The Basins of Shalimyr

The churches of Shalimyr, found in most seaside towns and cities, are called basins of Shalimyr, for they collect the outpourings of his worship. His worshipers, the Shalimyn (SHALL-uh-min), congregate before any great sea journey to bless the sailors and their vessel, and pray to Grandfather Ocean for their safe passage. For particularly important journeys they make elaborate sacrifices in the water, cutting open chickens, lambs, and even bulls, letting the blood and water commingle. This is to symbolize that all things owe their life to the water. For common sailing expeditions, such as the daily voyage of fishing vessels, most sailors meet at the beach before dawn, where a mariner of Shalimyr joins them and prays for their journey. Sacrifices are uncommon in such settings.
The basins collect worship, and their clergy and other holy orders help others honor the god. But just as Shalimyr hates pride outside his faithful, he hates it within their ranks. The holy orders must not, and do not, represent themselves as necessary for a connection between the individual and Shalimyr. They are wise and the basins are there for guidance, but a faithful Shalimyn does not require a basin, a member of the clergy, or anyone or anything else to connect with Shalimyr—his is a highly individual faith.
While the basins are usually places of religious devotion and pious prayer, they are also home to wild and raging festivals accompanied by hard drinking and sometimes more carnal activities. The Shalimyn are both peaceful and wild, just like the waters. Shalimyr is more involved with the daily lives of his worshipers than any other god. He is so involved that it is likely he oversteps the boundaries of the Compact.
None of the gods complain because just as often as Shalimyr sends one of his saints to aid one of his worshipers, he sinks a ship filled with them or wipes out a town of Shalimyn who have grown fat and arrogant. Worshiping Shalimyr is hard. It involves constant wrestling with one’s faith and, often, with one’s god. It means tests of one’s humility, the constant threat of death, messages from the sea, and aid or doom from a god’s hand. It is a dramatic religion, as Shalimyr is a dramatic god, and its practitioners are rarely weak-hearted.
Shalimyr feels as though his worshipers are the only mortals who truly understand him. While all people who worship the gods of the tree and travel on the sea or river pay homage to Shalimyr, they do not live a life of constant servitude to Him as he believes is warranted. Among the gods, Shalimyr constantly murmurs he will destroy them all someday, but none of the other gods take him seriously. However, some scholars believe the day will come when Shalimyr floods the world, destroying everyone but his worshipers. Most view these scholars as only slightly less batty than the Shalimyn themselves. Regardless, because they have developed a system of showing Him such elaborate respect, Shalimyr is quite involved with the Shalimyn, is fond of them, and is saddened a bit when he must wipe out entire ships of them because they have made him angry.

Tenets of Faith

Doctrine of Humility

“Somewhere stands the greatest wall ever built, and the men that built the wall do stare at it with pride. But o’er that wall, there hangs a bough, its leaves laden with the water. And every day the bough does drip down on the wall its precious drops. A thousand men may live a thousand lives, and look upon that wall, but one day the water will prevail. Drop by drop, the mortar will be undone. Bit by bit, the wall will crumble and fall, and those proud men will be proud no longer of their mighty wall, broken into dust. I obey the water.” —Shalimyn Shipwright Kellyne Seafarer’s “A Daughter of the Sea Father”

The Shalimyn faith preaches profound humility. We live and die from the water; without it we are nothing. It is to the water we must always show our gratitude. On the surface, this makes the Shalimyn seem like a downtrodden, dour lot, but it is not so. The Shalimyn are humble before the waters, but they are fierce to their enemies and unafraid to die, ready to enjoy hard drink and the joys the body offers. They believe they live only by Shalimyr’s grace, that every day they might be swallowed by the waters—even when they stand in a scorching desert—and this belief and recognition of impending death makes them fearless, at least in theory. However, when not in wild festivals or raging against enemies, a Shalimyn’s faith is based on personal sacrifice. The Shalimyn shed things that are important to them and constantly mourn the losses, but temper mourning with gratitude for the sea’s gifts. The more a person sacrifices, the holier she is thought to be. The Shalimyn faith is based on three primary principles, referred to by the Shalimyn as the “Three Blessings.”

