| Other Names | The Three Sisters |
| Status | Abstract |
| Area Of Control | Past, Present, Future, Destiny, Fate |
| Ethos | |
| Pantheon | Ogre |
| Worshipers | Most ogres pray to the Sisters. |
| Appearance | Three ogre women, one young, one mature, one old. |
| Symbol | An hourglass, three hands joined. |
The Fates, to the ogres, are three sisters: past, present and future, who conspire and plot and plan the making of history. It is they who decide when a battle will be lost or a war won. It is they who decide if an arrow hits its mark or only grazes. These three sisters exist outside the hierarchy of ogrish religion, but they have a profound influence on mortal life and so are worshipped by many. Each sister claims a moon as a symbol in conjunction with the other three ogrish "moon" gods.
The Fates have always existed. They are responsible for weaving the Universe from nothingness and creating the stars and the heavens. They created the Chaos of long ago so that they would have endless possibilities to work with when fashioning the races of the world. Of course, the best of all possibilities were chosen for the ogres.
Overview of the Church
The "church" of the Three Fates is a loose knit brotherhood of oracles, seers and wandering priests.
Geographic Placement
The worship of the Fates is widespread throughout ogrish culture. Anywhere you find ogres, you'll find ogres muttering oaths and prayers to the Fates. The priests of the Three Fates tend to stick within ogrish lands where they are respected.
Temples, Churches and Holy Sites
This faith has no great temples or churches. Small shrines are sometimes maintained by oracles or seers who stay in one place and have some measure of wealth or security. Usually this is a seer or oracle who acts as advisor to a wealthy merchant or powerful noble or great ogrish battle commander.
Ceremonies
The Casting of the Coins - see Tithes below.
Holy Days
When all three moons are full in the sky, it is considered the luckiest of nights. This is the Night of the Fates and ogres will celebrate with wild abandon.
Philosophy
The Three Sisters determine all that transpires under the stars. All is preordained, so it helps not one bit to worry about the future. Your path is written. Your fate is decided. Nothing can change it. Worrying about it will not let you live one minute longer.
Scriptures and Prayer
Most ogres mutter oaths and prayers to the Three Sisters. Each ogre pays reverence to the Three Sisters according to his beliefs. Some are fatalists believing that nothing is chance, all is written according to the whim of the Sisters. Other ogres belief that life is a contest and oppose the will of the sisters whenever they can. Still other ogres ignore the Sisters entirely.
Symbols
The Fates are tied to the three moons, as other ogre gods are. However, the hourglass in the center of three hands grasping each other's wrists are the symbol most commonly associated with this religion.
Artifacts
The Hourglass of Hemrat is a magically enchanted work of great craftsmanship. It was crafted by Hemrat, a half ogre mage with skilled in metalwork and magic. Hemrat was a worshiper and disciple of the Three Fates and spent three years crafting this fabulous object in their name. It was completed in 1480 CY. He carried it with him until he was slain by an orcish war party in 1498 CY. It is said to control time itself, slowing time, stopping time, even reversing time, in a limited area. Many priests of the Three Fates search for this lost relic and hope to one day return it to ogrish lands.
Tithes
Ogres have a tradition of tossing three copper coins over the left shoulder, one coin for each sister, to invoke their favor. This is usually done on any day of great significance - a great battle, a long journey, etc - any day in which the faithful seeks luck. Any ogre who stumbles upon the three coins previously thrown on the ground is supposed to pick them up and have a very lucky day. This keeps the balance of fate and luck in the world.
Allied and Opposed Faiths
The faith of the ogrish fates is intertwined with all of ogrish culture. The Fates are seen as outside the ogrish pantheon, but are allies to all ogrish deities. The Fates are not directly opposed to any religion or group.
Rank Structure
There are no hierarchy to the priests of this religion. There is only one rank: priest. Fate priests enjoy a great deal of respect in ogrish culture. Offending a Fate priest is tantamount to insulting the Sisters themselves. Most Fate priests hold positions of authority in ogrish governmental and military structures. They are often called upon to predict the future or the consequences of an action. Some Fate priests wander the lands giving out blessings of prosperity and good fortune for money.
Abilities and Spells
Priests of the Fates have little magical ability, but are usually good in a fight, charismatic and quick thinking. As oracles, they have some useful spells that let them divine things not readily apparent: they have see and hear into areas far away, find lost objects, sense emotions, read minds and divine the future, although the latter is rarely accurate. These abilities make them trusted advisors.
Dress and Equipment
Fate priests adorn themselves with bones tied in their hair, many pieces of jewelry, archaic letters marked with ash on their flesh and colorful robes. They carry many strange herbs, elixirs and baubbles with them and use such things in their fortune telling.
Rules of Conduct
Fate priests often do things in threes. They mutter certain prayers three times, they turn three times to the left before entering a home, they touch a subject three times when praying over them, etc.
This page last updated Wednesday, December 24, 2008. Copyright 1990-2009 David M. Roomes.