Aṅlethepi

(WIP)

Aṅlethepi (also referred to as Anglism) is the religion primarily practiced by the Poths. The Majority of It's followers are located within Paloro, Hussaria, Nullaria and Orithia (Druk Yul, Illystra, Atlechia); With minor Anglist populations present in the Republika Korolska, Aurora, and Boulderov. Anglism was brought to Rathnir by the Pothic refugees and became the common religion of Paloro, which then spread throughout Haven and then spread northward.

Fortune
Fortune, both good and bad is a powerful thing. Fortune affects the chance of events happening. One with enough good fortune can succeed with anything they set their mind to. However, one with enough misfortune will never get their way no matter how hard they try.

Aṅlithi/Anglity has the power to manipulate the fortune of others, and she uses this to reward those who help her cause. Those who aid her in preserving and helping aquatic life thrive are blessed with good fortune, whilst those who act against the good of aquatic life with be cursed with misfortune until they change their ways.

The Eight Acts of Aṅlithi
To be a follower of Aṅlithi (an Aṅlethepf/Anglist) and be blessed with good fortune, one must follow the eight acts of Aṅlithi. Here they are as followed:

1) One must accept Aṅlithi's cause to be true and just.

2) One must aid Aṅlithi's cause whenever possible.

3) One mustn't take justice for acting against Aṅlithi's cause into their own hands.

4) One must never try to mimic Aṅlithi's power, unless the power is bestowed upon them by Aṅlithi herself.

5) One must not harm a fellow Aṅlethepf when aiding Aṅlithi with her cause.

6) One must only fish during times of rain.

7) Aquatic life must be exalted and prioritised above one's own.

8) One must cast their dead into the sea to supply aquatic life with food.

These eight acts are interpreted by Anglists in three legendary tales, which were recounted by the famed Jálipf Poldi Paloro within the past 4 centuries. The tales are as followed:

Miets the Denier
Miets was a fisher. He would always catch more fish than the others, distributing his spare catches among his tribe free of charge. The tribe began to rely on his fish, as other forms of food were hard to come by. They were unable to farm animals or plants due to a lack of land to call their own and access to cattle. This was because they had been driven out of their homeland.

Miets noticed the tribes’ growing dependence on him. He also realized that he could capitalize off of this dependence. Miets began to sell his fish to his peers. At first the tribespeople understood this. He had done so much for them, after all. Miets rapidly gained wealth, practically owning a monopoly on the tribe’s fish, as any other fisherman caught a drastically smaller amount of fish, so their shops failed.

Miets continued to raise his prices, gaining more and more wealth and power within the tribe. The tribe had no leader, but he was becoming the closest to one they had. As time went on, the number of fish Miets would catch began to decrease, He had to fish for much longer just to catch the same amount of fish he used to be able to.

On a seemingly uneventful day, Miets was fishing for stock, when a storm began to brew. His boat was dragged away from the rest of the tribe by a strong current. Masses of fish began to circle him as fog and clouds shortened his vision. He spotted a light forming below the water. It grew brighter and brighter as moments passed, eventually floating out of the water. Within this light was a fair, young girl, with long, flowing, fiery hair of yellows and reds. Contrasted by her lifeless, cool eyes that seemed to be made of multiple shades of blue and green. She wore a loose matching pair of a blue and green tunic and trousers. Around the girl rose three massive spherical creatures. They were of a gray color and each had a large, grotesque eye that seemed to peer into Miets’ heart.

Miets heard a voice coming from the girl, however her mouth did not move.

“Hear me, lowly man. I come to you with a final admonition. You have opposed me for far too long. There is no reason for a land dweller to be taking the lives of so many of my children, You shall conclude your hunt, permanently, or you shall face swift retribution.”

Miets argued, saying he had a right to fish. The Girl conceded, saying that he is only allowed to fish when she is directly watching. He would know that she was nearby and watching by the rain that follows her. Miets accepted and the glowing girl began to descend back into the water. The spherical objects chanted “Praise Anglity” before following her. Miets followed these new rules diligently. Only fishing whenever it rained. This resulted in him catching gargantuan amounts of fish, but only during small intervals.