Humility

If every drop of water believed itself more important than the drop ahead and behind, the river would not flow. If the river thought itself greater than the ocean, the seas would grow thirsty and dry. Every individual must accept that his fate is not in his own hands, and must flow where the river takes him. The practical effect of the doctrine of humility, though, is not a sea of Shalimyn faithful waiting for orders from elders (as one might imagine from a lawful church with a similar doctrine). This is because all mortals must be humble. No mortal can determine another’s path, so every man and woman must listen for the call of Grandfather Ocean, the inevitable pull of fate, the flow of the river tugging them this way or that. This “pull” would be described by a modern person as the unconscious: the raw emotional voice buried away by most, but heeded carefully by the Shalimyn. This makes for a church of people who, through their humility, are prepared to obey their every animal instinct; and perhaps among the truly righteous Shalimyn, these instincts are the call of Shalimyr. Regardless, it makes for a chaotic faith.

Sacrifice

We come from the water empty-handed. We must return to the water empty-handed. All things are granted by Shalimyr, and the belief that anything we have in hand is our property is absurd; it all belongs to Shalimyr. Because of this, Shalimyn obsessively tithe anywhere from ten to eighty percent of everything they own. There are wealthy Shalimyn sea-traders who give away all their wealth when they are old (often to their own children or grandchildren), so this custom does not mean the Shalimyn are all paupers. However, it is ingrained into the Shalimyn in their earliest lessons that they must be prepared to sacrifice everything for the Sea Father, even their lives, for everything they own belongs to him. Nearly all Shalimyn rites involve a sacrifice of some kind, usually mingling the blood of an animal with the water.

Gratitude

Every day we awaken with our homes still intact, our vessels still held together, our sails still whole, it is because the Sea Father has let us. Every man, woman, and child must thank Shalimyr for his gifts at least three times daily: in morning prayer, in mid-day meal prayer, and in evening prayer. Prayers must not be missed. The prayers involve pouring water on the palms, touching water to the lips and eyelids, and reciting the Beatitudes of the Sea Father. If prayers are missed, the penitent Shalimyn must make painful sacrifices to Raging Shalimyr. He kills one of his finest livestock, gives his best sword to a pauper, and so on. Gratitude is also shown with regular periods of fasting, during which the Shalimyn eat nothing, and drink only water for a week at a time.
The Three Blessings are so important to the Shalimyn because they know Shalimyr is a vengeful and angry god. He nurtures those who show him the proper respect, and destroys the arrogant utterly. The Shalimyn themselves are happy to cheer on this destruction. The bar brawls begun by Shalimyn are legendary, and easily set off, for they take it as a religious duty to deflate the egos of pompous men. Should a man brag in a seadog bar about his brave and mighty exploits, he can expect a mug against his head soon after.
The Shalimyn faith is likely the only (nominally) “good” faith where one does his religious duty by cold-cocking someone in a bar. But the Shalimyn truly believe they are helping such people, for if they find such men arrogant, imagine what Raging Shalimyr will do to them! In fact, the truly devout Shalimyn can be heard to mutter “this is for your own good, in Shalimyr’s name” as they hit an unsuspecting, pompous fool in the head with a chair. Of course, not all Shalimyn indulge in this sort of behavior, as the faith runs a wide gamut, from chaotic good to chaotic evil worshipers. Yet nearly all Shalimyn find the imposition of elaborate codes of law ridiculous and laughable. Authority must come from personal respect and devotion. This is how the captain of a ship might lead an incredibly loyal crew, all of whom would gladly die on his word, and not be thought arrogant—each member of the crew knows the Captain and respects him. However, try telling one of the Shalimyn, “You must obey me because those are the rules,” and it won’t get you far. Add to this the fact that the Shalimyn are prepared to lose their lives should Shalimyr call, and you have a potential riot brewing at every port in the world. It warrants saying, though, that like every other religion of the gods of the tree, not every Shalimyn is devout to the point of an impassioned willingness to die on a moment’s notice. There are many more “rational” followers of Shalimyr the Endless. But the Three Blessings make for a volatile religion.

Worship

Prayers of Shalimyr

The Beatitudes are the Shalimyn prayers, to be repeated three times daily. The Beatitudes’ words are said as Shalimyn perform the actions of prayer, pouring water on their palms and touching their lips and eyelids. They are often followed with less formalized prayers.

Morning

“Blessed art thou, Grandfather Ocean, From whom all blessings flow.”

Mid-Day

“I praise thee, Grandfather Ocean, For all thou givest daily.”

Evening

“I thank thee, Sea Father, For sparing me this day.”

