Rivering

This was a hard entry to place. Its not quite religion (although it does have a goddess) and not quite magic (but it does seem to work) and not quite a couple other things.

Part of problem with writing about "Rivering" is that it means so many things to so many people. To start with, **Rivering** is a blanket term that people who live anywhere near the Red River of the North use to cover any number of rituals, superstitions and techniques for crossing over, living next to and just surviving the River.

### The River Herself

So, the basis of all things that are clustered under the term 'Rivering' is knowing about The River. The Red River of the North is the one, inarguable, physical fact that defines the area. Even withoutthe Awakening, it is a powerful force, carving out the Red River Valley and still capable of flooding out the settlements along its banks, it defines the landscape here.

And that's before you take into account that it is now Awake and Angry. The spirit that inhabits the river is powerful in a way that has sparked a great deal of (so far) fruitless scholarly debate and defied attempts to bind, banish or effectively communicate with it (although the Riverwalkers will argue with you on that one). She (and they always refer to the river here as 'She') is angry, jealous of Her freedom and does not brook any interference in her activities. And to the people living along Her banks the difference between a spirit that powerful and a River Goddess is mostly academic.

The will of the River is known mostly through Her actions. She will not stand for dikes, diversions, dams or bridges. Any such gets smashed before it can be completed. She will not be crossed without respect (see below) and not at all during the region's frequent and devastating mana storms , when She is full of magical power and rages out of control.

The thing that the people along the banks always say is 'What She takes she does not give back, what She gives, she does take back'. Things (and people) that fall into the River are assumed to be gone, permanently, although people who've attempted to use that to their advantage find that what She does not want She does not accept and those who've tried to dispose of waste or pollute Her generally are lucky to escape with their lives. Likewise, on the rare occasions She brings something up or gives something to the shore and the people on it, it is a great offense for it to return.

And then there's the Riverlings. If anybody knows why the mana spikes around the River the way it does and why it seems to create Changelings  of a specific type, they're certainly not saying.

## Surviving Her

The thing to keep in the forefront of your mind while reading this is that 'Rivering' is not one thing. There is no unified system of belief or of practice at work here. This is a collection of behaviors and little rituals that people use to deal with the River. Some of these are based on first principles (see above) and some are just things that seem to have worked.

* Don't touch animals found dead by the shore. I mean, touching dead animals is always a bad idea, but here its worse. Mages say it can pollute your essence.
* Little shrines are set up by Riverlings and Riverwalkers on the shore near where people have drowned. This is supposed to give their spirits something to remind them where they're from.
* People who swim in the Red do not return.
* When crossing in a boat, the boat must be clean, especially of dirt from the shore, the ritual cleaning of the ferry is worth waiting for, everybody agrees.
* When crossing during turbulence, when Her Blood is Up, guides often drop an object of personal significance (and it must be something they actually care about, She can tell the difference) into the waters to gain Her favor.
* Even during calm waters, passengers and crew often spit in the water to give a little of themselves to the River during crossing, as a sign of respect, the price of passage.
* The Biting of the Cheek. When without an appropriate sacrifice, in extreme circumstances, it is possible to bite the cheek and spit out a bit of blood while taking in a bit of River water in exchange. This is for emergencies as the Red River isn't the cleanest river in the best of times and generally this is not happening at the best of times. Seriously, 'River Fever' is a thing and should be avoided whenever possible.

## Riverwalkers

   Most of this is just the understandable reactions of people living near something huge and powerful out of their control. These are just the little ticks that people use to deal with their powerlessness.

For most people.

There are, however, people for whom the river is more than just a force of nature. For them, it actually IS a River Goddess. They walk the shores tending shrines, and generally work on the ferries, guiding them across with fifty years of experience in what works for them and what doesn't. Some of them are just quacks and eccentrics with a fixation on the River, some are those who's lives have been touched by Her and are struggling to understand what happened to them and some really do seem to have an insight, some quirk that lets them intuit what will help avoid the worst of her wrath. Most have some touch of all of this. And collectively they're called "Riverwalkers".

The movement, if it can be called that, has its origins in the first flooding of the Red River during the Awakening. A lot of survivors of these floods saw the survival of the replica viking ship Hjemkomst  as a sign from the River, planting the seeds of what would later become Rivering. They also revere the Riverlings as 'Children of the River' and that they have some special favor with the Mother River, a notion the Riverlings are themselves divided on, but are more than willing to let the Riverwalkers keep believing. For some Riverlings its just a good con, but a couple of the crew chiefs (most notably Cap'n Krell and Max Lou) are respected Riverwalkers themselves.

A curious thing is that only a few of the Riverwalkers are a full Mage or Adept, although several of the ones who are not have shown themselves capable of some low-powered magical effects, although whether that's them or just the River accommodating them is up for debate...

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