December 11th Writing Prompt: Lagano
The lagano of Tellest are devout lizardfolk, who often worship deities in their temples in the marshland. What happens when one believer claims that they speak directly to the gods, and begins to wrest control from the other priests and priestesses of their order?
Ideas and questions:
As spiritually inclined as the lagano may be, it could be possible that someone else has a way that they might describe a connection to their gods. This could endanger the original claim, but it also might validate it.
Even if there was some level of truth described in the original claim, the other clergy might not like the change in the power structure. While lagano priests and priestesses are devout, they are by no means helpless. You could write about a war that erupts from battling sects.
If someone is found to be lying—whether it is the original claimant, or the clergy who have here-to-forth been enjoying the status quo—there are bound to be punishments involved, from imprisonment, to exile, to execution.
Is the lagano’s claim, that they can speak directly to one or more of their deities, accurate? Or is it a lie that they are using to establish dominance over the others in their order. And if it is a lie, what punishment are they risking in making such a claim?
Does the lagano who has made these claims receive a following of others from their tribe who begin to believe in them as well?
Challenge:
Write your story from the perspective of a lagano who believes that they are receiving messages from one of their gods, but they’re also questioning their own sanity.