The Blood Cult/Old Gods
| Letter from Louis-Joseph Chénier | |
| Message sent to the temple of the The Old Gods in Winifael | |
| Greetings, elders of the Old Gods.
Should you not all have received the letter I sent Aldo some time ago, I shall introduce myself: I am Louis-Joseph Chénier, Teocoatl of the Blood Cult. I am the founder, and the leader of my faith. After a prolonged stay in the central lands, I have returned home to Thalmarkin, and I finally find myself in a region containing one of your temples... It has been a very long time, since I have wanted to initiate contact. As I have had the chance with a few religions, I would like to discuss theology, get to know more about your practices, your knowledge, your culture, in an open dialogue between you and us. I shall keep this short, for now, and shall await your reply. | |
| Louis-Joseph Chénier (Teocoatl of the Blood Cult) | |
| Letter from Nawat Crowe | |
| Message sent to Louis-Joseph Chénier | |
| Hello Teocoatl Louis-Joseph Chenier,
I am Nawat Crowe, Augur of the Old Gods to the Senate of Melhed, as well as, of course, being an Elder of the religion. I would very much like to speak with you concerning matters of theology, your religion interests me very much, though I admittedly know little of them, from what I know it is my favorite of the southlander religions. On the matters of the Old Gods, are there any specific questions you might wish to ask concerning their ways? | |
| Nawat Crowe (Priest of The Old Gods) | |
| Letter from LouisJoseph Chénier (20 days, 17 hours ago) | |
| Message sent to Nawat | |
| Greetings Augur Nawat. If I have any speficic questions about the Old Gods... Well, I cannot really say I do, as I know little about your faith: I did not want to wander about your temples without authorization. Though I must admit, the matters of the monsters, the undead, and the daimons, especially about the place from whence they came, their origins, are the ones who interest me most and whom, I have been told, you are the ones to possess. Which matters from our faith could I interest you in? | |
| LouisJoseph Chénier (20 days, 17 hours ago) (Teocoatl of the Blood Cult) | |
| Letter from Nawat Crowe | |
| Message sent to LouisJoseph | |
| Dear Teocoatl Louis-Joseph,
Please consider yourself authorized to wander throughout the temple, guards will stop you if you have travelled to far. There a many ancient texts in many libraries ((The wiki is good, but long, try to find a simple summary perhaps?)) , but indeed, our realationship with the otherworldly creatures is certainly an interesting aspect of our faith, one which makes it particularly strong here on Beluterra. Sadly, I must admit that the daimons are a bit of a mystery, many possible purposes for their existence have been thought of, but none seem quite right. The monsters and undead we are far more clear on. All monsters, and the majority of undead(those you see in chaotic, unintelligent raiding groups.) are servants of the Old Gods. Specifically, the monsters are the Children of the Old Gods, their chosen to rule Beluterra. Clearly, humans and monsters do not get along so well, and indeed we are in a long battle to prove our worth to the Old Gods, and show that we are worthy of being their chosen. Undead are servants of a particular Old God(dess), the Dark Mistress. She isperhaps the "patron" of humans, many times she has saved us, and convinced the other gods to allow us to live to be tested once more. Accepted belief is that she is the One who the undead spoke of, who is chained to her throne by the other Old Gods for her impertinence, and thus the undead are closer to friends of humanity. (It should be noted that these are the undead who control themselves, who are lead by generals.) Regarding your faith, I am curious about your pantheon. From what I have seen it is an impressive one, it it seems to be similar to the Old Gods in that it fits far better with the events surrounding Beluterra than most other faiths. | |
