I'm going to start posting the answers to the prompts that we used in our games using Urazya as a setting. I'd love to see other people post their creations as well; this could be a rich vein to mine, with lots of sharing, borrowing, and remixing. If you do post some of your stuff, link me to it, please! Maybe we could even get a public wiki going. Let a thousand Urazyas bloom and all that.
First up:
17. Name and describe three religious faiths vying for spiritual supremacy in Urazya.
Our Lady of the Drowned
- Our Lady of the Drowned is a goddess worshiped by fishermen, whalers, sailors, and those who live near the sea.
- She is depicted as a woman dressed in a flowing gown, her face obscured by a veil, who carries a bouquet of oleander flowers.
- She is prayed to for protection at sea, for the safe return of those who make their living off of the sea’s bounty, and in hopes that she will save the souls of those who die at sea.
- Petitioners ask Our Lady of the Drowned to provide calm weather and to spare them from a watery grave.
- Creatures such as sharks, whales, squid, and krakens are thought to be sacred to Our Lady of the Drowned.
- The churches dedicated to Our Lady of the Drowned are built from the remains of ships that have capsized, foundered on rocky shores, sunk, or otherwise become less than seaworthy.
- The altars of her churches are made from carved figureheads recovered from sunken ships; it is not unusual for the altars to feature buxom maidens, helmed warriors, mermaids, and unicorns as dominant motifs.
- The priesthood of Our Lady of the Drowned consider it a sacred duty to collect any bodies that wash up on the shore and give them a proper burial in their goddess’s name.
- The priesthood is almost exclusively drawn from the ranks of retired sailors who had a brush with death at sea. They are frequently marked with both nautical and religious tattoos.
- The scripture of Our Lady of the Drowned is called the Brine Book. It’s authorship is a disputed mystery.
