Old days, dice and investigator's manual

“I attended a few of Professor Lessing’s classes,” Lano sighed. “Back then, I found his lectures very interesting; they clarified many things that were previously unclear. It’s just that the church later labeled him a blasphemer…”

"Mr. Schuster, I know what you're trying to say. Based on my experience, I'm certainly more likely to accept your... viewpoints. But right now I'm just an employee, getting paid by the FBI, and I don't want to get involved in these topics anymore."

"Of course, of course, I didn't intend for you to become an ambassador for blasphemous speech." Carlo leaned on the edge of the ship's railing. "I'm saying this to provide some background information. If you don't understand this background, you'll inevitably be confused if you want to investigate further."

"Background information?"

"Aren't you curious why I called you to this lake today?" Carlo asked. "The present moment is connected by countless past causes and effects. Understanding the causes and effects of the past helps us understand the problems of the present, just like Vicania—"

"Here we go again!" Lano covered his face.

"Just take it as entertainment; I won't report you for listening to blasphemous remarks without permission. Besides, don't you really want to know anything about the love-hate relationship between Vikania and Morzul?"

"Vicania above..."

Lano said this, but his fingers moved a crack away from his face, his eyes filled with hesitation.

"You say no, but your body says no."

"I'm really leaving!"

"Hehe, this is the middle of the lake. If you want to leave, you'll have to jump in and swim back. Based on what I just said, do you think you might encounter water ghosts in this lake?"

Lano was truly at a loss.

Carlo shrugged: "Since we can't escape, let's continue listening to Lessing's blasphemous remarks."

"According to the earliest verifiable version of Vicania's teachings, she was already a goddess who prayed for a bountiful harvest."

"Going back further, there may be images of other gods incorporated into it, but at that time it was not called Vicania, because the name Vicania is obviously a Heroic name."

"Furthermore, the concept of a bountiful harvest typically only becomes a mainstream prayer in stable agrarian societies. The Westernes were primarily hunter-gatherers, and there is no record of large-scale farmland reclamation."

"Therefore, it can be argued that the faith in Vikania gradually arose after the Empire conquered the area, established an imperial-style town, and replaced the original hunting and gathering production with agriculture."

"The reason why Vikania spread in Vista and even the wider western region is partly because it replaced the original beliefs here, especially the beliefs centered around Morzul."

"As I said before, in the mythology of the Westerians, Morzul already had the divine office of the god of war. If a defeated tribe continues to worship a god of war, it means that they still harbor the idea of ​​resistance and still think about taking up arms again one day."

"The Empire will not allow such a threat to exist, so a more moderate faith must be used to cover the original foundation."

"Vikania, the goddess of harvest and healing, gentle and loving, is clearly more suitable as the mainstream faith here, replacing the worship of Morzur."

"And the place where the replacement is most obvious is the 'Golden Branch'."

"Golden Branch..." Lano frowned.

"Golden branches symbolize life, prosperity, and divine grace. But why branches? Why not ears of grain, which would better represent a bountiful harvest?"

"Conversely, branches are part of a tree, but to whom did the image of the tree originally belong in the Westernesian tradition?"

Lano seemed to realize something, opened his mouth, but made no sound.

"Judging from your expression, the answer is obvious, isn't it? Morzur is the 'Tree in the Lake,' and Golden Branch takes the image of the 'branch,' cut off the roots of the 'tree,' fished it out of the dead world at the bottom of the lake, plated it with a layer of gold, and turned it into a sacred object in Vikania's hands to bless the world."

"Replace the trees rooted in the dark lake with branches that shimmer with golden light, replace the chill of death with the warmth of harvest, and replace the trees that return to the lake after death with those that rest in peace, blessed with golden branches... The trees no longer grow in the dark lake, but on the prosperous land, stretching towards the bright sky."

"This is a very clever approach. It doesn't completely negate the symbols of the Westernes; it retains the form but changes the connotation. Gradually, the old associations will be covered by the new ones."

"As for the love-hate relationship between Vikania and Morzur, it's not hard to understand. In the exchange of faiths, the loser is either absorbed into the divine or condemned as a demon."

"In the mythology of the Church of the Golden Bough, Vikania suppressed the 'Ancient God of Decay' with her golden spear, planted golden branches in the swamp, bestowed fertility upon the earth, and granted prosperity to all living beings. This 'Ancient God of Decay' is the embodiment of the 'decay' aspect of Morzul that has been amplified."

Carlo paused for a moment, giving Lano time to process this information, and then continued, "However, what's interesting is that there isn't much imagery of the 'Tree in the Lake' left about Morzur during the War of the Religions. Otherwise, you wouldn't need me to explain the connection between Morzur and the 'Tree in the Lake.'"

"Among those believers of Morzul, He still retains the power of the cycle of decay and rebirth, but the decaying aspect far outweighs the rebirth aspect. His servants are described as unclean spirits, walking corpses, ghosts, water spirits and other dead things, and rebirth has become death and resurrection, rather than a whale falling and all things coming to life."

"In other words, the Morzur that manifested itself had both the original faith and the 'corrupted ancient god' described in the Golden Bough Church, just like... the form that stabilized after being suppressed by the Vikania faith."

Lano was silent for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief.

“Mr. Schuster, what you’re saying isn’t new in theological studies,” Lano said. “My understanding is that the war of the gods began very early on, and those changes were probably a response to pressure from other deities, until the most intense manifestation occurred during the War of the Religions.”

"Your understanding is that Morzur during the War of the Religions had actually been defeated and weakened by Vikania many times in the long war of the gods, and had been stripped of many powers, which is why it has the form it has now."

"Yes."

"Hmm, that could be one explanation," Carlo nodded.

Lano was somewhat surprised; he had expected Carlo to refute him and offer some other shocking remarks.

But after a while, Carlo gazed at the lake, seemingly observing something.

Lano cleared his throat: "Mr. Schuster, what does all this have to do with the case we're investigating?"

"Which Morzur do you think is the real one?"