Local Gods and Powers: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Local Gods and Powers (view source)

Revision as of 19:21, 6 May 2024

37,482 bytes added ,  6 May
no edit summary
No edit summary
Line 157: Line 157:
*Create wonders; your mark on the world should be felt by all.  
*Create wonders; your mark on the world should be felt by all.  
*Observe the stars; their light and secrets, though dangerous, offer knowledge to the wary.
*Observe the stars; their light and secrets, though dangerous, offer knowledge to the wary.
<br>
‘’’Izdu in the Sultanate'''
<blockquote>O Izdu. If the Mother is the font, you are the pipe by which her civilizations flow. The third spoke is the god of not only insight, magic, and knowledge, but also of productive creation, commerce and accounting, and mos maiorum. His cult in the Sultanate has a certain dogmatic unity, but subdivided into self-concerned clades of librarians, notaries, lecturers and tutors, pundits, astrologers, civil servants, administers of occupational blessings, advisors to the Sultan’s court, and so on. At the heart of the Grand Academy is nestled The Evident Motif — opened to the public only on holy days — where the Murshids lead solemn memory-sermons and lift veils and part curtains among incenses.
The Izdur have, throughout history, described the stars, advanced magics, provided patronage for artists, and pioneered great works. Too have they been the source of, or bur in, many scandals when matters of proper opinion and cultural probity have come under their scrutiny, resulting in conflict with other churches or institutions of the Sultanate.
'''His priests are expected to''' record and avow the truth, to adjudicate disputed transactions, to bless building projects, to observe and expound upon the natural and mystical world, to support artists or create art, to denounce misuses of art and writing, to protect and guide merchants and craftsmen and to ensure their honesty and diligence, and to innovate at the frontiers of making and knowledge.
Clerics of the Izdur are called, among other names, '''Magus or Murid'''. A Mu’allim, who has passed many tests, is a great teacher. The Murshids who are masters of knowledge, have seen far, and instruct the faith. Often they hold a chair or have achieved the title of Muarakh at the Grand Academy.
'''He is prayed to''' at the proceeding of civic functions and official procedures, at the publication of a finished manuscript, for the revealing of deceits, for the revelation of the machinations of the djinn, for protection against unwanted suggestion or persuasion, for lost memories, for favorable stars, at the casting of complex spells, when stressing tools or bridges or wagons, for the fruition of plans, and at the opening of storefronts.
'''He is associated with''' the protection of and messages from the stars, architecture, aqueducts, examination, spellcraft, archaeology, history, vellum and paper, the formulation of inks and dyes, glass, invention, coinage, enterprise, the flow of dinar, logistics, irrigation, bread and confections, drums and percussion, kilns, seals and wax, bees and ants, earthworks and dikes, the Epicrasis, grammatology, dictation, steles, verse, embellishments, engineering, and the movements of the heavens.
By other names he may be known as The Leverhand, Abaqos, Crane’s-Beak, The Prompting, The Vellumnate, Keystone Izdu, The Dyer of Every Color, Idris Thrice-Great, The Chisel, The Minter, Our Pleased Mentor, al-Fanoos, or The Lensgrinder.</blockquote>
'''Among his holy days are:'''
<blockquote>'''Eid al-Fanoos''' — Lights fill the alamedas and plazas and flicker in every windowsill. The Izdur set alight a vast fleet of floating lamps and wash the night air with a wondrous and comforting glow. Ash-sails and river barges parade, aglow. From spires, one can see the settlements of the Sultanate as little, warm beacons across the wastes. Promises and deals struck on this day are sealed with Izdu’s certainty for a bright future.<br>'''Hziran 3rd'''
'''The Illuminations''' — With aplomb, the Izdur bring forth histories and shared knowledge, some ancient and some prepared anew all-year. In Baz’eel, crowds gather in the amphitheater at the Grand Academy where lightstones produce spectacular recitations. The community is reminded of the shared knowledge of times passed, and birds are released for augury and auspice. Poems and texts published on this day are blessed by the Magi.<br>'''Tesrin Hray 3rd'''
'''Dedications of the Righting''' — “O Izdu, let no stone crumble, let the earth be your firm bed.” On this day, buildings are re-dedicated to the deity that teaches how they must be erected. Common folk will splash their doorways with chalk, and the great civic buildings and walls are sanctified by the priests of the Magi. Adventurous and ambitious Izdur will travel to old Caliphal sites and re-dedicate the ruins of history, praying for the wisdom of old. Buildings completed on this day are especially blessed.<br>'''Subat 30th'''
'''Offering at the Slope''' — The Kulamet and the Izdur make way to the base or, perhaps, the peak of the nearest mountains. Ministrations of deep geomantics are conducted, and the heartbeat of the land is felt for. Geomancy performed on this day may be especially powerful. <br>'''Subat 3rd'''</blockquote>
'''Among the faithful, they say:'''
<blockquote>“May the lamp shed clearly.” — An affirmation of faith, and a blessing to dispel the obscurity or fret.
“It's but stone.” — To take on a lofty challenge with diligence and confidence.
“The Magi registered.” — A congratulations or acknowledgement of worthy deeds.
“With wheels of coin.” — To acknowledge a good prospect.
“The records don't repeat.” — To accuse one of lying or presenting misinformation
“On the eclipse.” — Probably never / A deferment.</blockquote>
<br>