Miets grew unsatisfied with the amount of fish he caught, and decided to ignore the deal he struck with Anglity. He began to fish whenever he fancied. Soon afterwards the amount of fish he was able to catch plummeted. Not even a single minnow would bite his bait, while the catch rate of other fishermen rose. Metsh fell into poverty as he began to rely on other fishermen for food. They would charge him his past inflated prices out of spit. He was unable to grow old and starved to death, forever facing misfortune.

Anglity became incredibly reluctant to form any more deals with the creatures of the land.

Sheku’s Sabotage
Before the great Pothic parting, there lived two great friends, Sheku and Potheld.

These two were the Poth’s greatest minds. Philosophy, The Sciences, Arts, they dabbled in it all. And they were great at it all. Eventually, they tried their hands at Theology. However, this is where the friends’ ideas clashed the strongest.

Sheku, using all that he knew about science and mathematics believed that there wasn’t sufficient proof for Anglity’s existence. Potheld, on the other hand, believed that there was no proof for or against it, thought it clever to live as though she existed, as what Anglity wanted was incomparable to the gift of good fortune.

Sheku believed this to be utter rubbish, and continued living under the assumption that Anglity was no more than a tall tale. He would no longer throw his dead to the fish, but rather kept them so study the anatomy of all sorts of creatures, feeding the corpses to his pets when finished. He would view aquatic life to be no different than other lifeforms, he even believed that Humans were superior, solely because of their higher intelligence. Potheld would beg Sheku to once again be an Anglist, and a true Poth, but Sheku did not heed Pothelds’ requests.

The final time he would actively act against Anglity’s acts was on a stormy night. He was trying to make what in his eyes what Anglity failed to be. He tried to concoct a potion that when drunk, would give the consumer great fortune, all the while Potheld pleaded for them to stop, as they only wanted to best for Sheku. However, the best is not what Sheku would receive. The masses of scientific equipment, brushes, parchments, and various other items crashed to the floor nearby, the strong waves had knocked them over.

Amongst these was a bag of gunpowder that Sheku had previously bought to brew potions with, and it quickly caught alight. Sheku’s boat erupted into flames. Sheku and Potheld were sent into the depths of the ocean. The surrounding Pothic boats rushed to help the two. The first to reach them was a husband and wife’s boat. They carried Potheld onto their boat, but when they went to rescue Sheku, a large wave pushed them away. Eventually, Sheku was retrieved. But he wasn’t the same. During the explosion some wooden shards had blinded him, his limbs didn’t always work how he wished them to. This rendered him unable to do a lot of what he previously did. Soon later, he died of an eye infection without ever reaching adulthood. Potheld went on to be revered as a Pothic hero for his developments of Pothic Culture, Sciences, and Technology.

Poor Engle
Engle was a foolish and lazy man. Always believing himself to be correct, never listening to what others had to say. He did not believe in Anglity’s power and tested her frequently. He would purposely harm aquatic lifeforms and disrespect her, simply to see if his luck would get any worse.

The rest of his people did not want to get caught up in his bad luck. To avoid this they would punish him severely whenever he would test Anglity. They would only allow him to eat small amounts, they’d insult him and condone him severely and they’d stone him. None of this would change Engle’s mind and he would continue to test Anglity.

On one occasion, Engle caught an infection from one of the wounds he got whilst being stoned. Engle’s companions did not treat him as they believed the infection to be punishment for testing Anglity. This infection happened to be contagious and the disease spread throughout the group of Poths. Almost all were lucky enough to survive. Engle, however, had not fully recovered. The rest of his group refused to interact with him as his foolishness had almost cost them their lives. Eventually Engle succumbed to the disease, but remained untouched as his companions did not realize, the disease was able to spread through pests and quickly a second wave hit the Poths. This time they were not so lucky.