Soo-min the Sorrowborn
Wild God of Poverty, Curses, Outcasts, and the Downtrodden
Titles: The Sorrowborn, The Nine-Tailed Yokai, The Broken Beggar, Last of the Great Three, She of Cracked Stone, The Arch-Witch, The Hagmother, The Sorrow, The Sealed Lady,
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Alignment: Earth
Elemental Lord: None - Soo-Min has no Elemental Lord and is considered a Wild God.
Obedience: Spend an hour sitting before an idol or altar to Soo-min speaking of your recent sorrows, woes, and misfortunes - at the end of the hour, speak the phrase "But now, they are no more" and clap nine times, in two-second intervals. Once finished, put a single copper coin, drop of blood, or a small fragment of wood, metal, or stone before the altar and carve a notch into the altar or idol you were praying before.
Effect: Gain the use of the Evil Eye hex as a Witch with a level equal to your HD. You may affect creatures immune to mind-affecting with it. Gain either stealth or sleight of hand as a class skill and a +1 bonus to whichever you picked.
Divine Domains
Protection, Madness, Trickery, Darkness(Loss Subdomain Only), Nobility(Martyr Domain only)
Holy Books & Codes
The Nine Folds
Divine Symbols & Sigils
A Fox Mask with copper coins in the eye slits and nine threads of string keeping the mouth shut
Tenets of Faith
Let every creature be given their chance. Ensure others get the chance to achieve and recieve that which others or life denied them, no matter who, what, or where you must tear it from.
Look out for those at the bottom. Help and stand beside those left behind, forgotten, or otherwise outcast, no matter the storms you must weather - only together can you endure.
Ruin those at the top. Tear down those at the top who forget their place, and bring curses, ruin, and misfortune upon them and their houses.
Take nothing for granted. Live lightly, and move free of burden - plan for the worst, and take advantage of others' notions to move unseen.
Never forgive, Never Forget. Let thy grudges be eternal, thy reprisals tenfold, and let thy foe never forget thy name.
Curse he untouched by grief. Spread curse and misfortune to those who have never known the touch of sorrow.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
To protect the downtrodden, the pauper, the cursed, and the misfortunate.
To bring ruin and misfortune to all who have never known sadness or sorrow, those who stand at the top, or those who hurt or torment those at the bottom.
To get free of her prison and give her followers the happiness they deserve.
Followers & Priesthood
Because of the very nature of her faith, Soo-min's followers rarely have the simple luxury of having established buildings such as cathedrals, churches, or indeed hard or long-standing structures of any kind with which to hold their gatherings or meetings - but what they lack in established infrastructure they more than make up for in an incredibly varied lineup of races, ethnicities, cultures, and creeds. As one of the most diverse and widespread faiths on all of Zheng-Kitar, Soo-min's followers can be found from the western coasts of Dhara all the way to the far-off eastern lands of Tarthus-Tetsu and Jugeum - anywhere that poverty, outcasts, or those down on their luck or where a lone creature cries out to the sky, cursing themselves, their fate, or others, Soo-min's faith is there in some way...tearing down and spreading sorrow to others. However, while much of Soo-min's faith flourishes in civilized areas where poverty and the downtrodden are obviously more present, the dark side of Soo-min's faith flourishes in places like swamps, marshes, and places far afield from civilization where witches, hags, outcasts, and the forlorn plot in ancient caves, forgotten ruins, and such in her unholy name, seeking to curse others more fortunate than they to take the fortunes they never got to experience. Oftentimes, due to the poor or downtrodden nature of her followers, 'churches' to Soo-Min are often built or established in existing structures or locations - in cities, this often takes the form of run-down and likely abandoned buildings, or possibly tents, camps, underground sewer systems, or in the basements of other buildings willing to let them hold mass there, such as bars and the like. They make do with whatever they are given - even if they must gather in the open in ramshackle tent cities or simple town squares. As for the faithful themselves, they follow a loose organizational structure that mostly runs off one's breadth of service to the faith, with favor given to the old or especially cursed or downtrodden...they follow the words of their experienced seniors who have lived a life of misfortune longer than they, even if they no longer do - even if a member of the faithful climbs their way up out of poverty, so long as they retain a true belief in the faith and give back to those who help get them to where they are, they are gladly welcomed in gatherings of the faithful. Oftentimes, followers of Soo-Min are distinguished solely by small fox-masks they either cobble together out of metal scrap, wood bits, cloth scraps, or other loose materials or possibly even small fox mask patches sewn onto ragged clothing - otherwise, they oftentimes cannot