| Nawat Crowe (Priest of The Old Gods) | |
| Letter from LouisJoseph Chénier | |
| Message sent to Nawat | |
| Dear Augur Nawat,
Indeed, your relationship with these creatures makes you of great interest... I find that a church loses great credibility when they speak of ancient creatures and mighty gods while turning their heads on the powerful creatures of this land... It doesn't feel like they truly relate to our world, just some poor fabrication. Our pantheon is not a strict one, it regularly grows. Whenever we hear of new, interesting gods, we like to study them, see if we already worship them through another name. If not, we try to see if they are real, and then tend to add them to the pantheon if so. I've witnessed the plagues of the north, lost all I had when captured by the daimons when I was in Neo Grehk, lived under Arcane for months... Only a fool with keep these experiences out of faith. Even then, though, my knowledge on them is very limited... Neo Gehk never said anything about the inhuman forces, neither did Thalmarkin. Vlaanderen simply never said anything, and you were certain what was said was monitored. I look forward to reading your archives. (ooc: already read most of it, it's more a question of remembering. ;) I talk to Aldo's player OOC now and then) | |
| LouisJoseph Chénier (Teocoatl of the Blood Cult) | |
| Letter from Nawat Crowe | |
| Message sent to Louis-Joseph Chénier | |
| Dear Teocoatl Louis-Joseph
I very much agree, too many faiths speak of gods which make little sense in this world. Of course, we who worship the Old Gods by our deeds do not necessarily think other religions are incorrect in their beliefs, certainly it is quite possible that a great Egg named Mog is quite powerful, somehwere. What we are quite sure of is that the Old Gods are very relevant, and personally I find your gods more relevant than most others. Certainly, that is very interesting. Please tell me if you worship any of the Old Gods, I find that quite interesting, and perhaps I can give you a few tips on how the prefer to be worshipped. | |
| Nawat Crowe (Priest of The Old Gods) | |
| Letter from LouisJoseph Chénier | |||||||
| Message sent to Nawat | |||||||
| Dear Augur Nawat,
For the Old Gods, I cannot say for sure, I have not yet had enough time to study them, there have been alien to me all this time. I have a vague idea on the origins of the undead and the daimons, and what kind of gods to link them to, but I lack much information that I am currently researching on. I also use the opportunity to tell you that daimons from a bit all over seem to be flying for Jobo's Mouth, leaving their regions without any major daimons, or so the reports say. As well, I'll forward you this letter from Vesti, which explains further the daimons' life cycles.
| |||||||
| LouisJoseph Chénier (Teocoatl of the Blood Cult) | |||||||
| Letter from Nawat Crowe | |
| Message sent to Louis-Joseph Chénier | |
| Dear Teocoatl Louis-Joseph,
Interesting, please tell me if I can aid you in any way. Thank you, I have recently been put in charge of Melhed's reseach on the Daimons, so that is very useful to me, as is this letter. I hope to exchange more information in the future. | |
| Nawat Crowe (Priest of The Old Gods) | |
| Letter from LouisJoseph Chénier | |
| Message sent to Nawat | |
| I have read many texts mentioning Incendia... Please, Augur Nawat, tell me more about it, and the Dark Lady who taught it to you. | |
| LouisJoseph Chénier (Teocoatl of the Blood Cult) | |
| Letter from Nawat Crowe | |
| Message sent to Louis-Joseph Chénier | |
| Consul Aldo most likely knows more than even myself, as he has mastered every aspect of Incendia, but I will tell you what I can.