==The Wyld, Kula==
==The Wyld, Kula==
Line 165: Line 212:
'''Secondary Domains:''' Sand, Moon, Blood, Decay, Spider,
'''Secondary Domains:''' Sand, Moon, Blood, Decay, Spider,


'''Worshipers:''' Druids, Farmers, the Poor, Radicals, Gardeners, Shepherds, Botanists  
'''Worshipers:''' Farmers, Hunters, the Poor, Radicals, Gardeners, Shepherds, Botanists


Kula, God of Nature and Life, is specifically associated with Bel-Ishȗn and Edutu. Her gardens fill Baz’eel, and she is considered the protector of all living things. Her clergy are decentralized across a network of gardens, sanctuaries, and radical organizations.
Kula, God of Nature and Life, is specifically associated with Bel-Ishȗn and Edutu. Her gardens fill Baz’eel, and she is considered the protector and winnower of all living things. Her clergy are decentralized across a network of gardens, sanctuaries, and radical organizations.


'''The Tenets of the Kulamet are as follow:'''
'''The Tenets of the Kulamet are as follow:'''
*Tend growth; things that grow bring life to the world, fed by the Mother’s tears.
*Encourage growth; things that grow bring life to the world, fed by the Mother’s tears.
*Feed the earth; the Wyld smiles when the land’s belly is full.
*Cull growth; not all that spreads should, select what must be fed back.  
*Cultivate flocks; animals are beloved of me, and she desires that they multiply.
*Feed the earth; the Wyld smiles when the land’s belly is full, with fresh seed or fresh carrion.
*Gift alms to the impoverished; the poor are her children. She is pleased when they are tended to.  
*Attend the hearth; do not let the nourishing pot grow cold and dry.
*Oppose elites; potentates and rulers are the cause of the land’s suffering. Their power must be limited.
*Cultivate flocks; animals are beloved of her, and desires they multiply, both the herd and pack that stalks it.
*Shelter grove-tenders; the gardeners of the wild are beloved of her, offer them friendship and protection.
*Give shelter to the impoverished; the poor are her children for they live closest to the land’s bounty and hardship.
*Maintain Bel-Ishûn; the jungle is her garden, and it is holy. Its sanctity must be maintained.
*Oppose elites; those furthest from subsistence do not deserve outright and frictionless power.
*Obliterate the unnatural; Qa’im, the undead, and innovation are anathema.
*Maintain Bel-Ishûn; the jungle is her garden, and it is most holy, writhing with life.
<br>
'''Kula in the Sultanate'''
<blockquote>Terrible Kula, sweet Kula — the fourth spoke is the lightning that splits the tree and the rain that waters it, the expectant seed and the barren soil in which it lays dormant. The Wyld’s unpredictable power is a resource for those used to hardship, but may be a hazard for the well-to-do. Where the eleemosynary B’aarat are given to handouts and doles for the needy, the Kulamet prefer intervention to better the lives of the downtrodden: turf and palm turned to huts, dogs trained to watch and herd, nets mended, soil made fallow, taxmen chased off. They come among and orbit settlements to instruct in the ways of common craft and keeping. They scatter and coalesce in matters and moods known only to the rhythms of the earth, to tend city gardens or cast seeds cupped in clay into the barren wastes, to meditate in deep caverns or walk the markets and gardens.
 
 
Like dapples of shade, lush gardens great and small dot Baz’eel in neighborhoods and floating terraces and along alamedas. In their easterly corners is the Wyld, carved in beech and ivory, piled with offerings from the local markets. Within the Meidān, or Great Gardens, — the grand, semi-wild zoological garden where the Sultan may admire tigers and gazelles — is an ancient pagoda of cedar whose name is known only to the Kulamet, wherein it is said can be opened a portal to Bel-Ishûn.
 
 
'''Her priests and druids are expected to''' bring B’aara’s waters to where they are needed, to seal off the ruins of rust and stymie the powers of Qa’im, to nurture the downtrodden and lend them strength, to oversee the culling of predators, to eradicate unnatural infestations, to protect people’s livestock, to provide shelter from storms or conjure storms to destroy the enemies of the earth, to grow bountiful gardens.
 
 
Clerics and druids of the Kulamet are often known as, among other names, '''Wyldwalker''' or '''Shepherd'''. Myriad Kulamet groups may have as many other names as there are blades of grass.  
 
 
'''She is prayed to''' for strong herds, to frighten off predators, when sheep and goats go astray, when one works in the field, at the times of harvest, in desperation during lean times, to bring rain or flood, for the strength of lions, for the kinship of wolves, to stave off a natural catastrophes, for nourishment, if the pot boils over or burns, to safekeep granaries and cellars, and to avert the ashstorm.
 
