Gods (Promptober 2025 #28)

Detail of the Divinty Sanctum

An outside observer's view of Fellport's attitude toward the gods. Excerpted from the merchant wizard Katelyn Durgin's expansive letter to Lord Gavin Stewart, the 37th Secretary of the Runlorg Society at the Bochord in Occam, the southernmost city in Dunhill, written during her extended stay in Fellport in the spring of 793 AUC.

You bemoan the Bochord's haphazard organization scheme? Try cataloguing entire faiths the same way. I don't know how the people of Fellport don't go mad deciding which gods to worship, as they seem to worship every god that's ever shone the very hint of a divine face over land or sea.

Dunhill's got the Tuatha for everyone, and that runs like a chaotic fief with cousins fighting everywhere you look, plus a local god for every house. Ionia does the same thing, though their list of gods is shorter than ours. Fellport seemed to open up the Divinity Sanctum and let servants of every last one of the gods set up a stall to proselytize anyone who comes in. Tiny island gods of deep waters rub shoulders with Tengri, the Okulari Sky Father. The Goddess of Spiders spins calmly next to Surtur's fiery chosen. It's madness.

Some clerics decide to worship and uphold entire pantheons of gods, which causes even more of a headache. Maybe they originally wanted more space in the Sanctum? But that's not how the lottery system works. One god, one shrine. Everyone shares space and moves their holy ground four times a year. The religious can set up dedicated worship spaces elsewhere at their own expense, but everyone who asks for it will receive space in the Sanctum as long as they help with healing and the livelihood of anyone who comes for aid.

I don't understand how they haven't had a dozen holy wars in that one building, even as big as it is. Gods tend to gather souls and crave more worshippers. They don't tolerate any others as part of their stories, except in Fellport. They can fight each other, but not on the shared holy ground of the Sanctum. Like a common tavern brawl: take it outside or it's the last time you'll enter.

The Divinity Circle is doing something right, clearly. How are any of the gods content with a small patch of floor and a tiny table in the largest worship building I've ever seen? I don't think any god looks kindly on the Sanctum, but maybe that's part of why the whole system works. I also credit Genna Sinclair for constantly putting out the tiny ideological fires that break out every few minutes. She worships the Light, so she's not driven by ego like most clerics. And that's to everyone's benefit. We should send someone to follow her around and take notes. Maybe the Runlorg Society meetings will run smoother with that input?

Genna should be sainted for her tireless effort. Yet I fear the day she abdicates. Who will rush to take her position as Justicar? And what will their jealous god direct them to do with that power? Or will another calm-spirited disciple rise and maintain the fragile peace?

Part of the Promptober project for 2025.
Since this is about Fellport, it's listed in the Fellport Almanac as well.