After reading the stories I realize now that the formatting must have been retained from the original submission, and I retract my previous statement.

Caraick, would you be so kind as to put up the link to my PDF document for my story, "Confessions of a Clamod, Part 2?" I worked nearly as long on that as I did the story itself, and I encourage folks to download and read it in that format. If you've lost the link, I can regenerate it.

Also, the formatting for some of the stories is broken, and it looks like extra carriage returns were put in with an assumption of where lines would end, instead of allowing the web browser to flow paragraphs to the width of the window as it was designed to do. I'm not sure if that was done with the submission to you, or the copy from that submission into the thread. Regardless, it makes the story harder to read, and can negatively impact the author's vote.

In case it was that way in the author's submissions, here is the technique to avoid that. Write each paragraph as one line with no returns. You can put in returns while editing the story, but remove them before submitting. The web browser will word wrap each paragraph automatically. I would be happy to help correct the formatting problems if you need assistance.

Miomai will miss GreyGhost. Oh, and you too Soloyos. You and Ardoin are the only two dwarves I've RPd with beyond just a bit of smalltalk, sadly.

Here's a few more for you then:
Marshmallow
Martian
Marscapone
Marshal

Purposely misspelled:
Marengue
Marlot (Honestly, it's a misspelling of merlot.)
Maraick
Mardred

Silly phrases:
Mar she blows!
Near and Mar
Your door is aMar.

What the heck, I've always liked this one:
AraMariana.

It is possible to be an atheist in this game. If my sources for the definition of atheism are correct, an atheist is one who rejects the existence of God or gods. A character in game can say that they believe in the existence of Laanx, Talad, Xiosai, Dakkru, and whoever else is considered a god, but deny that they are gods. Instead he or she can insist that they are just really powerful beings.

I think misotheism is too narrowly defined to be the appropriate word. Characters do not need to specifically hate the gods, even as they believe in their existence. They can simply be dispassionate about religion in general. It's a fair character choice, as religion in real life is always able to cause heated debates, and is a very personal experience. Not wanting to bring that baggage into a game is reasonable.

But I'm splitting hairs here. Whether someone chooses to role play an atheist, misotheist, agnostic, or simply just secular, the original quote is just a guideline. I look at those as simply assistance to get the new player thinking about their character. For me, the initial choices I can make when creating a new character are way too limiting, so I hardly bother acknowledging them, except to make sure they're not completely off the wall.

The wording might be adjusted slightly, but it would be hard to capture all of what one should be thinking about when choosing that religious option. As it stands, I don't see people who have had a bad experience with religion, or staunch individualists as necessarily bad people. I know one of the former, who is a very good fenki.

Edit:

I knew there was something else I wanted to write. Regarding Dakkru's revelation number three, I never thought that it meant that when a faithless character died, that was permanent. But I do think that Dakkruists would, in particular, have strong opinions regarding those people. The question is, when does one's spirit shrivel? I would say that death in Yliakum is only a corporeal death. I thought the 'all' in that last sentence, "All who die the true death are Yliakum's gifts to Me," was, in fact, all people who die the true death, but now I'm thinking it means all the faithless.

It is completely appropriate for this to be vague and left up to interpretation, that makes the differing opinions of the characters that much more interesting. If all we had was established dogma, well, you'd still have inter-faith debates, but not so much intra-faith debating.

You may, but realize that doing so constitutes your acceptance of the EULA, absolving me of all liability.

You see a few Dakkru but they usually dont last long

Miomai's been a Dakkru worshipper for as long as she's been in the game. 'Course she hasn't focused on that most of the time. Too busy being insane. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This is a very timely post for me. Miomai wants to start a Dakkruist group (I have to find a better word). You can add the four revelations to Her religion:

1. The dark crystal's power has grown unstable.
2. All shards of the dark crystal are Her domain.
3. The gods shall no longer spare the faithless.
4. A priesthood shall form to honour Her.

Being a newbie, I did not know that Xiosia/Dakkru were ever not a part of Yliakum.

I have been thinking about conducting Dakkru ceremonies. They'll not be for the faint-of-heart.