 
'''She is associated with''' oases, gardens, forests, jungles, mountain ranges, herbal medicines, pastures, predators, herd animals and fowl, veterinary treatment, murrain, the incursion and eradication of pests, spiders, blight, germination, plenty, scarcity, charcoal, hearths, oikonomia, the ney-anbān and other bagpipes and flutes, cats, grain and lentils, vegetables and berries, wildflowers, mutton and kid, milk, wool, haruspex and estipex, storms and rain, flooding, rock falls and mudslides, the phases of the moon, the lush banks of the Edutu, the mysteries and dangers of Bel-Ishûn.
 
 
By other names she may be known as The Embrace, Rampant K’al, Whispering Sedge, Cornucopia, The Crook, Larkspur, The Gathering Cloud, Flowering-the-Sheaf, The Warm Hearth, Ranging Arete, Verdis-Fleer, The Thrashing Frond, or Ishûn-Araaei.</blockquote>
 
'''Among her holy days are:'''
<blockquote>'''Offering at the Edutu''' — They make their way to the banks of the great river that gives life, the Kulamet, and some resilient followers. It can be a dangerous journey, but the reeds and palms on the banks welcome them. It is said the holiest of Kulamet ceremonies takes place there, at the convergence of the sacred river and the people who come to pay it the homage it is due. They return with long fronds, signaling their offerings and passage.<br>'''Tammuz 8th'''
 
 
'''First Flowering''' — Flowers spring up where they could not, for a day, in crevices, between paving stones, along walls and alameda, as long as the people have been observant of the Wyld. The Kulamet go into the settlements and remind the people of the miraculous earth, bringing fruits and game, and sometimes live beasts, made friendly by their hand. Kitchens are made ready, preserves and salted stock are finished off and old grain is tossed to the land. The people ready for the next year’s bounty. <br>'''Tammuz 16th'''
 
 
'''The Shearing''' — When sheep are shorn, animals butchered aplenty, stockpile is made, and meat is salted. Wyldwalkers perform special blood sacrifices on this day to their goddess, spilling the life of beasts on stone. It is a day of especially clear soothsaying from the reading of organs and entrails.<br>'''Illul 12th'''
 
 
'''The Festival of Eggs''' — During this raucous festival the people throw old eggs at one another, laughing and crying. The faithful of the Wyld are said to perform more contemplative rites outside the general public, relating to the generation of life and its fragility. For most, however, it is a frivolous day where one can let loose. The likenesses of common enemies, monsters, and predators made of mud and branches are paraded around, and summarily pelted.<br>'''Tesrin Hray 16th'''
 
 
'''Offering at the Slope''' — The Kulamet and the Izdur make way to the base or, perhaps, the peak of the nearest mountains. Ministrations of deep geomantics are conducted, and the heartbeat of the land is felt for. Geomancy performed on this day may be especially powerful. <br>'''Subat 3rd'''
</blockquote>
 
'''Among the faithful, they say:'''
<blockquote>"Tend well the flowering garden.” — A common affirmation of faith, though there are more secret phrases / A farewell.
 
“Herds might mix.” — Things lie as they may.
 
“Believe the beasts.” — Do not be caught up in thought / Respect the land.  
 
“Sew the wastes.” — Do something better with one’s time / Strive to better the dissolute.
 
“The bite flows red.” — Not as bad as it seems / Everything has its risks.
 
“And the earth shakes.” — To point out the obvious when it isn’t observed by others / An emphasis on an expressed wisdom.</blockquote>
<br>


