleon is a callous Draken Clan Anithos, whose deep hatred of humans draws him to walk a fine line between revenge and justice.
Themes: Dark Fantasy, Action/Adventure, and Drama with the story focusing on Revenge, Prejudice, and Good vs. Evil
Concept Pitch: I am attempting to come up with convincing religions for the comic and these are the ideas I have so far, but I would love some feedback on these as I'm not well versed in this area. This this is fairly adult, and intended for mature audiences.
Iyanism
Holy man: Iyanisan Priest
The holy book: the Golbid
A relatively young religion that most humans now follow, it was originally less bias toward the Anithos clans, but has had more prejudice interpretations by its priests in more recent times. It worships the one true god named Irial (known as Homosia in Kanahilli), and teaches that those closest to Irialās form, which is said to look human, are the purest and worthiest mortals. Anithos are believed to be corruptions of the pure human form, and the Golbid teaches Godly salvation favors only the pure.
Practices: Some of their religious practices include flogging sinners, sacrificing the impure (Anithos), and blood rituals. The most common blood ritual was derived from an incident involving the brutal rape of an Anithos woman by a gang of human men. Where after, the men went home to their wives and spawned their own children. It was seen afterwards as a form of fertility luck to bless an impure Anithos woman with the āseed of the pureā. After she is bred, her blood must be consumed and the men must copulate with their own human wives within a period. The consuming of blood is symbolic of Irial consuming the impure and returning purity and balance to the world. The church buys a large percentage of female Anithos from slavers as they are less desired as workers, and are often cheap. It is also seen as a sign of good faith to donate a female slave for ritual.
Kanahili
Holy man: Kanahilist Sol Priest
The holy book: The Shairra
The most prevalent religion amongst Anithos clans, although it has some differences from clan to clan, the base beliefs are the same. It has a belief in three Gods, and believes the Anithos people derived from one of these gods breeding with human women. It also believes in the profit of five demi-gods predicted to descend to their people in times of great need.
Practices: Some of their religious practices include self-flagellation when one has wronged the Gods, prophecy, drug-induced spiritual trances, and, in some clans, cannibalism of the deceased.
Rodaiism
Holy man: Rodaiist Shaman
The holy book: None; Verbal Teachings
A lesser practiced religion that encourages emotional mastery and self-awareness, and worships the spirits of the world rather than gods or deities. The Wandering Mountain Gods are also seen as part of these worldly spirits. Practicing Rodaiism openly can, however, bring persecution from the more common religions, despite Itās teaches of enlightenment through virtue.
Practices: Though the devout often travel as nomadic groups, the monks often practice a period of nomadic travels alone to take in the world and contemplate upon how to better it, as well as offer aid to those in need. Meditation, martial arts, and acceptance of all peoples are among the fundamental teachings.
Johonato
Holy man: Johonatan Shaman
The holy book: The Kirrair
A religion only practiced by the Lepuro Anithos clan. It takes some bits from Kanahili, but rather than the descent of the five demigods as saviors, the Lepuro believe the five to be evil, foretold to descend in a time of weakness in order to precede the apocalypse for all men. It is a religion seeped in fear and separatism.
Practices: In order to ward off the prophecy, sacrifices are made every so often to sate the fiveās bloodlust. Blood rituals are also regularly practiced as a means to show strength.
I'd love feed back with these. I've never written religion much in my other stories, so this is going to be a first.
Also just for shits, here's Galleon's character sheet