afford to come up with and wear a unified outfit or color scheme, and dress in whatever rags they can, not being choosy with what they wear. Members of the faith tend to take advantage of societal biases against the downtrodden, as well - oftentimes, they are spread rampant throughout a city or even a region, so widespread that they can have eyes on every street corner and know most all goings-on in the city. They often will mark out of the way areas with symbols of Soo-min to alert other members of the faith or downtrodden to who recognize the symbols of safe areas, dangerous places, places where food can be found, and so on - they tend to operate just beneath the surface of society, gathering what information and items and people fall through the cracks while gathering weapons with which to tear down the high and mighty who spit and look down on them, either out of simple jealously for the more fortunate or as revenge for what they see as perpetuating their continued misfortune by not helping. This often gives them pleasant working relationships with faiths like that of Cynebald the Unseen, who similarly work beneath the surface of society towards albeit more nefarious or evil ends(As they often get paid by them to gather information or spy on others). Especially faithful members of the Forsook oftentimes die their hair white or blue, draw thin red lines across their necks, eyes, and upper torsos(Often in their own blood, out of poverty), and will do their best to decorate themselves with fox motifs in subtle ways.Ethics
The phrase that best describes the ethics of the Forsook is "An eye for an eye" - among others. With a faith made of predominantly those down on their luck, exiled, outcast, in poverty, or just plain cursed or unfortunate, Soo-Min's followers the Forsook perhaps expectedly have a heavy basis in looking out for each other in an almost familial way - they believe heavily in looking out for and watching over those at the bottom like they, and commonly take in strays, outcasts, and the like despite having little to their own names, helping others like them get back on their feet as much as they can even if there is little benefit in it for them. To them, such an act may not immediately prove valuable or worthwhile materially or monetarily, but is rewarding to the soul and spirit, and one that all who are or have ever been one of the downtrodden should always try to do no matter their situation in life. They look out for each other, watch each other's backs, and work as one communal family - even if one eventually leaves the ranks of the downtrodden and makes it in society or the world, there will be naught be celebrations for a family member who found their way - but should that family member ever forget where they came from and no longer display the strength of character or the camraderie expected of a faithful of Soo-min, and change with their new station, the faithful will seek them out and tear them down, ruining their lives with curse and misfortunes. So do they do to all who exist 'at the top' - the Forsook believe in tearing down those who exist above others, those who know fortune and providence, and/or those who have never known the feeling of misfortune, hardship, or sorrow in their lives and cursing them, bringing misfortune and suffering unto them like furious witches. They eagerly and happily ruin the lives of the mighty and well-off, though they will rarely outright kill them, preferring instead to curse them, bring them misfortune, and ruin their standing and possessions until they are as much downtrodden and devoid of hope or prospects as the faithful themselves - at which point many faithful will often invite them into the church and help them regain their lives in a way they see as 'more mindful'. This somewhat contary belief centers on their collective notion that every creature, even those who might have done great wrong, should be given a chance at finding their shot in this life - a belief which leads them to take in strays, orphans, abandoned children, lost pets, and wounded monsters as much as it does to welcome their former foes into their ranks once they have been ruined so, if their former foes are willing and open-minded, they might claw their way back up to the top and learn valuable life lessons along the way. As members of the downtrodden, the followers of Soo-Min know to take nothing for granted, and of the cultural biases many people and cultures have against those of their ilk - and they as a result tend to believe in traveling light and not weighing themselves down with overmuch, either in regards to attachments of a material kind or an emotional one. Generally, the only things they carry or keep are those which they can take on the move with them - meaning friendships, belongings, and more are only made if they can endure constant travel and migration as befitting those often homeless and jobless. However, despite their overall friendly and familial demeanor, the faith of Soo-min has an excessively dark side as well - one that preaches one never forget the slights committed against them, always remembers they who wronged them, and always ensures that they get their revenge for wrongs inflicted on them, often tenfold what was originally done. They