==The Sabotage, Gellema==
==The Sabotage, Gellema==
Line 198: Line 298:
*Convince the certain of uncertainty.
*Convince the certain of uncertainty.
*Memory is corrupt, history is death, seek continuously the immanent.
*Memory is corrupt, history is death, seek continuously the immanent.
<br>
'''Gellema in the Sultanate'''
<blockquote>The Sabotage, mercurial and flitting at the periphery, is many things to many people. Like echoes in the canyon, Gellema’s cults seem to go on, at times loud and at times dim. One heard often in the Sultanate is Gellema-Cimulat, invoked by cutpurses, swindlers, gamblers, blackmailers, and pigeon racers. Another is Sabotage-of-the-Weft, whose beautiful statue might be uncovered at a private salon where mizzar is smoked and gossip thickly woven, and whose priests might visit members of the court who cannot speak their mind openly to any other. Another is The Gleaming Friend, who many saw as children behind bushes or on roofs playing games, invoked during moments of nostalgia in the souk, or of sedation behind curtains. And more. Such veiled devotions seem to be the fifth spoke’s preferred temple.
It is said, long ago, a grandiose house of marble, gauze, temptations, and burning secrets was razed by the Calipha Feyda I, and the clergy of the Gellemedes has been an untended garden ever since. Perhaps, outside Baz’eel, simulacra of that splendor might be found. Nevertheless, the fifth spoke is rarely far from the lips of the wonderstruck, the covetous, the inspired, the envious, the lucky, and the unlucky in the private prayers of even the most upstanding servant of the Maribid.
'''Their priests are expected to''' hear confessions and coax desires, to satirize, to instigate from hesitation, to offer alternatives, to traffic hearsay, to lead to surprises not destinations, to move wealth unorthodoxically, to display wealth scandalously, to interpret dreams, to contrive endless possibilities against the credible, to untether minds, to open hearts, to create obstacles or excise them, and to reveal the perjuries of history.
Clerics of the Gellemedes are often known as, among other names, '''Inspired''' or '''Glimmer'''. If leadership among the variegated cults exists, it is not revealed; however, notable oracles proficient in the fifth spoke’s divination are known as Oneirix.
'''They are prayed to''' for fortune, for the misfortune of others, for avoiding tax, for winning at chance, before eating the possibly poisonous, for spinning or catching a lie, when at the end of one's wits, upon waking from nightmares, when hiding treasure, upon witnessing stunning or unexpected beauty, when unable to suppress cravings, at the new moon, to go unnoticed, and to astound.
'''They are associated with''' turns of fortune, gambling, haggling, gossamer and damask, mosaics — marvelous birds, amphibians, and insects — mirages, double meanings, gloaming, debased coin, forgeries, dangerous ingredients, theft and burglary, prestidigitation, embezzlement, the missing, the reading of palms, augury, shellfish, shelled nuts and pitted fruit, alliums, the tympanum and other cymbals, jamais vu, blackmail, snares, pernicious rhetoric, celebrity, the spirits of drink and other substances, temptation, and the texture between the stars.
By other names they are known as The Pareidolia, Dream’s Lintel, The Crepusculan, Gellema-Cimulat, Impattern-Again, That Shiver, Sabotage-of-the-Weft, The Beaded-Comb, Antiphasis, The Gleaming Friend, Hands-for-Feet, The Cadyssfly, and The Orchard’s Dance.</blockquote>
'''Among _ holy days are:'''
<blockquote>'''The Sumptive Regard''' — Though it is said on these holidays other secret rituals occur, in public are performed satires meant to offend and lampoon everyone in the community. These plays may be put on by any who desire. Those that yield the most derision and delight are garlanded, and it is particularly loved by Gellema when the performers can most subtly deprecate themselves before the crowds. Much wine is poured and mizzar smoked on this day. <br>'''Hziran 20th and Tesrin Hray 30th'''
'''Presage-of-Chance''' — When games are held in abundance: races, sport, lotteries, cards and dice. On this day, the greatest of bets are made: enormous sums, family heirlooms, lofty promises, and prospects on future gains. The fulfillment of these bets are due next Presage’s Eve. Instigating Gellemedes will gift wealth to children, the destitute, and rivals and have them ante against the great-and-the-good who are shirking in their gambling spirit. The more one loses during the Presage-of-Chance, the greater one’s fortunes will be in the coming months.<br>'''Tabbah 30th and Adar 20th'''
'''The Feast of B’aara''' — The Gellemedes delight in taking this feast day to extremes, coaxing others to drink beyond measure and break decorum. <br>'''Sabbat 15th'''
'''The Illuminations''' — Those faithful of the Sabotage are known to celebrate the rites prescribed by the Izdur in a contratian manner, disseminating false or secret accounts and telling upsidedown and contorted histories. They are most pleased if their hoaxes are taken for truth. If they can be found, mockingbirds are added to the augur’s cages. <br>'''Tesrin Hray 3rd'''</blockquote>
'''Among the faithful, they say:'''
<blockquote>“The swallow chases…” — An affirmation of faith, if the second part of this phrase is said in response.
“Hear the front, see the back.” — Fate and fortune is fickle / Better luck next time.
“Back through the mirror.” — Watch your back / See what's hidden, especially in plain view.
“We passerines.” — To signify one seeks to please Gellema / An exclamation when one is enthralled by the debauched or beautiful.
“Give us twilight.” — A short prayer for obscurity in one's dealings or actions.
“It’s all gossamer.” — One couldn’t resist / A scheme went well.
“A plucked peacock.” — Concerning one who was well-fooled or duped.</blockquote>
<br>


