Vorax: Prayers and Holy Days

Prayers

Voraxians pray upon awakening, before sleeping, and before and after every battle and fight. Their prayers are short and sweet, and many Voraxians have an altar area with a battleaxe hanging over an area to kneel.

• At waking: "Be blessin' me this day that I kin emerge unscathed an' know tha right course ta take."
• At bedtime: "Thanks ta ya, Father o' Battle, fer yer steady hand an' yer guidance this day. My decisions were sound an' my actions just."
• Before a battle: "Father o' Battle, watch us teach these heathens a lesson 'bout manners they won't be fergittin' anytime soon!"
• After a battle: "Our plans were sound, our tactics better, thanks be ta ya Vorax! (clank mugs)."

Holy Days

There are three holy days for Vorax, each corresponding to a monumental battle or deed won in the name of the Eternally Vigilant. The third day of Clan Forge, the seventh day of Enduring, and the 15th day of Enduring are currently observed, and if the situation is sufficiently heroic, others can be added at the discretion of the Council Vigilant.

• Five Clan Day On the third day of Clan Forge, 339, against Deep Dwarves on Belinara near what is now Westgate, five clans filled tunnels and caverns in a decisive battle against the forces of Sulterio. The battle was horribly bloody and long, foreshadowing the future of the city. But at the end of two solid weeks of hacking and painful echoing screams and death rattles, clans Orcdoom, Tintoes, Biornsson, Jaggerjimm, and Ruriksson were victorious against foes that outnumbered them two to one and had the advantage of terrain. So great was this battle that it is a holy day in Vorax's name, a time to salute those clans (Tintoes, Biornsson, and Ruriksson survive to today) and tell tales of other heroic battles against the deadskin dwarves as they call Deep dwarves.

• Fortress Day This seventh day of Enduring is celebrated for the end of the first dwarf-giant wars that led to the completion of the Ulgrid clan Fortress in the Brech Mountains. The final battle lasted but a day against the giants; before then, skirmishes had been dragging on for over two years. Vorthik Ulgrid devised the plan that lured the giants into favorable conditions for the dwarves and allocated the martial resources of his clan armies so well that only six dwarven lives were lost while the giants left many on the battlefield and had to retreat to the high mountains. This holy day is observed Layonara-wide, but is of course much more vigorously celebrated by the Ulgrid and Brenuth dwarves, who often let the party go on until the Celebration of the Release and just make a week of it.

• Celebration of the Release On the 15th of each Enduring, a few days are set aside for the remembrance of the single most heroic deed ever done by a dwarf--the release of Vorax from the Pit of Hatred and Loss by Rainstorff. After the more festive atmosphere of Fortress Day, the Celebration of the Release is quiet with reflections on what it means to be a dwarf, and it lasts but one day.