OctoPrep 2025

Cultural Setting

Assignment #16

"Oct. 16 - "Cultural Setting:"

"Setting: Cultural Setting"

Describe the cultural, political and/or religious setting in your novel, regardless of whether the cultural setting is fictional, historical, or modern.

(1) What do your societies believe?
(2) In what practices do they engage?
(3) What laws or rules of society are in place?
(4) Who/what enforces the laws and rules and how successful are they?
(5) What technologies are in use?
(6) How does the setting impact your protagonist(s) in their pre-story lives?
(7) How does the setting impact the plot of your story?


(1) There are three main religious groups.

Church of Ota: A modern monotheistic version of the original polytheistic religion. Focused instead on Ota, the Goddess who Gave Life, the Goddess who created the planet (mother/godmother to the other Gods and Goddesses

It doesn't have a name, but the ancient word, Uikhi, which means sacred, is often used for the polytheistic religion that many have followed for thousands of years. There are ten original Gods and Goddesses and then their children. While the Church of Ota has started to grow, mostly thriving within large cities, Uikhi, still covers many of the towns, villages, and farming communities.

Only practiced by those who live in the valleys of the Aagi range. Inir, an ancient word meaning devotion, is often used as a name of their religion, though there is no official name. They believe in ten Gods and Goddesses that are different than the original ten in Uikhi. This religion is believed to be older than Uikhi. While there is no holy book and it is passed down from generation to generation, it is practiced in a language long assumed to be dead.

(2) Church of Ota has religious villages, where people of faith, including priests (called the Otdos) and Paladins (called the Osoi). There are also places where Ota faithful can gather in other cities, called an Orus. They honor Ota by singing songs and performing ceremonies. There are certain holidays where the faithful make a pilgrimage to the religious villages where special rituals and ceremonies are performed.

While those who follow Uikhi have their own set of songs, ceremonies and rituals, they also find their religion very private as it is what makes the world function. They will pray to a specific god for a specific purpose: for strength, love, children, bravery, money, etc. They will usually have a personal god or goddess that they follow and will build a shrine to in their home.

Those who follow Inir, often do so as a community. Their holidays celebrate the ten gods and goddesses with large celebrations, sacrifices, and rituals specific to the holiday. They wear jewelry to show their devotion to them. Men and women once they hit puberty get a facial tattoo, usually a symbol relating to one of the gods or goddesses mixed with a symbol of the village they are from. This is a point of pride with them.

(3/4) Each kingdom has their own set of rules and laws, even certain sets of protections for people. Most kingdoms have very similar laws, such as it being illegal to kill other beings. Though there are some old laws that are being overturned, such as magic being illegal, though there is still a stigma in the kingdoms that have changed this law. The enforcement of laws is dependent on the kingdom, some use the Osoi while others use a police like group to enforce them. The success is often pretty good, though some of those who profess a higher percentage, often with the Osoi, are usually because the rules are enforced with a very black or white belief in the laws.

(5) Technologies in use are very similar to what we use in modern times.

(6) The setting is also where they live. Though some of it they have never seen, only heard and in some cases not even that.

(7) The impact of the setting is that it is what is at stake, which is why those (other than Adelaide and Dane) agree to join her. It is where they live, work, pray, and love.