Imperial Ogre Culture Corner: Religion
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Imperial Ogre Culture Corner: Religion
It seems fitting that while most Imperial Ogres have been adjusting towards a much more productive life within the Empire compared to their homeland in the east since the Era of the Three Emperors, it hasn't been until the reign of Magnus the Pious that the race has really begun to find them themselves spiritually after generations of moving away from the Great Maw. While ceasing to worship the now thoroughly outlawed god was a good first step, an absence of faith in the long run leaves a soul open to corruption, therefore in recent years it is heartening to see Imperial Ogres fully immerse themselves in the proper cults and in the process make the Empire stronger.
It is within Ostland that the vast majority of Imperial Ogres live and as a result has been the place where ogres began their journey on the path of proper godly belief, and since then have developed in many interesting ways.
The biggest influence on the religious beliefs of Imperial Ogres is no doubt due to the example given by the greatest example of their kind, Sir Captain Headmaster Urgdug Greatbellow etc. Being not just the first knighted Ogre in Empire and most likely world history due to extreme heroism during the Ostland Vampire War, but also the blood brother to the Elector Count of Ostland.
Sir Greatbellow's influence among his kind is so great it drew in a number of Maw Ogres from the east to the Empire and more likely than not when he does something other Ogres will strive to follow his example. Combined with the support of the ruling House of Ostland Imperial Ogres have received a great deal of support to move far beyond their savage cousins in the east.
Since her introduction it should come to no surprise that Imperial Ogres are strong followers of Esmeralda, some say even more so than the Halflings before the cult's growth.
Where the Great Maw encourages mindless and ceaseless gorging of oneself Esmeralda advocates eating in a much more healthy manner, until one is satisfied. Also unlike the Maw, Esmeralda focuses on the importance of hearth and home, of the personal relationships with friends and family in a friendly setting rather than seeing everything as either food or an obstacle to that food.
During the Cult of Esmeralda's initial growth in Ostland local Ogres were easily the most common visitors to the Grand, and later Great, Kitchens besides the Halflings themselves due to the easy access to well made food in amounts to satisfy even their tremendous stomachs. Since then it is quite odd when an Ogre doesn't visit a Kitchen at least a few times a day. Said Ogres are also some of the staunchest defenders of peace within said Kitchens and pity the fools who attempt to disrupt it, more than one attempted drunken brawl or other attempts of violence have been violently ended before they could even start with local Ogre patrons and members of cult bodily throwing them out of Kitchen if peace cannot be reached with words. Gathering in the Kitchens serve an important role in Imperial Ogre social interactions in the same way taverns do for most peasants.
The Cult of Esmeralda was the first cult that Imperial Ogres started to join in numbers and a part of Ogre culture that has survived to common day among Imperial Ogres is the fact that those that prepare and serve food are seen with a great deal of respect among the race. Where once Butchers and Slaughtermasters were seen as leaders alongside chieftains it is the Severs and Chefs of the Cult of Esmeralda that naturally are seen as important figures in their daily lives.
Considering the importance of both food and Esmeralda in their daily lives Ostlander Ogres and Halflings seem to naturally gravitate towards each other and usually become fast friends. This is seen all around with many Ogres and Halflings going into business with each other and groups of the the two races mingling freely inside and out of the various Kitchens.
Imperial Ogres commonly invoke Esmeralda whenever food is involved and people that noticed that ever since widespread worship of the goddess the Ogres seem more at peace and settled than they might have once felt.
The most recent addition to cults that Imperial Ogres have heavily invested in is the cults of Taal and Rhya.
This makes sense when one considers that tenants of both gods preach balance with surroundings where those who follow the Great Maw see everything as something to conquer and devour. After encouragement by Sir Greatbellow many Ogres who live in the more rural parts of Ostland took to learning from the cults in earnest and now are proud members of both.
Today Imperial Ogres in the cults serve along the same gender lines with males serving Taal and females serving Rhya.
Alongside serving the tasks of the cults and their sects Ogres who follow Taal and Rhya tend to live more rural lives than before with men hunting within the forest and women focusing more on agriculture. Both groups make pilgrimage to the various holy sites of the married gods across the province since their return to the cults' hands in recent years. While their inclusion into the cult has been recent many see their devotion to two of the oldest gods of humanity as a positive sign and the cults themselves welcome them the same as any new additions to the faith.
