Ris

Morset Tributa and the Church of Westrun

The pagan faith of the Free Provinces was called Morset Tributa or "Death and Taxes." 

During the heyday of the Grand Temple of Westrun, there were only two Patrons among the people of the Provinces. Kel and Ris were the Pretenders who settled there. Childless and unmarried, after the Era of Subjugation they came to be considered the goddess of chaos and the god of order -- the lady of darkness and the lord of light. This duality in spiritual matters fit well with the vestiges of political power that were built on the remains of the Vyrum Empire. 

Under the Vyrum rule, each city/state was a diarchy of princes. The White Prince was the military and executive power of the city/state, while the Black Prince was the economic and legislative power. This arrangement of black and white politics fit well with the spiritual imagery of the dark and light. So as human governance grew and developed, the sects of Kel and Ris became deeply ingrained in Provincial society. That faith was known as Morset Tributa or “Death and Taxes”

At the conquest of the Provinces, the “Taming of the Serpent,” by the Eight Kingdoms, its political and religious structures were subsumed by those of the rest of Westrun. Officially, the cults of Kel and Ris were brought into the temple system and officially recognized as sects of the Grand Temple. Unofficially however, the Provinces maintained their own reverence for “Death and Taxes” and had their own priesthood dedicated to them. 

After the God War of 5108, the priesthood of the Provinces lost potency, but the trial of Gamasiel had occurred across the Dagger Sea and none of the new priests of the Church would be seen in the Provinces for many years. When they did come, they maintained many vestiges of the old way out of deference to local custom. 

Kel and Ris were worshipped no longer, but the churches made from their temples were still decorated in the old black and white motifs. Over the next centuries, the Church of Westrun would gradually gain power in even the furthest corner of the Provinces, but many of the old superstitions and reverences remained. 

Until High King Aleranus the Less and Patriarch Anastorin worked together in 5230 to build the Cardinal Prefectory at Ald Dovaris, the faith of Morset Tributa was not fully supplanted. To this day, “Death and Taxes” are sometimes taken to be avenging angels of the Ere All.

When Westrun conquered the Principalities of Vyruma Serpentis and brought them under the High King's control, the Church was nominally accepted, but the new provinces were excluded from the Edict of Supremacy in 5129. Therefore the Church in the Provinces became a syncretic mix of both faiths. Death and Taxes were taken as Worthies by some. An attempt to bring the Provinces fully into the faith did not begin until 5230 under Aleranus the Less and the Patriarch Anastorin with the construction of the Cardinal Prefectory at Ald Dovaris.

This struggle continues to this day.

The Princes of Erenes VIII: Law and Chaos in the Principalities

Long ago the Principalities were ruled by noble Houses which built glittering Alds that rose to the sky. But the Alds were eventually abandoned and became the possession of lesser men.

Into this land came Ris, who is sometimes called the Hound of Law, and sometimes the white god. By his side was Kels, who is sometimes called the Grimalkin of Chaos, and sometimes the black goddess. From a conflict over the sea, they fled to the shores of the Principalities. Because news of their coming was noised far and wide, the Black Princes of Florenia, Genia, and Matinia came out to meet them on the sea.

But not all of them together were strong enough to oppose Ris. He sank their ships and set their men adrift. Then Ris lashed the Black Princes who had opposed him to the prows of his vessels and went next to the Danello Isles.

But the Black Princes of Belolia, Iglesia, Novaria, Comaria, Leccia, Pordenia, and Ferraria would not submit at his landing. So Ris and Kels fought against them and in the power of their fury struck terror into the hearts of all men. These were the Wars of Subjugation and when the fury was spent, the islands were no more, for they had been swallowed by the waves. 

When Ris and Kels made landfall at Benonia on the mainland, their Black Princes came out to show them obeisance. Then Kels danced above the water which divided Westrun from the Principalities and many saw her and were charmed.

The Princes of Erenes VII: The Contest of Heimos and Ris

In due time, Ris came to Westrun and settled there among the people, then Heimos came after. And the two quarreled for the company of Kels who had put aside by Lamon. For Ris desired that she accompany him wherever he roamed, but Heimos desired her since the dance she had made for him. 

A great feud grew between the Princes until they lashed out in their fury. The fields burned with their anger and an entire forest was swept away. A hill were flattened and a mountains was brought low. The people of Westrun were frightened and begged the Princes to refrain from their battle, but they did not relent. Finally, Kels intervened between the Princes and beguiled them from their anger. With a drum in one hand and fire in the other, she charmed them promised them both what they most desired. 

Kels said that Ris could remain on one side of the sea and Heimos on the other. And as for the water between them, it would belong to Kels herself and above its waves she would dance in full sight of both of them. So the great pact was struck and in return for the Peace of the Gods, the people honored Kels with a great procession and a spectacle at its end, which is repeated every year during the Festal season. 

