The Church of the Water God was first built millennia ago to give thanks to our Lord for keeping the river flowing but not flooding and the irrigation of our fields abundant. And also—or rather
mainly—to appease His anger.
The most basic way to do that is through
prayers, however those can also be done without the presence of the church. Indeed, most houses in the capital and its region and many still in the rest of the country have an opening in their entrance hall to let rain in, and an impluvium, a pool to collect it. This invites our Lord in our home and demonstrate how much we cherish His presence.
The members of the household gather there to pray in the morning before leaving the house, at night before going to bed, whenever it starts to rain, or whenever the weather is too dry. There are different types of prayers depending on what is supposed to be our Lord's mood, so that we can thank, beg, or appease him as appropriate. Although appeasing Him and debasing yourself is always appropriate.
What the Church is responsible for is giving longer and most powerful prayers in the name of the whole community. They can do this because they have trained to increase the output of magic in their voice while singing prayers. They are also intimately aware of our Lord's mood, thanks to constant observation of the sky, as well as direct interaction with Him. This allows them to be able to fine tune the content of their prayers in a way the rest of us cannot. And for this benefit, we all pay them a not unsubstantial tithe. An entirely
voluntary one, of course. Just as living is voluntary.
Wow, there's a lot of cynicism in this article which made it feel like there is an awful lot of hinting towards dark stories. Very interesting! I am curious about the lives of some of these leaders and the branded ones. I also am curious about how folks explain the anger of their god. Is worship due to fear, whether or not their worshippers try to convince themselves otherwise, or is worship truly due to national pride or the belief that their god is superior? Absolutely lovely writing here, and very strong article. I think its very impressive that this article was written at such length and quality for the summercamp event! Great work.
Thanks a lot for your comment! I don't now how dark the novel will actually be, but Cécile is really not impressed by the gods and their influence over mortals XD Of course, the plot will force her to interact with them and she may or may not receive a brand too :p People have a mix of reactions towards the gods, and Cécile's cynicism is extremely rare. Most people truly respect and admire their gods, and most would think that their anger is justified and try to appease them and find the culprits rather than curse the gods for making them suffer the consequences. The Eldritch Horrors I have in my setting are the ones that are truly feared, whereas the gods can be extremely benevolent when they are in the right mood.