nwillmott8897
Scribe
In my current WIP I would like to have a society that doesn't worship any deity. It's quite hard to explain my exact idea some I'm going to give a few examples that will hopefully help you understand.
-My civilization treats animals much like the Native Americans treated Buffalo; Animals were sacred, but killing them was a necessary evil that needed to be done for the people to survive, so as a way of thanking the Buffalo they would try and use as much of the animal as they could. (skins for clothes and tipis, bones for knives, fat for soap, etc.) My people are also a lot like this, they understand that an animal isn't just a mindless creature and needs to be treated with respect, so when animals are old they are killed and used for many things (Blood for blood-meal, meat for food, hide for clothing or house decor.) Because of this, my people hate when animals are ill as they cannot make as many uses of the animal, as the meat and blood are not safe to be used as they could be infected.
-Crops are also an integral part of surviving for my people. As a result of this my people believe that the only way for crops to grow properly, is if they treat the land, and crop sprouts, with respect or they will die or will only produce pitiful amounts of crop. So they keep the soil treated with blood-meal and manure, and keep the soil well watered during the dry summers.
-Finally, ( and you may need to read this to understand this one: http://mythicscribes.com/forums/world-building/9377-humanity-after-apocalypse.html ) because of the harsh surroundings the people live in, any kind of crime is met with a zero-tolerance response. However, because of their ideas that everything (including humans) is sacred in it's own way they believe that whatever the person has done, it is wrong to condemn them to death. Petty crimes such as stealing can result in penalties including a week in the village cell or a fine of double the cost of the item they stole. More serious crimes such as harming another person would result in a sentence of at least a month in the prison or, depending on how bad the wounds are, may result in a physical punishment such as whipping. Serious crimes such as murder and rape are very rare, but on the occasion that it may happen, the criminal is branded to show other areas of their crime, given a small bag of rations and a blade, and then thrown out to survive in the wilds. Being sent into the wilds in this world means that normally within a week a wild animal would have killed you, or you would have gotten lost and starved. Although this is also practically condemning that person to death, it is deemed okay because the criminal is given everything they need to survive - food, water and a weapon - so if they get killed it's no one's fault but there own.
Hopefully with that explanation you can understand the belief system of my people. Do you think that this is a smart idea? Do you think that people would be able to live like this without some form of deity or should I try and think up some kind of pantheon to represent these beliefs? Also, any negative or positive feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
---Nathan.
-My civilization treats animals much like the Native Americans treated Buffalo; Animals were sacred, but killing them was a necessary evil that needed to be done for the people to survive, so as a way of thanking the Buffalo they would try and use as much of the animal as they could. (skins for clothes and tipis, bones for knives, fat for soap, etc.) My people are also a lot like this, they understand that an animal isn't just a mindless creature and needs to be treated with respect, so when animals are old they are killed and used for many things (Blood for blood-meal, meat for food, hide for clothing or house decor.) Because of this, my people hate when animals are ill as they cannot make as many uses of the animal, as the meat and blood are not safe to be used as they could be infected.
-Crops are also an integral part of surviving for my people. As a result of this my people believe that the only way for crops to grow properly, is if they treat the land, and crop sprouts, with respect or they will die or will only produce pitiful amounts of crop. So they keep the soil treated with blood-meal and manure, and keep the soil well watered during the dry summers.
-Finally, ( and you may need to read this to understand this one: http://mythicscribes.com/forums/world-building/9377-humanity-after-apocalypse.html ) because of the harsh surroundings the people live in, any kind of crime is met with a zero-tolerance response. However, because of their ideas that everything (including humans) is sacred in it's own way they believe that whatever the person has done, it is wrong to condemn them to death. Petty crimes such as stealing can result in penalties including a week in the village cell or a fine of double the cost of the item they stole. More serious crimes such as harming another person would result in a sentence of at least a month in the prison or, depending on how bad the wounds are, may result in a physical punishment such as whipping. Serious crimes such as murder and rape are very rare, but on the occasion that it may happen, the criminal is branded to show other areas of their crime, given a small bag of rations and a blade, and then thrown out to survive in the wilds. Being sent into the wilds in this world means that normally within a week a wild animal would have killed you, or you would have gotten lost and starved. Although this is also practically condemning that person to death, it is deemed okay because the criminal is given everything they need to survive - food, water and a weapon - so if they get killed it's no one's fault but there own.
Hopefully with that explanation you can understand the belief system of my people. Do you think that this is a smart idea? Do you think that people would be able to live like this without some form of deity or should I try and think up some kind of pantheon to represent these beliefs? Also, any negative or positive feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
---Nathan.