The River Faiths

"A Blue Priest? Here, in Corinth? That'll cause problems. They always come with problems."
-overheard at the Bone Dragon Inn

The River Faiths is the name for the collection of river-based beliefs, spiritual practices, and worships done by the Balstian people. It's the religion of most Balst Halfings.

The River Spirits

The practices of individual villages and settlements through Balst name several hundred different spirits of the rivers. Recording them all would be a feat of great academic prowess. With all their differences, rather they be in aesthetics or power, all the spirits share a connection to the rivers, its waters and currents.

The Great Serpent

Followers of the River Faiths believe that the world was carved up by a great serpent, of which they were the passengers on its back. The snake crawling around the world formed the rivers of the world, and the rivers of Balst were the serpents final resting place. They believe the Snake of Balst's spirit will protect the people of Balst as long as the people take care of the rivers. Out of all the spirits of the rivers, this is the one most widley regarded as the most powerful and most worhy of worship.

Organization

Because the River Faith is a loose collection of over hundreds of non-standardized local customs and beliefs, any attempt to organize the faith in any significant way has proved difficult if not impossible.

Priest

River Priest are those that have taken it upon themselves to learn the secrets and customs of the rivers and learn from the spirits there. They wander the shores of the rivers of Balst, and sometimes beyond, drawing divine power, visions, and strange abilities from the waters. Some are trained by other, more elder and experinced River Priest, but just as many are self taught. Some River Priest will give up their last name, and instead take a surname after the river they most frequent or consider their home river.

River priest wear loose fitting, comfortable silks and cloths of blues and navy. These clothes are usually patterend as well.

Temple Of Oris the Springkeeper

At the source of all the rivers in the Balstian peninsula, deep in the Balstian Mountains is the Temple of Oris the Springkeeper, also known as The Temple of Oris. This temple is the greatest temple in the River Faiths. This temple is built deep into the mountain. Following the river through a deep series of caves and passegways is the safest way to reach the Temple.

The Fists of the Source is an order of monks who have sworn themselves to the defence of the Temple of Oris and the source spring of all the rivers of Balst. This is a position of high honor within Balstian society.

Rights & Privileges

As anyone could take the title of River Priest and begin preaching, special rights and privileges are not granted by the River King. The Fists of the Source are an order with an oath, clear goal and standards, however, which means that they can be and are granted rights. The Fists are given a small percentage of the taxes collected in Balst by the crown.

Practices

Worship

Followers of the River Faiths are expected to take a moment of meditation when they come upon natural running water during travels. They are to remove their shoes and kneel in the shallows of the river. They are to offer a prayer to the local river spirits, and to the great serpent who carved their homes. It is then tradition to take a few drops of the river and dot them onto ones forehead.
As most Balstian settlements are along the shores of the rivers, many worship led by a River Priest take place on those shores.

Marriage Customs

During a marriage of the River Faiths, a priest will submerge both the bride and groom beneath the current of running water. While underwater, the two must kiss, sharing the air in their lungs and proving they'd give their drowning breath to the other. Specifics in prayers, wording, duration, and other details vary widely throughout Balst and the many different flavors of the River Faith.

Magic

River Priest have been known to receive strange powers, visions, and divine abilities from their worship and peity.
There are rumors of a River Priest in Sunhaven that can bring the dead back to life with a baptism in the waters of the Red River.
Fumi Of The Doab was said to have been able to stop a rivers current. There is, of course, no actual evidence as to this claim.

Death

A funeral of the River Faith takes place on the banks of a river, preferably one that the deceased grew up near or around. A River Priest is present, and helps in the preperation of the body. The body is stripped naked, with the legs and arms bound. It is treated with purifying oils before being floated downstream. One of the deceased family members is chosen to escort the body down the river, making sure it keeps floating downstream and makes it to the ocean or end of the river. This is referred to "walking the river with the dead".

History

The Prophecy of Ejoku Apani

According to a prophecy that has been passed down the line of River Kings, there will be a hero in Balst called Ejoku Apani. Ejoku Apani will turn the directions of the rivers, waking the Great Serpent and riding it throughout the world, carving even more rivers for the people of Balst to inhabit.
Fumi of the Doab  was thought to have been Ejoku Apani. This was proven incorrect when Fumi was killed by an assassin from The Swords of Baxbrill 

Known River Priest 

• Fumi of the Doab was a River Priest in Balst. He was killed by the Swords of Baxbrill for the crime of necromancy
• Osan Okunpan, counselor of the River King of Balst
• Anslov Tarskin, Zunstradian priest of the Red River of Zunstradia
• Rishan of Raas, elf priest of the Raas River, memeber of the The 'Ulayik Alad 
• Sorek Heartvein, dragonfolk priest of The Heartvein River

A river priest, seen wearing the traditional river priest robes and carrying a staff of driftwood.