Chapter VIII: Religion & Belief
— T he r elIgIous o rders —
T he following section details the temples and Religious Orders of the various Gods. The GM should keep this information to himself at first. Should a character join one of the Religious Orders, it is then permissible for that player to read the appropriate section. Otherwise, it’s best to keep the mysteries of the Gods on earth secret. T he C ulT of m anann Nearly all of Manann’s temples are situated in coastal towns, although a few are found in inland ports where seagoing vessels can dock, such as Altdorf. Manann’s chief temple is in the dock quarter of Marienburg. It is a huge and well-appointed building, housing the wealth offered up by generations of merchants and sailors. Manann’s temples are semi-autonomous, although all are tributary to the one in Marienburg. The cult’s temples vary widely in form and size. Normally they are spacious halls containing a large statue of Manann, but other details vary, generally following the prevailing styles of architecture and decoration. Shrines to Manann are equally diverse, and can vary from elaborate small buildings to simple statues on docks and between warehouses. The services in the temples tend to focus on praising Manann or appeasing him by reading aloud his mythic exploits. His worshippers have thousands of pages describing the erratic cruelty and generosity of their God. Holy Orders In the cult of Manann there is little hierarchy. Other than the patriarch or matriarch, who resides in Marienburg, there are only Priests. The Priests of a particular temple govern themselves collegially, turning to the high temple in Marienburg when they have a persistent conflict. The main duty of the patriarch or matriarch is to resolve these conflicts and to govern the Order of the Albatross, Priestly navigators who serve on merchant and military vessels in exchange for tithes. These tithes are sometimes vast, as the order’s navigators are some of the best in the Old World and can demand great sums. Many sailors consider it good luck to have an Albatross navigator aboard, believing that only one of Manann’s own can cool the God’s passions. Wreckers and pirates along the northern coast of the Empire worship him as Stromfels, God of Reefs and Currents. Because of this sub- cult’s association with piracy, it is outlawed in the Empire. Manann is also worshipped, under a variety of names, by boatmen and others living on tidal rivers. Some human scholars claim that Mathlann, Elven God of Storms, is but another name for Manann. Certainly, the similarity of the two names is indisputable. Church Skills and Talents Initiates of Manann start with the Swim skill in addition to their normal career skills. Priests of Manann can, at their option, learn the following skills as part of their careers: Row, Sail, and Trade (Shipwright). Prominent Figures The current matriarch is Camille Dauphina, a middle-aged woman of wry wit and great ambition. She has connections with most of the merchant families in Marienburg and uses the Order of the Albatross to keep tabs on mercantile affairs throughout the Old World. Her
manner is disciplined, but she is lavish when commissioning new art for the high temple. Many Priests, particularly outside the city, feel she is turning the cult into a merchant guild. They detect little acknowledgement of their wild God in her dealings. Holy Days The Spring Equinox is the cult’s main holy day, marking the beginning of the season for long voyages. Other festivals are at the turn of the Spring and neap tides. Manann’s Priests also perform rites when Mannslieb is full, for it, like the God, controls the tides. T he C ulT of m orr Temples to Morr are dedicated to him either as Lord of Death or Dreams. A broad doorway with a lintel stone distinguishes all of the cult’s temples. These doorways are always open, like the gates of the underworld and the dream lands. There is very little contact between the cult’s temples, but every ten years a convocation of the Priesthood is held in Luccini, Tilea. There, matters of doctrine and rite are debated and decided upon. Temples of the Lord of Death are places of burial. Normally only used for funerals and the preparation of the dead, the “Gardens of Morr” are burial grounds, where the dead are planted. Mortuary temples are built upon or next to these cemeteries. These temples are solidly built, usually of stone. They are bare inside, and generally very cool. Dead people are brought to the gates of the garden by their relatives and handed over to the Priests, who prepare and bury the bodies. Temples to the lord of dreams are less plentiful than his Gardens. They are usually domed structures with an oculus. The insides are filled with incense smoke and braziers. People come to these temples to have their dreams interpreted and to ask the Priests to perform divinations. Shrines to Morr almost always take the form of a gateway, consisting of two plain pillars and a lintel. In some cases, one pillar is of marble and the other of basalt. People usually do not maintain shrines in their homes to Morr, since his symbols are generally thought to invite bad luck. The exception to this is when people wish to have peaceful dreams or visions of the future. In these cases, they keep a small brazier, etched with a stylized raven, burning in their homes at night. Holy Orders The cult’s Priesthood is divided into two orders: the Order of the Shroud and the Augurs. The Priests in the Order of the Shroud officiate at the cult’s funerary temples and guard nearby tombs and cemeteries from grave robbers and necromancers. These Priests have a reputation for being dour and unreadable, but there are also stories of their quiet kindness: anonymously supporting a widow and her children, embracing a bereft lover, saying prayers for the deceased who have been forgotten by their own families. The Augurs are few, but they are much sought after for their expertise at interpreting portents and practicing divinatory magics. They rarely travel far from their temples, most of their time being spent in trances and speculations. When an augur does travel abroad, it is a result of a dream or other sign. Augurs tend to be aloof but suddenly become animated when conveying a vision or interpretation. Wizards sometimes befriend augurs and share the secrets of their arts.
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