are brutal in this regard, and care little for collateral damage if it means repaying a slight or a grudge such as a non-faithful spitting upon them or a friend and insulting them and their poor way of life - and often, many members of the faithful revel in tormenting others for the simple crime of not having known suffering or strife in their lives. For this simple crime of not having experienced hardship, the followers of Soo-min will sometimes bring them great pain and suffering, tearing down their lives and cursing them with strife, misfortune, poverty and more...making the dark side of Soo-min's faith flourish in places like swamps, marshes, and places far afield from civilization where witches, hags, outcasts, and the forlorn plot in ancient caves, forgotten ruins, and such in her unholy name, seeking to curse others more fortunate than they to take the fortunes they never got to experience. Additionally, especially dedicated members of the faith desperately seek to free their goddess from her bondage and imprisonment - legends passed down by the first Kitsune to spread the word of her faith speak of Soo-min being imprisoned somewhere in an ancient vault on the material plane, somewhere in Zheng-Kitar...and that, if the legends are to be believed, she requires the assistance of her followers to be free, that she may bring them everlasting happiness and ultimate salvation. The means by which these dedicated members of the faith seek to free her varies, and range from coins and wealth offered up to altars where possible, to even blood sacrifices being given(usually of one's own blood given in safe amounts, though evil followers might actually sacrifice others) - all done to imbue Soo-Min with the strength to break free of her prison and lead her flock to the promised land.History
Like many other faiths of Wild Gods, the history of Soo-min is actually mostly unknown, and next to nothing is known of how this notorious Nine-Tailed being reached and attained divinity at all, in fact - all of the details of Soo-Min's faith enter the historical record after the signing of The Dûlhralian Accords some 800 years before the present day. As the Ezdhûlian people were forced into capitulation and their capital of Kal-Dûlhral was occupied completely by the Kingdom of Raoulin for nearly 100 years, the faith of Soo-Min which had until then existed in few places outside The Glacial Drift and other Kitsune populations as little more than a cult following was brought to the Ezdhûl people by a nameless Kitsune prophet. Preaching the word of Soo-min to the beaten and outcast Ezdhûl people, the Soo-Min faith practically took hold in the Ezdhûl citadels overnight, exploding in popularity among the downtrodden and depressed people broken so thoroughly by the harsh terms of The Dûlhralian Accords that they embraced her faith as the official state religion - a fact which continues into the modern day, and in the Ezdhûl cities of Kal-Dûlhral and Bal-Wahrûm which exists the only standing cathedrals to Soo-Min outside of the Glacial Drift. Expanding outwards from the Ezdhûl citadels in the mountains of the world, the Soo-Min faith took hold absolutely everywhere over the next eight centuries into the Modern Day, spreading across the seas and overland to nearly every corner of Zheng-Kitar...though still, next to nothing is known of the strange Nine-Tailed Kitsune God's origins, as the Kitsune of the Glacial Drift(Specifically those of the mysterious Cabals), as the original members of Soo-Min's faith, refuse to speak to any about her history in any capacity, leaving her an intriguing mystery to countless Theologians and scholars of saints. Of note, the faith has seemed to style itself similarly in many ways to that of an Elemental Saint, even naming their Goddess in a similar manner to an Elemental Saint - for reasons that are unknown.
When you fall as far as we do, the only people you have to rely on are the ones who exist or have been where you are - spit upon, looked down on, and hated just for the misfortune of losing everything. Do you know how that feels? I imagine you wouldn't. You couldn't. But she does - the Goddess who lost everything, just like us. Through her, we have a purpose - we have a family, and something to believe in. For people like us, that's all we need - all we ask for. To feel wanted. To get pushed on that first step. Because it's hard...too hard...a life's so hard to fix once it's been broken.
Divine Classification
Wild God
Alignment
Species
Children
Example Divine Oaths
Oath of the Bottom-Feeder: Look out for those of a similar societal standing as you, and bring curse and destruction to those of a higher standing than yourself. Never let a slight against those at the bottom go unpunished - but never let a slight occur against those who have never done wrong by them.
Oath of the Debtkeeper: Keep a complete log of all debts you have incurred and all grudges you have, both for yourself and for others who cannot or will not seek vengeance for an action done upon them. Never forgive a wrong done upon you or your allies, and always ensure those who do so suffer in an equal or greater measure for what they have done. Never forgive a grudge or a slight without enacting some repayment in return.
Comments