Duster Religions and Rites

Duster Faiths

Not every Duster subscribes to the three faiths below. Furthermore, these are not the full extent of all faiths within the Dustriders. However, the listed faiths have the most followers and are the most well known among the Dustlanders and the Harborfolk.

Dustriders Tenets

The Dustriders are a large group of different people, so their values show immense variety. However, some tenets are held constant by everyone of these folk. 

• The Code: Their time on the road may make a few of them utter survivalists, but many Dusters draw their strength from a code of conduct. It varies from Duster to Duster, whether it’s a restriction on who they can kill or protection to a person that enjoys their hospitality. This code does not always align with the laws of a place, but Dustriders often live and die by what their heart tells them. 
  
  
  

• Guest-right and Hospitality: Like it is in the times of old, a Duster that accepts someone to their home is obliged to not harm them while they are in their abode. In the Ride East, the abode became one’s immediate camp or the area around one’s wagon. This means no poisons, no shooting, and no treachery. Naturally, the guest is also obliged to respect their host’s wishes and do them no harm. Those who defy this taboo are accursed and ill-regarded. Many of the Firebrands care little for this Tenet, matching their loathsome reputation among the Dusters.
  
  

• Loyalty to your Company: The Company is a major social group among the Dustriders. One is expected to follow the leadership of its Chief. Similarly, they are expected to help their fellows and be helped in turn by them. Just like the Tombstone Council itself, the Company gives direction to an individual Dustrider and a place where they can be safe. 
  
  
  

• The Whispers are watching: The Dustriders are believers in spiritual entities, both baleful and benign within the World Beyond the Fall. Thus, they make sure to follow any taboos or rites that they need to perform, sometimes making Outsiders think that the Dustriders are superstitious folk. Arcanists among them tend to be either Animancers or Diabolists that serve or commune with the Whispers of the Wild.

  
  
  

Life Rites

Birth Rite - the gift of Life

With so much death and destruction behind them, the Dustriders celebrate every birth that blesses their people. Even when supplies are tight, a small celebration is held among the infant’s (or infants’) family and their close associates - this occurs several days after the birth. If the family is in a Company, the Chief is considered to be invited to this celebration -- although they might not always be nearby or be available. Depending on their reputation, the Chief’s presence might be an honor, a welcome sight, or a thing of anxiety. The Harborfolk lean heavily into these festivities, especially for followers of the Goodly Father.

If there are a number of births that occur in the same or similar time frame, this celebration becomes Company-wide. Even in lean times, Dusters will scrounge together what they have to ensure that each birth is a festivity in the face of a hostile world.

That said, with the myriad of different traditions and cultures among the Dustriders, one can expect a great variety in terms of local taboos. Among the Miraji, for example, some families consider it a grave misfortune for the pregnant parents and the child(ren) to see or be near the dead. After at least 3 weeks, the parent and child are considered to have passed their most vulnerable state in this regard. In other families, the parent and child are celebrated but they are behind a veil and cannot be looked upon by anyone except their family -- they may uncover after four days.  

Adulthood -- the Bounty of the Wild

Upon reaching the end of adolescence, a young Duster endures a ceremony that celebrates their passing into adulthood. They are sent out to hunt dangerous prey such as a razor boar or dire gator and bring it back to the Company for a feast. Traditionally, Duster youths undertake this rite as a team to take down multiple prey or a particularly dangerous one. With some Companies/families, this Rite involves the youths gathering rare and/or special plants instead -- their challenge is the difficulty of finding their objective as well as any hazards in their search.

Upon their successful return, they are treated as true adults with duties, privileges, and independence. The animals and/or plants they bring back are the base of a feast that involves their families and the Chief. With a big enough number of would-be adults, the whole Company is invited. Depending on their familial or religious traditions, a part of their hunt or gathering may be tithed to the spirits. 

If they do not return after four days, search parties are sent out to retrieve them or their bodies. The would-be adults are still considered to have passed the Rite if they have their objectives with them. Otherwise, they have failed and have one whole year to prepare for their next try. 

Marriage -- the Joining of Spirits

As it is with many cultures, marriage is another celebrated rite among the Dustriders. Usually, it is a private affair among the participants, their families, close allies, and the officiant to the ceremony. As it is with Celebration of Life,  the Chief has an automatic invitation but is not required to attend. In some cases, they may even be the officiant to the ceremony.