The Dark Mistress is the first of the Old Gods, and currently the only one I am aware of, that realized the greater strength of Man when compared to their Children. As such, in the First Invasion, when monsters retaliated against the humans who had taken their land and killed their brethren, Man would have been destroyed without her gift of Fertilis, the grains which allowed a few to grow food for many, and Incendia, the eternal flame, providing light and warmth to any who summoned its violet glow. These gifts kept us alive longer into the Second Invasion, the first test of the gods to decide our worthiness. Since the First Invasion, the Dark Mistress has been chained to her throne, and thus unable to send much help. The second test of the gods was a time of peace. In their wisdom, they determined that Mankind could be strong when united against a threat, but was like to war against each other in other times. Thus, it was only the few realms who stayed peaceful in the time before the Third Invasion that kept us in some minute favor. Finally, we come to the third gift of the Dark Mistress, the Shamblers. As declared by Augur Vaclav, during my absence on a trip to research the Children, we had discovered through discussions with the Ancestor Legions, particularly Sarge, that the Undead were servants of the Dark Mistress, who was still chained to her throne, "imprisoned". As such the intelligent Undead, the Ancestor Legions, are our allies, and we do not cremate are dead unless their bodies are unfit to be of service in the next life. This is what I can tell you about the Dark Mistress at the moment, hopefully I can answer any other questions you have. If it is not too much trouble, I would hear more of your gods. At the moment, perhaps it would be interesting to hear of...Jacotl, who seems to be very similar to our Wolf God, and perhaps...Arxanatl, as he seems to highly interest this continent. | |
| Nawat Crowe (Priest of The Old Gods) | |
| Letter from LouisJoseph Chénier | |
| Message sent to Nawat | |
| I apologize for the late response
The Dark Mistress grants you the ability to summon flames? I would very much like to witness the act, if you would grant me this honour. Arxanatl... We can also call them by their common name, if you wish. Arcane, the daimon. A major daimon, perhaps, but a minor deity, to say the least, perhaps even along the lines of a demi-deity, as I still research upon the Great Daimon at their source, to which I have been hinted I should research upon the Church of the Great Dragon. One must keep in mind that in our mythology, gods have mystic powers, but they are not all-knowing, all-powerful. They are being apart from us mortal: they usually don't age, though they can be young or old, and as such, they don't die of it. However, they can still die: as mortals can kill each other, so can the gods, and a particularly clever mortal could perhaps even catch one off-guard. Arcane... was no different than any other. He might have fought alongside us in battle... but a daimon among daimons, it can be hard to tell... and the common-folk seem to often see their gods fighting alongside them in the frenzy of battle, that they were there or not. He was a name on the papers, and the source of a few letters here and there, that was mostly it. So when it comes to seeing, feeling, touching your god, he was no more or no less real than any of the others. He never participated in any of our rituals, so that meant I never got to attempt to teach the daimons ritualistic self-sacrifice, an amusing idea to say the least, which would have made things a lot simpler for many. One could also say it wouldn't even be that far-fetched to claim that Vlaanderen wasn't ruled by a daimon at all, but I would find it hard to believe that a mortal could strike such a grand deal with the daimon lords to gain such power. Jacotl... As Hiacaotl is the mind, he is the body. One may have the best of intentions, the most though-out plans, but without the strength to apply them, to manifest them in reality, one is no better off than one who has neither the strength nor the ideas. He is a god of action and of little words. One gains his favour by time over time of hard physical work, and trialling exercises, words will not suffice. His name is summoned in war and competition, where the weak and unworthy are culled. The next life, what do you believe it is? We believe there are more than one avenues that can come depending on how you die, though everything is cyclic and tends to recycle itself. | |
| LouisJoseph Chénier (Teocoatl of the Blood Cult) | |
| Letter from Nawat Crowe | |
| Message sent to Louis-Joseph Chénier | |
| Indeed, though I do not use the ability as much as some, but when I return to Melhed, I would be glad to meet you and show you Incendia.
