Fluminis

The religious belief system followed by most of the equines on Sidus is called Fluminis, and it differs from the major religions of Paradisus in that it does not comprise the worship of clearly delineated, sometimes physical Gods and yet differs from Natales in that something tangible and specific is worshipped; the River Heira herself. Life on Sidus depends so completely on the yearly rise and fall of the River that it was only natural that the original donkeys would begin to worship her, and when the horses integrated themselves into the donkeys' way of life, they picked up this belief system. It is a very ritualistic religion, with a great many traditions associated with it. Every dawn, a Fluminis horse privately prays to Heira to protect them from the dangers of the day ahead, and every dusk, families come together to thank Heira for that protection. When a horse or donkey dies, their body is taken to the mouth of the River and allowed to float out to sea, representing a return to the great Sea from which Fluminis horses believe the islands of paradisus grew. The greatest celebration, called the Adcessus, comes when Heira begins to grow after months of being little more than a muddy trickle. During this ceremony, the faithful gather at the banks in a mad festival during which horses frolic carelessly in the water and inhibitions are greatly lowered. Any foal born since the last Adcessus is washed in the water and given their name while family members praise the foal's attributes. Particularly skilled diplomats are sometimes able to glimpse traces of the future during these ceremonies.

Heira's yearly cycle began well before the arrival of any equine, horse or donkey, on Sidus, but back then it was purely a natural phenomenon, not a divine one. When the first pioneering donkeys arrived and realised the importance of the river, they began to worship her, and over generations and generations of worship, the donkeys' fervent prayers for the arrival off the flood began to coalesce into a slow, deep consciousness; an awareness that listened to the donkeys' prayers and responded. Yes, Heira is perhaps the only deity to be created by her followers, rather than the other way around. She is not a goddess in the same sense as those of the Duodecim, for she has no physical shape or form and does not interact with her followers in any meaningful way beyond occasionally giving those most faithful a glimpse in the future, but she ensures that the river comes strongly each year, makes sure that it floods the plains to revitalise a drought-ridden land. Her faithful do not think of her as looking like one of them, but rather represent her as a dragonfly, which are seen as her sacred messengers.

One might wonder how Fluminis equines that leave the shores of Sidus continue their beliefs in a land that does not rely so heavily on one particular river. In this situation, the equines take Heira's name and apply it to whatever other source of water they rely on, be it another river, a lake, or even simply the rain. They do not directly attempt to rename these things after the River, but rather believe that Heira's essence is within them, looking after equines everywhere whether they acknowledge her or not.

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