==The Wanderer, Warad==
==The Wanderer, Warad==
Line 217: Line 366:
*Defy thieves and bandits; the borders must be guarded lest danger run rife.
*Defy thieves and bandits; the borders must be guarded lest danger run rife.
*Tend the shrines; their sanctity must be ensured. They are a place of sanctuary, and protection.
*Tend the shrines; their sanctity must be ensured. They are a place of sanctuary, and protection.
<br>
'''Warad in the Sultanate'''
<blockquote>Expanse — unceasing expanse — the Wheel surrounds us all. The intrepid sixth spoke’s countless wheel-shrines dot the land, from simple way-markers to sprawling camps. Often, shrines are ensconced inside caravans, fastened to the decks of barges, installed in markets, nestled in taverns, or even utop the dressing of mounts, decorated with myriad devotional trinkets. The Welcome Reciprocity, where the Wanderer is said to sleep at height of day after traveling the entire Sultanate each night, is the great caravanserai just at the edge of Baz’eel’s shielding Epicrasis, in which thousands of hands move millions of goods. More than any other deity, reports of meeting Warad are endless, and greeting a lone stranger as if he were the god himself is pious among the Waradim.
While the Waradim rarely play functionary roles in the Sultanate, the sixth spoke is beckoned when there is strife among the faiths, for he goes between them all along the Wheel’s rim. They only ask for dinar in great need, and instead tithe for assurances of altruism, present and future. To break such promises or refuse their offering will take one down the path of a pariah.
'''His priests are expected to''' protect good and hapless travelers, to catch thieves, to open new trade routes, to discover the hidden, to invite or steer into safety, to invite others to novel delights, to redeem exiles if possible, to report hazards and enemy movements, to tell incredible tales, to deliver messages no matter the distance or conditions, to break or foal beasts of burden, to read the heavens for direction, and to forge new paths or cleverly discover better paths.
Clerics of the Waradim are often known as, among other names, '''Wanderer''' or '''Musafir'''. The seasoned and sun-kissed, who know every way one may take in their locale, whose stories of daring travail and brave crossings are countless are Guides or Wheelwrights.
'''He is prayed to''' for safe passage, when meeting strangers, when confronting trespassers, for undisturbed sleep, to secure one’s baggage, when one’s path is unexpectedly blocked, when one’s sandal-strap snaps or bootheel wears out, to sooth a mount or pack animal, for calm seas, when approaching rapids, upon an approaching ash-storm, if stranded, upon making a rare find, to seal a barter, when launching or mooring ash-sail and ship, and when charting a path or giving directions.
'''He is associated with''' exchange, hospitality, respite, perseverance, escapes, harbors, landmarks, caves and natural refuges, yokes and harnesses, camels and mules, farriery, migratory animals, the oud and other deep string or bow instruments, coconut, pepper, cinnamon and sweet spices, invigorating teas, cordage and rope, vessels and vehicles, compasses, canteens, rarities, sanctuary, fair winds, the return of friends, gates, roads, doorways, thresholds, the guest-host relationship, wanderlust, the horizon, orientation by star, and the turning of the Wheel.
By other names he may be known as Urgence, The Sandalmaker, Our Visitor, Our Host, The Deliver, Zephyr, Hardblister, Vanishing Nuqta, The Tight-Loose-Spoke, The Bearer of Sumac, Euxine Sabaah, and The Lodesman.</blockquote>
'''Among his holy days are:'''
<blockquote>'''Lodestone’s Finding''' — In the desert wastes, hidden in a swirl of ash, an old stone charged with the Disc's very directions rotates solemnly, alone. Once a season, the Waradim make their way here, a harsh journey, and collect flakes and chips of the stone for to make relics and compasses. There they contemplate the infinite horizons and places they have been and could go.<br>'''Tabbah 6th, Tesrin Hray 24th, Adar 6th, Hziran 24th'''
'''The Washing of Feet''' — A day of compassion, when the community, especially those locked against one another in some antagonism, come face to face and perform minor deeds of kindness for one another. This day seals for the next year Warad's requirement of good hospitality.<br>'''Hziran 6th'''
'''The Changing of Hands''' — A day most looked forward to, especially by children. No matter their worth, baubles and treasures are exchanged freely. To give a greater gift in turn than what was received will earn the Wanderer's delighted laugh. <br>'''Kanön Hray 6th'''
'''Four-Wheels-Rounding''' — On the 24th day of most months, those wishing to please Warad in particular for to bless an upcoming endeavor or for the return of those on a long journey follow groups of Wanderers and Guides through a short circuit of their choosing about the land. In each of the four directions, they stop for tea and leave offerings. <br>'''The 24th of each month, except on the months of Lodestone’s Finding'''</blockquote>
'''Among the faithful, they say:'''
<blockquote>“Where from, Wanderer?” “From another good host.”— An affirmation of faith and welcoming greeting, and response.
“Horizons become footing.” — It’s not far off / One can attain a goal.
“Measure each grain.” — Don’t be fooled.
“Carry water for Him too.” — Be ready to help yourself and others / A farewell.
“With sure feet.” — Make haste / Ready to take on danger and hardships.
“Camels kick in any direction.” — A suggestion to be wary or be respectful of a situation.</blockquote>
<br>


==The Martyrs, Kalim & Gamil==
==The Martyrs, Kalim & Gamil==
Line 225: Line 421:
'''Secondary Domains:''' Trickery, Rune, Suffering, Fate, Repose, Metal
'''Secondary Domains:''' Trickery, Rune, Suffering, Fate, Repose, Metal


'''Worshipers:''' Mourners, Traditionalists, the Elderly, the Dying, Gravediggers, Tomb Guardians
'''Worshipers:''' Traditionalists and the Law-abiding, Judges and Advocates, Mourners, the Elderly and the Dying, Keepers and Protectors of Graveyards


Kalim & Gamil, the Gods of Death, are the kind-spirited protectors of the dead. The Temples of the Martyrs ring out with dirges and laments, and they tend to all the graveyards. Twins born under their gaze are considered blessed.
Kalim & Gamil, the Gods of Death and Law, judge the spirit before one passes beyond the final pale. The Temples and Maqams of the Martyrs ring out with dirges and laments, where bodies are treated before rest. In the halls of justice, their scales hang, weighing guilt and innocence; life and death.