Priesthood

While the worship of Shalimyr is likely quite different among races that live under the waves, the focus here is on the basins of land-bound mortals. There are three holy orders of the basins, all of which are tied to the waters. The central order, as with most churches of the pantheon, is the clergy, called mariners and divided into shorehands and shipwrights. There are also the ascetics (holy warriors), who respect three ranks: neonates, ascetics, and waternamed. The sail masters recognize two levels: sail masters and sail lords.
The only order that regularly resides at the basins is that of the mariners, with the Shalimyn shipwrights of each basin determining its policies and interactions with secular affairs. There is no central authority of the Shalimyn faith; that position is taken by Shalimyr himself. Indeed, the mariners are considered guides and teachers more than authority figures. Every member of the faith is said to have a personal tie to Shalimyr, and do not require clergy to act as intermediaries.
A typical basin has six or seven shorehands in residence at any one time, and at least one shipwright. Ascetics and sail masters are almost never in residence at a basin, but in major port cities there might be one or two members of each order convalescing or temporarily living at the local basin.

Mariners of Shalimyr

The mariners are spiritual leaders to the often wayward, chaotic Shalimyn. In a faith where one’s gut instincts can be either benign or malignant, and most of the faithful heed them regardless, guidance is necessary to avoid all-out pandemonium. These clergy are the undisputed (and only) authority figures in the basins. They perform religious ceremonies, help the faithful interpret Shalimyr’s will, call on Shalimyr’s blessings for outgoing and incoming vessels, and even occasionally ride important vessels to keep them safe from Shalimyr’s rage. All that said, they are not necessary to the faith, and are not seen as conduits between the faithful and Shalimyr; they are only guides and resources for the faithful (if well-respected ones). The mariners collect the tithes of the faithful, see to the upkeep of the basins, build new basins when called for, and act as the spokespersons of the faith in all secular matters. This leads to an order with a great deal of wealth, making it more powerful secularly than it is spiritually. Sometimes the mariners from a given basin are completely corrupted by their power and wealth, but should they grow too bold and arrogant, Shalimyr will destroy them spectacularly, so corruption rarely goes beyond petty evils such as undermining or killing political rivals, using the church’s money to promote political programs outside the scope of the Shalimyn faith, or minor abuses of personal authority. Shalimyr has no trouble with this sort of behavior—but mariners who take church money to build themselves enormous mansions might be found soon, in chunks floating in a series of small puddles.

Shorehands

Initiate Shalimyn called shorehands almost belong in a caste lower than the rest—below even the meanest drunken sailors. This is because they must forswear sailing or riding on the open sea, which is beloved of all Shalimyn. This sacrifice is thought to be the highest one can make, short of losing one’s life, and is done as a sign of love for Shalimyr and devotion to the Shalimyn. Shorehands are addressed as “brother” or “sister” and introduced by full title. Shorehands serve the rest of the Shalimyn. They are present at births, weddings, and funerals. They stand on the shores and bless their ships at launching, and greet them at their return. Shorehands make regular and elaborate shows of their lack of pride, and constantly give away their possessions, keeping just enough to eat and live. Becoming a shorehand takes a very short time, usually six months. One must be devoted to Shalimyr, have a great love of the sea, swear not to ride on the waters while a shorehand, and learn the various prayers and rites of the Shalimyn. Shorehands can leave their community if they feel Shalimyr calls them to do so, and many wander the world, away from the sea, on great adventures they believe Shalimyr has called them to perform.

Shipwrights

In time and with experience, elder shorehands may be released from their vows and go on great journeys by sea to the “heart of the ocean.” What is referred to as the heart of the ocean changes from culture to culture, but it’s usually out in the middle of the nearest sea. Once there, they leap into the water and either emerge moments later, or never surface. Those who emerge are ceremonially cleansed and are hailed as shipwrights, the wisest of the Shalimyn. To avoid confusion with actual shipwrights, these holy men and women are always referred to as Shalimyn shipwrights. They are addressed as “father” or “mother” and introduced by full title. A Shalimyn shipwright maintains the humility they showed as shorehands, or at least they are supposed to, but are treated with reverence by the Shalimyn. If any have a right to be treated nobly, it would be these high representatives of Shalimyr in the world. Common Shalimyn do not speak directly to the shipwrights and must address them through shorehands; this is done to show the humility of the speaker, though it certainly elevates the self-importance of the listener. Shalimyn shipwrights run the basins and there is always at least one shipwright present. Unlike the shorehands, they can sail on the water whenever the need or desire arises. The great Shalimyn shipwright Faroan T’urketh was once asked why the shipwrights are treated with such reverence in a faith that so abhors pride. He explained, “After a lifetime, I have become so used to the ways of humility in the face of Grandfather Ocean, blessed be his name, that they have become second nature. I do not think of the meaning and purpose of humility any longer; I have become so easily humble that there is almost a pride in it. The shipwrights are treated so well, like kings, so they can be reminded of the meaning of pride and the need for its purgation. Humility should never be easy.”

