Spolitism for Bogmoth

This is background information for Spol, Spolites, and Spolitism for the game Scarlet_Reeds, and specifically for the character Dapyx Bogmoth.

General Information

Geography & Politics

Spol is a cloudy land full of large ruins and small villages. The modern-day Satrapy by that name is within the Western Reaches of the Lunar Empire, being the stretch of land bordered by the Poralistor River in the North, the Oronin River to the east, the Brass Mountains to the south, and the Sweet Sea to the west. The cultural region is larger than the Satrapy, continuing to the east to include the cities of Petela and Hariij, the Darsen Hills, and the haunted bog known as Natha’s Well. Consequently, there are a substantial number of Spolites within the Satrapies of Karasal and Oronin, in addition to Spol itself.

As a group, the Spolites are a relatively loyal to the Lunar Empire for three reasons. They view the Lunars as liberating them from their Carmanian persecutors. Additionally, Lunar religion and philosophy has a deep connecting to both Natha and Gerra, two central goddesses for the Spolites. Finally, the Spolites are somewhat tolerant of the Lunar use of Chaos, since their own traditions are about dealing with inhuman monsters.

Religion

Spolitism is an animist and theist Pelandan religion on the underworld and the propitiation of spirits through a variety of methods that include human sacrifice. While similar to the Jernotian Way, it is not identical. There is a greater role for shamanic practices, as well as the cults of Vogestes the Spearman, Derdromus the Hungry One, Natha the Balancer, and Gerra the Moon of Sorrow. Idomon and Gertemirus are not as central as they are in the Jernotian Way, and Spolitism speaks less of a unified group of “High Gods” who rule from the mountain top.

During the Bleak Times (which the Spolites deny ever ended), the Spolites learned to negotiate and appease dark powers and forces other people attacked or escaped. They found older practices of sacrifice to be a useful starting point to understand propitiation and shamanic mediation for these purposes, and so they broke Gartemirus’ ban on human sacrifice. As a result, their crops grew, they remembered oral histories that differed from those found in the great cities of the Upper Oronin, and they were able to remain in their homeland.

Spolites have a very legalistic understanding of the relationship between gods and spirits on one side, and humans on the other. This understanding is based on a reading of the Velortinian Principles where if a people accepts that a god helps the people, then the people must accept the god’s price for help. If gods require human blood – and the Spolites believe many of them do – then one must give them blood as long as the Gods maintain the covenant.

For the Spolite, true mystical union will involve an integration of the living world and the underworld. This eschatological moment is called DerMaElsor, or “The Return to the Mother Greater than Self.” Everyone and everything dies, including the world, which is the fullest moment of this return.

Additionally, many (but not all) of the sacrificial acts involve willing participants. Indeed, the magic is infinitely more powerful this way. Their myths of the Red King and Gerra’s dismemberment highlight the importance of the holy victim choosing what they do. 

A Personal View of Spolite Life: What my Maskmaker Told me

Who are You?

I am the Rahl the Maskmaker, caretaker for our ceremonies. I help our village understand the gods’ masks and desires. I am answering your questions, but please be brief: I must be ready to serve the Red King tonight, as Sacred Time comes to an end.

Who Are We?

We are known as the Spolites, those who remember the Spiral Path of Pain. In the Bleak Times, the Bulls called our lands the “Hold and Starve Cities,” and Lendarsh the Liberator called us “the Hungry Ones” before the Dawn. We were hungry because we kept the old ways. Our obligations to the Old Gods did not end when our bellies were empty.

In the time of Bright Empire, we were not seduced by the philosophies of the New God and the splendor of Dara Happa, for Velortina taught us one cannot simply make any God one wants. We hid, we waited, and when the Dead Sky helped block the sun in our land, we fought and won.

