What It is to Serve

The following document is unlike many others in the collection of Low Scrolls, in that it is intended permanently to be a work in progress. All submissions, comments, and requests are welcome.

Prologue

Many organized religious orders defame the worship of the Singer of Screams, saying that his followers gather in cults or secret covens. As is mentioned in “On Mularos,” this assessment of the Mularosian religion is not completely true. Rather, the tenets of service to the Sorrower do not require the immense infrastructure present in organized churches of other Arkati. It is this author’s opinion that Mularosians, as a whole, are a solitary lot. They may happen upon other lives as they wind their way through the world, but they are alone. Friends they may have, but they are alone. The suffering of the world sets Mularosians apart, and because of it, they are alone. This innate solitude creates a vast spectrum of views. Larger religions often squelch innovation and differences of opinion; that of Mularos naturally encourages both.

The paths depicted in this document are entitled as best suits their nature. If there is a widely-held designation for any, it shall be used. Otherwise, they are the creations of the author and should be weighed as such. It should also be recalled that many of these concepts are combined or borrowed from by individual worshippers to best suit their religious leanings.

With the aforementioned established, it would be a task of draconian magnitude to provide explanations of every path that any servant of sorrow has walked. In order to best suit this purpose, this document can best be seen as a permanent work in progress. Without doubt, it shall grow and change as information is made available. In time, these efforts may bear fruit. For now, this author begs the forbearance of his readers.

The Mirrored Path

The Mirrored Path is possibly the simplest interpretation of the Sorrower’s will. This does not make it any less correct than the others. Rather, the Mirrored Path can be shaped to encompass all other methods of worship. It is founded on the principle that all beings can be set into two broad groups: those who inflict pain, and those upon whom it is visited.

If one accepts that this view has merit, the ramifications are astounding. It places into perspective many aspects of life: the relationships between predators and prey, masters and servants, and, more narrowly, the unusual distinctions between the dominant and the submissive. Almost every relationship of a primal nature can be rationalized to follow this path. Furthermore, it does not exclude most other means of worship.

The prime danger of walking sheltered in the simplicity of the Mirrored Path is believing that it is the only way. One cannot ignore the motives and methods behind the giving of pain, or its receiving. It is also prudent to recall that few beings fit perfectly into simple definitions. The prey may turn on its predator, the master may fall and the servant may rise, and the submissive can just as easily torture the dominant.

The Trail of the Tear

Another broad method of worship that places no limits on the power of Mularos is the Limned Path. This is the belief that does not focus as strongly as most on the giving and receiving of pain in a physical context. Rather, it contends that life is a study of pain. Mortal existence is spurred, governed, and defined by the existence of worldly suffering. The fundamental argument behind such a path is that those events which cause mortals the greatest pain also cause the greatest transformations in their lives.

In youths is this best exemplified. A child burned by flame often ever after has a fear of fire. One rewarded always for doing good deeds may still develop the propensity for bad, but the threat of a lash is often suitable to dispelling the latter. Events that are purely pleasurable rarely have the same impact as painful ones.

Tenets of this path, which the author of this document personally follows, include acceptance of Mularos’s presence and power in all parts of life, studying the sensations of given and received pain, and independence from worldly mastery save where it is willed otherwise by the Sorrower.

All paths that oversimplify the nature of life are with flaws. There are obvious exceptions to the Limned Path. What makes it viable is that it is an intensely personal path. It requires no rites, only the absorption of the pain the Sorrower dispenses in daily life. If a follower who chooses it is possessed of a nature that is suited by this style of worship, he or she will excel at it, and do his Lord much good service.

Hedonism

The common image of the Mularosian contains elements of Ivasian rapacity with V’Tullian bloodlust. Many followers of the Sufferer do embrace these ideals, and it would be pointless to deny them their place beneath Him. The hedonists of the Sorrower are most frequently known for their orgiastic gatherings, control of vast pain harems, and mindless lust untempered by any real religious nature.

Like all widespread beliefs, these have their foundation in truth. Cults dedicated to Mularos—frequently ruled by a charismatic master who may or may not have the Sorrower’s goals truly in mind—have sprung out of every orifice of Elanthia. They often openly espouse hedonism while carrying on darker deeds beneath their surfaces. Preying on youths fascinated with sexual and sensual experimentation, these cults may exist for days, weeks, months, or years. Almost without fail, such sects end in violent rituals, a final flare of pain given to the Sorrower.

The flaws of a purely hedonistic approach to Mularos are numerous. Such a course demeans the overall seriousness and honor of a Mularosian’s service. That notwithstanding, there is some merit to the old adage about travail independent of pleasure.

The Way of the Rose

Among the most classically religious courses in popular awareness, the Way of the Rose goes even to the point of having the equivalent of a High Priest and inner rankings. Eryael Ladrinyth, who dubs himself the Rose of Mularos, is the orchestrator of this path. His powers seem to come directly from the Painbringer Himself, but whether this is a sign of Mularos’s blessing on the Way or merely a reward for Eryael’s personal service has not been determined. It is even possible that Pain Lord Ladrinyth’s powers are merely a product of intense training. Directly beneath the Rose was Mularos’s Whip, Harith Caerines. Her equivalent counterpart in a more organized religion might be a paladin of some sort. Harith’s powers were also far beyond those bestowed on the average mortal. While Eryael has power over the winds, the now-departed Harith controlled the mind.

Study of this religion begins with the learning of humility and obedience, but later branches into studies of the proper ways in which to give pain for maximum potential. Finally, a follower that has walked this path will ostensibly become the master rather than the student, and then may choose how best to serve the Sorrower.

Difficulties along this path often come to those who are comfortable with walking their own way in life. Furthermore, it should be noticed that, like in any religion centered around a worldly leader, politics and power plays riddle the Way of the Rose. Those who are unable to deal with clandestine trials of character and accountability to mortal masters may find themselves better suited by other styles of worship.

The Two-Fold Way

Embodied in Ysharra of the Dark Alliance, little is known of the way that has been dubbed Two-Fold. It is so named for its dual worship of Mularos and V’Tull. As best as can be gathered, followers of the Two-Fold Way see the two Arkati as bringers of two separate types of pain. They live to honor both.

When Mularos and V’Tull are allied, as they are at the time of this writing, this seems a path that can be safely trod. Difficulty might arise if ever a schism divided the two, but this seems improbable.

Epilogue

As was mentioned in the early portion of this document, this scroll is a work in progress. As time and learning permit, it shall expand beyond the confines of these pages. That, of course, is the work of another day. I invite you to return soon.

Return to the library of Lesser Scrolls.