Joining the Mariners

The clergy of Shalimyr, all of whom are clerics are divided into two groups: the young and hot-blooded Shalimyn clerics, and the old and wise ones. If a cleric lives long enough to become an elder in the clergy, it is because Shalimyr loves him.

Ascetics of Shalimyr

The ascetics of Shalimyr are a peculiar bunch. Uninvolved with the basins, they are understood by the Shalimyn to be holy people whose terrible sacrifices must take them away from the faithful. Just as the shorehands of Shalimyr cannot ride the waters as a sacrifice to show their humility and faith, ascetics give up the comfort of home and community and wander the wide world, doing what they can for everyone but themselves. By living a life of perpetual goodness and aiding others whenever and wherever they can, they show humility as servants to the mortal races, and offer perpetual self-denial to Shalimyr. They are therefore one of the common “adventuring” holy orders of all the churches. Since their faith requires them to be away from the basins, traveling by land and sea to aid others, they are often found in towns where trouble is near, or in the depths of dungeons.
Ascetics must never hoard wealth or property. They must never seek a home or status in a home. They can never own a ship or other means of transport. Ascetics must be prepared to die empty-handed and alone. They have no fear of death, and generally do not wish to be raised from the dead. Any ascetic who comes to wish for a family or a home or any kind of comfort or possession must leave the order, and loses all her special abilities unless she atones and sheds all her attachments once more. Ascetics are selective about the company they keep. They cannot abide the proud and never associate with people who seek glory, fame, or status, particularly if their desire for these things is reflected in the actions of the group and how people perceive them. Ascetics have no problem with those who seek wealth and keep personal property; they do not expect all people to live under the same onus of sacrifice as they do. They speak to their friends about the perils of desire for property, but do not condemn them for it. An ascetic can even abide greed, if it is tempered with sacrifice. Ascetics often travel with wizards, monks, druids, rangers, and rogues—and those who keep low profiles for one reason or another. They are rarely found with paladins or clerics from other churches. Ascetics almost never travel together. As an ascetic grows older and more experienced, she sheds all the trappings of glory. Later, she sheds the markings of holiness, because in them is a kind of braggadocio. Eventually, she abandons even the trappings of “self,” as there is a kind of arrogance in asserting a personal identity, when one is really nothing but a servant of Shalimyr. In time and after neonates have learned proper humility, and are ready to be full ascetics, they cease to have any titles whatsoever, and give their tabards away. This is usually done by training someone else to become a neonate, and presenting the initiate with the tabard at the completion of her training. Neonates who have been carrying a refined or well-crafted holy symbol give the item away, and replace it with the symbol a peasant might wear. Anything that might make it clear to a casual observer that an ascetic is a members of a holy order is given away as well. The only things neonates keep are arms, armor, and other tools they gained in their journeys to help them serve people. Once they’ve let go of their old trappings, neonates become proper ascetics. They have no titles, only their names, and they continue wandering. They have no honorifics in address, but if they introduced as religious figures, are called “ascetics of the basins of Shalimyr.” Once ascetics show their full devotion to Shalimyr and cleave to a path of service and humility, they sacrifice all that is left of them: their names. They cease to be called by the name by which they have been known their entire lives and take the names of parts of water or water sounds. Lake, Stream, Rush, Falls—all are appropriate water names. Such ascetics are called “waternames,” and continue to walk the world and sail, fighting for the good of all people and awaiting death, when they might become part of the waters.

Joining the Ascetics

Anyone of the proper alignment and devotion to Shalimyr can join the ascetics. After a year of training by an elder member of the order, the ascetics abandon all the trappings of their previous lives. They cut their hair and give away anything not fit to be burned. They take up the blue tabard of the order (marked with the wave) and receive the title of “neonate,” having been reborn into the new order as a paladin. Neonates are addressed as “child” and not introduced by order or title but as “a child of the basins of Shalimyr.” While most paladins in the order are considered knights-errant, or heroes, neonate lives a life of servitude. They wander the world, offering their swords freely and begging for meals. And when it’s time to swear their oaths, they take the Oath of the Ascetic