'''The Tenets of the Twindari are as follow:'''
'''The Tenets of the Twindari are as follow:'''
*Mourn the dead; their lives should be celebrated and their part in the world remembered.
*Mourn the dead; their lives should be celebrated and their part in the world remembered.
*Record and uphold the law; remember the wisdom and judgments of the age and give them life.
*Enact burials; lay the dead to rest in sanctified grounds, out of the reach of the wretched.
*Enact burials; lay the dead to rest in sanctified grounds, out of the reach of the wretched.
*Protect the sacred grounds; to break the sacred grounds is the greatest of sins.
*Protect the sacred grounds; to break the sacred grounds is the greatest of sins.
*Protect the law and its precedents; do not let laws be used corruptly, the scale is calibrated and certain.
*Sacrifice in need; the greatest blessing is to give yourself to ensure the fruition of a cause.
*Sacrifice in need; the greatest blessing is to give yourself to ensure the fruition of a cause.
*Obey your elders; their wisdom is born of ages, and they know what is best.
*Obey your elders; their wisdom is born of ages, and they know what is best.
*Collect secrets and knowledge of value, and teach them to the worthy.
<br>
'''The Twins in the Sultanate'''
<blockquote>Tradition states that Kalim dutifully sacrificed himself to bring order to the world, and his twin, Gamil — whose perpetual grief would be his own martyrdom — taught the fruits of brother’s martyrdom to the people. The church of Kalim and Gamil is a well-endowed but sober institution in the Sultanate. The pious and the lonely leave their bequeathals to the church, and the legal community of the Sultanate is a constant benefactor. The seventh spoke is venerated widely in the Great Ring, and among the people of Salhin its church is perhaps the most organized of the Wheel’s faith — a pillar of arbitration, law, and respect. It is said, in one’s moment of death, Gamil ferries the spirit down to the Edutu to meet Kalim on the bank, who passes final judgment and selects the final, obscure fork in the river down which it will be left to float.
 
 
Almost every cemetary in the Sultanate is cared for and protected by the diligent Twindari. The Sepulchre of Themselves is nestled between the Sultan's palaces and the civil quarter of Baz'eel. For centuries, Geomancers have expanded the vast mausoleum beneath it, with especially fine vaults for the families of the palace, into which Kamil faces holding the Scales of the Dead. Above it, in shining marble, the Adliye of the Martyrs — echoing with the sandals of advocates, judges, and councilors — houses generations of legal commentaries and case files, up to which Galim faces holding the Scales of the Living.  Around it are the Orchards of the Patient Graft, ripe with sacred fruit that springs from roots not their own, its floor bristling with the hallowed hyssop flower.
 
 
'''Their priests are expected to''' live life toward death, to teach the honor and humility that will be remembered and deemed well by the Gods, to prepare the dying for death, to prepare the dead for burial, to prepare the living for judgment, to prepare the courts for good jurisprudence, to uphold legal precedent and procedure, to defend the unrepresented in fair trial, to document cases for posterity, to document the lives of the unremembered, to maintain tombs and maqbaras and protect them from graverobbers, and to lead the mourning in sorrow and past it.
 
 
Clerics of the Twindari are often known as, among other names, '''Witness''' or '''Preparator'''. Reverends are those known for their cultivated care and administrations, and an Avukat is one who walks the letters of law with certainty. The church is overseen by two Lawspeakers, arbiters of legal doctrine in the Sultanate.
 
 
'''They are prayed to''' when beginning or ending a long vigil, when fatigued or restless, if troubled with a difficult decision, when friends make poor decisions, for humility and grace in defeat, when attempting to win at strategy, whenever court is brought to order and adjourned, if one detects perjury, to have one’s true word trusted, to greet one’s elders, upon discovering a corpse, when mourners pass, and for any spirit’s steady passage down the Edutu.
 
 
'''They are associated with''' the correct administration of law, impartiality, grief, the game of tawla that the twins were said to play together, symmetry, convalescence, the toll of time, excavations, toads and hibernating beasts, songbirds, the dozaleh and other reed instruments, pomaceous fruits like pears and quince, mint and hyssop, chamomile, reeds and wicker, marble, granite, the disfigured, memento mori, trust, brotherhood, honesty, testimony, confession, reconciliation, the absolving of debts, the course of the Edutu, the earth everywhere which takes back life and generates it.
 
 
By other names they are known as The Scales-Untipped, The Ordinances,  Tongueless-but-Heard, The Prow and the Rudder, Commencing Kalagim, The Branching Graft, Myrrh and Frankincense, They-Sit-Beside, Our Vigil, or The Consoling. </blockquote>
 
'''Among their holy days are:'''
<blockquote>'''The Calibrations''' — When the propriety and wisdom imparted to the world by Kalim is reviewed and measured. The streets are swept clean. The people take each a personal account of their dealings, and contemplate if they have been acting in good faith in the past year. Those who are unsure bring their affairs before the Twindari who give them judgment. Then, old and vestigial records that are burned after anything of note is copied into fresh ledgers, and unneeded things are cast away. Particularly fervent Twindari might require the community to upend their storage and liquidate hoarded goods. It is pious to update and adjust legal code on this day.<br>'''Nisah 21st'''
 