I rather like both names really, whichever you prefer is quite alright with me. Your beliefs concerning gods is very much similar to our own, though I believe the death of a god is certainly very rare, and much more often caused by another god. Indeed, if a mortal caused the death of a god, it is likely that, after their death, they too would be seen as one, though I have never heard of this happening, I have hear of mortals ascending to godhood. I am personally quite certain that Arcane was indeed a Daimon, even perhaps a god, though certainly not one I would have minded utilizing self-sacrifice. Interesting thoughts all, I will perhaps attempt to find more research on him, likely very much could be learned. Jacotl certainly sounds very much like our Wolf Lord, never one to ask for favours, simply one who grant them to the strong. Perhaps the Wolf is one of his variant forms. Both seem quite certain to me, though neither is terribly specific of course. Thanks to the Ice Queen, and perhaps more directly the Dark Mistress, as of this recent invasion we now know much about the Afterlife. When one dies, their soul is sent to the One of the Ancestor Legions, who we believe is the Dark Mistress. If they have done great deeds in life, they are resurrected as an undead general, the most high of that group. Others might be resurrected as simple soldiers for the Legions, those who are healthy and in good condition make excellent soldiers while the hastily raised are poor soldiers and usually a last ditch effort, or to be used as sword fodder. There is some training involved in outfitting an undead, which takes some time as well. Those who have been killed by monsters, cremated, or "pissed off" the Ancestors cannot be or are not risen, and remain in the rotting bodies, torturing the soul until it is allowed to the "next step", the step which the Ancestors do not jon until their own death, which we know little of. Sadly, I cannot at the moment think of a good question of you, but I would ask your permission to explore a temple of your faith, and after some preaching in certain areas I plan on traveling back to Melhed, perhaps I could meet you there? On further thought, perhaps you could give further explanation on your reasoning for being in Melhed. I do not mind it, indeed I would much rather your faith than some pagan belief, or most others, but some in my realm question your presence. | |
| Nawat Crowe (Priest of The Old Gods) | |
| Letter from LouisJoseph Chénier | |
| Message sent to Nawat | |
| I too believe Arcane to be the daimon leading, well, that was leading Vlaanderen, it was but a reflection that occurred to me at the moment as not so improbable as one would believe. We hardly saw him, he hardly spoke, and what little he spoke was not from the most cunning of minds, to say the least: had he been mortal, or not had his loyal daimons, he would have been ousted within a month.
Perhaps indeed the wolf is an alternate form of his. The jaguar is a more solitary animal, while the wolf lives in a pack. One could think he assumes the form of the jaguar when judging individuals, and the wolf when doing the same for civilizations and realms, it would seem a logical conclusion. As for the afterlife, we believe that the method of death affects what you live afterwards. We believe that a heroic death (battle, sacrifice, or labour) promises you a better place in the afterlife, while a minor deaths grants you a minor afterlife. Once your afterlife is over, I believe you return to this world as man again. As per our myth of creation, we believe that in the beginning of this world, prior to our creation, the chief gods of the Xenotl were forced into hiding for some time until they were able to defeat Caraoatl. During that time, we believe they went into hiding in the place commonly known as the Netherworld, where they created their retinue of servants enforce their will, these servants would be the Undead, and the place they were hiding would become known as the Abyss, by common terms. As such, we believe that those who served the Xenotl and died a heroic death would be granted a higher place closer to their god, probably an undead commander, while a minor death would bring a minor role. What would puzzle me, though, would be for the followers of the Xelatl... I've heard that the daimons breed and reproduce, and send their hatchlings to feast upon corpses. Do the followers of the Xelatl become daimons? Those who die a heroic death bound to be greater daimons, while the others become the "average" ones? If that is the case, I would be certain that they would be reborn as daimons a great many times before returning human, but my overall poor knowledge of the daimons makes me hesitant to draw any conclusion too firmly. About Melhed... Is the rogue Affkat considered your domain? If so, I apologize, I did not know, otherwise, any followers of mine in your lands are the result of emigration, not active preaching. Though long, long ago, I first founded my faith in Gaxano, then part of Khthon, it is in the north that I founded my faith this time, in the region of Coness in Thalmarkin. I went to the south for a few reasons: for one, I saw in Vlaanderen a people who were strong of heart, a place where I could have the Blood Cult grow without persecution for our exotic beliefs and practices. The second was to avoid the trap of the state religion, where by being bound to a realm, I would become dependant and subservient to it. I made a fine decision, I would say... I have recruited a few handfuls of nobles in these regions, and a few priests among them. Now, I have returned to Thalmarkin to preach my faith where my temple has layed vacant for so long. Upon my arrival, I had to negotiate with the Order of the Golden Feather, and as a result our eastern regions are considered my area of influence, hence why you can probably see me on the border quite often. I would not desire to trespass without an invitation, or at least without getting permission first. We have a great many lands to preach in, we see no use in intruding on others territories. | |
| LouisJoseph Chénier (Teocoatl of the Blood Cult) | |
