Leaping back into the world of Rift, that would be Telara (the land I couldn’t pronounce) for the uninitiated, I’ve reopened the Trion World thesaurus. The storyarc for the MMORPG has two reacquiring, in-your-face themes, religion and technophobia. Often the themes are blended, presented as a single, undistinguished sticking point. Faction wars for the sake of warring is all well and good, but the writers for Rift angle the schism between the Defiant and Guardians over their core beliefs (read all about in an earlier post).
To summarize, both factions view the other as zealots. The Defiant, oppressed by the Guardians for ages, believe the Guardians worship gods that have forsaken them, a fruitless endeavor. Conversely, the Guardians oppressed the Defiant for their love of technology, a blasphemous path to enlightenment that has now consumed the Defiant. As such, the deep-seated hatred has caused Trion Worlds to use a lot of vocabulary for religious wars and technophobia forming its own unique thesaurus.
After the jump is a selection of terminology we can expect to see through our journey. The definitions are given in an in-game context (although real-world context is roughly the same). It’s in no particular order.
- Crusade – A ridiculous amount of people throwing themselves at a cause they believe is just.
- Holy War – A crusade that is entirely consumed by religious beliefs.
- Jihad – Aggressive warfare for an idea, synonymous with the above.
- Zealot – Someone that is fully dedicated to a belief, often too passionate. This is how the Defiant view the Guardians.
- Blasphemy – Lacking any respect for the subject, often religious. The Guardians view the ways of the Defiant as “blasphemous.”
- Evangelism – The process of attempting to convince someone of your beliefs. The player is subjected to NPC evangelism early, setting our mind to the faction’s motives.
- Dystopia – The view one faction would have of the world if the other had its way: A corrupted utopian Telara.
- Sacrilege – Misusing the raw magic of Telara to make constructs.
- Desecration – Disrespecting of the true gods.
- Godless – The Defiant no longer believe in any God.
- Godliness – The Guardians have faith in higher beings.
- Luddite – A group that fears technology, unbelieving that it causes progress.
- Machineborn – A deep-seated infatuation or appreciation of man-made constructs.
- Abomination – A vile object or state, often focusing on Defiant contraptions.
- Anathema – A ban or curse levied by religious authority.
Perhaps those out there that are better versed in religion and history, or further in the game, can add a few more to the list?