Maelstrom Campaign - The True Faiths

There are five faiths that are accepted by civilised beings in all lands. In former times, primitive and superstitious beings worshipped idols and spirits that they believed to be Gods, but in these enlightened times such practices are abandoned and forgotten. Even today, heresies are not unknown, there are zealous priests that have sought to deny the validity of the other faiths, there are hermits and fanatics who claim to be prophets of some unknown faith and there are even those who deny all faith. The majority of civilised people accept the truth faiths and many are pious enough to become devotees of the Gods that give them succour.

In some lands the Gods are known by different names. The Huntress is called Bubastis by the Tritoni, while the priests of Amun-Sa know the Smith as the Soldier. Some educated philosophers believe that the names by which we know the Gods are mortal labels given to convey the practices and beliefs demanded by the God, rather than the God’s true name. That the Gods are the same, but known by different names, has been established beyond doubt by several notable incidents, the most famous nearly two centuries after it occurred, remains the Dupraid Heresy, when the high priest of the Soldier in Amun-Sa successfully excommunicated seven priests of the Smith in Flambard.

As a result, each of the five faiths now has a single Church, based in churches and cathedrals across the Known World. The congregations of the Smith, the Teacher and the Merchant, tend to reflect their Gods’ desires for discipline and order. The high priest of the faith is often involved in appointing priests to positions in other lands and funds are held by the Church to raise cathedrals and temples in foreign lands. The Huntress and the Weaver have less organised Churches and some independence from the will of more senior priests in other lands is common.

Though the five faiths disagree on many things, they all agree which days are sacred. The summer and winter solstice and the spring and autumn equinox have always been kept as holy days by many folk in many lands. There are many more accounts of miracles on these days than at any other times, and the appearance of eidolons bearing messages and blessings from the Gods usually takes place on one or more of these four days. It is common for priests of every faith to bring the faithful from many lands together on these days and it is considered impious and ungodly to engage in violence or warfare at such times.

No mortal being can hear the voice of a God and live, so the Gods created their servants, the eidolons to bring their words and their blessings to us. They are known by different names in different lands, such as Angels, Celestials, Cherub, Seraph and Valkyrja. These immortal beings have served the Gods since time began. Some however have chosen to refuse the will of the Gods and have turned to their own selfish ends. Like the loyal eidolons, these foul beings are known by many names, Daeva, Demon, Devil, Putana and Tokoloshe. They seek mortal souls to carry off to hell and herald from the New World. Despite superstition they cannot claim your soul unless you talk to them.

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.