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Followers Of Erät

 

Alignment: Neutral

Domains: Animal, Plant, Sun, Travel

Location of Central Temple: None

Preferred Weapon: Bows and other hunting weapons

Holy Symbol:  Tree with an X scribed on the trunk.  Cord runs through the foliage part of the tree, sometimes just a simple circle, other times more elaborate.

 

Background Information

            The Followers of Erät worship the entity known simply as Erät.  Erät stands for the balance between predators and prey, and is the rationalization of all actions a human, animal, or any such creature can take.  Erät’s powers are manifested through nature itself, and what Erät does through nature is allow it to evolve and continue.  Another popular belief is that Erät is nature itself, not so much an aspect but a combination of all the parts into a sentient whole. 

            Erät is not a constant force; it is ever changing.  Erät wishes people to live as animals.  Not necessarily in primitive conditions, but in hunting packs, dens, and mating couples.  Erät has litt le interest in politics, city management, or economics.  This is not to say Erät shuns such things, only that it feels these things should abide by the same rules as nature does, and thus it does not have to dictate such policies.  Followers of Erät do not follow laws so much as the will of a Leader of the Pack.  This person is often the strongest and most cunning member of the followers and naturally the most apt to take care of his people.  Thus many local laws are followed because the Leader of the Pack knows that to wantonly disobey them might bring down local authorities against their religion. 

            The afterlife for a Follower Of Erät is not a literal one.  It is a symbolic return to the earth, and by returning after death one fuels life, predators, prey, and the world itself.  This allows for some followers to have interoperated a reincarnation system in the world.  That they will, after death, be reincarnated as animals, plants, and everything else that takes advantage of their substance. 

            While the balance Erät allows is never constant, Erät’s will is.  There will always be predators and prey, and it is the right of the predators to feed on the prey.  Be it literally, or symbolically through trade or political manipulation.  Erät does not stress conservation of nature, or leaving it alone.  That is not the way of animals.  Erät stresses the mass use of nature to a being’s one benefit, even if this is detrimental to another being.  Humans are seen as animals, no better and no worse.  The only distinction is that humans have a better capacity for growth and thought, they may only be animals, but they are some of the most adaptable and versatile animals that Erät gifted with life.  Therefore everything they do is natural, and everything they do follows Erät’s will, unless it is in the name of religion.  This is rationalized by the fact that God’s are not animals, and thus not part of the balance between predator and prey.  They do not need sustenance to live, thus Erät looks at itself, and other gods with a certain level of contempt.

 

Keepers Of The Faith

            There are very few official leaders of the Erät faith.  It is unnecessary to have many, as just living one’s life does the majority of Erät worship.  The few official people in the service of Erät are called Masters of the Herd.

            It is their job to set up worship areas, assist in the practice of such worship, and live an exemplary life in the service of Erät.  They are completely self-sufficient.  They live of the land, and never take a gift from anybody.  They do odd jobs, and never take more than what their service was worth. 

            Magic is seen as an extension of nature, and for this reason most followers tend towards more spontaneous casting abilities and spells that center around manipulating nature and destroying that which opposes it; particularly undead and constructs.  Many other followers are hunters and scouts – those that derive their income and life from nature itself.  It is said Erät favors the wise by providing them with a bounty of food in the wilderness.  This is not to say farming or more domesticated means of life are frowned upon.  This is seen as working with nature and using it for ones own benefit.  Thus many farmers pray to Erät, or at least respect him out of the understanding they have earned with nature.

 

Services To Erät

            There are two types of services to Erät; personal and public.  Both are very similar in nature, and methodology.

            The way to find a public service ground is to look for an “X” carved in a tree trunk.  This “X” will mark a small path leading to service area, and these areas are dotted throughout any land where followers of Erät live.  A public service is held as follows; there are four corners to the central altar.  These corners point Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest.  At each corner stands a Master of the Herd, or chosen representative.  All followers of Erät stand behind these corners in observance.  For the most part a service to Erät is something of a party.  It involves much merry making, and the eating of crops, their byproducts, and game animals.  The ceremony starts an hour before the sun is at its highest.  When the sun is about to peak the merry making stops for a moment, and people take their places at the corners.  The four representatives of Erät then sacrifice two predators, and two prey to Erät and the balance it brings.  To maintain a balance the prey must be something the predator would be willing to eat in the normal course of events.  Additionally, the neither the pray nor the predator may be intelligent, as that would be simply a waste of life. The sacrifice occurs directly when the sun hits its peak, and is hovering above the altar.  Once the animals are sacrificed, each representative eats his animals (sometimes raw, sometimes cooked it depends on the eater’s preference).  The service lasts for another hour, after which all the people disperse and go along their way.

            A private ceremony is very similar.  It only includes one person, and may not necessarily have an altar.  An hour before sun hits its peak the follower of Erät eats and drinks in preparation of the offering.  When the sun hits its peak, he sacrifices one predator, and one prey, and then spends the next eating them in a silent reverence of Erät’s balance.

 

Important Holidays