 
'''Gamil’s Feastday''' — A holiday of remembrance and death. Plaster or marble skulls and other mementos mori are arranged in shrines, and the people commune with those who have gone and tell of their memories. Modest banquets of fruit, bread, and fermented honey are prepared, much of it left for the dead’s repast. The Sultan’s court and their proxies recite the good deeds of honored monarchs and leaders of old. Those in mourning are cheered by their neighbors, and the Twindari enact a ritual performance emulating the final passage down the river.<br>'''Illul 28th'''
 
 
'''Eid al-Khana''' — Work ceases, tea is prepared, and the people play tawla. It is a day of rest for the mind and body. People make unusual bargains and speak plainly their opinions, for nothing said openly and honestly, save blasphemy, during this day may lead to punishment. It is pious to peacefully settle disputes over a game during Eid-khana. It is a day of forgiveness.<br>'''Kanön Hray 21st'''
 
 
'''Offering at the Edutu''' — If they may, the Twindari are guided by the Kulamet to the river bearing a replica of the Twin’s coracle, which passes between them with the spirits of the dead. The faithful gently launch it into the wide waters, filled with candles. <br>'''Tammuz 4th'''</blockquote>
 
'''Among the faithful, they say:'''
<blockquote>“And through the reeds.” — Such is life / An affirmation of faith.
 
“The scales righten.” — Everything will fall into place.
 
“Salhin heard.” — Affirmation of a truth / An emphatic coda to a statement.
 
“Fruit, bear your works.” — Good luck and blessings.
 
“Far is the next bank.” — Exasperation with or acceptance of hardship.
 
“So they taught.” — To close an expressed wisdom / To assure one’s word is true or final.</blockquote>
<br>


==The Wroth, Urazzir==
==The Wroth, Urazzir==
Line 254: Line 498:
*All you love and abide by can be ruined in a single stroke. Rest with one eye open, and away from the warm comfort of the hearth. Be alert.
*All you love and abide by can be ruined in a single stroke. Rest with one eye open, and away from the warm comfort of the hearth. Be alert.
*You are required to root out evil if you foresee it, never assume innocence.
*You are required to root out evil if you foresee it, never assume innocence.
<br>
'''Urazzir in the Sultanate'''
<blockquote>Though Urazzir hides no secrets, few desire to hear him. The eighth spoke is the bent but uncowed pall over the world that most wish were but a vestige, yet know deserves honest obsequence. Dim shrines and glaring statues of the Wroth seem to boil up immodestly not far from water temples, gravesites, penury halls, and courthouses, where the unpitied come to lay and whisper their woe — and where those with means make offerings against, or to instigate, harm. Perhaps an unwelcome sight for clergy of other spokes, but none dare uproot such a thorny bramble. The disciplined Uzzarii file through the alamedas and along roads in barefooted groups the people hand dinar to pass on.
Outside the Epicrasis, ravaged and pitted by time and ash, malingers Mhul'afir, a fortress erected by Mansur more than a millennium ago from where Baz'eel was sited and protected in its infancy, then abandoned. This is the cloistered and dismal seat of the Uzzarii priesthood, who survey the Golden City like a shadow from the grey spire of that Emir's struggle.
'''His priests are expected to''' harry the sinful left unpersecuted by laws, to hunt down those condemned by law who flee justice, to service ritual curses, to lift curses wrongly applied, to extend the life of those at death’s door and to hear their regrets and execrations, to encourage grudges and facilitate them, to remind the people of their misdeeds and those of their enemies, to foresee ruin, and to watch when others sleep.
Clerics of the Uzzarii are known as, among other names, '''Wronged''' or '''Makhyoon'''. Leadership of his church is a byzantine cohort of those known as Imprecates; above them, eight Vindicates whose ashen palanquins lurch throughout the Sultanate, dispensing proscriptions and warning.
'''He is prayed to''' in dissatisfaction, when death draws near, while striving in vengeful pursuit, when overtaken with sudden violence, when siblings quarrel, when ordered to a hopeless post, when others refuse to take one's advice, should one believe themselves hexed, at the passing of a sentence one knows unjust, when disciplining or shaming a family member or underling, when plans go to shambles, and to see another’s misdeeds bury them.
'''He is associated with''' desperation, disgrace, exposure, unwelcome sacrifices, the smell of death, debt, stubbornness, strife, vigilantism, mass graves, vultures and crows, wasps and scorpions, burdock and bay, resin, toil at the mill or oil press, yarn, torn and snagged fabric, unhappy answers from divination, erosion and weathering, lingering grief, impotence and barrenness, public executions, failures of jurisprudence, violation of oaths and perfidity’s punishment, violation of the tenet of pacifism, the ruins of the Old Caliphate, and the crushing roll of the Wheel.
By other names he may be known as The Uncowed, Wronged-Stone, Unbidden Visit, The Hanged One, The Ventless, Old Curse, The Skein, Urazzir-Obliterate, The Untoward, al-Izdira, The Shaver, Beleaguered Ujr, The Stiff Cane, or Inevitable U’zzir.</blockquote>
'''Among his holy days are:'''
<blockquote>'''The Tolling of Tin''' — Every other month, the Uzzarii go through the streets, barefoot, shaking awful, dissonant bells. They are followed by those who are thirsty for undelivered justice, wracked with the spirit of vengeance, or seized with unallievable grief. They go to doors, to civic buildings, to markets, to the residences of notables, to taverns, to cemeteries, and so on, and murmur astringent curses. The people beg them to leave, but they will not do so until they have given a tithe of coins in a factor of eight to the sum these spectres deem fits the individual’s means. <br>'''The 8th of every other month, beginning in Qdim'''
'''The Letting''' — Those Uzzarii and their flock flagellate themselves to a state near death and stay there for a day, taking no aid nor succor, soured with drying blood. They linger in silence or admonishment in the plazas and forums. The community goes to them and offer an arm or breast to be cut ritually to stave off evil or show The Uncowed that they fear but do not fear.<br>'''Maribeh 16th'''
'''The Emir’s Parade''' — The Wroth’s faithful will shadow these festivities, following the parade with an indignant effigy of dry grass, representing failed and fallen Caliphs and Sultans and their corrupt dignitaries. None dare stop them, and most hope to simply ignore this shameful counter-spectacle. <br>'''Qdim 29th'''
'''Mumusha’s Fastdays''' — Unlike the B’aarat, the Uzzarii hold that one may only drink, and may not eat rice nor porridge nor yams at midday, and the water is to be infused with the bitter herbs or ash. Only the dying may eat.<br>'''Adar 1st through 3rd'''
'''Eid al-Khana''' — Sometimes, during the holiday of tawla, an Uzzarii will set up a lone game table made of inky, hard resin. The most represensible of the community may go and play them earnestly. If they lose, the community may show them unusual mercy in the future. <br>'''Kanön Hray 21st'''</blockquote>
'''Among the faithful, they say:'''
<blockquote>"Blood will have blood." — Reprisals warned of / An affirmation of faith.
"Ground by the Wheel." — Acknowledgement of intractable or tiring fate.
“Only ash from the mouth.” — A command for silence / A declaration that words are meaningless.
“Tight twisted into itself.” — Nothing can be done / Something is entrenched.
“And the right will wrong.” — Everyone is culpable.
“Lower the stone.” — An admonishment / A command to back down.</blockquote>
<br>


