Alah'Belore, the Religious Practices of the High Elves - A Roleplayer Resource

[Erkor 119]

 

 

Alah'Belore

Religious Practices of the High Elves

A custom-lore elaboration of Quel'Thalassian religious practices, for roleplayer use and modification

History   Although originating from a minority splinter within Kaldorei society, Alah’Belore – or the worship of the Light of the Sun – is most commonly associated with the modern-day High Elves and Blood Elves. Ancient Kaldorei history dates the worship of natural spirits as a core tenet that progressively realigned itself to cosmic entities over the course of only a few hundred years. As the Kaldorei became deeply versed in the arts of arcane magicks, they began to look to the stars above Kalimdor – aptly named the Land of Eternal Starlight – and began to worship the cosmic entities there. Perhaps inspired by or cognate to the similarly ancient worship of the astral bodies of the Tauren, Mu’sha and An’she, the Kaldorei adopted these entities to their own worship, naming them Elune and Belor. In this ancient time, however, Elune was the mother of the night, and Belor was the father of the day. While Elune hides her children in the night, Belor uncovers secrets in the day: Even in modern-day Darnassian, the word ‘belore’ is a verb denoting the ‘uncovering’ of something. An apt translation would be to ‘bring light’ to a thing or concept. Alah’Belore was never worshipped on a large scale within Kaldorei society until the Sundering. After Kalimdor was split in two, Highborne cultures living outside Ashenvale and Hyjal began to see increasingly common returns to a natural day-night cycle. This belief spread among the secular Highborne cultures from Eldre’thar to Lathar’lazal and even Eldre’Thalas, although never truly caught root as a major sect of Kaldorei religion until the Highborne exile of 7000 BDP. In this timeframe, however, the Highborne had steadily begun to drop their reverence to Elune. Following the Sundering and the marginalization of the Highborne people within Kaldorei society, many denizens of these cities turned either to atheism or the worship of magic and magical powers. Following the Highborne exile and the foundation of the Sunwell, however, the tongue spoken by the Highborne evolved, and the dialects of Darnassian they spoke began to transition to a new language. Belor became Belore, gaining a suffixed ‘e’ in a linguistical shift, marking the proper origin of the Sun as a force-slash-deity. The worship of the sun was galvanized following the creation of the Sunwell, which even now glows a bright gold like the sun within Quel’Thalas. Alah’Belore’s independence from Kaldorei worship had a tumultuous origin, as Quel’thalas organized and reorganized itself. Only after the proper establishment of the High Home’s government and structures did the reverence of the Sun as a proper force/deity take root among the High Elves. Unlike their ancestors, the Night Elves, the Quel’dorei are much more secular in their beliefs, stemming from their Highborne forefathers’ obsession with discerning the transmundane. In recent history, Alah’Belore and worship of the Sun have begun another reformation. With the rekindling of the Sunwell through the remains of M’uru and the infusion of the Holy Light in its magical waters, certain High Elves have begun injecting customs related to Holy Light worship into their regimen.

Virtues As a part of their inherent yearning for knowledge, the Quel’dorei have adapted their sun-worship to reinforce these magocratic ideals. Virtues for the Sun-worshipping High Elf include: Cynicism Sincerity Intrigue Distrust Independence Although reverence of the sun is unequivocally vital to the religion of Alah’Belore, skepticism of one’s surroundings and, indeed, the universe, is considered a virtue – and thus looked upon favorably in the eyes of the religious. Although dependent on the sun and the Sunwell, Quel’dorei are instructed to grow independent of each-other. Additionally, strangers are considered to be ‘awash with darkness’ until they ‘bring themselves to the light’ and introduce themselves and their intentions. Inherent distrust is a virtue among the High- and Blood Elves for this reason. Vices Alah’Belorean vices are almost direct inversions of their virtues, highlighting a focus on the structure of society and its subterfuge-laden interactions. Gullibility Ignorance Indecisiveness Dishonesty Dependence or Inaptitude Gullible and ignorant high elves are considered to be primitive and brutish, not unlike Trolls, while indecisive elves are considered mentally clouded by darkness. Wastrels that cannot function on their own are considered simple-minded and among the worst castes of society. Many of the poor are considered unable to care for themselves and thus are regarded with distaste. In spite of being founded on discerning the unknown, the Quel’dorei are insular and prejudiced towards outsiders, whom they view as ‘clouded in darkness’ due to their disconnect from the Sunwell. As an inherently mistrustful society, strangers – especially strangers from another species – are considered inherently malicious and must earn their trust rigorously. Indeed, much of the knowledge-adjacent practices of the High Elves are almost entirely performed within Quel’Thalassian society, or within the purview of arcane magic, but only very rarely (if at all) towards outsiders.