The Princes of Erenes III: The Seduction of Heimos by Kels

Now Kels was the wife of Lamon and the sower of chaos. She was a being of surpassing beauty and loved to dance. So Lamon hid her behind veils, lest others espy her and become enamored of her. Beside her bed he chained the darkling hounds and bid them to watch over her.

 

Now Angest was lame but had eight eyes and they were set in a ring upon his head so that he could see in all directions at once. And Angor was blind but had eight legs, which meant he could run faster than any prince or creature. Together the two stood watch on the bed of Lamon and kept Kels captive.

But Kels often fed the hounds from her own plate and so earned their trust. She was able to tame them despite their massive jaws and sharp teeth. On the night that the princes left Heimos, she was able to bind the Hounds with her veils. She bound the eyes of Angest and the legs of Angor and slipped out of the bed of Lamon. She went naked into the presence of Heimos and there, she danced.

Heimos was filled with lust for Kels and in the darkness of the night he made vain promises to her. The captain of the princes promised to spare his kindled wrath against the other princes and to allow each to go their own way into the Four Lands. When Heimos saw who it was that he promised, he chased her from his chamber promising her death.

So Kels returned to Lamon, her husband, but Lamon was wroth for the binding of his hounds and he put aside his wife. Then he cursed the men of Erenth saying, that whosoever would lay with Kels would become blind, and a eunuch forever.

So it was that Kels came to be with Ris, who was the eldest and most infirm of all the princes and beyond the siring of children.

The Princes of Erenes II: The Counsel of Heimos and the Deicide of Brand

When the chariot had come to rest upon the Aksus, Heimos, captain of the Princes, looked out upon the world of Erenth and declared that if man should heed their counsel, then the Princes would reward them. In return, the Princes would be as gods to them and protect them and keep them safe. And the people who were gathered there said, "Let it be," and paid obeisance.

Then to demonstrate their love and their trust, the Princes set aside the robes of their magnificence and the mantles of their regency; and they stepped foot upon the Aksus as if they were only the peers of men. But the kings of that time were savages and unlearned. They were jealous of the Princes incomparable wisdom and jealous of their luminous beauty and jealous of their immense power.

"If these Princes of Erenes come among us," they said, "we will have no more power forever."

So the kings of men attacked the princes and speared Brand, who was as a son to Heimos, the captain of the Princes. This kindled a great fury in Heimos who put on his robe of magnificence and the mantle of his regency. Then he raged with thunder and lightning and slew all of the kings who had come to him to pay obeisance.

Then the Princes of Erenes gathered around and their grief was great for the broken body of Brand, but the fear of their captain was even greater. 

"Let us each go out into the Four Lands, and tame the lords and kings of men, for they know only evil which they have learned from the Vyrum. Let us therefore go among them and show them a better way."

But Heimos could not be consoled in his wrath. He placed the body of his son, Brand, on a pyre made from the chariot and burned it upon the Aksus, while the princes slipped away in the darkness to fulfill their plan.

Mykrojurs went to the Land of Eastrun. Lamon went to Northrun, Umirra went to Southrun, Ris went to Westrun.

Morset Tributa: the Pagan Faith of the Free Provinces

Only two gods are certain: Ris and Kels.

The ancient gods of the Principalities are Ris and Kels.

Ris is personified as a white man, lame and often depicted with a crutch or leaning upon a staff. In some places he is depicted as a dog on point. His symbol is a crude arrow pointing upward, and alternately, a tower of stone. He is the personification of Law, Order, Organization, Government, Taxes. He is the immovable object. Though it must be pointed out that there is no connotation of goodness for Ris. He might be, and often is, considered evil.

Kels is personified as a black, often faceless woman. She is almost always depicted scantily clad, or nude. Her sexual organs are always hidden from view by sheer clothing, the position of the objects around her, or even just the convenient pose of her arms and legs. That said, her pose is never intentionally modest, merely accidentally so. In some places she is shown as a cat. Her symbol is a crude depiction of a snake eating its own tail, which is often taken for a circle with an arrow point in one arc, or the crest of a wave. She is the personificaiton of Chaos, Entropy, Wildness, Liberty and Death. She is the unstoppable force. Again, no moral sense of evil should attach to her, necessarily. In some situations she is seen to portend a good and favorable result.

The two deities are continually striving against one another, but not at war. They are considered inextricably linked to one another and often portrayed as lovers who are doomed to be apart. Both deities are believed to exist from time immemorial and both are immortal and undying.

Neither Ris nor Kels promise any sort of afterlife. All mortals are believed to be consigned to some shadowy existence after death. Trapped forever in some ethereal state they know neither pleasure nor specific suffering, but are consumed by loneliness and boredom in perpetuity.