The Toll of The Deep – Code, Uniform & Articles of Faith

Code of the Toll of the Deep

The Church of the Kraken has long been persecuted and vilified it is our burden to accept the sins of our past and ensure that the future’s way is paved with the truths that the Church represents.

If a member of the faith comes to you with a weight that sits upon their shoulders then you must at one point help them with that burden but at the same time ensure that they are capable of bearing the burden for themselves.

It is the duty of the Church to say the words of the dead for sailors lost at Sea in the duty of the Kraken. This duty in particular should never be ignored.

Those that sail the seas are all the flock of the Kraken whether they realise it or not and should be treated with the respect that such a stalwart deserves at all times.

The Zoranethi have been branded as traitors to the faith of the Kraken and are to be hunted down and exterminated at all times.

The realm beneath the waves is much larger and full of more life than the lands above; it is our duty to continuously explore, understand and record the knowledge of that realm.

Much of the lore of the Kraken has been lost to adversity and the past, the Krakens relics, artifacts and wisdom are our legacy and must be sought and recovered at all opportunities.

Priestly Vestments

The traditional garb of the Church of the Kraken is of the poorest material; hempen or sack cloth robes and hoods tied with string belts at the waist. Only the Holy Symbols of the Kraken are allowed to be well crafted and defined at these times. Generally a Krakenite will wear sensible clothing designed to work in or to sail in when not at worship. The Clergy have demanded that the faith designs a more suitable attire for wearing at important functions and ceremonies but so far the suggestion of the clothing of the drowned has been deemed distasteful. Undoubtedly as time passes the attire of the standard Krakenite will develop.

Articles of Faith

As a Krakenite there are some clear guidelines that are to be followed; as a Holy Warrior or Reaper you should follow the code below. This code is the guidance by which you set examples to the world that you strive to protect, a Reaper is the shining example of the faith, one who is given great power by the Oblivion and to break their tenets would be to break favour with the deity and lose not only the power that he has gifted but more, the very purity of their souls. Following these tenets are a guideline to how piety works and how.

Tenets of the Reapers

You will preserve the Church of The Kraken and his tenets, bowing to those Pure of Faith and obeying his enlightened in all things.

You will seek actively for the secrets of the Kraken should it not interfere with your duties to the Oblivion, the flock that it protects or the Kingdom that it serves. Should you find information pertaining to the location of such items you will pursue them at the first opportunity.

You will seek and destroy the Zoranethi, enemies of the faith of the Kraken, at all costs, you must not leave them to prosper; like weeds they will return until their roots have been destroyed.

You are responsible for anything that the Church is given to protect and hide from the world; should such a burden be placed upon you that secret and that which it protects is yours to defend.

You are the voice of the drowned; if at any ceremony that calls them forward they have tasks left undone it is your burden to complete them. A Seer or Reaper Seer will bless the tasks if they are deemed worthy of the Kraken.

You will aid and assist those that sail upon the waters of the Oceans and the Oceans only. You will bless their journeys if the tithes be paid and seek any vessel blessed by the Kraken to discover its fate should it not return.

Any prophecy written under the Moon is the correct way of moments to come and will be well interpreted and obeyed.

You are the tide upon the land, the tide represents the change in things, the spread of the sea and the strength that we exert upon the land. As the tide you will continue to spread our influence and power and build a strength that we can find succour from.

You will accept any burden that is placed upon you without complaint and carry it, however some burdens may be cast aside if they have no power to strengthen you by seeing them through unto their end. Any Seer of Reaper Seer can absolve you of the burdens that you carry.

You will make an offering of worth the Kraken each time you cross or enter his domain.

Day to Day Activities

The Church are still in their infancy and perhaps the role of the bulk of their followers is still to be seen but there are strong leaders that have risen up to lead the way of those below them. The hierarchy of Priests is reasonably unchanged from the times of old, at least the names are the same: The Church is led by the Seers who are purely the spiritual arm of the Church, relying mainly on the power of their belief and the protection of their Reapers, they rarely utilise mortal tools to defend themselves and drive the faith forward. Seers are few, very few in number and find their support among the much more numerous Reaper Seers; trained in the arts of combat and the Focus arts they are without the purity of the Seers but more than capable as Krakenites. Finally the Reapers are the Holy Warriors of the faith and though there are but a handful they are powerful indeed and many consider their power borne from the Mantic skills of the Kraken himself.

The Church have many responsibilities that they are still finding their way with that favour both the priestly and the municipal parts of their functionality as a body. Many Krakenite facilities can be found in boatyards or associated buildings and many of the priests either come from those walks of life or are, by proxy, obliged to learn them. As such Krakenites are often involved in the creation of sea going vessels, their blessing and the training of those that would sail in them. This is a source of respect and income for the Oblivion and is a priority task for the followers it is often coupled with the Priests observations over these vessels, speaking of their moments to come and when best those that sail upon them would want to make wills or perhaps when best to invest in transportable goods, again this comes for a fee.

In a more sedentary role, for there are so few Krakenites, those that wander the lands and the sea are given the task of seeking the hidden things of the world, particularly those lost to the God. Their return to the Seers is of great importance to the faith as is the wellbeing of those souls that enter the realm of the Kraken. Prayers for the drowned and insuring that their immortal soul reaches the appropriate place in the heavens is a difficult burden for the Priests to undertake. Many souls become lost in the realm below and the followers of the Oblivion and for those that seek them it is a dangerous journey that is taken, spiritually upon a Ketch with room for the Priest and the soul that they are to return.

Holy Days and Important Ceremonies

It has been a busy time for the followers of the Kraken since their God rose to prominence and they have marked their calendar with several powerful days that are celebrated with usual Krakenite sombreness.

The Call of the Deep

This is the day that the Kraken rose to power and is celebrated each year in the individual places of power across the Royal Basin and the Greater Teeth. Those Priests will come together and join in a prayer of thanks for the gifts that the Kraken has given them. They then take voyage in their Krakens Ketch out into the harbours or deeper waters of the Sea with offerings that they have collected over the year to give to the Kraken. At this time they will accept a burden from the Church that they are expected to have carried to its conclusion, those that succeed are supposed to receive visions from the Kraken at this time. Often this ceremony is marked by the Krakenites wearing the clothes of those that have drowned and takes place on the twenty fifth day of Sunsdusk. The Lighting of Lanterns – This day marks the moment that the Angels and the Archangels rose from the depths in a great ceremony in which over a hundred followers of the Kraken were drowned to give faith to them. They came forward carrying great storm lanterns on long moor poles and gave their voices to the choir of the heavens. This action took place on the twenty fourth day of Earthwane in the year Quintus IV (2014ppw) and at the time of this writing has yet to have the parameters of the Holy Day organised.