On the other side of the coin Imperial Ogre belief for other major gods of the Empire is... respectfully lacking.
Despite the extreme popularity of Morr within Ostland the local Ogres seem to give little more than respectful lip service to the god of death and dreams out of respect for those in charge such as Ser Greatbellow and the Count saying to do it rather than actual earnest faith. Even the Vampire War of Ostland that has deeply entrenched itself into the mind and culture of the people to point they welcomed the Cult of Morr into province with open arms hasn't seemed to nearly as effect Imperial Ogres mentally to the same degree. While many will joke that Ogres are too dumb to mentally scar the truth is that the race is simply psychologically hardy alongside their physical constitution, thus things that can break a man's mind would barely effect them.
In all fairness while they are lacking in faith they have learned the common sense of presenting their dead to the Cult of Morr to be properly treated if nothing else and the priests do not begrudge their lack of faith, being respectfully ignored is far better than outright fear and hatred the cult has suffered in the past.
In fact, just as the Imperial Ogres learned over time to move away from Great Maw worship, they have learned to follow the local culture with great degrees of success within a relatively short period of time. They will respect those who follower Sigmar but view him as the god of man so haven't reached out to his cult, more are likely to learn more of Ulric but most find themselves draw to his brother Taal in comparison, and while the hardy race has rare occasion to seek out the cult of Shallya they appreciate their kindness.
Most are not even aware what Verena and Myrmidia represent but know they are not illegal and therefore speak well of them.
A good example of this cultural integration is the fact that Imperial Ogres that live on Ostland's coasts will say and speak well of Manann since it is expected of them rather than any true faith.
While this might seem as a negative thing one must remember that all citizens of Empire have preferred gods they worship over the others, the fact that Imperial Ogres have theirs and are respectful towards the other gods is honestly more open minded than most citizens. As long as they are following the proper faiths and working towards benefit of wider Empire few will complain.
While it is still quite early in their spiritual development many Imperial holy men are optimistic that Imperial Ogres can overcome the savagery of the majority of their race and find the right path under the guidance of the gods, a feat of which more impressive than many heathen humans who worship the Ruinous Powers and other foul beings.
During this time under the Pious we thank all the gods for their support in leading not just men of the Empire but all of it citizens, small and large.
Imperial Ogre Culture Corner: Religion
It is within Ostland that the vast majority of Imperial Ogres live and as a result has been the place where ogres began their journey on the path of proper godly belief, and since then have developed in many interesting ways.
The biggest influence on the religious beliefs of Imperial Ogres is no doubt due to the example given by the greatest example of their kind, Sir Captain Headmaster Urgdug Greatbellow etc. Being not just the first knighted Ogre in Empire and most likely world history due to extreme heroism during the Ostland Vampire War, but also the blood brother to the Elector Count of Ostland.
Sir Greatbellow's influence among his kind is so great it drew in a number of Maw Ogres from the east to the Empire and more likely than not when he does something other Ogres will strive to follow his example. Combined with the support of the ruling House of Ostland Imperial Ogres have received a great deal of support to move far beyond their savage cousins in the east.
Since her introduction it should come to no surprise that Imperial Ogres are strong followers of Esmeralda, some say even more so than the Halflings before the cult's growth.
Where the Great Maw encourages mindless and ceaseless gorging of oneself Esmeralda advocates eating in a much more healthy manner, until one is satisfied. Also unlike the Maw, Esmeralda focuses on the importance of hearth and home, of the personal relationships with friends and family in a friendly setting rather than seeing everything as either food or an obstacle to that food.
During the Cult of Esmeralda's initial growth in Ostland local Ogres were easily the most common visitors to the Grand, and later Great, Kitchens besides the Halflings themselves due to the easy access to well made food in amounts to satisfy even their tremendous stomachs. Since then it is quite odd when an Ogre doesn't visit a Kitchen at least a few times a day. Said Ogres are also some of the staunchest defenders of peace within said Kitchens and pity the fools who attempt to disrupt it, more than one attempted drunken brawl or other attempts of violence have been violently ended before they could even start with local Ogre patrons and members of cult bodily throwing them out of Kitchen if peace cannot be reached with words. Gathering in the Kitchens serve an important role in Imperial Ogre social interactions in the same way taverns do for most peasants.