Of course, with power comes a poor memory, and we forgot our debts. So Natha sent Logicians from the West to bring us low. First Syranthir, then Karmanos, and then the rest of their arrogant line. They took our kingdom, and they kept us low for generations. Then Natha brought them low, after the truths of Gerra allowed for the Red Moon to rise.

What Makes us Great?

We know the Bleak Truths: Night always returns, Shadow Never Leaves, Death is, If we are not light we are Dark, and the Old Gods demand payment in blood. We value survival and scoff at false virtue. We have no time for fanciful tales of a world without pain, for we know such stories cause trouble.

We know our debts, we accept that death is, and we know Natha will eventually all back to balance, even herself. We know the time of DerMaElsor will come, when all is reunified and life and death embrace in Hagu.

Where do we Live?

We live in the villages of Cardo Valley in Spol. I suppose it is a poor valley in many ways, for it is almost hidden in the foothills of the Brass Mountains, and Cardo Creek is a modest tributary for the Poralistor River. Still, this gives us a clear benefit: The Strangers who claim to fear us do not bother us here. We keep our old ways, unmolested.

And remember: we live in the villages of the valley. We journey to the forests or quarries, when we prepare correctly, but that is not our home. Other things live in the woods and hills. Do not disturb them.

How do we Live?

We grow our grain, we tend our animals, and we save our hearts for the moments they should beat. We thank the Marzi Kanara, the spirits of nature, for their help, and give them the tribute they are due. Our hunters put their despair in their javelins, and they bring us game. Our farmers dedicate their harvests to Hallo. During Sacred Time, we crown our Red King, who we celebrate and care for, before we enact the Rite of One Beauty, sending his spirit to Mount Jernalf to renew the land.

What is important in life?

Survival and responsibility are of utmost importance. Do not be reckless, do not be frivolous. Be somber, be aware, act accordingly.

Who Rules Us?

The village’s Elders ensure we do as we should. The Satrap of Spol is a man with many swords but only one arm named Alehandro. His mother is a powerful Spolite who knows her debts. Beyond the land of Spol, we are ruled by the Red Goddess and her Emperor. They freed us from the Carmanians, and they learned from us. We respect their power and give them what they are due.

What Makes a Man Great?

You are too fascinated with Greatness… It will End you, child. But if you insist, “greatness” is achieved through sacrifice, repayment, and suffering. The truly great are rare because few truly balance their scales. They a freedom you and I can barely imagine.

Many fools strive for that greatness and ruin much. Listen to me now, child: to desire greatness is to invite the Balancer to bring you low. There are better things to desire the greatness. The great die just as much as the weak, afterall. Sometimes, they even die more. And if you truly wish it, Gerra calls.

More generally, know and pay your debts, as your place in the Final Kingdom is determined by your remaining debts. You have a debt to DenegEria to make the most with the gift of life. You have a debt to your clan. You have a debt to the Gods. If you are lucky, you will pay them off enough to avoid angering others. If you are unlucky, you will fall so far into debt that your blood is the only worth you have.

What is my Lot in Life?

You will likely struggle and bleed for your family and your valley. Perhaps you will simply live a long time and then join the Final Kingdom. Perhaps, if the Forces attend to you, we will crown you a Red King, and then you will have as lovely a year as we can give you, I promise. Or perhaps, if you desire “greatness” or your debts go strange, you will leave our valley and see the world. I pray the latter does not happen to you. It is harder to know and pay your debts in the world than in the valley.

How do We Deal With Others?

If they can be recognized as Spolites, we will give them their due. If they are strangers, we will guard what is ours, and assume they do the same. We will, of course, be prepared if they try to take what is ours. Perhaps they are starving, perhaps they are greedy. Either way, theft has been around as long as different beings. I have heard the Storm Tribe talk of “Hospitality”, and it is a horrible idea that invites Daak in. Never trust Daak.

Who are our enemies?

Our Red Emperor tells us the Storm Worshippers to the South are our enemy, but it would be more accurate to say that they are his enemy, and we fight them out of our debt to Him. The Carmanians are often our foe, as they hate us and spew nonsense about truth only coming from light.

