For the purposes of my novel, there is no “religion” in Erde. There is no spirituality and there is no known god-figure. The religious toning comes from my 1st-person narrator, who is a Christian from our world. However, the quirks of Erde affect people’s view of life and tie into the theme of the book. See this thread on history for a more detailed description of the events mentioned here: (For the purposes of this thread, the word “people” is used as a general term for all races inhabiting Erde.)

While people have no record of a creation, they know they came from somewhere off of Erde. Somewhere, at some point, someone gave birth to life as they know it – and they cannot create that life, only reproduce it. This sense of heritage ties people to the past; they look to previous generations not only for life but also for identity. A person is nothing without his heritage, because he would not exist without ancestors. Additionally, people understand that they cannot create or expand the physical earth, and the cycles of plants, animals, and daylight are out of their control. This knowledge again makes them sense the existence of a parent, an unknown creator or power beyond their understanding.

In times past, this understanding humbled people. They understood the limitations and dependency of their own existence, and they felt a sense of duty to a higher power – particularly, those that came before them and brought them to life. Respect for ancestors was deeply honored, and parenthood was taken seriously. The unspoken laws of good and evil were derived from a combination of ancestors’ ideals, which they brought to Erde from their motherlands, and the consciousness of an unseen creator. The general result was a duty to do good to mankind.

As generations changed and the Founding fell farther behind, however, people began to lose their sense of ancestry and started to look at life as a continual cycle – something uncontrollable that ran its own course. The existence of man was simply to wait out its life. With duty gone, moral fell to the whims of local custom.

While the general feeling of hedonism was universal, it developed itself differently in the various regions. In the north, the advanced cultures became obsessive about reproduction, intent on preserving their existence; parenthood went from an honor to an obligation, to the point of being legally structured and enforced in some places. Communistic societies became common, along with such previously unheard-of practices like public (group) schooling.

In the center regions, ancestral pride turned into heated racial divisions. Small people groups, many nomadic, split off and developed highly unique appearances and cultures. It is in the center regions that special races like giants survived, while humanoids divided and subdivided. Bitter against other races, most groups assumed the sole goal of advancing their own kind, giving the center regions their hostile and unstable politics.

The humans in the south, instead of strengthening their identity, seemed to lose it. Nearly all inhabitants of the south were human, and they gladly blended together until they viewed themselves as one borderless group. Government and unions failed, and law was left to anarchy and local rulings. Landowners began to hire armies to defend their holdings, while serfs joined themselves to estates for protection. The result was independent estates that operated like city-states, with landlords driven on increasing their land and people base. This division led to bickering and wars, which eventually incited the development of a union of estates known as the Federated in an attempt to establish peace.

The net effect is that society in Erde is self-serving and near-sighted. People are primarily concerned with advancing their own existence and will gladly to do at the expense of others. Individuals, rulers, and entire cultures consider only their own gain or loss, and that usually in a temporal and material sense. They do not consider the future, nor do they care for the effect their actions have on others. They look to no higher power for moral guidance. Sacrifice is unheard of.

The “fading” cobha on Erde also plays into people’s worldview. (See this thread for an explanation of the “fading” premise: ) Because color is a relatively reliable indication of age, people judge the value of everything, including themselves, on appearance. People that have high color treat life with wasteful carelessness, believing they have plenty of years ahead of them; those that are faded view life with despondency and may be rejected by society as disposable. This same mentality translates to objects and animals.

This notion has a reverse effect when Carter, an American, treads into Erde. Because Carter’s earthly objects never fade, they are viewed as extremely valuable, if not magical, even if they have little practical use. Carter himself is revered as a superior being, and some rumor that he possesses special powers, leading them to exploit him for their own gain.

Very nicely done.

Thank you!

This sounds like a theological mess on a grand scale!
I am glad I'm not writing it, but I'm quite sure you have a plan that makes it all tie together nicely. I look forward to reading it whenever it is that you finish it.

Thank you, Katie! Yes, I designed all of this based on my book's theme and plot, so it ties into book 1 very thoroughly. I will come begging at your feet when book 1 is ready for test-readers.