Church of the Drowned Horizon
Alternate Name for Zedast: Saraya ng Alon (Saraya of the Wave or Saraya of the Current)
To the Maharluini, Saraya is not just a deity—they are a collective ancestral force, bound to the ocean, to rebellion, and to the will of the crew over the crown.
Known only by whisper or tide-sigil, this clandestine faith operates aboard Maharluini ships, hidden harbors, and river sanctums masked as fishing shrines. It blends spiritual reverence with radical solidarity, guiding its followers through:
- Piracy as reparations
- Communal wealth-sharing
- Maritime prophecy through storm-dreams
The church believes the ocean remembers injustices—and drowns the guilty in time.
Tenets of Faith
- The sea gives to the many, not the few
- Oaths made upon the tide are sacred
- Those who enslave the wave will be swallowed by it
- Sail not for coin, but for kin
Worship
The Chuch of the Drowned Horizon has rituals and practices that reflect the collectivist nature of its' worshippers' homeland. Below are some of the most well-known
The Binding of the Bangka
Before a voyage, crew members gather around a carved boat figurehead (often portable and symbolic), tying personal offerings to its hull: a lock of hair, a coin, a song-thread. The figurehead is anointed with saltwater, ash, and crushed coral and sung to in a Maharluini dialect that blends Tagalog and sea-lore.
“Saraya, watch our backs, and take our bones should we stray.”
Storm Vigil
When lightning splits the sky, followers remain silent and barefoot, kneeling on wet wood or soil, whispering the names of the dead. It’s said Saraya speaks only between thunderclaps, and that sailors can dream of shipwrecks before they happen.
The Tide Offering
Each month, the faithful place part of their earnings—coin, food, spell-scrolls—into carved driftwood boxes, which are cast into the current at dusk. The items are either retrieved downstream by the poor, or lost to Saraya, depending on the river’s will.
Taták ng Saraya (Mark of Saraya)
A ritual tattoo, usually hidden beneath clothing, of a curling wave beneath a broken chain. When blessed with chant and salt, it is said to offer protection against drowning, magical restraint, and oaths made in bad faith.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Ashroot Concord sees the Church of the Drowned Horizon as a sacred sibling movement—not identical in theology, but aligned in resistance. The Concord believes Saraya is a truer, decolonized aspect of Zedast, one who defies imperial temples, rejects divine hierarchy, and favors the collective over the crown.
- Many Maharluini spellcasters within the Ashroot Concord are dual devotees, weaving both forest and tide magic.
- Concord rituals sometimes invoke Saraya in secret, especially when calling storms to sink slave ships or disrupt merchant fleets aligned with Lum’s nobility.
- The Concord and the Church share a prophecy: that when the stars fall like rain, Saraya will return with a fleet of drowned ancestors to reclaim the sea.
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