Worship In Eden: Greater Spirits I

Adelians practice a polytheistic religion of practical convenience. Prayers are offered to the spirits that can offer aid in whatever the person needs. The act of submitting to a higher being offers the Spirit power, and in turn, the one praying may just get what he or she wants (or at the very least, the hope, confidence and drive to get it him or her self). Above all the Spirits that people worship are Nine that are like deities, the only Spirits worshiped by their personal names as opposed to their concepts, or vague relations (rather than sending a prayer to “the spirits of love” one might send it to Arclinne). The following are the Nine, their appearance and purviews, history and the special followers they may have.

Arclinne
Purview: Community, Wisdom, Love, Healing.
Titles: The Mother Fox, The Blessed Embrace, The High Canon
Appearance: Arclinne is depicted as a good-looking (if somewhat plain) Iomadi woman in a very modest white robe that trails behind her, with over-long sleeves. She is often bronze-skinned, with red and white hair like a fox and nine tails, with a slightly plump body, either suggestive of an early pregnancy, or more commonly, just for humility, so as not to present their goddess as being much more well-bodied than normal people.
Special Follower: Canon. Each temple of Arclinne has one Canon who is a keeper of the histories and records of the villages that surround the temple in that region. With the growth of centralized government and record-keeping, the duties of a Canon are not all that necessary, but they are respected, and any region with an important Temple to Arclinne will allow the Canon to tag along with the Census department. The Canon of a temple is also tasked with protecting the magical knowledge that may be kept in the temple’s collection of works, many of which are priceless and irreplaceable. The Canon is chosen among the acolytes the day after the passing of an old Canon. Usually the High Priest or Priestess or equivalent head of the temple will have someone in mind to be a Canon – someone youthful and energetic that has exhibited a love of knowledge and a responsibility towards facts and histories above and beyond the other acolytes.

Arclinne is one of the most worshiped of the deities of Eden. She is believed to be one of the two mother wombs of the Iomadi race, the other being her sometimes-sister sometimes-lover (depending on the depiction), Inunkuru. One of the most important literary mythological works in Adel, the Canon of Arclinne, tells the history and culture of many regions of Adel as Arclinne and Inunkuru travel through them. From this work comes the tradition of Arclinne’s Canons, and it is treated as an authoritative source on the early culture of many places in Adel. It has so far not been contradicted.

Her purviews make her the spirit of villages and of cultural knowledge. She is prayed to in weddings and by doctors who wish to succeed in their crafts and help many people, among many other times. She is prayed to by charitable workers, and many of her churches try to help feed and clothe people who may have lost their homes, or moved to cities and found difficulty there that is not found in village life, or life off the land. It is said that Arclinne travels the land in the form of a modest young Iomadi suffering some difficulty, and blessing those who go out of her way to aid her. She is the spirit of moral wisdom, and of communal living, in the sense of creating an overall harmony, though she is also worshiped as a spirit of all manner of Knowledge.

Inunkuru
Purview: Civilization, Ambition, Power, Lust.
Titles: The Crimson Queen, The Mother Tyrant, The Tempting Gaze
Appearance: Inunkuru is depicted a strikingly beautiful Iomadi with a titilating, wry expression on her face, often winking, one red eye prominent. She is the only goddess depicted as wearing pigments, in this case lipstick and eyeshadow. She is light brown skinned and unlike Arclinne, there is no modest thing about the depiction of her body. She wears a red and gold robe baring her shoulders and neck, with her long hair, parts red and parts gold, cascading behind her. Her robe has some form of pattern on it.
Special Follower: Blood-Eye. Inunkuru’s chosen, a Blood-Eye is a cleric that, shortly after investment with the fragment of Inunkuru’s essence, has one eye turn red, with a sigil upon it that cannot be concealed save with a special lens placed over the eye. This magical eye can command obedience from the lesser-willed, but if it fails, it is unlikely to ever work on that person again. Blood-Eyes are very uncommon, and not always given to prominent members of the church. Often, they are given to people who are unknown to power, because Inunkuru wishes to be amused by what they do with it.