Sail Masters

“The wind is my brother, the ship is my sister,” the sail masters say, “and the water is my father. I respect my siblings but I obey my father.” The sail masters have brine in their blood, it is said, and no finer sailors live. Having a sail master on deck is a good omen, a promise of success, and a harbinger of a speedy journey, all in one. To attack a vessel with a sail master on board, or worse, a sail lord, is considered sheer folly. The sail masters see themselves as the bearers of Shalimyr’s good word; they are missionaries who reside on ships. Incredibly, exhaustingly pious, they lead the crew in the three daily prayers, talking constantly of the gifts of Grandfather Ocean and the wrath of the Sea Father. Their order was founded to aid and serve those who are closest to Shalimyr, sailors, and to remind them of the tenets of the Shalimyn faith. The sail masters are the third and most evangelical of the Shalimyn holy orders. They are known everywhere for their great skill as sailors and their uncanny abilities with ship-to-ship combat. The order was founded by an ascetic, known as Saint Isyl, who was visited in dream by a series of visions from Shalimyr. Isyl prophesied, through those dreams, of an ultimate day of reckoning for all Shalimyn, when the Sea Father will visit every ship on his waters in a single day. If he finds the hearts of the sailors around the world to be pious and humble, as he demands, he will give a great boon to all Shalimyn. But if he finds that those he has graced with permission to ride upon his back are selfish and wanting, he will destroy them all and never again allow ships upon his waters. While the mariners believe Saint Isyl’s vision was metaphorical, the sail masters believe it quite literal, and seek to avert disaster by constantly reminding sailors of their duty to Shalimyr. Thus they are driven in their evangelism, and almost always out at sea. Sail masters are most often found on the water, serving vessels great and small. They rarely bother with those who are not Shalimyn or sailors, so a person booking passage on a ship might never even realize a sail master is aboard. If one travels aboard the flagship of a major fleet, it is almost certain to have a sail lord aboard. Members of the order make odd first impressions. Quiet, contemplative, a bit spooky at first, they eventually reveal their religious ardor. Most sail masters shave their heads and wear simple robes adorned with the wave of Shalimyr. It is uncommon to find two members of the order together, unless one is being trained. New sail masters seek out captains to take them onto their vessels in return for service. Sail masters work with their crews until satisfied that they’re properly pious, and move on to other ships soon after. This continues for most of their careers. Sail masters are addressed as “sail master” and are introduced without their order name. Eventually, sail masters might seek out someone in control of a fleet—a lord, a powerful merchant, or a pirate king—and offer their services as sail lord. They usually hold these positions until death, riding on fleet flagships, but ministering to all of their sailors. They are addressed as “sail lord,” and introduced with full title.

Joining the Sail Masters

Any deeply faithful Shalimyn can join the sail masters, though fighters and rogues are the most common professions. Wizards, sorcerers, members of the Shalimyn clergy, even holy warriors of Shalimyr have all been known to join the order. It requires only a deep understanding of the sea and an abiding love for Grandfather Ocean. Initiates must complete one year of training under a sail lord to earn the title of sail master.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Deities

• Shalimyr

Saints

Martyrdom is important to the Shalimyn, for it is their belief that if they die heeding Shalimyr’s call, they are taken into his bosom forever after. They do not believe their spirits are carried to Shalimyr’s side to live as his assistants—that would be a haughty, self-aggrandizing belief. Instead they are made into water, a small part of Shalimyr the Endless, and it is the greatest boon any mortal might receive, for they are transformed into part of a god. Whether true or not, it does help to explain the fervor with which many Shalimyn fight, prepared to lay down their lives without hesitation. Should they die performing the will of Shalimyr, the reward is magnificent.
Saints are a very different matter. Saints are folk so holy they would certainly become part of the water when they die, but are so profoundly good of spirit, humble, and sacrificing, they reject the opportunity to exist eternally, as part of Shalimyr. Instead, they live on as his servants, aiding mortals lost at sea, heeding their prayers to Shalimyr, and performing great acts of compassion for the Shalimyn. This amazing sacrifice earns the name “saint.” Quite often saints come from the holy order of the ascetics, and rather than continuing to go by their waternames, they are addressed once more by their birth names. The Saints of Shalimyr actually appear in the Material Plane regularly. After their death, extremely devout Shalimyn are called upon by their Lord and become celestials— ghaeles (an old spelling of the word “gale,” because they fly to the aid of the Shalimyn as swiftly as gales blow across the sea) in celestial nomenclature. Ghaele servants of Shalimyr introduce themselves as “Saint” with their birth name from their mortal life, even though they have more beautiful names in the heavens.