Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- consolidated:religion:homebrewpantheons:the_wen [2025/07/14 10:32] – [Lune's Dreams] johnb
+++ consolidated:religion:homebrewpantheons:the_wen [2025/08/11 22:32] (current) – [Overview] johnb
@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 The Wen are the native people of the dragon coast.  As a people, they are little more than tribesmen and cavemen, although some have embraced the civilisation to be found in more advanced settlements such as Porter's Bar, Port Elizabeth and Paria.  They follow a simple nature loving faith, with a demon, Varen, who will punish them if they abuse the natural world or intercede for them in times of need.
+**[[consolidated:races:wen:start|Read more about the Wen here]]**
+**[[legendarium:poems:the_beginning|In the beginning ….]]**  A Wen story song, that speaks of the origins of the world and their culture.
 ===== Core Philosophy =====
@@ Line 12: / Line 16: @@
 There are no temples or churches a such, but the gods are everywhere.  Nor are there are specific services, instead each person makes small offerings through their daily life.  It might be something like feeding the ducks (or the fishes), helping a bird that has fallen out of a nest, watering a plant in a drought or even scattering the seeds from the fruit you have just eaten.  It includes a concept of just taking what you need – if you aren’t going to eat that weed eel, then release it back into the water alive.   Don’t pick all of the fruit and then let it go mouldy – something else can use it.   Community use is OK, as is local barter  (I’ll trade you this eel, that I can’t eat, for some of that extra fruit you picked).
-Spell casting Wen are extremely rare and are usually ++Sorcerer|(with the Solar bloodline)++ or ++Shaman|(with the Nature spirit)++. Both classes are seen to be 'touched by the gods' and are treated with fearful respect. They often live isolated lives away from any specific family group, but generally in walking distance of more than one family, and serve as healers, prophets and seers to the whole community. They are known to make images, deep in dark caves, of natural phenomena, such as animals, trees, sun and moon.
+Spell casting Wen are extremely rare and are usually ++Sorcerer|(with the Solar bloodline)++ or ++Shaman|(with the Nature spirit)++. Both classes are seen to be 'touched by the gods' and are treated with fearful respect. They often live isolated lives away from any specific family group, but generally in walking distance of more than one family, and serve as conscience, healer, prophet and seer to the whole community. They are known to make images, deep in dark caves, of natural phenomena, such as animals, trees, sun and moon.
 ===== Deities =====
@@ Line 64: / Line 68: @@
   * To those who led the prayers  he gave the secret of fire, when they called upon him in the right way, he would give them some of the flame from his body (Fire spells) and he also taught them how to make flames by rubbing sticks together in the right way. BUT there was a price…
     -  First was a compact for all the people - the fire had to be treated as special - after all it was a part of Sol - the fire wasn’t to be used to hurt Gaya (ie can’t be used to burn trees down etc) and it had to be respected.
-    -  Second was a compact for the priests – they had to support the leader, become his guide, his reminder of the gods' will - after all the leaders were so busy making sure their family kept alive, sometimes they forgot. It was the priest's job to make sure they didn’t forget for too long …
+    -  Second was a compact for the priests – they had to support the leaders, become their guide, their reminder of the gods' will - after all the leaders were so busy making sure their family kept alive, sometimes they forgot. It was the priest's job to make sure they didn’t forget for too long …
 ==== Gaya's Dreams ====
@@ Line 70: / Line 74: @@
 Gaya's dreams made it easier for her children to survive, and gave them their basic societal structure.
-  * It was on one of those long hot summer days when all you ever want to do is lie down in the shade and snooze that Baran had his first dream.  In his dream he saw himself running with the wolf pack, chasing down one of the huge forest birds and bringing it down, sharp teeth rending the life from the prey and then the whole pack gorging on the flesh.  When he awoke, he couldn’t get the idea our of his brain - the wolves running as a pack - like the family they were, and bringing finding food that would satisfy them all - But how, he didn’t have the teeth to fetch the birds down - He was sure it was a dream from Gaya but he didn’t know how to make it work.
