The Guedia

The Guedia

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Mamma, Papa, The Baron, The Twins
Worshippers: Non-zendiqi Porphyrans, brujo
Domains: Charm, Community, Death, Pleasure
Favored Energy: Either
Favored Weapon: monk’s spade
Favored Animal: horse

Legend
Along the Brown Coast, south of Simoon and Ghadab, live peoples that are of the Porphyran racial stock, related to the desert zendiqi and the plainsmen of the Clans of the Fourlands. They are referred to as Coastlanders, and call themselves the Sahili, which means the same thing. They are a poor folk, scrabbling for subsistence in a harsh land, and their struggle has been made difficult by the onslaught of historical conflict, such as the perishing of the Almuuti civilization (likely their ancestors) leaving only the Dead Cities of the Almuut Peninsula, the catastrophic NewGod Wars, which caught them in the middle, and the apocalyptic invocation of the Ghadabi Empress, shortly after The Calling. But the Sahili continue, and their following of their folk deities, the Guedia, reflects their prosaic reality, indifferent to the larger world. The Guedia are a collective deity, made up of many distinct minor personalities representing the lives and deaths of the Sahili people, male and female, poor and high-born. “Pappa” spirits promote fun and work, and escort souls killed by disease and accident; “Mamma” spirits promote home life, and escort souls taken by old age and childbirth; the various “Barons” are arrogant criminals who seek wealth and comfort, escorting souls killed by violence and conflict.

Church
There are three castes of celebrants of the Guedia: the houngan of Pappa, the mambo of Mamma, and the bokor of Baron. Each caste administers to the communities’ needs in that area, and interacts with the loa intermediaries of the Guedia. The bokor caste is a troublesome one, as they skirt the line of evil disobedience on many occasions, even so far as to actually animate the dead into zombies and skeletons, using them to perform labor on farms or building. A subsect of the bokor are the curse-casting brujo who are more widespread, and less reverent. Adherents of the Guedia travel widely on horseback, and the horse is a sacred animal to the Sahili and to the followers of each of the castes, a white horse is especially sacred, and may only be ridden by a houngan, mambo, or bokor of great power.

Spell Preparation Ritual
Adherents of the Guedia rise when they wish, and partake of distilled spirits (sugar-cane rum) and tobacco (typically rolled into a cigar), offering a portion of both to the loa servants of the Guedia and Mamma Rich, as they refer to Ereshkigal’s vague dominion.


See Also

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a - All text is Open Game Content.