Marasin cycle

Those who visit the Free City of Ostia are often surprised to see the fanatic devotion of mortals to Count Thorvald and the vampire population at large. While this is no doubt in part to the wise rule of Clan Rozainium and the success of the city, rumors abound of a personality cult revolved around the worship of death, vampirism and the Count Eternal. While not strictly true, the rumors do have a factual basis: the cult of Maras, the first vampire, which serves as Ostia's state religion.

Mythology
Many thousands of years ago (long before recorded history), the undead were not a presence in Ilunia. If any existed, they have long passed from memory. Ostian tradition states that the first vampire was a mortal from unknown northern lands by the name of Maras (meaning temptress). She was a being of incredibly beauty and emotion, and she used this beauty to gain influence over kings and commoners alike. Men fell to their knees at her request, and she was envied by women. The only thing rivaling the feelings she evoked was her arrogance. In this hubris, she attempted to seduce Kanide, a king beloved of the old Ostian ancestors. After a night of passion, Maras was approached by a group of strangely dressed individuals: one an elderly beggar, one a reflection of herself, the third a well-dressed noble, and the fourth a shrouded woman, while she entered her own estate.

Tradition states that the beggar spoke first. He declared that the four are harbringers of vengeance, that Maras' fickle cruelty had warranted the gathering of ancestral power to condemn her. She was given the chance to repent, but refused, her pride not letting her admit her hubris. In retaliation, she was cursed by the four: the beggar condemning her to gain sustenance only from blood, the shrouded woman to a life of night, and the noble to the stagnancy of immortality. The only one not to curse her was her reflection, as that was a literal image of what her spirit could have been in death. True to her nature, the spirit thought only of lost power, and melded with Maras' now-immortal blood, granting her supernatural abilities unknown to any mortal. However, her intended purpose remained: Maras was cursed with an unnatural rage that would come out if her humanity was not retained. Maras' power was so great, and her rage so controlling, that her first victim was intended to be Kanide. In her folly she embraced him, passing on her curse and part of her cursed ancestral blood. After his own frenzy died down, he regained control of himself, and fled into the sunlight to be destroyed.

Guilt overcame Maras. She was not evil, only proud and lustful. She mourned for her actions to the point where her emotions again overcame her. In this grief she resolved to form a race of beauty and pride to maintain her lost humanity. She sired several more mortals: Abelis the warlock, her brother, Raghnaill the bard, Lugh the barbarian chief, and Rozain, the philospher-queen. Of these, only Rozain remained loyal to the vision of a beautiful city full of learning and culture propagated by Maras. Raghnaill fled to what is now Westhaven, just as Lugh fled north to found his own dark tradition. In turn, Abelis attacked his sire with the dark sorcery he knew in life. She fought him off with an ankh, the symbol of immortality, before he fled. Realizing the folly of weakening her blood, she created a ritual, diablerie, that would allow Rozain to drink her dry of blood and gain her power. This ultimate act of self-sacrifice made Maras the first and last vampire to purify her soul. Rozain went on to form Clan Rozainium (the Clan of Rozain, or the Rose, depending on which translation from Old Ostian is used), becoming the first Primogen (Thorvald is the third). The teachings provided by her and the fragments of Maras' soul before her disappearance into the wilderness have become the basis for the philosophy of the Marasin cycle.

Philosophy
Above all, acolytes of the cycle advocate respect for death and those who manage to defy it. In time, all will either die and join their ancestors in becoming the power that runs through the world, or will "die" and join the ranks of the eternal vampires. To the Marasins, all power stems from death. Vampirism is partially a curse, and partially a blessing. Whenever one faces death they must go with all their courage, teach the Marasin sages.

While reverence for one's ancestors and vampires is about as far as philosophical teaching goes for mortals (the rest of human Marasin philosophy is very tolerant, and promotes culture and subservience), it is much more deep for vampires. They preach control over a vampire's inner rage via remaining as human as possible. Maras performed the ultimate sacrifice, her own life and powers, to further the goal of a society where mortals live under the benevolent rule of powerful vampires. It is all that one can do, as her rightful progeny, not to squander her power by disobeying her tenets.

Five virtues: And their oppostite, the five vices:
 * 1) Loyalty
 * 2) Humanity
 * 3) Pride
 * 4) Self-control
 * 5) Conviction


 * 1) Treachery


 * 1) Abuse of authority


 * 1) Hubris


 * 1) Indulgence


 * 1) Cowardice

Worship
"The Count? Of course I know of him. Who hasn't heard of his legendary exploits, his benevolence? He has...graced me with his presence once...quite unexpectedly. Oh, I hope that I did not offend him with my inadequacy. I do so try to follow his mold, and shape my family as he has shaped this city." -Andreas Luksa, Ostian merchant

There are no extraplanar gods in Ostia's religion. Worship of ancestral spirits and household dieties does exist, but that is the closest thing the cycle comes to promoting the worship of otherworldly beings. Instead, the cycle focuses on revering Maras/Rozain as the founder of Ostia, and thus, in their words, civilization.

Naturally (or perhaps unnaturally), this reverence is extended to the leaders of Ostia, namely Thorvald of Ostia and Ramilies Scarlet. The traditional Ostian belief is that they are akin to gods among men, saviors of the civilized world who have been failed by the folly of mortal men. Many visitors from the Confederation and scholars from the Empire find that this faith in their leadership borders on fanatic, with great cathedrals being devoted to the worship of Ostia's great heroes.

The cathedrals themselves are a relatively new occurence, with most worship being done in the traditional Ostian temples of the old gods. Indeed, Thorvald has declared that all official ceremonies should occur at these old temples, part out of reverence and part out of irony. Worship at these temples takes place on every full and new moon, and on certain Ostian holidays.