Al'Uma

The Al'Uman religion is built around the worship of the Eldar: had humanity (and the Firstborn) shown the proper reverence to those who had ruled the world, the Eldar would never have Fallen, the Hordes would never have begun their march across the continents, the Exodus would never have been required (and thus the Returns would never have been needed, much less failed), and all of the mortal races could live in peace and harmony, instead of the state of near-constant warfare and strife facing most nations today.

To that end the Al'Uman theology centers around religious observances of varying levels of strictness--Morning and Evening Prayers, for example, are a bare minimum necessary to be considered a practicing Al'Uman, along with an open adherence to the Merevetsian Creed. Numerous ceremonies and rituals litter the Al'Uman calendar, but beyond the Morning and Evening Prayers and the Merevetsian Creed, disputes emerge regarding what is "truly" Al'Uman and what is apostate or heretic.

The most obvious of these disputes is the dispute between the Prophet Alalihat and his Disciple Zabalasa around the nature of mortal responsibility to the Eldar. Alalihat held that the Eldar required veneration before all else, and so mortals' first responsibility is religious observance; Zabalasa, on the other hand, believes that Alalihatian worship puts too much of the burden upon the Eldar, and holds that the Eldar require mortals to shoulder their part of the burden--particularly the ever-present war against the Hordes. (When the Hordes fled south, leaving Yithi and Zhi in their place, Al'Umans seized upon the mixed-Hordish heritage of those peoples as proof of Hordish allegiance. This allowed them expanded scope of their holy conflict to include those tribes, which some argue was more a decision of convenience--Zabalasans were not great sailors--than reasoned theology.)

Alalihatian Prophecy

Zalabasan Sect

Almalzish Protectorate

al'maeran Heresy

Certain clerics of the Al'Uma feel the call of the Eldar, but do not feel compelled to either the Alalihatian or Zalabasan traditions, but instead feel a deep compulsion to the sea. These al'maeran bring the veneration of the Eldar to sailing vessels, but also bring a strong back, willing hands, and a deep abiding love of that feeling when the wind fills the sails and the surf comes crashing over the bow.

"True" Al'Uman clergy of the other three traditions look down upon the al'maeran priests, but cannot avoid the truth that al'maeran prayers yield divine favor every bit as much as Alalihatian or Zalabasan prayers do. The Almalzish priests do not understand the al'maeran need to wander, but heartily welcome them (and their cargoes) into town when they arrive--so long as they leave again in a few days.

Game notes

A cleric of the Al'Uman religion is always of either the Alalihatian, Almalzish, al'maeran, or Zabalasan traditions; there are no other traditions within Al'Uma (although apostasy is always possible, it's up the GM whether apostate Al'Uman clerics are actually receiving spells, and from whom--or what). While Pantheonic and Trinitarian theology is known to the Al'Uma (and tolerated--barely), Kaevarians are definitely unwelcome, and more than one Kaevarian Church founded in an Al'Uman city has found itself burned to the groun by mysteriously-garbed strangers speaking in distinctly local accents.

Alalihatian Cleric

Domain (choose one): Life, Light, Order, Zeal

Preferred equipment: mace, leather armor, light crossbow, shield

Holy symbol: A mirror-bright disk with etchings of the ancient symbols of the Eldar

Almalzish Cleric

Domain (choose one): Arcana, Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Protection, Shadow, Unity.

Preferred equipment: mace, leather armor, light crossbow, shield

Holy symbol: A mirror-bright disk, with an etching of a sun rising over a rounded shape (hill)

Zabalasan Cleric

Domain (choose one): War, Healing, Night, Song, Zeal

Preferred equipment: mace, scale mail or chain mail, light crossbow, shield

Holy symbol: A mirror-bright disk, with an etching of an upraised clenched fist

al'maeran Cleric

Domain (choose one): Nature (with an emphasis on the sea), Ocean, Sea, or Tempest

Preferred equipment: spear or trident, light crossbow, leather armor

Holy symbol: A conch (or some other mollusk) shell, cleaned and polished