Cult of Mercury

In modern times, the Cult of Mercury is primarily remembered by the Order of Hermes which has been heavily influenced by the structure and practices of the cult in its later days. Originally, Mercury was worshipped as the patron of the city of Argentium, which he was responsible for the protection and prosperity of. A major component of the Cult was its ceremonial magic, allowing priests of Mercury to cast ritual spells with wide ranging effects - some would encourage crops to grow, others suppressed disease, and so on. The one thing this magic was not useful for was warfare, for which the city relied on the, at the time new, Elementalist traditions. This was not an actual limit on the magic itself - the successor magic of the Cult of Mercury, Hermetic Rituals, has no such issue despite the similarities between them - but instead seems to come from the Cult's understanding of it at the time. Some magi contend that Mercury did not wish to see his teachings used this way.
The Cult's structure was quite simple in its early days, with one high priest, a dozen or so lesser priests who kept Mercury's temple, and a group of acolytes of unknown number, in training as priests. The priests would sometimes leave the temple, moving out into the outlying communities around the city. This seems to have mainly been about religious duties, but some magi speculate that the priests were sent out when a new source of vis, which the Cult needed for their rituals, had been discovered. This is not found in the surviving literature, but the mystery of where the Cult's vis came from has attracted speculation from those with an interest in magic since it disbanded, and occasionally rumors of magical treasure vaults or secret vis sources appear. Nothing has come of them, so few still search.
As the Ulman Empire expanded from Argentium, the Cult of Mercury integretaged into the greater Ulman Priesthood, at first as the authority but later its influence began to wane, until Mercury was worshipped as just another god. Sometime, in the early third century, it was realised that Mercurian shrines had tangibly different Realm auras - they were Faerie, not Divine. To the average citizen of the Empire, this distinction meant little, but among the priesthood this was cataclysmic. Despite the efforts of the cult, there was an almost immediate split in the priesthood once this came to light, as those who were horrified at being tricked into worshipping a faerie and those who argued that faerie or divine, Mercury was still the patron who had guided their Empire from one city to (at the time) a dozen. The conflict began as one of rhetoric, quickly spread to violence in the streets, and eventually into open war. The conflict was decided ultimately not by religious concerns but by political ambition. Aulius Varenus, a general in the Empire, declared the Emperor of the time, Appius, to have no right to rule, being coronated by the Mercurian priesthood, and led his armies into Argentium to overthrow him. Emperor Aulius outlawed the cult and worship of Mercury was ruthlessly stamped out. It is this time period the name Hermes comes from, as the cult started using it to obliquely refer to Mercury without attracting notice from authority (Hermes is believed to have been the name of either a minor god or another spirit the Ulmans respected, but only vague references to the original exist today, so it is unlikely any definitive answer can be found).
Today, it is widely understood that Mercury was a powerful faerie masquerading as a god, though some clergymen suspect he was a demon. The Cult has mostly disappeared, although a few traces of it remain as mystery cults and hidden communities. What happened to Mercury, now also known as Hermes, or Hermes Trismegistus, none can say. The general belief within the Order of Hermes, whose magic descends in many ways from the kind taught by the Cult, is that he still exists but has retreated into faerieland. The last years of the cult are, appropriately perhaps, shrouded in mystery, as they were hunted down. Hermetic magi are often keen to unearth new information about it.
Sacred sites of the Cult of Mercury produce Faerie auras. In some, where magic was often practiced, a more powerful Magic aura has overwhelmed the Faerie aura. These sites are rare, and tend to be Ulman temples that were abandoned or ruined before the cult was outlawed.

c.100PC - c.230MC

Alternative Names

Cult of Hermes

Demonym

Mercurian, Hermetic