Baptism of Water

The practice of the Baptism of Water traces back to the very beginning of Al'Mudin's ministry. Al'Mudin began his ministry with preaching repentance from the worship of false gods, in particular of the Reymal Emperor. His followers and disciples would be symbolically plunged into the waters of the river Luen to wash them of this sin of idolatry.

Most typically, a modern baptism of water is a community affair, generally conducted when the child is quite young, but is capable of very basic water survival. Thus, different races, in particular Tortuganns, may baptize children at very different ages than others. Baptisms are typically conducted in a nearby stream or lake, but may occur in dedicated basins in the case of areas without safe water (such as the Nynavar swamps). In either case, the young Kolite is asked to recite a brief oath of allegiance to the Church and make a covenant alongside the community to grow in and to follow their faith. Baptisms of water for adults occur when conversions do, and thus have become substantially more frequent since the conversion of the Dov'Shan Orcs and Karvo's Crusade, combined with the Sudden Silence of many of what the Kolites deem "false gods."

Most water baptisms are conducted simply in local bodies of water, with the new Kolite clad in a simple garment.

The ceremony is lead by a priest of Kol who does the baptism. The new Kolite is generally supported by and lead into the water by their family or a trusted spiritual adviser, and are lead back to them after the baptism.

These rites are observed soon after the birth or conversion, with priests typically arranging multiple baptisms to coincide on one day if possible. In many rural villages with only a few children born in a given year, they may conduct ceremonies like baptisms only once a year. This is done generally in the summer and is celebrated in those villages as a Baptism Day, the precise date of which often varies from village to village from year to year.