u/Curious-Hotel-8765

I’m not sure if this is the right flair.

I’m working on a story that is very reliant on a fictional religion, but I don’t know how this religion would affect the people of the kingdom. I would also like to improve the background story as well.

The religion was fabricated during a war that took place a few hundred years before current day. A ritual started when the oldest (and particularly popular) royal son fell ill during the war, and due to loss of resources, he could not be healed. To bring hope to the kingdom bereft of stability, the king held a public ceremony of the passing of the prince. The king gave the prince a small bottle of something resembling an elixir and told the people that he would transcend to the "next realm" and become a god who would forever watch over the kingdom. To support the belief of this ceremony, it was repeated with each royal child to follow. Instead of being given an “elixir” they are simply poisoned. When the current ruler is near death, they pass the knowledge of the partial truth to their successor who then continues the ceremony with their remaining siblings and then their children. The ceremony takes place on each royal child's 24th birthday, as that was around the time of the first ceremony. The belief is that the “ascended” royals watch over and protect the kingdom. The kingdom is completely walled off and separated from the rest of the world. Magic is pretty normal outside of the kingdom, but within the kingdom all magic is seen as evil and dangerous.

I have researched some things about religions, specifically polytheistic religions, but I don’t know of any real religions where people are believed to become gods. Mostly I don’t know how this belief system would shape the society within the kingdom, but I also don’t know how it would be a believable “religion” as I don’t really know the actual origins of most religions as that would probably disprove them. Since most religions have priests of some kind, would that likely be a thing? And if so, would it only make sense to be the magic users who are believed to perform the ritual? I also don’t know what the belief around death for the majority population would be, but outside of the kingdom the general belief is that your body gives back to nature after you die.

Edit: the part about it being every royal child will probably change. I’m working on a way to decide who will take part in the ceremonies in a way that still works with my story.

So I had a prince character named Vael (said like Vail) but I’ve been told it reads as too feminine, and I don’t want that for this character, as his brother has a specifically feminine name that is commented on often in the story. Then his name became Vaeron. I don’t really have any issues with this, but I still really like Vael. Do you think Vael works as like a nickname for Vaeron if it’s used only by family? I feel like it’s plausible, I mean like how people got Dot from Dorothy, Kitty from Kathrine, or Birdie from Bernadette. If you were a reader would you be thrown off by a prince named Vaeron being called Vael by his father and siblings?

So I had a prince character named Vael (said like Vail) but I’ve been told it reads as too feminine, and I don’t want that for this character, as his brother has a specifically feminine name that is commented on often in the story. Then his name became Vaeron. I don’t really have any issues with this, but I still really like Vael. Do you think Vael works as like a nickname for Vaeron if it’s used only by family? I feel like it’s plausible, I mean like how people got Dot from Dorothy, Kitty from Kathrine, or Birdie from Bernadette. If you were a reader would you be thrown off by a prince named Vaeron being called Vael by his father and siblings?

I have a group of characters for my sort of grimdark fantasy story I started years ago and am starting to reimagine. I know my character names probably fall under that idea of “stereotypical fantasy names” but I want some opinions on whether they feel corny or like “too out there.” I also picked the names at the age of like 13, so I feel like they have that sort of vibe of middle-schooler OC names.
The names they currently have include Perrin (M), Merletto, Runi (F), Ramsey (F), Serpa (M), Maude (M), and Vael (M). I included the gender of each character because I know for many people that affects their view of the name. Merletto not included because they’re meant to be very androgynous and characters make different assumptions on their gender. If it adds anything else, Maude and Vael are brothers and are royal, and the rest of the mention characters are sort of undead and named amongst themselves and another party. If I were to rename them I would possibly make the names more clearly representative of the type of bird they’re each loosely associated with? I just don’t want that aspect to feel too pushed. The furthest I’ve gone with that is one character who calls Perrin “Pidge” in reference to pigeons (and maybe a little bit of a Lady and the Tramp reference.)
To conclude, please let me know any criticism on the names, and any suggestions you might have.

So I feel like everyone knows what I’m talking about when I say “stereotypical fantasy names.” I have a group of characters for my sort of grimdark fantasy story I started years ago and am starting to reimagine. I know my character names probably fall under that idea of “stereotypical fantasy names” but I want some opinions on whether they feel corny or like “too out there.” I also picked the names at the age of like 13, so I feel like they have that sort of vibe of middle-schooler OC names.
The names they currently have include Perrin (M), Merletto, Runi (F), Ramsey (F), Serpa (M), Maude (M), and Vaelle (M). I included the gender of each character because I know for many people that affects their view of the name. Merletto not included because they’re meant to be very androgynous and characters make different assumptions on their gender. If it adds anything else, Maude and Vaelle are brothers and are royal, and the rest of the mention characters are sort of undead and named amongst themselves and another party. If I were to rename them I would possibly make the names more clearly representative of the type of bird they’re each loosely associated with? I just don’t want that aspect to feel too pushed. The furthest I’ve gone with that is one character who calls Perrin “Pidge” in reference to pigeons (and maybe a little bit of a Lady and the Tramp reference.)
To conclude, please let me know any criticism on the names, and any suggestions you might have.