Tanvas Suissi

General introduction

The Messellat Mdûlûn of Rodasaikus have a special sanctum dedicated to the god Keikanad Rei, god of the clear mountain springs. This god plays an important rule in divination for Rodasaikus. Especially military undertakings require consulting the oracle. The sanctum lies in the mountains above Rodasaikus at a spring that is considered sacred. The Tanvas Suissi is a small canal that has been constructed to lead the spring water on a clear path through the city. It ends in the temple to Keikanad Rei.

The clear path to the temple is a requirement to its use: When a priest received an oracle from Keikanad Rei, he writes it down and puts it in a small container that is then sent downstream to the temple. The high priest of the temple then publicly announces the outcome of the oracle, in a ceremony called Dassûke Kamissa.

Structure and history

The Messellat Mdûlûn only arrived relatively late at Rodasaikus, which is their most eastward lieing city state. But with the founding of the city, religious architecture was installed as well. The old sanctum in the mountains had already been there for generations and the local community was one to cherish and venerate the water of rivers and brooks, springs and wells more than the sea. Also the position of Rodasaikus prevented them from engaging in seafaring, as the area provides them with no natural harbours but instead mostly cliffs and unviable stoney shores.

Legends say, that the oracle was already consulted when the settlers arrived there, so they could find the most fitting spot for their new city. The ritual at that time already involved the small rivulets water being part of the transmittal of the message. Later, to make it easier, the people asked the oracle for an easier way to have the messages be related to the city. The oracle spoke - as always - in a riddle.

The priest interpreted this as a call to straighten the waterway from the spring to the citys temple, so this was made with great effort and trying to keep it as natural as possible as to not anger the god by too much manipulation.

Significance

The oracle plays a major role in many political decisions of the Messellat Mdûlûn from Rodasaikus. But also other city states sometimes send envoys to consult the oracle. Before the Tanvas Suissi was built, the process took up to three weeks, as after receiving the sacred message from the god, the priest had to send the message on its way and then stay in the sanctum for two weeks to perform meditation and ritual cleansing. If the flow of water was good, the message was quickly carried into the temple, otherwise the priest picked it up on his way down after the the two weeks had passed.

The speeding up of the process was not seen as problematic, since an old saying states, that 'all water will eventually end up in the ocean', so the Tanvas Suissi only cancelled out the element of chance. This has made Rodasaikus' political decisions far more flexible and has enabled them to react more aptly to unexpected challenges. The forming of an alliance against Sendar under the leadership of Rodasaikus was probably only possible due to the Tanvas Suissi and its acceleration of the oracle process.

Type

Canal