Right People
The Right People are less of a church and more a name for the worshippers of the Crooked Warden.
The Crooked Warden has dedicated followers and a clergy, but no central hierarchy, designated temples or official acknowledgement from other faiths. While many people will dash off a quick prayer for luck or fortune, the faith is officially proscribed, and any practicing priest will be executed.
The most common symbol of the Crooked Warden are crossed fingers, which share a near universal meaning of a request for good luck or warding off bad luck. Similarly pendants, art pieces, rings and such that have a X worked into the design are common throughout the city for the same reason. Black cats are considered lucky for worshippers of the Crooked Warden. Money, gems and other symbols of wealth are also popular.
Most of the followers of the Crooked Warden are lawbreakers of one kind or another, though not all lawbreakers worship him, a number of more or less honest businessmen also worship.
The cult has 2 major holidays. The first is known as the Day of Folly or Day of Changes. On this day, social conventions are turned on their heads, and those in charge act as servants while the servants are treated as lords of the manor. Revels occur in the streets while people where masks and outfits to conceal their identity. Drinking, songs, pranks and gambling are the norm. The second major holiday has no set date, and is used when a follower is about to set out on a new venture, phase of life or to re balance after a long run of bad luck. It’s called the Pilgrimage of Fingers. True pilgrimages are not for the ninth, not least because there are no distant cathedrals, monasteries, or holy sites to travel to. Instead, the follower must complete 8 tasks, 1 for each finger, each more difficult than the last. Strict details vary, some will steal from a rising level of targets, others will try and do 8 different crimes. Details are dependent on the individual, but there are 2 constants. The first is that all profits from the crimes belong the the Benefactor, and the second is a fairly austere fast during the pilgrimage.
The Crooked Warden has dedicated followers and a clergy, but no central hierarchy, designated temples or official acknowledgement from other faiths. While many people will dash off a quick prayer for luck or fortune, the faith is officially proscribed, and any practicing priest will be executed.
The most common symbol of the Crooked Warden are crossed fingers, which share a near universal meaning of a request for good luck or warding off bad luck. Similarly pendants, art pieces, rings and such that have a X worked into the design are common throughout the city for the same reason. Black cats are considered lucky for worshippers of the Crooked Warden. Money, gems and other symbols of wealth are also popular.
Most of the followers of the Crooked Warden are lawbreakers of one kind or another, though not all lawbreakers worship him, a number of more or less honest businessmen also worship.
The cult has 2 major holidays. The first is known as the Day of Folly or Day of Changes. On this day, social conventions are turned on their heads, and those in charge act as servants while the servants are treated as lords of the manor. Revels occur in the streets while people where masks and outfits to conceal their identity. Drinking, songs, pranks and gambling are the norm. The second major holiday has no set date, and is used when a follower is about to set out on a new venture, phase of life or to re balance after a long run of bad luck. It’s called the Pilgrimage of Fingers. True pilgrimages are not for the ninth, not least because there are no distant cathedrals, monasteries, or holy sites to travel to. Instead, the follower must complete 8 tasks, 1 for each finger, each more difficult than the last. Strict details vary, some will steal from a rising level of targets, others will try and do 8 different crimes. Details are dependent on the individual, but there are 2 constants. The first is that all profits from the crimes belong the the Benefactor, and the second is a fairly austere fast during the pilgrimage.
Tenets of Faith
"Grant me quick wits so I need not my quick feet,
grant me quick feet so I need not my quick hands,
grant me quick hands so I need not my quick wits,
But, all three would be nice, Crooked Warden."
General prayer
One coin in ten belongs to the Benefactor
Live by your wits, not your blade
It is better to live free and die than suffer oppression
There is no honor among thieves, but trust in your brothers and sisters in faith
Laws are meant to be broken
Don’t get caught
The cult in general abhors violence, though it accepts that violence is part of the world, and would rather gain from his own wit, fingers and skill than through the threat or fact of a sharp blade or alley piece. Many fervent followers live for the thrills of thieving, con games, and gambling and the best crimes are the ones which go undiscovered. Money is most often the target of crimes, but a true follower understands that money is simply the means to happiness, not an end in of itself. Individuality, freedom from oppression, and the rise and fall of fortune and luck are other precepts of the faith. While the Nameless Ninth will grant his aid to those who ask, believers know he also helps those who help themselves, and few of the faith will trust to blind luck.
grant me quick feet so I need not my quick hands,
grant me quick hands so I need not my quick wits,
But, all three would be nice, Crooked Warden."
The cult in general abhors violence, though it accepts that violence is part of the world, and would rather gain from his own wit, fingers and skill than through the threat or fact of a sharp blade or alley piece. Many fervent followers live for the thrills of thieving, con games, and gambling and the best crimes are the ones which go undiscovered. Money is most often the target of crimes, but a true follower understands that money is simply the means to happiness, not an end in of itself. Individuality, freedom from oppression, and the rise and fall of fortune and luck are other precepts of the faith. While the Nameless Ninth will grant his aid to those who ask, believers know he also helps those who help themselves, and few of the faith will trust to blind luck.
Comments