Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1420 - 206 Totem

The statues of faith, a very special tool for the churches in the Yarran World, often emerge at the founding stage of a church or its expansion phase. When the influence of a church just begins to develop in a certain area, the accompanying facilities often cannot keep up, especially the statues representing the deity for the believers to worship, to provide faith to the deity, and to offer a clear channel of communication between both parties, which require a long time to carve. However, the initial period is the best time to spread the faith and compete for believers; missing this phase could greatly hinder the church’s development in that region. Therefore, over five thousand years ago, the clergy came up with a solution: constructing a special pillar and, using their hearts of faith as a medium in a unique way exclusive to the church, temporarily connecting the pillar to the spirit of the deity. This pillar temporarily took over the duties of the statue until the statue was crafted, and after the will of the deity descended on the statue making it effective, the pillar was replaced with the statue. This pillar, used as a temporary substitute, came to be called a statue of faith. However, such substitute items are rarely seen in this era of relatively stable divisions of faith power, and even many clerics have forgotten about them, leaving only those with broad knowledge to recognize the identity of a statue of faith at a glance.

Meanwhile, the Totem Column is an even rarer item, or rather, strictly speaking, it is a fixed installation, existing only on the Beastmen Prairie in the entire Yarran World. The Beastmen, who worship the War God, also revere their ancestors. They believe that though their ancestors are not deities, after their death, they transform into holy wolves running in the Divine Kingdom of the War God, subtly blessing their tribe. Therefore, while offering faith to the War God, the Beastmen also present their reverence to their ancestors. However, only deities are worthy to be worshipped through statues. To avoid offending the majesty of the War God and to distinguish from the worship of deities, the Beastmen carve giant totems from heavy timber and erect them in their tribes. On important days, they gather in front of the Totem Column for grand banquets, inviting the holy spirits of the ancestors to share in the food and joy.

Over thousands of years, the belief system of the Beastmen Prairie gradually evolved into a dual worship of the War God and the ancestors. The Hall of War God and the Ancestral Temple became the most unique dual faith systems, running frictionlessly together, sustaining the spiritual world of the Beastmen tribes. Thus, in the Beastmen tribes, those who wield warhammers or great swords, crushing enemies with overwhelming force as priests of the War God, and those swinging small Totem Columns, not only crushing enemies but also invoking the spirits of the ancestors for help with the powers of fire and electricity as War Shamans, are highly respected leaders with immense status.

However, although the Totem Column and the statue of faith may look somewhat similar in appearance, there is a fundamental difference between them. The statue of faith requires a special method to connect the deity and the statue, and the clergy need to use their own spirits as a medium for the two to be linked and for the interaction to proceed smoothly. On the other hand, the Totem Column also requires another unique method to spread the gratitude and reverence for countless ancestral spirits, which the spirits themselves absorb, and then, through the power of the Totem Column, the blessing is channeled back to the tribe.

For an ordinary believer not privy to the internal knowledge of the church, it would be difficult to distinguish between a Totem Column and a statue of faith, and even some clergy cannot tell the difference. Only upper-rank clergy sensitive to the power of faith are able to vaguely discern the differences. Even Lina, a sage deeply favored by the Benevolent Deity, because she had never personally discerned between a statue of faith and a Totem Column before, also failed to recognize the identity of the towering white bones column outside the temple, mistaking it for a statue of faith, until Pannis pointed out the difference.

"Is there really such a big difference? Cough cough cough cough." The girls were surprised to discover, an unfamiliar voice, without any warning, appeared in the prayer hall, the voice low and aged, intermingled with bouts of coughing and wheezing. The wheezing continued for a while, finally easing down, and the aged voice spoke again, "I think they are quite similar actually."

"How could it be almost the same?" Pannis sighed, rubbing his forehead as he spoke, "But you’re right, your War Shamans are not truly clergy. Your faith in the War God isn’t as strong as that of his priests, and you primarily worship ancestors, so it’s no wonder you don’t understand the difference."

"I also wish to create true sculptures of faith or deities," the elderly voice sounded very helpless, sighing in defeat, "but I simply do not know how to make a sculpture of faith, let alone a more complex deity figure. I can only make some Totem Columns, which barely produce some effect."

"Of course," Pannis shrugged, "A deity figure requires close cooperation between the mortals who believe in the deity and the deity being worshipped to truly activate it, transforming it from a mere sculpture into a bridge connecting faith and reality. It’s quite normal that you few wouldn’t know how to make one. As for a sculpture of faith, it requires having sufficient devout belief in the deity to make it effective. The question is, do you truly believe in her? Ha, you could never truly believe in her, my friend, so how could you possibly create a true sculpture of faith?"

"Yes, that’s also something that troubles me deeply," the elderly voice said, "If I had lost my past memories like other Undead, it would have been better. But I retain all my previous memories, making it impossible for me to believe in Lady Nellie. After all, only distance can foster belief, while close contact causes it to collapse. Therefore, I can’t create a true sculpture of faith or become a real Archbishop to help Lady Nellie maintain this church."

"However, this isn’t your fault, and you have done a lot for her already," Pannis spoke softly, "At the very least, you can use your ability to communicate with ancestral spirits to let your spirit penetrate the barrier between the Realm of the Dead and the Divine Kingdom she built, conveying her will like a true Archbishop, and you can use your knowledge from the ancestral temple to strengthen the church’s cohesion, ensuring everyone’s worship of her remains unchanged. From these aspects, you have already fulfilled a good portion of the duties of a clergy member. Of course, this is just the surface, in reality, it is still deception, deceiving other Undead, deceiving the world’s rules, heh, you’re just a deceiver." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