Hearth Mother
Grandmother Sky is a goddess of unknown heritage. She has Hearth Powers and some Sky Powers and is also called Hearth Mother. She found Votank and raised him according to the local customs. Her mythology is normally concerned with helping Votank and the others of Votank's Hearth. The Grandmother Sky/Hearth Mother cult is not a standard one. Following the example in Griffin Island, the cult is only open to women. It grants no Divine Magic but every Sacred Time there is a festival where all the initiates of the cult gather in their sacred tents and summon spirit servants of the Goddess who teaches them Spirit Magic. The cult is engaged in teaching skills useful for home-making such as cooking, gathering, clothes making and child rearing.
The women usually gather about 60% of the daily food, except in Fire season when it is about 45%, and Dark season when it is about 15%. They also care for orphans and whelps.
Contents
Mythos and History[edit]
Before Time[edit]
The Hearth Mother is an ancient and venerated figure. It was she who kept a desperate band of frightened humans alive during the Great Darkness, nurturing them on her own hope and magic after the world died. She found a young mewling godling alone in the waste and raised him to be a great warrior with her three famous meals. This was Foundchild, also called simply the Hunter. They had one child, named Votank, who populated the region with the tribes-people.
Since Time Began[edit]
Hearth Mother has primarily been a cult of the women in Balazar. She is an idealized model for them and epitomizes their crafts.
Life After Death[edit]
The followers believe that they will go to a Happy Hunting Ground after death. They will stay there for many years before again entering the cycle of birth/rebirth. Hearth Mother's worshipers follow the burial customs of their tribe, or else place their dead on raised platforms.
Runic Associations[edit]
The chief Runes associated with Hearth Mother are the Power Runes of ????? and ?????.
Nature of the Cult[edit]
Reason for Continued Existence[edit]
Hearth Mother teaches the clan how to find and harvest the primary portion of their diet, and teaches them how to prepare food. She maintains the fire of the hearth and pass the fire from generation to generation. The women of the clan trace their lineage back to Hearth Mother and the clan looks to the Matriarch for leadership.
Socio-Political Position and Power[edit]
Earth Mother's cult does not directly wield political power in the tribes. However, the Matriarch of each clan is part of the clan elders and she is always listened to. She represents the interests of the women of the clan.
Particular Likes and Dislikes[edit]
Hearth Mother likes or tolerates all the traditional male deities of the Balazarings.
Organization[edit]
Inter-Cult Organization[edit]
There is little or no communication between bands of worshipers. On the rare occasions that tribes meet for trade or festivals, the Hearth Mother worshipers confer with each other to exchange knowledge and pass along news.
Intra-Temple Organization[edit]
The Matriarch of the clan names her successor when she approaches her time to pass on. The Matriarch is always a mother with many living children and generally has grandchildren to be considered. She wields considerably power and influence in the clan. Her primary duty is to maintain the clan hearth fire and make sure that it never dies. She is also in charge of the education of the clan's children and the whelps.
Center of Power and Holy Places[edit]
There is no center of power. Every clan's hearth is sacred to the clan.
Holy Days & High Holy Days[edit]
Special rites are performed during Sacred Times.
Lay Membership[edit]
Requirements to Join[edit]
The prospective member must be a member of the clan. All members of the clan become lay members when they go through adulthood initiation.
Requirements to Belong[edit]
A lay member must participate in supplying the clan its source of food, must provide guidance and support to the children of the clan, and must help prepare clan meals.
Mundane Benefits[edit]
All members of the cult are guaranteed sustenance by the clan through their lifetime. The cult will provide sustenance to sick and injured members.
Cult Skills[edit]
The Hearth Mother cult teaches Cooking, Find Food Plants, Sewing, First Aid, and Treat Disease.
Spells[edit]
Hearth Mother teaches lay members Healing, Befuddle, Glue, Detect Enemies, and Mobility at half price. She teaches no other spells.
Initiate Membership[edit]
Requirements for Initiation[edit]
Any woman of the clan who has had her first child may become an initiate of Hearth Mother. Anyone else who has lived for three years or more with the clan as a full adult may elect to become an initiate of the clan. Initiates are primarily concerned with maintaining the sacred clan fires, used in cooking and for warmth. In the Great Darkness, Hearth Mother maintained fire to keep her children warm and to protect them from enemies.
Requirements to Maintain Initiated[edit]
Initiates help maintain the clan hearth flame. They are required to gift a tithe to the ancestors of the cult by foodstuffs left at the clean hearth.
Mundane Benefits[edit]
Initiates receive more respect than lay members. If an initiate is injured or ill, and cannot feed herself or her family, the cult will care for her through food donations brought in by members.
Skills[edit]
Initiates may learn cult skills at half price.
Spells[edit]
Initiates may learn the cult spells Ignite, Healing, Befuddle, Glue, Detect Enemies, Fireblade, Mobility, and Shimmer at half price.
Rune Priesthood[edit]
General Statement[edit]
In general each clan has a single leading elder, called Grandmother, rather like a Priestess. She is the only clan representative of the cult to have an allied spirit and to perform the appropriate responsibilities. Magic is not learned by the women in the usual manner, but instead they learn a point of magic every year of adulthood from the Grandmother. This knowledge is passed on in group ceremonies each autumn which are part of the women's secret rites. Elder women form a band of teachers and officials for women and are always treated with care and respect. However, when an elder feels herself to be too much of a burden to her family, she will often go off into the grasslands to die. It should be noted that the Grandmother also sits on the clan council.
Requirements for Acceptance[edit]
Priests must be permanent initiates, have a POW of 18+, and be nominated by the previous Grandmother.
Restrictions[edit]
Rune Priests have the responsibility to look after the needs of the entire clan. They have a seat on the council of elders.
Benefits[edit]
They may command the obedience of initiates and members in emergencies. They are primarily concerned with the spiritual life of the clan, and are in charge of the center of the clan. They no longer participate in gather food and the physical maintenance of the clan, beyond delegating those tasks to other clan members.
Rune Spell Compatibility[edit]
Rune Priests of Hearth Mother have no divine spells of their own. However, they have the right to call on local shaman to teach them divine spells of associated cults. These spells may be used as reusable divine magic, but require the aid of a shaman to relearn the spells.
