Torenism/Tor

Painting of The God Tor, commissioned by High King Fisc Arylon shortly after the founding of Torenism.

The being known as Tor is the supreme ruler of the known universe, and it was he who gave birth to our world and is responsible for the nature of man. Tor is totally beyond the comprehension of imperfect beings such as humans, and as such none - not even Tor's prophets - should believe that they can truly know what Tor is. However, some details are known. Tor is eternal. He has existed since before the beginning of time, in an existence outside our own. He has always been, and will always be. A famous saying of Torenists is likely the most accurate description of Tor – “In the beginning, there was only Tor... and the beginning has a lot in common with the end."

Origins and the Creation of the World

The origins of the being Tor are beyond any earthly understanding. It has been said that Tor has always existed, and will always exist - thus he has no specific beginning or end, but rather is eternal. Any who claim to understand the origins or existence of Tor are blaspheming, for no human can know. His origin will always remain one of the Great Mysteries of Torenism.

What is known, at least according to Torenist belief, is how the god Tor was responsible for the creation of the world we live in today. In the void before existence, there was only Tor. An omnipotent being of limitless power, Tor was isolated and alone - he wished to create an existence made in his own image, with beings that contained shards of his own spirit holding dominion over the world. And so it happened, Tor poured all of his being into the creation of a world of great significance, containing large island continents of land, fierce beasts and impressive landscapes.

On this world, Tor created man. He instilled the people he molded with sparks of his own essence, what Torenists today call the living will of Tor, and gave them the ability to tame the land, sea and animals of the world, to establish their dominant control.

But Tor did not simply create human beings for the sake of creation. He wished to see the race of men develop from the lowly tribal bands of hunters into noble and fearsome beings, dangerous and powerful. He wished the weak to perish and the strong to prosper. He wished the defenseless to be slaughtered and the powerful to dominate.

And so in the early form of the world, Tor did meddle in the affairs of men. He would encourage war, destruction and chaos - because in so doing, those humans who were weak, foolish or stupid would be targeted and destroyed, and those who were left standing would be strong, wise and intelligent. Tor saw that doing this advanced human civilization - facing hardship, war and conflict promoted technological advancement, philosophical progress, the formation of strong and efficient governments and the evolution of all mankind from a period of darkness into that of noble spirit and achievement.

Tor’s Interaction with Men

The first prophet of Torenism, Phear Fantom

In the early days of humanity, Tor did not reveal himself to the people of the world. He manipulated them, tricked them and guided them, but all without any of them knowing of Tor. As time passed, the people of the world began to create pagan religions devoted to any number of things - elements they saw in the world, celestial objects, climate seasons, and even completely fabricated gods. Tor was offended, and wished to announce his existence to mankind and give them directives to follow. It was not simply out of vanity that Tor did decide this, he had grown tired meddling in the affairs of men. He wished to give them a legacy and code to live by, so that they themselves could promote anarchy, war and destruction as a means to promote growth and evolution. It was then that he decided to speak directly to man.

And so did Tor travel in body and spirit to the earth and come to the South-East Island. It was there that he found a great consolidation war was coming to a close - a great nation called Sandalak was in control of more than 3/4 of the island, with a beaten and nearly destroyed Taselak on the verge of total collapse. Tor saw this and knew that soon this continent would be consolidated under one flag, and once that happened war would disappear and the men of South-East would lose their spirit and will to advance themselves.

Tor then brought upon South-East a great number of disasters - earthquakes, floods, plagues and hordes of monsters. Hundreds of thousands of peasants were slaughtered, and the nobles who were able to survive were forced to flee to the only safe locations that Tor spared - the four great cities, Ikalak City, Taselak City, Sandalak City and Toren Stronghold. The remnants of the old realms were now annihilated, and after the great destruction of South-East had concluded nothing but broken people remained in depopulated cities.

Then Tor did reveal himself. Recording the First Directive of Tor onto a scroll, he left it on the outskirts of Toren Stronghold for it to be found by a young noble of the population residing inside the city. His message to those citizens, broken and scared, was as follows:

Tor's people - You are the land's enlightened. Fight for me! All shall be blessed. You will be lead by a Pontifex who will guide you in spiritual matters. Worship me, and victory shall be yours for all of eternity - spurn me, and you shall see nothing but defeat.

The words struck a cord with the people of Toren Stronghold - they were a beaten people looking for salvation and answers. In that simple statement, they found meaning, purpose and strength. They rallied around the concept of a powerful deity who had deemed them his chosen people. In reality, Tor did not consider the people of Toren any more or less worthy of his name - he simply realized that they were the most likely to accept him and fight in his name.

But this simple revelation of Tor was not enough - Tor wished to impart his philosophy to the world of men and needed a vehicle to do that, he needed a prophet. He saw that the people of Toren had organized themselves as a religious theocracy dedicated to him, and so he decided to commune with their leader, the noble Phear Phantom. He spoke to Phear in his dreams and commanded him to travel alone to the highest peak of Toren Stronghold and receive his word.

Since that time, Tor has chosen a number of vessels to communicate through, often called "Prophets of Tor". Additionally he has gone as far as to destroy the entire South-East Island, and has given his redemption to the people of Everguard.

Connection to the Mountains

The holiest earthly symbol for the religion of Torenism is mountains - specifically the peak of Toren Mountain which still barely rises above the water of the great sea, and the Mountain of Betrayal, where Tor identified his Messiah. Throughout the history of man's contact with Tor, it has seemed that he has only revealed himself on mountains. Theologians have speculated that mountains represent a metaphor for everything that Tor has directed to man - the terrain's roughness, the lack of decadence and extraneous details in the landscape, and the harsh treatment of the weak a mountainous environment can have on men. Others believe that the mountains allow man to be closer to Tor, who they see as residing in the heavens above the world.

Most religious symbols in Torenism have some kind of connection to mountains. Flags, tattoos and branding during religious ceremonies, robes and many other objects and signs tend to have stylized mountains integrated somehow. Pilgrimages are made to the Mountain of Betrayal, and Torenists view all mountains as having great religious significance.