Before the the Civil War, Begmans believed in a nearly bog-standard Pantheon of Gods, complete with a Mother God, a Father God, several warlike and bickering Children Gods, a few Evil Gods and a host of angels, demons, spirits, saints, and beings that go glop. They were quite happy with their Pantheon of Gods and Temples to various Aspects of the Gods dotted the country side. People burned and sacrificed all manner of people and animals to get blessings from the God of their Choice.
The Civil War put an end to that. As the Artificers did away with magic and kings, they also did away with the overly complicated bookkeeping of a Pantheistic Belief System as non-optimal. Under the Wisdom and Guidance of the Prophet Nigel, an Artificer and the Very First Golden Gear, Begma emerged from the theological dark ages to follow a Single God (called God), his Prophet who hails His Word, and demoted the rest of the various Gods to a more dignified Sainthood.
The Prophet Nigel
The typical life of a Prophet is like such: Prophet is born, Prophet starts ministry, Prophet riles up the establishment, Prophet is martyred, religion begins. Not so with the Prophet Nigel. The Prophet Nigel lived to a comfortable old age and kept carefully detailed diaries and writings. The Fifty-Seven Holy Books of the Prophet Nigel form the cornerstone of the Church of Begma, and includes the Ruminations on the Books of Nigel, the Further Ruminations on the Books of Nigel, and the Complete Indexes to the Thoughts and Meals of the Prophet Nigel. These books are collected into one enormous and very dense volume which is taught to enterprising Divinity Students at the St. Aubergine College of Divinity at the University of Begma.
As an act of devotion to God and Nigel, the Priests spend a full year eating the same meals as the Prophet Nigel as listed in the Completed Indexes to the Thoughts and Meals.
Daily Faith
Begmans are not, as a whole, terribly religious people until something goes horribly wrong. Then, they tend to find God in a right hurry. A lack of religion does not stop Begmans from Proper Shows of Piety and Churchgoing, where Begmans collect together and go through some of the ancient rituals to show they remember God is up there waiting to make things explode unexpectedly. Begmans are indoctrinated to the Book of Common Prayer from a young age but Begmans just like to get together for a good sing along.
Begmans are inexplicably fond of Church Pot-Luck Dinners.
Holidays
Nigelmas - Winter celebration
