Worship In Nuum

[Avedri]

(( I realize that a lot of lore/design has yet to be released so I hope this doesn't contradict anything someone was planning or working on. It just helps me flesh out my own character a bit when I have an idea of her culture and history.))



The door of the room creaked as she opened it and the glow from the sunlit hall poured across her sharp features. She bent down carefully with one hand steadying herself against the doorframe and the other gingerly supporting a hammered copper bowl swept with errant wavy patterns. Her hand remained still as she knelt down to the floor, placing the bowl on the ground. Speckles of reflected light danced across the wood paneling of the hall from the surface of the water, causing a gasp from an unannounced audience.

Avedri smiled, pulling her gossamer robe closer to her frame before waving to the young child. He stared at her with his flat chocolate eyes before turning and running back down the hall towards his parent’s room.

“They do not understand,” she thought, “they have Her gifts in abundance.”

In the land of the unyielding sun; water is precious, water is power, and water is life. That is why we revere Naia and seek to please her above all others for without her blessing Nuum would not be elevated as it stands today, ascending above all others.

Though we have many elemancers who have mastered hydromancy, the idea of conjuring water to serve as a replacement for the rivers during drought is blasphemy. Many common elemancers find themselves at best pariahs and at worst removed from this life. In spite of this, the more noble and wealthy families keep around the best elemancers for just such a task. They also manage a prince’s ransom in bribes in order to prevent this news from becoming public and creating scandal.

So it is to Naia that we give thanks and pray unswervingly, that she continue to fatten and swell the Twin Serpents. They are her gifts to the people of Nuum though much like the twins themselves, she is as unpredictable from one day to the next. She is the great dichotomy – the nurturer and the rebuker, the benevolent sister and the spoiled child, the giver of life and the aloof companion to Death.

If we are deserving of discipline, there will be no water for our crops. If we are ungracious with our gifts, there will be no water to bathe in. If we are reckless with our power, our suffering will only be ended by death. That is why we honor her by reserving a piece of her gift each morning. We show that we are worthy by demonstrating restraint and willpower, that she will continue to see us fit for her blessings. The offering should always be water directly from the Twin Serpents and when travelling special urns and amphora are created to carry water from Nuum and preserve it for the duration of the trip.

A great temple to Naia rests where the rivers come together as the pinnacle of her power. We call that place the Throne of Life. The structure of alabaster and quartz was built right up to the waterfront with a side piazza that descends from the shore deep into the river. Throughout the sanctuary are numerous reflection pools and fountains that flow endlessly even during the harshest droughts, when many perform pilgrimage to pray and bathe in the cool, pure waters.

Ladies of Nuum often adopt the practice of wearing serpentine jewelry deviating into two heads, the purest and most translucent blue sapphires are inset as the eyes. Both genders wear river glass beads often interspersed with shards of blue sapphire as another form of reverence. And when in Nuum one should never wear a caged or wrapped sapphire, to do so is a disgrace to Naia for she cannot be harnessed.

We love her and we fear her, we obey her and we praise her. She is Naia.



Reflections of Prominent Immortals in Nuum

XXXX, the Sun God
Symbol: A nine-rayed orange sun
Sphere: Sun, conquest, athletics
Manner: Boisterous, prideful, fractured
Main Place of Worship: The Gilded Solarium of Panej

Naia, the River Goddess
Symbol: A dual-headed snake with opposing scales in gold and sapphire
Sphere: River (water), fertility, wealth
Manner: Two-faced, impulsive, aloof
Main Place of Worship: The Throne of Life

XXXX, the Body Goddess
Symbol: A jade butterfly with silver eye markings
Sphere: Creativity, discovery, purity
Manner: Reserved, pensive, artistic
Main Place of Worship: Gossamer Salon

XXXX, the Soul God
Symbol: A long-handled white amphora
Sphere: Love, philosophy, education
Manner: Cunning, charming, unapologetic
Main Place of Worship: Great Library at Deseth

XXXX, the Afterlife God
Symbol: A balanced onyx scale
Sphere: Law, architecture, preparation
Manner: Judgmental, irritated, dark
Main Place of Worship: The Halls of Reckoning in the Immortal City

XXXX, the Death Goddess
Symbol: A molded and decaying fig
Sphere: Plague, war, nether
Manner: Manipulative, unforgiving, haunting
Main Place of Worship: Afflicted Shrine in the Valley of Ruin

[Lae]

Love this!

[Rias]

It's extremely spiffy, and I think we'll adopt it with maybe a tweak here or there.

[Alexander]

A most excellent read, and would make a fine addition to the lore documentation.

[Rasui]

Speaking of this, Nuum appears to be heavily modeled after Egypt. Would it be acceptable to have an item altered into an ankh? A pendant, for instance?

[Rias]

I think an ankh would be fine.