Counterpart goddess to Arclinne, Inunkuru is often her lover in mythologies, and sometimes her sister. She is one of the two “mothers” of the Iomadi race. During the Aptoan Empire she was the symbol of the Iomadi’s right to rule over Adel. Inunkuru is a vain creature who’s purviews are interpreted as being those of vain kings and power-mad elite, but also necessary to drive people to compete and strive, and so she is also seen in positive lights. She is worshiped by those who wish to succeed in sexual conquest and by those who aspire to rule, no matter the cost. In competitions, she is prayed upon to transform desire into achievement. Power in her purview refers to the political and social dimensions of control, but she is also sometimes worshiped as a patron of predatory and competitive power as well. Civilization differs from community and in Inunkuru’s case it means governments, cities, councils, not villages and towns as it does with Arclinne. Though there is some insinuation to this in her mythologies, she is never referred to as promiscuous or whorish, but rather flirty and coquettish. Arclinne as lover is said to want to redeem her ways, however impossible that is.

Rashine
Purview: Freedom, Sacrifice, Water, Progress.
Titles: The Ever-Flowing, The Free Prince, The Tide of Time
Appearance: Rashine is depicted as a blue wolf with a sapphire mask, but his form is like water or goo – it ripples and undulates as he moves and as he is watched, ever-flowing and changing like the tide made corporeal. Rashine is sleek and thin, with his face being a sharp, compact snout with eyes and his mouth hidden into this shape.
Special Follower: Seraphim. An elite, militant arm of the Theocracy of Sargasso, the Seraphim are exclusively female warriors clad in magical armor and weaponry, who’s normal lives are given up to be completely in the service of the church. Though originally including a few men here and there, a long line of female High Inquisitors has over time changed the Seraphim into a female institution, seen as a counterpart of the male Government – but now that the ruler is a young princess, that is no longer accurate. Seraphim are often recruited from orphans and undergo a series of investitures and treatments unlike the single ceremony given to normal Clerics, which gives them incredible power, but also erodes their self and will. These treatments are constantly improved or changed to create Seraphim with differing powers, as the holy magic of imbuing the body progresses and evolves. Seraphim are used to combat the threats of evil spirits, undead and aberrations against which the Inquisition was set up. Seraphim have an evil counterpart known as a Fury.

Rashine is most worshiped by the Theocracy of Sargasso, as the Spirit who helped them be free of the yoke of the Aptoan Empire. Rashine is the progress of a civilization as their power advances, and the sacrifices necessary to make such advancement possible. But he is also about freedom, the individual’s right to be safe, to be heard and to be known – but at least in Sargasso, this is coupled with an understanding of the consequences of this speech, should heretical notions of necromancy and aberrant gods be spoken of. Rashine is the spirit of water as well, of which there is much abundance in Sargasso. Indeed, if there is any symbol of Sargasso it is the water, not as much Rashine. He is prayed to by rebels to empower their cause, by the helpless who would give themselves up for the power to help others, by the magicians who wish to evolve their powers to higher forms.

Ravindra
Purview: Justice, Fire, Battle, Protection.
Titles: The Burning One, The Golden Dragon, The Supreme Justice
Appearance: Ravindra is shown as a massive gold and red dragon, the heat from its body warping its surroundings like a mirage in the desert, steam coming from its nostrils, but with a strangely noble countenace to its burly form, a grave intellect in its judging eyes. It has six sets of wings which are able to fold together as though one when closed, and its arms and back legs have multiple digits with sharp claws.
Special Follower: Paladin. Holy warriors clad in armor and wielding blades, with large shields, they are protectors and adjudicators, righting perceived wrongs and mediating grievances. Sometimes cruel vigilantes, sometimes pacifist warriors who vow not to kill, a Paladin is chosen when the essence of Ravindra invested in him or her burns at first but slowly calms, as though the flames were being assimilated. Most people invested with Ravindra’s essence feel nothing, or if they are unworthy, feel a worsening burn until death.

