rukio

Marlow lives in Helena but often visits Morsgrad!

“Strange how they claim him a bandit, claim they kill bandits, yet claim he wasn’t killed by them. Hmm.” Marlow would say this to Chadmyr in the Morsgrad tavern before musing to herself. “Perhaps it's all of the throwing they do of their children. They all have head injuries.”

“Didn’t see a trial for the man Haense tortured earlier...” Marlow says casually, recalling Daniel.

”Kogami.” She left it at that, giving his letter to his former enslaved.

Ratcliffe arrives late to the party, very hungover and mildly tired. The threat long dead by the time they arrive!

We are not Canonists. On this point, no one should disagree. Our gods are separate, our beliefs and rituals rarely similar. Both religions initiate into the faith and both religions marry. Yet why does the Fatherist marry? For the Canonist, marriage makes sense. Their scripture dictates that marriage must occur, for fornication outside of wedlock is a sin against their god. We see proof of this in their dogmas, in works such as Fourth Golden Bull of Jorenus by Everard the Fifth and The Catechism of the Canonist Church by Cardinal Fabian the Lesser. Yet this isn’t so for the Fatherists, our god has never declared that we must wed. Nothing within our scripture, within our code dictates that we must wed to avoid, as the Canonist refer to it, ‘sin’. Within our historical documents we can trace marriages back to the time of Astrid and Bjorn, if not further back. Yet just as common is the practice of men opting not to wed, to have children with barmaids of the local tavern instead. Plenty of Ruric men and women are born this way, even in recent times. For example, Duke Godric and his three siblings were born out of wedlock. Godric is considered a legitimate son, as are his siblings, as are most of the men and women of Nordish descent born outside of marriage. Marriage does not dictate who is legitimate in the eyes of the Father, but rather who is legitimized within the southern nation’s cultures. Are we southern? No. We are proud Northern Nordish people who have better things to do than bicker about how valid a man is based on the premise of his birth. A man’s works should speak for him, not his parentage in most situations. So then, what compels us who follow the Fatherist faith to feel we must marry? I believe the Fatherist feels compelled to marry because of Canonism. The All-Father has not existed for eternity, many of the Nordish people have had relatives from the heartlands, or like our Duchess, have come from a Canonist background. When a people spend enough time around a culture, no matter where they go, some hints of the culture they hail from will follow. We cannot be certain of where those who followed Thoromir I hailed from, thus it is not a stretch to believe that some would have been Canonists or of a similar religion and spread their rituals to our people. Is marriage not stagnation? The scripture says “Live life as a fire, not as a stone. Your days shall be judged afore I welcome ye to my Hearth, as shall the manner of your death.” Is fire stagnant? No, fire is not stagnant, a stone is. Does marriage not encourage jealousy, encourage hatred and murder such as we see in the case of Bjorn and Astrid? Astrid, betrothed to Bjorn, murdered him as he slept for taking another to his bed despite no law forbidding him from doing such. It was the promise of a Canonist marriage that led to the murder suicide of a young Nordish man and woman. Even in more recent history we see the promise of marriage and the Canonist corruption that comes with it lead to death. Such was the case of Jory Ruric’s ash wives. Wed to Jordan (of unknown surname), he had taken others as ash wives and had multiple children. Yet the jealousy and power struggles amongst the women led to the death of Jordan and near murder of her son, Godden. All of this preventable grief fell upon our people due to the Canonist religion’s act of marriage and the mindset it brings with it. This is not to say that being unfaithful is tolerable if you promise your undying loyalty to whom you wed. If you choose to enter into marriage, you should uphold your vows as any true Fatherist should do with any vow they make. So then, if most born out of wedlock are not deemed bastard, if it is not against our Father, if the act of marriage has led to murder and grief, why do we of the Fatherist faith support the Canonist ideal of weddings and marriage? If it brings no honor to our god, nor heals any corruption of our own cursed flesh, then why do we marry and entertain the same notions Canonists have for centuries? Perhaps the older priests, skilled in the old books, will be able to provide guidance. Signed, Rosalia

10/10

thank mr dsdevil

“Kill him, you won’t.”

No but he asked me to, absolutely refused! I’m no degen! Be sure to pass that on to him uwu

Me @ ur brother

Marlow has a stroke attempting to understand what happened that day. ((Writing is 4/10 plz make clearer

Good talk dude