+  * It was on one of those long hot summer days when all you ever want to do is lie down in the shade and snooze that Baran had his first dream.  In his dream he saw himself running with the wolf pack, chasing down one of the huge forest birds and bringing it down, sharp teeth rending the life from the prey and then the whole pack gorging on the flesh.  When he awoke, he couldn’t get the idea our of his brain - the wolves running as a pack - like the family they were, and bringing finding food that would satisfy them all - But how, he didn’t have the teeth to fetch the birds down - He was sure it was a dream from Gaya but he didn’t know how to make it work.  He puzzled over the matter all day - but still nothing came to him - so the last thing he did before he went to bed was to ask the gods for help. He was embarrassed to ask Gaya again, after all she had sent him a dream and he didn’t understand it, maybe he wasn’t worthy to ask her.  But Gaya heard. That night Baran dreamed again, he saw the pack hunting and then the scene switched - this time he saw the devil-bird  hunting. Rather than the sharp teeth of the Wolf ripping the flesh from the prey, the sharp beak came down and stabbed the prey to death.  Next day, Baran spent ages finding a special shaped piece of rock and working out how to tie it securely to a branch. And before long he had the first spear and went out hunting with it, for the very first time.
-  * He puzzled over the matter all day - but still nothing came to him - so the last thing he did before he went to bed was to ask the gods for help. He was embarrassed to ask Gaya again, after all she had sent him a dream and he didn’t understand it, maybe he wasn’t worthy to ask her.  But Gaya heard. That night Baran dreamed again, he saw the pack hunting and then the scene switched - this time he saw the devil-bird  hunting. Rather than the sharp teeth of the Wolf ripping the flesh from the prey, the sharp beak came down and stabbed the prey to death.  Next day, Baran spent ages finding a special shaped piece of rock and working out how to tie it securely to a branch. And before long he had the first spear and went out hunting with it, for the very first time.
   * Ever since he could remember Arrak and his family had been collecting fruit, nuts eggs and grubs like the first dream had shown them - but his family was large and it was hard to collect enough food so the children were skinny and weak. In his desperation Arrak prayed to Gaya for her guidance and this was his dream.  As he slept a giant spider came to him and lifted Arrak up onto his back and carried him off. Arrack was frightened but all he could do was hold on for dear life, as the spider sped away across the treetops. The it stopped and called and a hole host of little spiders appeared, and Arrak realised that the spider had problems feeding his young too - and that this must be a dream from Gaya.  The spider marshalled his young and set them to building a web, a huge web bigger than anything the spider could build alone - and then they waited - and waited.   Eventually a huge moth was caught in the web, and struggled to its death - and its body made a feast for the spider family. At that point in his dream Arrak awoke, the memories still fresh and a prayer to Gaya on his lips. The very next day he made a net, which he used to catch birds, and so Gaya and the Spider taught us how to trap for our food.
   * Many years ago the people were like the birds that come to visit us every year, they travelled the land looking for food, and only stopped somewhere long enough to hunt and eat. One winter hard winter when the fruit was scarce and the people wandered the land looking for food. Many froze, as they could not start the fire that Sol had given the people as his gift - for the wood was cold frozen and wet. Many animals died, and the people found hunting hard - and many people died. The old people and the babies were first - but many of the stronger, younger people died too, the winter was that hard. Then Sharika the leader of one of the groups had a dream that must have come from Gaya. He saw the squirrel building his drey (nest) in spring so that he had somewhere to live and mate through the summer. Then in his dream he saw the squirrel and his mate collect nuts and seeds and bury them in the ground, and he saw how the squirrel came in the winter to eat the buried nuts and seeds, and that the squirrel and his family survived even the worst snows.  Being a wise leader, Sharika learned from his dream. As soon as the weather started to clear, he found a good place for his family to stay in through the winter. The other families laughed at them - and then laughed even harder as they started to collect food and preserve it for the winter. But it was Sharika’s family who had the last laugh, they were comfortable and warm through the winter, living in their caves, eating dried fruit, smoked meat and the nuts they had collected. Everyone else shivered and went hungry.  Soon every one had learned from Sharika and the dream he was given by Gaya.