Reledth

Reledth polytheism, or star-clay preaching as it is deragoratorily known as among non-practicioners, is a complex of faiths founded around the belief that the Krathi river clay is possessed by star spirits. The name reledth is taken from the word's literal meaning, "living clay", that describes the form that deities take after they have fallen from the sky - stars fall from heaven and become clay gods deep within the depths of the earth. The faith is probably inspired by the common occurance of starfalls, as these happen more than once a month.

The basic conception of the faith is that the river's clay gods reward its inhabitants for devotion, good behavior and sacrifice of wealth to the river, while they punish people for the opposite. Most of the delta's cultures have intricate sacrifical rituals that honor the gods of the clay. While the pantheon covers perhaps thousands of gods, there is very little religious conflict in the delta, as the fundamental principles of Reledth overlap so much.

The sacrifices made to reledth gods are usually centered around lifestock or precious metals, but human sacrifice is not unheard of, nor particularly frowned upon - especially when it comes to sacrificing slaves, or sacrificing conquered enemies.