The Cult of Esmeralda was the first cult that Imperial Ogres started to join in numbers and a part of Ogre culture that has survived to common day among Imperial Ogres is the fact that those that prepare and serve food are seen with a great deal of respect among the race. Where once Butchers and Slaughtermasters were seen as leaders alongside chieftains it is the Severs and Chefs of the Cult of Esmeralda that naturally are seen as important figures in their daily lives.
Considering the importance of both food and Esmeralda in their daily lives Ostlander Ogres and Halflings seem to naturally gravitate towards each other and usually become fast friends. This is seen all around with many Ogres and Halflings going into business with each other and groups of the the two races mingling freely inside and out of the various Kitchens.
Imperial Ogres commonly invoke Esmeralda whenever food is involved and people that noticed that ever since widespread worship of the goddess the Ogres seem more at peace and settled than they might have once felt.
The most recent addition to cults that Imperial Ogres have heavily invested in is the cults of Taal and Rhya.
This makes sense when one considers that tenants of both gods preach balance with surroundings where those who follow the Great Maw see everything as something to conquer and devour. After encouragement by Sir Greatbellow many Ogres who live in the more rural parts of Ostland took to learning from the cults in earnest and now are proud members of both.
Today Imperial Ogres in the cults serve along the same gender lines with males serving Taal and females serving Rhya.
Alongside serving the tasks of the cults and their sects Ogres who follow Taal and Rhya tend to live more rural lives than before with men hunting within the forest and women focusing more on agriculture. Both groups make pilgrimage to the various holy sites of the married gods across the province since their return to the cults' hands in recent years. While their inclusion into the cult has been recent many see their devotion to two of the oldest gods of humanity as a positive sign and the cults themselves welcome them the same as any new additions to the faith.
On the other side of the coin Imperial Ogre belief for other major gods of the Empire is... respectfully lacking.
Despite the extreme popularity of Morr within Ostland the local Ogres seem to give little more than respectful lip service to the god of death and dreams out of respect for those in charge such as Ser Greatbellow and the Count saying to do it rather than actual earnest faith. Even the Vampire War of Ostland that has deeply entrenched itself into the mind and culture of the people to point they welcomed the Cult of Morr into province with open arms hasn't seemed to nearly as effect Imperial Ogres mentally to the same degree. While many will joke that Ogres are too dumb to mentally scar the truth is that the race is simply psychologically hardy alongside their physical constitution, thus things that can break a man's mind would barely effect them.
In all fairness while they are lacking in faith they have learned the common sense of presenting their dead to the Cult of Morr to be properly treated if nothing else and the priests do not begrudge their lack of faith, being respectfully ignored is far better than outright fear and hatred the cult has suffered in the past.
In fact, just as the Imperial Ogres learned over time to move away from Great Maw worship, they have learned to follow the local culture with great degrees of success within a relatively short period of time. They will respect those who follower Sigmar but view him as the god of man so haven't reached out to his cult, more are likely to learn more of Ulric but most find themselves draw to his brother Taal in comparison, and while the hardy race has rare occasion to seek out the cult of Shallya they appreciate their kindness.
Most are not even aware what Verena and Myrmidia represent but know they are not illegal and therefore speak well of them.
A good example of this cultural integration is the fact that Imperial Ogres that live on Ostland's coasts will say and speak well of Manann since it is expected of them rather than any true faith.
While this might seem as a negative thing one must remember that all citizens of Empire have preferred gods they worship over the others, the fact that Imperial Ogres have theirs and are respectful towards the other gods is honestly more open minded than most citizens. As long as they are following the proper faiths and working towards benefit of wider Empire few will complain.
While it is still quite early in their spiritual development many Imperial holy men are optimistic that Imperial Ogres can overcome the savagery of the majority of their race and find the right path under the guidance of the gods, a feat of which more impressive than many heathen humans who worship the Ruinous Powers and other foul beings.
During this time under the Pious we thank all the gods for their support in leading not just men of the Empire but all of it citizens, small and large.
