Shamanist Beliefs

The Shamanist faith is the ancient animistic religion of the Snakefolk, especially the Ular-Pria of the Austropetolian Archipelago. It is rooted in the myth of the World-Serpents and in the belief that land, ancestry, and divine bodies are inseparable.

The World-Serpent¶

Long ago, World-Serpents roamed the land. They were neither immortal nor able to reproduce, and over time they dwindled until only one remained: Sserstryss. From this last World-Serpent's corpse, the Austropetolian Archipelago itself is said to have formed.

This makes the Snake Isles the literal body of a god. Shamanist geography is therefore sacred geography: islands, coasts, and waters are not merely places, but remains of divine life.

The Gods¶

The Shamanist pantheon venerates deified ancestors and teachers:

• Lierin - a goddess of swordsmanship from ancient times, said to have taught the Snakefolk of Old Austrohua to curve their blades; favored especially by aristocratic women.
• Khokar - sometimes called "The Last God," a divine figure who gathered a small cult on an isolated southern island and whose very nature is considered divine.

Legacy¶

Shamanist belief preserves the oldest serpentine memory: a world shaped by World-Serpents before later empires, slaves, Naga, and post-Collapse states. It remains a key contrast to later, more organized serpentine and Austropetolian traditions.

See also: Ular-Pria, Austropetolians, Sea Serpent, Religions, and Timeline.