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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 356930" data-attributes="member: 1210">About religions...For the last several thousand years, the Forinthian Empire has been the ascendant political and religious force- well, everywhere in Cydra.  It has spread like the black death in Europe, overwhelming local cultures and forcing the worship of Galador on the whole world.  Galador, the Lord, the Law, the Light: he ignited the sun one million years ago.  According to Forinthian dogma, he is the One True God.  All others are Bleak, the Galadorian Adversary, the Darkness, the Black Sun.  Worshipers who claim to follow other religions are merely deceived.  About two centuries ago, Dexter Nadly, the Son of the Light, appeared, and though he was at first denounced as a heretic, soon enough his ways- which were far more tolerant of other religions than the mainstream- took hold.  Eventually, he sacrificed himself to save us all from our sins, casting himself into Bleak's Maw.Of course, the presence and worship of Dexter has led to many fractures in the Galadorian religion.  Conservative Galadorians see him as a wise man, a teacher, and an example for all the rest of us to follow.  The Orthodox sects revere Dexter as God, as well as Galador (they're the same, and Dexter was dispatched from Heaven to show us the way).  And recently, Dexter's descendant, Prayzose, became Emperor of Forinthia and then subsequently began finding himself revered as God-Emperor.  So now there are three primary sects with the addition of the Imperial Galadorian sect.Older religions still exist, of course, though they're mostly driven underground.  Sailors revere the Sea Queen, the elves of Gorel have their hidden pantheon, the cannabix and elementalist faiths exist in small numbers, and there are many more, but few are out in the open.  Such churches and shrines are typically shut down (or worse) by the authorities as soon as, or soon after, they're discovered.Which is why the level of freedom of religion found in Poppin surprises our heroes.  "Who's Old Grandmother?" wonders Vito, and Horbin has an answer.The old religion of Pesh had a pantheon that was a family of gods.  Much like Pesh's political system- a cantrium, ruled by a family whose oldest member is in charge- the members of the divine family are ranked from oldest to youngest.  Old Grandmother, naturally, is the eldest of them all.The group finds their way to the shrine devoted to her by late afternoon.  It's small but well-tended, and since Pesh is a powerful merchant state and member of the Free Trade Alliance (FTA) it seems that merchants and the like must make sacrifices there, for its trappings are obviously those of a wealthy faith.  A wan-looking human boy of about 15 years is dusting shelves and the like as our heroes arrive.  "Hi there," Captain Clambake greets him cheerfully,  "We're looking for Mistress Jahn."The boy's face falls and he look like he's about to cry.  "She's not here," he says softly.The party questions the lad and determines that she was investigating the "curse" on the harbor.  Well, yeah- that's what the harbormistress told them.  Nothing new there.  What is new is that Toufe, as the boy is called, knows a little bit about what she'd found out: the fungus was coming from the sewers, somehow.  The group exchanges distasteful glances: didn't they just get clean for the first time in months?  Damn.  "She's been gone for a few days, now," Toufe says, his voice cracking.  "Oh, please find her!"  After pumping the lad for information, our heroes learn that, whatever the source of the fungus, Mistress Jahn thought it lay at the bottom of the sewers- the place all the sewage drains to. A few more inquiries and the party determines that Toufe is not the adventuring type, nor does the shrine have any other clerics or potions.  But the kid tells them of a place called the Bubbling Beaker where they might be able to find a few magic potions or wands for sale, so- as evening falls- they seek it.  There, they meet a jolly fat wizard named Mogul.  He has piercings in his nose, ears and neck, a shaved head and well-oiled skin.  He's possibly the friendliest person to adventurers that they've met since arriving in Poppin.  "Mogul has potions, yes!" he cries, rubbing his hands together.  "Mogul has a few wands, too, and he will make more for you if you wish.  Oh, and scrolls!  Mogul will make items to order if he can, as long as your money is good, yes!"Though he can't make healing potions himself, it turns out that the dark-skinned man has an arrangement with the local clerics who can, and he's the one guy in town to sell such items.  So the party buys out his stock of healing potions, taking a few other items for good measure.  They briefly consider buying a wand of identify, but Captain Clambake can manifest that power psionically for free so they decline.  The group sells him an almost-depleted wand of haste, takes a few more potions off his hands, and departs.  By now it's full dark, so they head back to the Drinking Dwarves to fortify themselves, deciding to head into the sewers in the morning.  There are more election posters everywhere, including many from Ooluts about his open party. At the Dwarves they are treated to another stirring performance by Zenvo, who seems adept at playing bottles with differing levels of liquid in them, and they spend a few gold on food and drink.  Longburns, the bartender, remembers them and treats them well- after all, adventurers or not, they're spending a lot in his establishment- and what will prove to be a profitable relationship for all involved continues to cement itself.  Droidi leaves town for the night again, and the group eventually staggers back to the Mulled Mead to sleep off their drunken stupor.Twelve hours later, they've found a manhole cover leading into the sewers.  As they descend into it, the locals watch them curiously and the group overhears someone mutter something about "stinking adventurers."Into the sewers, then...Next time: Horbin gets a nemesis, our heroes find out what happened to Mistress Jahn, and I get to use the name of my favorite demon prince.....</blockquote>

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