Cult of the Unfathomable Jester
“Oh, rumsha, this is more than I expected in my lifetime. I’m going to give you three wagons and the goatishes to pull them and enough magician’s cloth to make their wheels sink into the ground.”
The rumsha’s shoulders shivered. She was speaking blasphemy, but humans were insane and magicians were especially insane. That insanity negated the blasphemy and turned her words about the non-existent future into simple nonsense.
Structure
There are no designated individuals in power, but there are standard roles that are usually filled in an ad hoc fashion by whatever individual decides to do so at the time. Being a eusocial species, instinct plays a large role in the process, and arguments are rare when it comes to who does what. Most rumsha communities have a temple complex. In smaller communities the complex often fulfills other functions as well such as nursery or pantry.
Public Agenda
The cult is never about spreading their ideas or conversion. It is purely an organic outgrowth of the unique rumsha psychology.
Assets
Since there is no multi-state organization to the cult, the only assets that could be said to belong to it would be the haphazard collection of treasure that finds its way into the temples. But more often than not, those treasures are fakes, created as an act of worship, showing the absurdity of hording wealth.
History
Since rumsha seldom write anything down, little is known of the origins of the religion. No rumsha will comment on any history or evolution of it.
Mythology & Lore
The rumsha race was created when the Unfathomable Jester lost a game of dice when he was playing against the Sun. The sun chose to make the Jester create people who could think about what was, and what is, but not what could be. The Jester found this to be a delightful challenge, and so gave his people such skill that they could create without plans. But his joke was to make his people to live underground, where the Sun could not see his clever work, thereby robbing the Sun of the pleasure of its victory.
Cosmological Views
The Unfathomable Jester can control all things, but chooses not to, leaving things to fate. He rolls dice constantly, letting them decide what the weather will be, if a rusmha will live or die that day, when there will be famine or fortune. Lesser deities include the Sun and Moons, the Ground, and the Waters. The celetial bodies are interpreted as dull and uncreative. The Ground is a loving mother figure who welcomes all to her embrace. Sometimes she protects the rumsha from the vicissitudes of luck. The Waters are The Unfathomable Jester's other children, whom he calls to both bless and curse the rumsha as teasing siblings.
Tenets of Faith
There is no future. Making plans that extend beyond the Now is blasphemy. The Jester's Dice determine every event, every personal characteristic, birth, death, and everything in between.
Ethics
There is no separation between religious and cultural norms/ethics. As long as a rumsha does not speak of the future or act as though they are planning, there's no other religious obligation.
Worship
Worship rites vary radically due to the fact that doctrine is not written down, times of gathering are not established, and finding ways to subvert most traditions is seen as an act of worship. What passes for a service happens when enough communal sentiment builds around the idea to do so. Any individual or group may exert enough pull that others join in. Because there is no clergy class, any individual may claim the alter and 'lead' the service. Some common practices are singing, stomping in unison, and stacking objects.
Priesthood
Any rumsha who feels that the dice selected them is free to lead in worship activities. Often, the first act a 'priest' will do is to name another random rumsha to be the priest. When a worship activity ends, the 'priest' goes back to their normal position.
by Josh Foreman
by Josh Foreman
Founding Date
Unknown
Type
Religious, Other
Government System
Hive-mind
Power Structure
Semi-autonomous area
Parent Organization
Deities
Controlled Territories
That was a really nice and fun article. I loved the unique idea of a race that can't plan for the future, but my favourite part was how alive you made the religion and the rumsha feel <3