The rite itself can be as simple as the participants being tied together by a ritual rope, braid, or similar symbol. Words of love and promises of devotion are also part of the rite, followed by the officiant declaring the newly married group. 

But this simple rite is only the basis for which there are many familial or cultural derivations and deviations. In some of them, the rope is replaced by a gourd that the participants must drink from. In others, rings or similar talismans are exchanged to symbolize their lifelong devotion. 

In almost every case, the ceremony is followed by a feast among all attendees. The families and the close allies of the newlyweds are expected to be the ones preparing for this feast. 

Funeral -- The Passing of Souls

The Dustriders have trudged ever eastward and northward for decades. Their funeral ceremonies have changed in accordance with their necessities. For most Dustlanders, the body is burned and the bones buried -- depending on tradition, their possessions are either destroyed or given to their next of kin. Many of the Miraji in particular tend to be death-averse and want little to do with the deceased’s possessions or even with the body itself, trusting its ritual destruction/burial to a shaman or a similar clergyperson. 

Among the Harborfolk, the funeral is yet another change at celebration and festivities. They speak well of the deceased and they reminisce about the fallen. And for those that follow the Goodly Father, they invite his presence among them, plying his favor with liquor and good food. Sometimes a stranger does appear to partake, though it may just be the officiant in disguise. With the Goodly Father’s blessing, they know that the dead will not rise again or cause misfortune to the family.  

View of the Afterlife

As with many things, the Dustriders’ views on the afterlife have greatly changed during the Ride East. The Harborfolk and the Miraji believed in various afterlives beyond the veil of death, though the faiths of the past were scarred or even changed by the Long Fall. Heaven and earth were fractured by the apocalypse, with many folk forsaking their faith after witnessing such devastation.

However, just as Humanity has endured and mutated from the Long Fall, so too has its spirituality. The  Whispers of the Wild resemble the legends of old, guiding and aiding their followers from the shadows. Some believe wholeheartedly in them while others may be more skeptical.  

The Father’s Embrace: Those who believe in the Whispers also believe in an afterlife, whether it is a second life with one’s loved ones or an existence guiding one’s descendants/allies. In particular, the Harborfolk believe that the Goodly Father will defend their bodies from defilement and bring them rest from their troubles (though not to a euphoric spiritual plane). Spirits

Death Taboo: The Miraji have many different beliefs, sometimes varying from one family to another. Many of these folk have a severe stigma to death, requiring that their shamans or elders deal with the body of the deceased and ensure that the spirit is appeased. These Miraji feel that close association with the dead invites disaster and corruption, except for those with specific roles. 

The Spirit World: The appeasement of the dead is more important to some Miraji families -- these folk have less fear of the macabre, ensuring that the deceased is prepared and ready for their next role, either as ancestral guides to their descendants or joining a Whisper in their work. These funeral rites may mean destroying their possessions and rarely speaking their names, leaving spiritual food with their bodies, or other rites. 

View of Magic

The Dustriders are no strangers to magic, having witnessed its use in their civilizations’ devastation. While the specifics of spellcraft are not widely known, many Dusters are aware of the corruptions and burdens that magic places upon a soul, adding to their wariness of the practice.

Still, there is no Duster that hasn’t been healed or helped by an Arcanist in the Ride East or afterward. Thus, magic is welcome to stay within their communities -- though certain traditions or theurgies are viewed with suspicion. In particular, there is a general dislike of Diablerie, Necrotheurgy and Xenotheurgy. These magics are believed to invite certain energies into one’s body or soul, thereby corrupting or blighting it. For example, Xenotheurges are more easily puppeted by alien beings and Necrothergy is associated with the Harbingers (especially the Corpse Priest).

Not all adhere to these beliefs, however. Specifically, the Bon Timoun Company and many Harborfolk tolerate Diablerie and Necrotherugy, as it was a part of their history in the Brakenmarsh. Indeed, significant numbers of Goodly Father’s worshippers are Deotheurgic Diabolists or even Necrotheurgic Diabolists. That said, the Bonnies are the first to strike down one of their own when they become a danger to their peers.