Difference between revisions of "Cult of Taal"

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==Locations==
 
==Locations==
 
* '''[[La Maisontaal Abbey|Monastery of La Maisontaal]]:''' Built high in the [[Grey Mountains]] where monks from the Order of the White Stag live in quiet contemplation of the domain of Taal’s. {{Fn|5e}}
 
* '''[[La Maisontaal Abbey|Monastery of La Maisontaal]]:''' Built high in the [[Grey Mountains]] where monks from the Order of the White Stag live in quiet contemplation of the domain of Taal’s. {{Fn|5e}}
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* '''The Eye of the Forest:''' [[Talabheim]] was built within a vast crater at the heart of the [[Great Forest]]which is known as the Eye of the Forest, a place gifted from Taal to the Taleutens. {{Fn|5e}} The ruler of the city is known as the Luddataal or ''Shield of Taal''. {{Fn|5f}}
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* '''The Eye of the Forest:''' [[Talabheim]] was built within a vast crater at the heart of the [[Great Forest]] which is known as the Eye of the Forest, a place gifted from Taal to the Taleutens. {{Fn|5e}} The ruler of the city is known as the Luddataal or ''Shield of Taal''. {{Fn|5f}}
 
** Compass Monoliths: Standing at the cardinal points on the internal crater wall are four great monoliths which the cult say marks Taal’s dominion over all the land to the north, south, east, and west of Talabheim. {{Fn|5e}}
 
** Compass Monoliths: Standing at the cardinal points on the internal crater wall are four great monoliths which the cult say marks Taal’s dominion over all the land to the north, south, east, and west of Talabheim. {{Fn|5e}}
 
** Crystal Lake or Crater Lake: A pure, clear lake situated in the east of the crater, the water is said to be the tears of Taal and have miraculous properties. Many holy artefacts are blessed with the water, including the amber periapts worn by many priests of the god. {{Fn|5e}}
 
** Crystal Lake or Crater Lake: A pure, clear lake situated in the east of the crater, the water is said to be the tears of Taal and have miraculous properties. Many holy artefacts are blessed with the water, including the amber periapts worn by many priests of the god. {{Fn|5e}}

Latest revision as of 20:51, 2 March 2025

Temple to Taal

The Cult of Taal is the organised worship of the God Taal across the Old World. [1]

Together with the priesthood of Rhya, the cult are vital in the countryside and small villages throughout the Empire but rarely involve themselves in Imperial politics.[1] It is especially prevalent in the eastern Empire including his chosen land of Talabecland and his followers insist he is the King of the Gods ruling over the forest spirits as well as both the Classical and Northern gods. [5a]

History

In the early Empire, the priests of the cult in Talabheim were the effective rulers of the city and could dispense Taal’s Justice which included nailing wrongdoers to the oak trees in the Kraterwald. [5f]

As successive Emperors became corrupt and the unity forged by Sigmar’s faded, in 1023 IC, the Hierarch Cenwal spoke for many priests when he declared that no true god would allow such disorder amongst the ranks of his worshipers. [5c]

Divided Empire

In 1360 IC, the cult encouraged Grand Duchess Ottilia to deny Sigmar’s divinity as broke away from the Empire, supposedly even presenting evidence to her that Sigmar was a fraud. This was then given to the heads of the Cult of Ulric and quickly Ar Ulric also denounced the Sigmarites as heretic, even moving to Talabheim. [5c]

The alliance between the two cults broke down in 1547 IC when Ar Ulric was alienated by the Cult of Taal and he returned to Middenheim. This was part of the transition from the Age of Wars to the Age of Three Emperors with Middenland warring with Talabecland and the cult of Taal growing ever more militant in the eastern part of the Empire. [5c]

Reunification

700 years later Magnus the Pious crusaded to unite the Empire and defy the hordes of Chaos but when he arrived in Talabheim, the priests of Taal at first spurned him. However the wolves of the Taalgrunhaar Forest howled in unison and a stag appeared, marked with a white hammer. There was none who could deny that Magnus had the blessing of Taal.[5c]

Storm of Chaos

Many of the temples were destroyed by the Chaos invasion and few priests and priestesses escaped - the Hierarch of Ostland, Klaus Hartwig vowed with Ludmilla Giesling to defend Rhya's sacred pool east of Wolfenburg and their fate remained unknown after the Storm broke. [1]

Holy Books

Holy Days

  • Mitterfruhl: Taal's foremost holy day is the spring equinox[5a], which marks the reawakening of nature after its winter slumber and is held across the Old World. Some rural folk sacrifice a young animal, either burying it in the woods or offering it to a river. Parades are also held where the participants dress in costumes and masks that representing beasts, plant life, and other aspects of Taal’s domain but it is tradition that nobody dresses as a wolf (showing respect for Ulric), a sea creature (for Manann is a jealous god), or a frog (for forgotten reasons). [5g]
  • Run of the Antlers: Only held in Talabecland villages during the first week of Summer-Tide. Half the young males don large antlers and the pelt of a stag whilst the others are hunters, armed with bows and blunted arrows. When all the stags are caught, then everyone can return to the village to feast and toast the hunt. [5g]
  • Sonnstill, the Summer Solstice is the holiest time of Rhya and Taal’s role on this day is lesser than his consort but his followers offer prayers to Taal during the festival. The eastern Empire has priests of Taal are known to make offerings to ask for rain during the driest part of the year. [5g]
  • Mittherbst: (Less Growth): The Autumn Equinox, at this time the worshipers of Taal offer rites to their god to keep the hungry beasts from their door. [5g]
  • Mondstille, the Winter Solstice - at this time when Taal and Rhya slumber beneath the earth - many festivals have bonfires to help guide Taal and his consort back into the world. [5g]

The holy days of his brother Ulric are also kept by Taal's followers as minor festivals.

