Glorantha: Cult of Pavis Cult of Pavis originally published in Cults of Prax presented as an example of a City God This document is Copyright © 1998 Issaries, Inc. It may be freely linked to, and one copy may be printed for personal use, but any other reproduction by photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited. Table of Contents Mythos and History Other Notes Mythos and History Pavis was a Hero who appeared approximately 800 years after Time Began, during the expansion of the Empire of the Wyrm's Friends. Half man and half elf, he grew up in his human father's family. As a man he moved from Shadows Dance to Dragon Pass, and studied under the tutoring dragons then present in the empire. There he met the Dwarf and gained a mastery of Stone. By animating the great Faceless Statue of Shadows Dance and bringing it to Prax to defeat Waha in a wrestling match, he gained sovereignty over the area around the River of Cradles which took his name. Later, when Waha was grievously wounded during an invasion of Dragon Pass, Pavis taught Aldryami Healing to the Priestesses of the Paps, and the god was cured. This cemented bonds with the nomads of Prax and made the city of Pavis safe for the time. Though it was considered strange for a half-breed elf, Pavis had many connections with the dwarves, particularly with one Mostali named Hardeye Flintnail. Records are unclear, but it is thought that Flintnail may be the famous "Dwarf" of Dragon Pass. Flintnail gave many gifts to Pavis, and constructed great works. One of the most permanent was the son he beget on one of Pavis's daughters. This son began the Flintnail cult, a cult of masons and metalworkers. With the aid of Flintnail, Pavis created an immense city from the body of the Faceless Statue, then departed and never was seen again. His daughters began the cult of Pavis, and the rule of the city passed to the Arrowsmith dynasty, a noble family of the Pure Horse nomads. After some battles with trolls and the Giants of Shadows Dance, the introduction of the Sun Dome Temple (see the Cult of Yelmalio) into the area provided a firm fighting force for the city. Pavis and its city cult flourished. The prosperity did not last. In a hundred years the Empire of the Wyrm's Friends was destroyed, and Jaldon Toothmaker, the hero of Prax barbarians everywhere, had ravished the city. The Arrowsmith dynasty was wiped out and the city lived on among ruin. The cult suffered accordingly. Finally, a great warrior Kahn of the Sable tribe managed to crack the crystalline walls of the Temple and the city was truly open for conquest. Conquest came in the form of Gerak Kag, dark troll priest from Shadows Dance. The trolls and trollkin fought their way through the nomads of the plains and set up shop in the city, sealing it against intrusion. The last Rune Lord of Pavis, Balastor, died during the final defense of the city, as the last of the Pure Horse people abandoned the walls to dwell on the plains of Prax. Troll magic closed the city for 400 years, and constant struggles occurred between the trolls and the last remnants of humans, elves, and dwarves. The Pavis cult held to its rituals, and their intimate knowledge of the city aided worshippers in every crisis. The cult kept non-troll dwellers alive in the ruins until the city was reopened during the time of strange magics and phantoms from the past known as the Dragonewt's Dream. After the second procession of unborn dragonewts opened the gates to reopen their temple in the Rubble, the kingdom of Sartar sent colonists to start a city outside the old Truestone walls. New Pavis (or Pavis Outside the Walls, in the Sartar tongue) made a refuge for the Rubble survivors. Even the Pavis Survivors, the zebra-riding mercenary remainder of the old Pure Horse people of Prax, returned to their ancestral city. With this resurgence of human society, the Pavis cult has come back from the basements and cellars of the Rubble and has set up in New Pavis. The High Priest of Pavis and the Sartar colonists' High Priest of Orlanth negotiated a settlement effectively giving ground and buildings to Pavis, and the air to Orlanth. An exchange was made, giving the Orlanth locals use of a Pavis special spell, and the Spirits of Pavis were joined by a Sylph (see Rune Magic descriptions). Even under the Lunar occupation, the Pavis Cult grew, for the Goddess wanted to "marry" Pavis to add him to her ever-growing Pantheon, and he played very hard-to-get. With the support of the invaders, open worship of Pavis was increased, especially among those Orlanth worshippers needing somewhere to go after the closing of the Orlanth Temple by the Empire. As of this writing, the Pavis Temple may even be accepting its first Rune Lord since the death of Balastor. Pavis cannot guarantee his worshippers an existence after death, save those who become cult spirits. Funeral customs for the cult are non-specific, and the priests will use whatever other religion they believe in when they determine funeral arrangements. For instance, the old Arrowsmith Dynasty cremated their dead atop the city gates, while during the closed period of the city the cult was run by a family who buried their dead in several plots about the Rubble. The Flintnail cult, which attracts many priests, believes in entombing their dead in stone. Some of this latter cult dead have been entombed in mortuaries cut into the True-stones slabs making up the old city walls. Pavis had ties to both Aldryami and Mostali, and also had glory as a builder. The Runes most closely associated with him are Earth, Stasis, Harmony, and Man. Other Notes Lunar Friendship At the time of the beginning of the Lunar Occupation, there were five priests priests of Pavis. All were old men. The High Priest was very leery of any connection with the Lunar Empire, but kept up a facade of cooperation for years. See also: The Travels of Biturian Varosh: Harmony in the City Gods in Prax: Invader Deities [ New Here? | Greg Sez! | Main Page | Product Listing | Coming Events | Cool Links ]
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