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Author: Dr. Fenric
Date Added: 8/16/09
Last Modified: 8/16/09 |
Asvel, the Merchant
"Coin- what we wish to see more
Blood- for ours not to be shed
Wood- protect this vessel, safe to shore
We invoke Asvel, our lord, our head." -- A rough translation of a safety invocation
The AppearanceAsvel is always depicted as a goblin, only slightly taller than the standard height of his species. His face carries the typical craftiness that accompanies his race, but it also has two characteristics unusual to the goblin kind. First, the unnatural handsomeness that seems to go with all of the Nine, a feature which even those that would normally be uninterested in goblins can recognize. Second, the face seems wise, a strange combination with the clever, almost deceitful goblin features. Unlike the other Eight, he carries no weapon or armor of any kind. Instead his hands are spread, carry a bag of money in his left hand and a scale in the other. Long robes, clearly expensive and well made, cover him him from the shoulders down, obsuring his feet from view. Local depictions can vary depending on his role in that part of the world (See The Sects)
The RootsOf all religions based on worship of the Nine, Asvel's (called The Glish) is the most influenced by the original religion of the area. In fact, it could be said The Glish merely absorbed worship of Asvel into itself, not the other way around. Before the introduction of Asvel, The Glish remained limited to the area surround the Moradin Marshlands, as well as the Marshlands themselves. It contained no central church, no doctrine, and no uniformity at all. The Glish revolves around worship of the spirits of Elements. Originally, this started as a very basic idea- One of Water, one of Fire, ect., but this eventually expanded to assign a spirit to each individual location. Instead of a spirit of Water, it became a spirit of each body of water, one for a certain stream, another for a particular lake, continuing on the seas and oceans. These spirits balance and counterbalance each other in a ridiculously complex manner, one that would take years to fully comprehend. When Asvel staked his claim over the goblins of Maelar, it didn't take long for the shamans to include him and the rest of the Nine into the pantheon. In this, The Glish has accepted worship of the other nine and is far more tolerant of the worship of the others more than any other religion.
The SectsThe Glish carries no uniform teachings or ideals. It does, however, have a fairly common pattern in determining how spirits are worshipped. This pattern is based on geographical location and occupation.
Common ThreadsEach sect has some unifiying principles that bond them together.
- First is the sense of balance. Every spirit has another spirit which does the exact opposite- Too much of one thing is bad and all shamans recognize this (perhaps why quarrels between The Glish and other lines of thought are so uncommon).
- Another is amorality of the spirits and their worshipers. Evil and good are unnecessary to the religion. To act either way requires no response unless it upsets the balance.
- A third common point is the rituals. Shamans will do a ritual for anything- birth, death, travel, construction, ect. Rituals are usually blessings that are requested by a follower to be done by a shaman. For example, a certain goblin wishes to set sail on his ship from one port to another. He will go to a shaman and request a ritual of travel. The shaman will assemble a list of things to be provided by the buyer (in this case, wood, blood, and coin) and once those things are provided, the shaman will chant an invocation over the offering, invoking the name of Asvel to intercede for safe travel. Some of the more devout will have multiple rituals done before departing and the even more extreme hire shamans to accompany them on voyages.
- The fourth and final common point is Asvel himself. Asvel always represents something significant to the sect and ultimately he can bend the spirits to his will. Although, according to most lore, he rarely does.
Moradin's ChildrenMoradin's Children place worship of the sea spirits (usually the names of the seas themselves- Moradin, L'lorma, ect.) before everything else. To them, Asvel was son of Undine and a beautiful she-goblin, born on a night when the storms threatened to swallow the world under the waves. Members of Moradin's Children are often sailors, merchants, or coastal dwellers, people whose lives depend on the water for survival. They are the most common for outsiders to encounter, as their beliefs were the first to leave the Marshlands via the sailors and traders in Asvel's great fleets. It is rare to find a port of any size that doesn't have a shrine.
Moradin's LostMoradin's Lost worship the spirits of death, decay, and disease and are the rarest of all members of the Glish. According to their lore, Asvel was the first shaman of their people to openly defeat the spirit of death, raising him to prominence and immortality. Despite their choice of worship, Moradin's Lost are not evil or manevolent; they simply have chosen to worship the spirits that affect them the most. Moradin's Lost originated in the Moradin Swamps and swampdwellers remain the geographical location associated with Moradin's Lost. The worshippers are often people that encouter death or disease on a routine basis- Soldiers and morticians being the formost.
Moradin's ZealotsMoradin's Zealots worship the spirits of light and flame. Their shamans claimed Asvel was an incarnation of the sun spirit, and that his disappeance was simply him returning to his home. Moradin's Zealots are often plainsdwellers, living in open places that have forced them to be dependant on the sun. People such as farmers are common, although it is a sect that could exist almost anywhere due the sun's universal significance.
Minor SectsNew sects are always appearing and disappearing. The Glish is always witnessing the worship of some new item or property considered important enough to be worshipped.
The RelationsWorshippers of Asvel have a universal approach to worship of all the other demi-gods: They're just another sect. The Glish carries a sense of indifference to other religions and have no preference or dislike for any of the others.
The MerchantAsvel may viewed with flexibility by members of the Glish, but there is another side to the legendary leader that can be seen in his raising up of the Trade Union: His talent for business. Asvel is universally recognized as the model for all traders; the goblins managed to expand their commercial influence solely through his ability to keep ahead of the technological curve and the supply/demand trends. Merchants, even those that don't follow the Glish, still tend to view Asvel's favor over their sales with superstitious fervor and more than one broke merchant has gone to the shamans in an attempt to return Asvel's favor to their business.
The EndAsvel's disapperence in the fifth age has produced multiple interpretations, but The Glish has a universal view on its ultimate result- One day Asvel will return and the world will end. His judgement will be fickle, choosy and without any common theme. Being a dedicated servant of Asvel all of one's life has no effect on whether or not one is rewarded or punished at the end of time.
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