What is Evil?

Evil is denying your debts, forcing others to pay them for you, and theft. Evil is the refusing of one’s obligations. Daak is evil because he had no right to the treasures in the House of Virtue. The Incompletes are evil for they wish to break and ruin out of spite. The Blue Men were evil for taking the land, as the Dara Happans more recently. Evil denies there are other beings in the world beyond one’s own happiness.

Do We Worship Evil, As Others Claim?

Of course not. You have been told that we worship GanEstoro, the Evil God of the Lie. But I say to you that we worship Vogestes the Spearman, the Inspired One. He taught us that Death Is, and he taught us how to make proper sacrifices. His truth is that sacrifice makes the world. For that, Idomon, Gartemirus, and Carmanos all denounced him.

You have heard human sacrifice is evil, but I say to you that the Old Gods demand human sacrifice, as is their right. Thus, it is not evil. To claim otherwise is not enlightened, it is foolish.

You have heard that Derdromus is the evil Monster Man. But I tell you ViSaruDaran stole what was not his, and he chased Derdromus home to wander the surface as a monster.

We do not worship evil, but accept the world and the gods within it. It may be dark, but it is true, and good can only come from what is true.

Can You Tell Me More on Those We Worship?

Who do you wish to know?

Vogestes?

Vogestes the Spearman. He stayed apart from the tribe, and in doing so realized that death exists. He taught us how to to make and sustain the world by making sacrifices. Just as Idomon is the Prophet of Idovanus the Creator, Vogestes is the the Agent of VogMaradan.

Gerra?

Gerra is the black moon, and she is known as Sorrow, for she understood better than most how suffering and injustice work in the world. She constantly spoke truth, which made her unpopular. She sacrificed herself to create hope in darkness.

Derdromus?

Derdromus is the Final Winner, the once and future king of the Underworld. Turos invaded the underworld to find a wife, and while there he also took the underworld and all its treasures. Derdromus thus became the Monster Man, wandering the surface and causing strife as he seeks what he lost. Derdromus is a terrifying force that must be appeased. Upon his throne, he is divine right, for good and for ill.

Azerlo?

Azerlo is the wife of Derdromus, she is compassion, for good and for ill. Supposedly, others call her Xiola Umbar, but that is not the name she told us. Derdromus and she are estranged since she was tricked into helping Turos.

Natha?

Natha is the Balancer, the daughter and synthesis of the Oath Avengers Nansha and Naquasha. She brings low those who have become great by ignoring obligations to the Old Gods, and enforces the rights of the ones who made the world. The Lunars believe they follow Natha. We will see.

The Red King?

The Red King was a good ruler and loving husband to Naveria. Tragically, he was also her father. He proved his nobility by accepting his fate and he was sacrificed by Natha. In doing so, he earned his place on the Mountain, and ensured his land would be renewed as he had been.

Idovanus?

Idovanus is the god of order. He wants everything to be clean and organized, which is sometimes good and sometimes not. He eventually came to blows against Vogestes, whose sacrifices and survival were not clean and tidy. Vogestes revealed the full extent of his inspiration to Idomon, partially blinding him. But Idomon was able to win back enough animals and grain to have his people survive and be orderly.

Unfortunately, Carmanos and his followers both exalt and misunderstand, thinking he is a perfect deity. This has caused misery.

Turos?

Turos is the God of Power, and many of the Urbanites view him as a God of Kingship. They do not seem to realize this implies Kingship is about power and might rather than justice and right. We revere him too, for power is necessary for survival, and greatness is his gift to give, but we know his place.

Gartemirus?

Gartemirus was a good and wise ruler, but he believed he could create a society free of suffering or sacrifice. Natha constantly pointed out the error of this. After a millennium of trying to perfect society, he gave up, and his kingdom promptly collapsed.