Chapter VIII: Religion & Belief
God of death, insisted that she might aid only one person per moment lest his kingdom suffer. Strictures All devout followers of Shallya seek to follow these strictures, though only her Priests adhere to them with absolute consistency: • Avoid killing. • Never refuse healing to a supplicant genuinely in need. • Never halt a soul when it is time for it to depart. • Go about your life unarmed. A stout walking staff is all you’ll ever need. • Abhor the Fly Lord in all his forms. s Igmar h eldenhammer God of the Empire
that his worshippers are poor and miserable wretches who shovel pig excrement for a living—and no amount of praying seems to change that—are usually written off as cynics. Sometimes they are beaten by angry mobs of pig excrement shovellers. Strictures The following strictures are obeyed by devout worshippers of Ranald, though there are only consequences for failure to adhere to them for Initiates and Priests: • One coin in ten belongs to Ranald. • Ranald frowns upon unnecessary violence. • Live by your wits, not your sword. • A true devotee of Ranald uses the dagger and stiletto, only amateurs and the slow-witted need armour and long swords.
s hallya Goddess of Healing, Mercy, and Childbirth The daughter of mercy, the mother of mothers; these are a few of the names given Shallya, the most beneficent of all the Gods. Her temples
As might be surmised from the size of the Empire, religious practices vary enormously from place to place, with one God held more highly than others in one region, and only particularly noted on his holy days in another. There is one notable exception. In all corners of the Empire, Sigmar is worshipped with particular reverence and awe. He is the guardian of its people, their
are places of quiet and comfort—for the sick, for the dying, for those without homes. Her Priests aid the sick and weary and bring children into the world, for the Shallyans know the arts of midwifery better than any others. Many of the people of the Empire were born in a temple of Shallya; most of them return when they are ill or dying. In the end, it is to the temple of Shallya’s father they go. Shallya is the daughter of Verena and Morr. She is normally portrayed as a young and beautiful maiden whose eyes are perpetually welling with tears, but she can also take the form of a white dove. She is an exceptionally important Goddess throughout the Old World. People visit her temples regularly, particularly when their children are born, get sick or are hurt. Old Worlders pray to Shallya all the time: when they are laid up with an illness that keeps them from their work, when they are hoping to have children, when they need mercy because their life has grown too hard. Of all the Gods, she is the only one who most people agree really listens. Symbol Shallya is normally symbolized by a dove or by a heart and a drop of blood. Her Priests, most of whom are female, wear white robes, often hooded, with a heart symbol embroidered in gold thread on the left breast. Area of Worship Shallya is worshipped throughout the Old World by people from all walks of life. She is particularly popular as a patron deity of pregnant women, as it is believed that she protects against miscarriages and eases the pain of childbirth. However, only the most blessed person goes through life without ever getting seriously ill or injured. Eventually every person prays with quiet desperation to Shallya for a healthy recovery. Temperament Shallya is reputed to hear the prayers of those in the greatest need and helping them, for her love is so great. However, those whose children get sick and die suddenly, despite their prayers, are not so sure. Legends say she used to help everyone, but her father, Morr, who is the
shield and their hammer. His name holds for them the hope that the eternal ravages of Chaos will never unravel the Empire.
Sigmar is the deified, legendary founder of the Empire. Befitting a great warrior king, Sigmar is worshipped both for his military might, and as the great unifier—the synthesis of all the conflicting interests of the various power groups within the Empire. Statues and paintings usually depict him as a muscular, bearded giant of a man, with long, blond hair. He invariably bears a massive, two-handed Dwarfen warhammer, and is often shown seated on a simple throne with piles of Goblin heads at his feet. Symbol The cult of Sigmar is usually associated with two symbols: a stylized Dwarfen warhammer and a twin-tailed comet. The former symbol refers, of course, to Sigmar’s magic warhammer, Ghal Maraz, while the latter represents the comet that heralded Sigmar’s birth long ago. Less-used symbols, often found embedded in the architecture of Sigmar’s holiest sites, are the griffon and the gold crown. Both are earthly symbols of Sigmar’s dominion over the Empire as Man and God. The jade griffon is a Sigmarite symbol reserved for the Grand Theogonist, the cult’s leader. This mark appearing at the bottom of a letter is enough to pass through any town or city in the Empire unmolested. Area of Worship Although considered a lesser, regional deity in other parts of the Old World, Sigmar is worshipped throughout the Empire. In every town, village, and city across the Empire, his temples are the grandest and most numerous, with two exceptions: in the city state of Middenheim, the site of the chief temple to Ulric, that God’s temples outnumber Sigmar’s, and in Talabheim, where temples of Taal (who is revered there as the all-important river God) are found in equal number to those of Sigmar.
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