Tales of

Erath the Joker

Erath was a Drood heroine who spearheaded the resistance to the psychotic Karmanian overlord Alys a thousand years ago. Having dealt with him, her attention then turned to countering the influence of the subtle spirit cult of Unuk-Halai, Bringer of Pain and Nightmares. Though born a mortal, she became a minor deity ("Saint") worshipped by the Droods and Carmanian peasants as a spirit cult to this day. She is opposed to exploitation of the poor by the powerful, which was a major reason for the suppression of her cult by the nobility some 2 centuries ago, despite the Red Goddess' having adopted her into the Lunar Pantheon. Her strengths lie not in combat but subversion and Truth. Her cult is currently officially proscribed, following her attempted exposure of another Lunar deity's treachery which backfired, but appears to offer the only hope of overcoming the increasing local influence of Unuk-Halai, thus the players' interest; however overt support courts disaster. The players are currently trying to rebuild her cult and have her reclassified as a Lunar Saint, rather than Enemy.

(from Tales of Alys) ...

Erath - Lunar Saint [source: Brennan the Drood]

Erath was once a Lunar Saint, venerated for helping bring the Karmanian people and gods into the Goddess' Path. Her cult was the responsibility of The Riddlers, a powerful group of advanced mystics who are at the core of many Lunar mysteries.

Then came the ___th Wane, the _____, and the Terror of Sheng Seleris. His nomad armies penetrated even into Carmania, the last stronghold of the Goddess. There was a standoff here for many years, as the Emperor gathered his strengths for the final battle with Sheng and prepared his __th Inspiration (Yara Aranis).

The Riddlers who followed Erath found that their brothers in other branches of the Lunar Way were following many desperate paths to assure their own survival. As is the nature of Erath, they asked embarrassing questions in court: why were the followers of another sect making secret deals with the enemy?

What they did not know, was that the corruption ran deeper than they knew. The Provincial Governer moved to exterminate them. Erath and Menkar interceded directly to save her cult, whilst the loyal Riddlers tried desperately to find the Emperor (who was in hiding from Sheng) or a powerful noble whom they could trust. Erath became involved in a direct confrontation with a Lunar deity, I am talking of a battle you understand, something she was not versed in. Erath was stripped of some of her powers, but managed to escape. I do not know which god it was, but I do know that Erath is said to have stolen its Name, but I am unsure of the significance of this.

As a consequence, this entity has harboured an enmity for Erath ever since. The Goddess forbids direct strife between her followers, but you have only to look at our nobility to know how strictly that is adhered to. Erath's priests were killed by diverse means, and in the turmoil of the times, I suppose the Goddess needed the Nameless God as an ally. Besides, the nobility had never appreciated Erath's followers asking awkward questions about political acts, particularly when it aroused the Farmers, so everyone looked the other way when Erath's priests died.

As to the destruction of her shrines around Carmania, I know nothing of that. I had noticed it is difficult to find them outside Drood woods, but attributed this to Time naturally obscuring unused places of worship. Perhaps the Anonymous Deity is gradually destroying them. There's a big one in Hjalborg, on the White Sea Shore, and another famous one in Spol - the Temple of The Hydra. There's said to be some in Rathorela, and many old Karmanos shrines had a niche to Erath, but of course the Lunars obliterated most of those."

An Erath Cover-up?

Comment by Xorin D'Strino, scholar of Irippi Ontor interested in Erath: "I know that there does seem to be some kind of cover-up going on in the Lunar religion even today. There is sus-sus-suspiciously little information in the Libraries on Erath, and priests - particularly Riddlers, who are meant to be preserving her memory - either know nothing or are strangely dismissive."

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This page is under construction: last updated 25-8-96 by pH