Practices As Belore is a deity focused on the discovery of hidden things – particularly magical knowledge, intents, or character in the context of Quel’thalas – and perseverance, many of its customs are related to gaining new knowledge and endure hardships. Generally, worship of Belore is done in privacy, and public congregations are eschewed. Religious canon is commonly taught by families or magisters – spellcasters who intertwine their secular arcane practices with the religious practicies of Alah’Belore. Many of the worshipers of Belore are in fact very cynical of god-worship, but still believe that certain forces of the universe must have a mind behind them. Among the most common worship practices involve: Sunwashes, the practice of using “sun-blessed water” to wash one’s spirit for protection and blessings Sunwashes are performed by taking water from any body of water in Quel’Thalas (according to religious canon, it must be from the Sunwell, but adjacent bodies of water such as Lake Elrendar or Stillwhisper Pond) and imbuing it with magic, saying a prayer to the Sun and washing oneself with it by pouring the water over each shoulder, then the head. The Rites of Verse, a daily liturgy consisting of a morning, noon, and nighttime prayer The Rites of Verse are prayers performed every day. The morning prayer thanks the sun for lighting the day, the noon prayer lavishes the sun with praise, and the nighttime prayer asks the sun to light the next day after its rest. These daily prayers exist partly to reinforce the customs of Quel’thalas, but also stem from a deeply-rooted inversion of Kaldorei beliefs: High Elves believe themselves exposed at night, and feel that darkness brings out treachery. Conjurings and Transmutings, the act of ‘sacred’ spellcasting as opposed to ‘mundane’ spellcasting – the difference being in the use-case As opposed to simply magical conjuration and transmutation, the religious Conjuring and Transmuting focuses entirely on summoning foods or drinks related to worship, or transmuting materials into things of religious significance. Among these area, in increasing importance: Silver, Truesilver, Mithril, Gold, and Arcanite. Pilgrimages, wherein worshipers travel to the Sunwell Pilgrimages are not entirely common in Thalassian society, especially in the modern day, but travels to the Sunwell are permitted by high elves and blood elves. The Sunwell is a deeply sacred place to High Elves, and its radiant energies are said to bless pilgrims with longevity and good health. ‘Official’ practices performed by the Magisters are less commonplace, and more official, and are almost only seen within Silvermoon City: The Exhorations, speeches and prayers performed in public on the days of equinox and midsummer The Exhortations are a ten-part liturgy performed by one or more magisters, or the Grand Magister, over the course of a holiday. Among the exhortations are praises to Silvermoon, calls for perseverance, a recital of the Exile of the Highborne, and a call for silent prayer. The Exhortations transition into nighttime, and end precisely at midnight. Sunlight Rites, wherein the magisters perform magical acts in praise of the Sunday Sunlight rites are not exclusively performed by magisters, but rural areas rarely bear the magical staff to perform a sunlight rite. Rites like this are a complex series of spells designed to conjure up a vivid imagination of the sun, and is often performed as a blessing to an entire settlement. Hymns Although worship and praise is performed in privacy, many thalassian hymns exist that are of religious significance to the people of Quel’Thalas. While some are songs of praise and glory, others are lamentations.

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by Erkor

[Erkor 119]

A slight rewrite happened. Changes are:

• Some edits in the practices
• Some edits in the history
• Changed the personification of the Sun to be a less literal one; Belore is not a 'person', but a force given a name and made an entity.
• Added racism

[cindy 2]

:)