Faith of Raspastin
Raspastin is half a god. One half remains Raspastin, and his faith on Torthe follow that side. The other side, the void creature, has his own hidden churches throughout Torthe, but they do not pray to Raspastin, they pray to the Bane of Thoughts, Lord Ignorance, King Doubt. Nestled within his borrowed form, this creature works to bring his brethren through the Otherworld Gates to Torthe, to complete their eternal conquests.
The Faith of Raspastin take a vow of silence, all save one in every temple. Those that travel are exempted, but must spend at least half their day in silence. They serve as scribes, librarians, clerks and other humble servants, working to gather every shred or scrap of knowledge across Torthe, in case someone somewhere holds the key to their Lord’s freedom. They are not, any longer, a ‘good’ faith, and they tend to charge for their services more than other faiths, so they can continue finding the funds needed to purchase rare tomes and fragments of the past.
They serve only now the Quest, which is to free Raspastin, or to find the Void Mirror and shatter it.
Adventuring priests of Raspastin are rare, but more common around archeological digs, or when ruins are discovered. They obsess over trivia others might consider useless or pointless. They will offer knowledge free to a lost cause, and they have a fondness for cats. Not catfolk, just cats that get underfoot, that pad paws onto scrolls, and tread on their owners for attention. Every temple of Raspastin has at least one cat, and the oldest cat is always called Henry. They have a naming ceremony for the cat that is to be named Henry every year, and it is certainly true that any cats named Henry in a temple of Raspastin seem to be… different… to other cats.
Tenets of Faith
- Avoid the glance of a mirror, so that our will is strong when we face the Void;
- Curiosity must be indulged, even if it harms us;
- Freedom is priceless, and must never be exchanged for anything;
- Cats must never be harmed, no matter how many muddy paw prints they leave;
- Seek the Void Mirror, that is the prime direction we can give;
- Knowledge should be given to those in the greatest need, to all others, it must be paid for.
Priesthood
Ranks within the faith:
- There is the Loremaster of each temple or temple organisation;
- There are the Scribes, who note the histories of each realm where they reside;
- There are the Seekers, equal to the Scribes, who hunt for new knowledge and fragments;
- There are the Readers, whose place is to study and learn;
- There are the Teachers, who will offer their services to schools and universities.
- There are the Hidden, whose aim is to watch for secret and lost knowledge.
- There are the Travellers, who are most often the adventuring priests, who tend to take bits of each of the “disciplines” of Raspastin. Some will remain as Travellers till they die, but many will then progress to choose their discipline.
- Each “discipline” of Raspastin’s priests has a specific set of symbols, but all priests will carry a scroll in a box on an amulet (like a mezuzah), which they will carve and decorate themselves.
- Loremasters carry a wand or sceptre as a sign of office;
- Scribes carry a staff shaped like a quill, with the bottom tapered to a sharp point that they can use to draw ritual symbols;
- Seekers carry a staff that is hollow, with a looking glass slotted within;
- Readers will carry a staff that can unlock into a ladder, or stool;
- Teachers will carry a staff with a piece of chalk that never seems to run out;
- The Hidden will carry a staff that can fold away and be hidden;
- Travellers can carry whatever symbol they wish, or none. Many will use smaller versions of the above, carrying those that they identify with more.
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