==The Wyrm, Bashmu==
==The Wyrm, Bashmu==
Line 267: Line 561:


'''The Tenets of the Bashmu-kar are unknown.'''
'''The Tenets of the Bashmu-kar are unknown.'''


...but some whisper a scant few, none certain...
...but some whisper a scant few, none certain...
Line 278: Line 571:


Details about The Wyrm can be (and are best) discovered in-game.  Characters with this God in their deity field may find they can access unique dialogue options and content.
Details about The Wyrm can be (and are best) discovered in-game.  Characters with this God in their deity field may find they can access unique dialogue options and content.
<br><br>
'''Bashmu in the Sultanate'''
<blockquote>The ninth spoke is an oxymoron to outsiders to the faith, taboo yet somehow within the sanctity of the turning of the Wheel. The great Muarakh Surinna the Dowser under Vahd I said, “For we must know evil, that the Wheel may turn; we must not forget evil, lest we become stranded.” While the operations of the Bashmu-kar are considered reprehensible, the Wyrm itself is charged with a fitful and terrifying hallowness. It is said there are those that meditate upon Bashmu without evil intent to test their will and their belief, though this practice is discouraged and deemed dangerous as a route to nihilism or madness.
'''It is associated with''' the passing of time into decay, treachery, sedition, the abandonment of common sense, the fear of gods, savagery, exile, spoilage, famine, parasites, dysentery and other wasting diseases, self-delusion, madness, dereliction, familicide, night terrors, abject horror, fallen civilizations, unchecked power, the Sibilant Empire, and typhoons from the Sea of Pearls.
Other euphemisms for it are The Spiraled, al-Taniyn, Wickedsnap, The Wheel’s Lurching, That Stench, The Perilspoke, or The Tyrant.
During the Festival of Eggs, often a frightening and segmented effigy or puppet representing the ninth spoke, euphemistically called Old-Skin, is paraded among the people, aflame, and they take it to a pit of mud and cover it there, where it steams and cools and dissolves and hardens.
There is only one day associated with the Wyrm in the Sultanate’s culture. That is Adar 31st, The Year’s Gasp, which marks the Wheel’s inevitable turning, for good and for ill. Not a time for festival nor eid, but it is marked well by the people, and apotropaic rituals may be performed by the faithful. Occasionally, truly repentant Bashmu-kar will be received back into the community on this day under watch and purification by the B’aarat.</blockquote>
'''Phrases adjacent to the Wyrm are said:'''
<blockquote>"May the eagle clutch it." — Take away this evil.
“Straighten the spiral.” — Come to your senses.
“Take your ninth step.” — A warning that one is about to cross the line.</blockquote>


=The Dome=
=The Dome=
Secutor
47

edits

Retrieved from "https://wiki.efupw.com/index.php?title=Special:MobileDiff/3140"

Navigation menu