Like most of the Harpy's culture, their religion originates in their cliffside homeland. They were polytheistic and shared a pantheon with the centaurs. The two nations' close proximities lead to both cultural and religious exchange. The religion of the centaurs and harpies become nearly indistinguishable over time. 

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Some of the most recognizable of the harpy pantheon are these gods:

    Tjaldlida : The goddess of the heavens/skies. Controls the weather and the afterlife. 

    Skapt : Goddess of the home/hearth. Literally meaning "cliff". 

    Liskadi : Goddess of death, goddess of inheritance. Not the devil, a similar figure to that of a reaper. 

    Klola: Goddess of winter, ice, of freezing to death. 

               Klola was a minor deity in original harpy religious doctrine, but became prominent once moving to the Isles. Ironically the notion of a prominent deity of winter came from the centaurs, who revered winter as a killer of crops. 

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The Rise of Organized Religion 

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Pre-Isles harpy culture was more reliant on tradition than organized religion. Spiritualism was common, and not every harpy was deeply connected to the gods. Officials were elected, though often the Sovereign ruled through the concept of divine right. 

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Organized religion only took hold after the war. Soon a belief system became woven into the fabric of harpy politics. In the new world they lived in, those in power were quick to blame the deaths of their people on the wills of theirs gods. The harpies were desperate for faith in something, and with little control over their lives were easily swayed by theocratic dogma. The administration decreed it a sin of the highest order to leave the Isles, and Klola was quickly placed above all other gods in the pantheon. An abandonment of the Isles and its Winter was a slight against not only your kin, but the goddess herself. 

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Those who left the Isles were decreed apostates, religious exiles. They would be excommunicated by the Harpy Kingdom. 

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Return to Heathenry

 

( Heathenry is this context refers to the abandonment of a major religion. )

 

The previous church fell after some 200 years of its rule. It kept the harpies alive by imposing strict guidelines by which one must abide, but in the end the church undid itself. After it was revealed that the organization had been systemically killing off weak hatchlings in order to spare the kingdom the burden of caring for them, the practice was quickly abandoned.

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Many harpies still believe in the old gods, but there is no formal organization based on their worship. Harpies are highly mistrustful of any religious system, and take spirituality as a personal matter. Some harpies become shamans, but the work is magic based and is largely used to heal. 

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