Thadrian hero-worship (pronounced THAY-dree-ann) is a traditional set of beliefs once common across Thadria that today only survives in a syncretic form.
Traditional worship
The term hero-worship does not refer to a discrete set of practices, but rather to a broad concept shared by many ancient peoples of Thadria. Certain figures who had achieved acclaim and glory in life - monarchs, chiefs, and skilled fighters, mages, and healers were the most common - were exalted into divine figures upon their deaths, prayed to and given offerings in the hopes they would continue to bestow their favor upon the living. Nearly all of these heroes were those who protected and aided their communities, but at certain times evil or vengeful individuals were be revered in the same manner under the belief that their destructive natures could be turned to the benefit of those in the mortal realm. The list of those who were venerated was constantly shifting, as each tribe or community slowly forgot their past heroes or simply replaced them with those more relevant to their immediate needs. The names of many only survive on old rock-cut tombs, especially well-preserved in the highlands of central Thadria, in the modern-day Viridian province of Andera.
It is important to note that, although the heroes in question were treated as if they were divine, they were decidedly not gods; the ancient peoples of Thadria worshiped many deities as well. Instead, they were something more akin to ancestor spirits. They played a direct role in mortal affairs than any deity, focused far more on those who they knew in life than upon all peoples, like the gods were.
Heroes were given regular offerings, usually deposited on or within their tombs, in order to entreat them to return their attention to the mortal world once more. These offerings varied in content, but often included fine meals, valuable metals and gems, and animal sacrifices, especially those of dangerous creatures caught and brought to the grave site alive; amongst others, bulettes and drakes were popular choices for those who were desperate for an audience. Apparitions around these tombs, many of whom were the spirits of those buried alongside the hero in question, were seen as messengers, their garbled words often interpreted to glean instruction or advice. On rare occasions the heroes themselves even appeared, whether in a ghostly form or in the flesh, in order to take action against the enemies of their descendants, tribe, or people.
Decline
As the Chaskan pantheon began to spread north from the eastern shores of the Chaska Sea, many of the traditional faiths of Thadria were pushed aside, hero-worship amongst these. Though it took centuries to lose its central place in the spiritual life of the region, the conquests of Viridia as it moved west sealed the decline of hero-worship, as the influence of the Harrinite clergy led a transformation of Thadrian religion.
Modern day worship
In the modern day, hero-worship has clung on in some rural communities of central Thadria. Within the poorly-developed and largely wild landscape of Penmaerd in particular, remote communities continue to elevate their leaders and exemplars into divine heroes, worshiping them in much the same way as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. Various churches and temples located in the more populated regions of western Thadria have sent missionaries to the province with the aim of stamping out these beliefs, but the villages of Penmaerd are isolated enough, and their people stubborn enough, that this worship has continued effectively unabated.
Controversially, some theologians believe the prominence of saints in modern Viridian religion to be a direct continuation of the hero-worship of old. Even compared to other parts of the world where the Chaskan pantheon holds sway, the people of Viridia believe in an almost dizzying array of saints, many of whom are raised to that position without the consultation of formal clergy. These saints often include particularly remarkable local leaders, or adventurers who aided in significant troubles - parallels can easily be drawn the practices of hero-worship. Some movements have even attempted to stamp out the veneration of saints as a whole under the view that they are a relic of a separate, ancient faith, and inherently heretical to the worship of the divines.