Holy Orders of Shalimyr
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.
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
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 (see below), 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.
Type
Religious, Holy Order
Demonym
Shalimyn
Subsidiary Organizations
Deities
Divines
Related Myths