Ravindra is an aggressive deity of justice and battle. Followers of Ravindra have to cope with the fact that their world is becoming more complex – something like prostitution is legal in Vedaria but immoral and outlawed in Sargasso. They can no longer ride the lands dealing a universal morality of a singular Empire, but rather, Ravindra’s followers as a whole settle on core concepts of justice that they believe no law can take away. They seek to protect others from harm, from theft and deprivation, from being exploited and cheated. Ravindra is the fire, and burns the unworthy, cleansing them of their sins in death. He is the second deity worshiped in Sargasso and is usually highly worshiped in other areas as well. He gives strength to the downtrodden and stokes the soul of the guard or soldier. He is the form of the dragon overhead, a shadow cast swiftly over the land and just as swiftly gone, reminding the Adelians on the ground that something greater is out there, and that there is a judge of their actions other than their selves and their peers.

Koyki
Purview: Wrath, War, Chaos, Strength
Titles: The Predator God, The Bloodied One, The King of Chaos
Appearance: Koyki is depicted as an upright-walking creature, both ogre and dragon, with a lizard-like face and patches of scale-like natural armor through the body, but with humanoid form, thick arms, five-fingered clawed hands and barrel-like thick legs and feet. Koyki has no wings, but spikes adorn the line of the spine prominent along his back. His heavy jaw and its many teeth are prominent, its gold eyes seem alert to prey.
Special Follower: Purger. Once invested with the pure essence of Koyki, the cleric might go mad with hatred, and feel the overwhelming bloodlust of the predator god within him or her. Purgers are trapped in an eternal state of fury, and often live short lives. They are violent, doing harm to themselves when they can’t to others, and suicide is common to them. But they are grotesquely powerful as well. Supernatural strength allows even glancing blows to break bone. Purgers kill until there is nothing left to be killed. In civilized societies, Purgers are seen as an unfortunate consequence of accepting the power of the predator god, and kept in heavy bondage for their own protection. Some Purgers who take very strong magical drugs can live somewhat normal lives, though constantly exhausted, but with small moments of incredible fury seeping through the drug-induced haze. Most purgers are too psychotic even for drugs, however.

Worshiped most by the Sorian lizardfolk in their hidden places, and by the Oni, and small warrior tribes in Selvage, Koyki is a god of war, murder, and ravaging chaos. Koyki is also worshiped among the civilized nations, but with care. Few people become clerics of Koyki, due to the threat of being enveloped and made forever crazed by his power, but many do pray to aspects of him – typically when they need the strength to do something they know they will regret, something they know to be taboo. All cruel and violent acts are as though prayer to Koyki, so even with few Clerics he has achieved the rank of a Greater Spirit, as both spirit and mortal have violence in their lineage, and will continue to perpetuate it. Koyki is also prayed to as the predatory aspect of nature, the violence of natural disasters, and the strength to overcome all these adversities and survive in a painful existence.

Disillusioned Seraphim, Paladins, and other special worshipers of other religions might fall into worship of Koyki and corrupt themselves by accepting some of his essence along with that which they previously held, unbalancing the forces within them. This chaos of the body and spirit lends them great power, but also mentally unhinges them, and whatever grievance they had with their former states becomes amplified a thousandfold, and causes them to strike back against what they see as the injustice done to them. Seraphim who do this to themselves become violent raiders and outlaws, and dub themselves Furies, striking out against their former masters. Paladins become Executioners, seeking out whoever they see as a criminal and brutally killing them for a nebulous “Greater Good” for which anything should be sacrificed.

The next article will refer to the remaining four deities: Orvial, Kaehma, Paikar and Trudgar. As well as clearing up any questions there might be.