General Information/Religion/Gharv

From Westaven

GHARV
Epithets: God-Slayer, Blood Boiler, Devourer of Light, Eater of Flesh
Portfolio/Spheres: Bloodshed, Ocean, Underworld, Death, Unmitigated Suffering
Manifestation: Black, fiery shadow, vaguely human, with eyes like white-hot suns; sexless, though often referred to as “he”
Symbols: Black flame on red field
Animals: The blackeron [an albatross-sized, nautical, diving, carnivorous crow that call a chocking-like hiss heard for miles; said to feed its young on its own blood ]
Power Centers: Scattered throughout Westaven
Temples: Many-curtained, long stone halls without windows; always on a sacred spot, oftentimes underground. Usually in isolated locations vs. within cities
Priestly Rainment: black skirt/sarongs, bodies half-stained black, upper torsos emerging as if from flame. Eyes lined with black, and fiery rays tattooed across shaved heads as if eyes were suns. Barefoot. Wear silver armbands, bracelets, etc. Carry ceremonial daggers at all times.
Affiliated Groups: Some sailors

Background
Gharv is an amalgam of ancient gods who came to be united in one demonic-seeming god without a clear anthropomorphic form. He/she/it is ruler of both the sea and an underworld, for in the generally accepted Westaven cosmology the land of the dead is an ever-swirling ocean, deep below the earth. In theory the underworld could be freely accessed if someone dove down through the waters for days and days on end and fought off its serpentine guardian. Hence, Gharv’s kingdom is at its top the warm waters of the Aenean Ocean touched by the sun, and at bottom the ever-black, cold, churning depths upon which all things float. Nautical legend has it the blackeron that sailors have for eons seen dive for fish not to resurface close by—if at all—are carrying in their beaks the ethereal souls of the deceased down to Gharv.

Gharv is believed to lord over the dead, but he is a brooding, spiteful god. Explanations of this vary, but perhaps the best mythological evidence points to the simple fact that death is hated and avoided by all the living, and the others gods regularly trump Gharv’s power for their own ends. The popular myth tells Gharv was once primordial fire itself, but when the creator god noted Gharv’s intense cruelty to all living things—which ended humanity’s ability to worship, for both sacrificial animals and men were being killed in droves—Gharv was exiled. Eventually, though, his freedom in the cosmos led to so much more destruction that Altuth was sent to drag him to the watery realm of the dead, where Gharv would have little power due to both his inability to kill and his continual immersion.

Other myths claim Gharv was a titanic god when divinities themselves walked the material world who attempted a coup, slaying many other gods, eating them, and growing in stature with each “meal.” Eventually he grew so tall his back blotted the sun, enveloping the world in darkness—but soon after his back touched the sun, which was Altuth's mightiest weapon, and he was set afire. His body burnt away, leaving just his soul, which burns to this very day in the underworld where he, a dying god in horrible pain, lords over those already dead. There are, of course, many other myths throughout Westaven, but the above two have been most popular over the past 3-4 centuries.

Gharv’s cult flourished during the Pall Years—-mainly because entire populations believed him to be conquering the living world, and thus sought to deflect his wrath through offerings, temple raising, and prayer. Many theretofore powerful gods (ex: other various ocean gods, etc.) were displaced by speedy, panicked conversions to Gharv. At this same time the belief arose that Altuth was abandoning the world to Gharv; hence, the former’s cult grew in power as pleas went up to her for salvation. Eventually, an entire folk-dualistic belief arose pitting Gharv against Altuth, the world being their battleground. Both sides’ priests demonstrated great prayer-spell efficacy in this conflict, and both refined their spiritual powers.

Today Gharv suffers most among the major gods’ cults. He is all but ignored by the mainstream populace—aside from either some few (rural) individuals who make token offerings to him out of superstitious tradition, or by sailors who often unwittingly praise him in their “salt tongue” language, which has assumed “Gharv” as a ward against misfortune (or, frankly, as a means of profanity). Gharv’s followers, though less populous than many other sects’, still hold some influence: their constant demands for death-sacrifices to stay the angry god’s hand are often heeded, even as modern learning in magery has weakened Gharv’s hold. And Gharv himself—-the most brutal and bloodthirsty of the gods—-still has power in the imagination of Westaveners, representing all they fear.

Sacrifices to Gharv consist of warm, flowing blood spilled ceremoniously on the altar; animals acceptable (all kinds of mammals or avian), but in times of need, human (preferably not slaves, etc. but a human of worth, and involuntarily.)

Game Details

• Prayer-spells:  ? Darkness ? Necromatic ? Water?
• Prerequisites:
• Links: See Character Creation for additional requirements