Orcus

**Orcus** is a god of oaths, duty, punishments, executions, and the Underworld. He lends his name to the orcs, who are his primary worshipers, and is possibly one of the most widely venerated deities in the Old World, with most humanoids of Cascadia being of his mystery cult.

The cult of Orcus is perhaps best known for its harsh penalties for broken oaths, which range from mere execution to trial by ordeal and excruciating torture before death. Orcus demands respect for oaths, and to swear by Orcus is to accept that breaking such a vow is not amenable, nor palatable, even if the wronged party is willing to make concessions.

Unlike many mystery cults, especially those of the southern lands, the cult of Orcus is one equal to its initiated; that is to say, nobility and local aristocracy have no special privileges over their constituents within the cult itself. The cult of Orcus dominated the lands of Vostok Manda and beyond for this reason, as the penalty for broken oaths is equal among all of its clergy: death.

His worship was first documented with the wood elves, as ventures to Espios by Muzdash sources indicate that much of the associations with Orcus, including the death penalty for broken oaths, were present with the elves of the Grand Line. How the elves discovered and began worshiping Orcus is unknown; though they were exiles from *Zamaria* and former Zemori, their rapid shift from Samaru to another deity in large numbers is one of the greatest mysteries of the time Preliturgy.

## The Five Gifts and the Five Crimes

When initiated into the cult of Orcus, the deity makes five promises to new cultists that are considered great gifts that elevate his cultists to greater heights. These five promises, however, are in exchange: for each gift that Orcus gives, he makes a demand as well, which constitute what are called the Five Gifts or Five Oaths.

### Oath of the Earthly Vessel

Worshipers of Orcus see the god as being a keeper of perfect order and giving the gift of life after death. Within a few hours or days after one's death, the soul is alleged to travel to the Eighteen Hells of Orcus, where one is to kneel before the Judge Yama and be evaluated based on their oaths and behavior. Those who have lived perfect lives will be reincarnated; those who have failed will be tortured for may centuries and millennia until they have paid their due and will be reincarnated shortly afterward.

In turn, Orcus demands his followers forfeit their earthly bodies upon their death, having used them to full effect, and render them to be used as undead; he lays claim to their flesh as it is their souls he protects and which that they have ownership of. For this reason, they are forbidden from raiding tombs and stealing from the dead, as they are in his domain.

### Oath of the First Iteration

Not only will Orcus allow his clergy to reincarnate after a life well-lived, but if they seek enlightenment, they will find it within themselves by seeing into their past lives. To do so, they must remember and seek guidance from both their ancestors and from their earthly masters, whom they are subject to if they are indeed children of Orcus. The truly dedicated will find that their efforts are well-invited: if one peers deep enough inside his past, they will find their First Iteration, a being called a *bulezau* that represents their earliest memory and their True Name. Once they know their true name, Orcus will grant them great power for their success.

Like the previous oath, Orcus asks that in exchange for this ability, that his followers not perturb or interrupt the process for others; it is one of the Five Crimes to use your words to spread anti-wisdom and corrupt an individual's actions so much that they cannot be enlightened in this lifetime.

### Oath of the Heavenly Mandate

Orcus promises his clergy that, while most humanoids are foolish and require direct guidance from their gods to govern themselves, Orcus trusts that his disciples are capable of ruling themselves. Orcus cares not for the circumstances of one's birth, not if they are impure or ignoble in blood, and not even if their family is cursed or treacherous. Individual merit is a guarantee that one will earn a rightful place in power, no matter one's circumstance.

With this oath in place, it is a grave and mortal sin to falsify one's merit, as it throws the governance into a state of corruption and a competition for who can demonstrate the least merit in governance, and the most in pretending. This is today understood to be associated with cheating on one's imperial examinations.

### Oath of the Silver Mantle

In regards to hierarchies, Orcus levies equal punishments to any and all individuals in his cult. That is to say, an emperor will be executed in the same way for a broken oath as a leper, because both are under Orcus's "silver mantle" and are thus subjects of their god, not each other. In this way, he ensures that castes and hierarchies provide social stability, as retribution is always levied equally and fairly, and abuse of power is always rectified.

Orcus therefore acknowledges that, to remain under his silver mantle, all sacrifices and oaths can be made only in his name. To worship any other god but Orcus, or to recognize them as equals, is to abandon his truth and to leave his protection. This is another of the Five Crimes.

### Oath of the Precept

Finally, the underpinning of all social order is the oath. Orcus gives humanoids the power of the oath, and punishes broken oaths, only to string together the fabric of society in what is called his *precept*: if you create an oath, you shall keep it, even if it means your death.

There is one exception to this, sometimes called the crimson mantle. This is the bond between parents and their children, in which oaths made by parents to their children cannot be called oaths, as there is a supposed oath made by children by their giving of flesh and body by their parents that they will abide their rules. In this way, parents are not earthly rulers but creators, and thus they do not make oaths but give gifts, much like their god Orcus. Thus, as blasphemous as it would be for Orcus to be slain by his disciples, children are never to shed the blood of their parents, nor seek recompense for their parents not fulfilling their promises.

## Controversy

### Protections under the Papet

The Papetral Pontifect does not officially recognize the cult of Orcus as a viable nor sustainable religion. Because those who venerate Orcus also submit themselves to extrajudicial punishments by their religious leaders, cultists who are guilty of no particular crimes in their province are kidnapped, tortured, and killed for relatively mundane actions like leaving a military post to grieve a lost loved one. Though this may not have a special effect on the lives of everyday people, if the cult was to gain power and encompass a region, it could be easily corrupted for the purposes of installing a religious theocracy which defeats the purpose of the Pontifect.

This subversive system lead to the High Pontiff denouncing the cult as barbarism and rooting it out when it appears, though this has only been enforceable in especially stringent regions like Cisteria and Arborea. It has a somewhat lax position in Cascadia itself, in which the Pontifect lends bundles of reeds to individual investors but not the government itself. Because of this, the Pontifect technically has influence in the area, but it is not "in power" as much as other areas.

### Demon summoning and worship

Orcus is one of the most active and powerful gods in the Old World, and frequently intervenes in mortal affairs for various reasons. He has command over the undead, various demons, and grants endowments of otherworldly spectacle for various deeds to his disciples. Though he does not participate in global wars necessarily, actions taken with holy fervor will be blessed with demonic followers at times. This is notable with the armies of the Jackal King, among others.

This is one such reason that in provinces such as Arborea, the worship of Orcus is seen as evil or a bad omen, and an unofficial *vitandus* is placed upon his devotees in many human-dominated regions.