Locations

  • Monastery of La Maisontaal: Built high in the Grey Mountains where monks from the Order of the White Stag live in quiet contemplation of the domain of Taal’s. [5e]
  • The Eye of the Forest: Talabheim was built within a vast crater at the heart of the Great Forest which is known as the Eye of the Forest, a place gifted from Taal to the Taleutens. [5e] The ruler of the city is known as the Luddataal or Shield of Taal. [5f]
    • Compass Monoliths: Standing at the cardinal points on the internal crater wall are four great monoliths which the cult say marks Taal’s dominion over all the land to the north, south, east, and west of Talabheim. [5e]
    • Crystal Lake or Crater Lake: A pure, clear lake situated in the east of the crater, the water is said to be the tears of Taal and have miraculous properties. Many holy artefacts are blessed with the water, including the amber periapts worn by many priests of the god. [5e]
    • Kraterwald or the Taalgrunhaar Forest: The most sacred site in the Empire for followers of Taal, this ancient wood covers the eastern part of the land inside the crater. [5e]
      • Horn of Taal: In the northern part of the forest is a deep grove where high-ranking priests live in crude huts. [5e]
    • The Temple of Taal is found on God’s Row with a wooden hall that can seat a thousand worshipers. [5e]
  • The Kölsa hills: Located in eastern Talabecland, they are known for the large number of megalithic stone monuments atop the hilltops. The Ottilian Emperor Helmut II granted the whole region to the Hierarch of Taal as a religious preserve by. [5e]

Orders and Sects

Priest who tend and protect one of Taal’s sacred sites or temples are known as a Warden.[5d]

  • Horned Hunters: Zealots of the cult who eschew civilisation, shunning settlements and even clothing. They are ferocious in combat. [4a][5d]
  • Kin of Taal: The sect is devoted to base masculinity in rural communities, having the responsibility for initiating young men in a ceremony known as Quickening where they are taught to live off the land by hunting and foraging. [5d]
  • Longshanks: Ancient Order of Skilled rangers and outdoorsmen who mostly venerate Taal above his wife, although some worship her in the aspect of Haleth the Huntress. They swear an oath never to stay in one place for more than a week but roam the empire protecting shrines, searching for the taint of Chaos and opposing any depletion of river and land. [1a] In the early 2500s IC they are led by Ulrika Grunfrau who roams the southern Forest of Shadows, vanquishing the monsters of those woods. [5d]
  • Order of the Antler: The largest priestly order, they conduct rituals for rural communities, leading people to respect the ways of the god. The order has no formal garb but a fur headdress adorned with a stag’s antlers is normal. The Order is overseen by the Heirarch in Talabheim. [5d]
    • Brethren of the Oak: A sub-order of the Order of the Antler, they practice within the Eye of the Forest and are closely affiliated with the noble houses and politics of Talabecland. [5d]
  • Order of the White Stag: A monastic order who seek to revere their god by studying how nature works with the only substantial abbey being La Maisontaal in Bretonnia. [5d]
  • Taal’s Chosen: Elite woodsmen that patrol within the Taalbaston and in times of war, they form an elite scout regiment for the State army of Talabheim.[5f]

Notable

Father Pedragar

Cult Artefacts

Relations

It is often considered a dual cult with his wife Rhya, Taal's cult also has friendly relations with those of his brother Ulric and his son Manann. The cult has a complicated relationship with the druids of the Old Faith which varies from priest to priest. The cult has become less suspicious of the Cult of Sigmar since its formation. Apart from the Cult of Morr, which is understood and respected, the cults of the other Southern Gods are mostly ignored.[5h]

Taal's greatest hatred is reserved for the followers of Chaos.[5h]

The Amber Order of Wizards have strong links with the Cult, the god who many shamans venerate above all others. Priests and shamans often come into contact but their interests are usually aligned and find it easy enough to cooperate. Some claim that the itinerant priests of Taal are actually indistinguishable from shamans. [3][5h]

Sacred Beasts

The Great Stag is sacred to Taal, his priests stating that their god was so impressed with the spirit of the first Great Stags that he gave them antlers to match his own. [2]

Sub Cults and other aspects

Taal is known by various names from place to place and his worship is not restricted to humans. To the Elves he is Torothal, Goddess of Rain and Rivers [1] although Taal also has many similarities with Kurnous, the Elf god of the hunt. Among hunters and trappers in parts of Middenland and Talabecland, he is called Karnos, Lord of Beasts. To some fishermen, he is Karog, God of Rivers, although the name may originate in Kislev. [1]

Symbols

Antlers, deer skulls, stone axe. [4]

Temples and shrines

The traditional form of temple to Taal is a circular structure built of rough, unmortared stone, with a conical roof. His shrines are often sacred groves marked by the skull of a stag, bison or bear hung in the oldest tree. Mountain shrines are often cairns topped with the skulls of same creatures. There are also monasteries to Taal, like the La Maisontaal Abbey located in the Grey Mountains.

Gallery

  • Ranger-Priest of Taal

  • Great Horned Helm

Quotes

Before all the other Gods, there are Taal and Rhya, the Father and the Mother. Without their blessing and union, there would be no world for us to live in.

~ Carlott Edelbrecht, Priestess of the Cult of Taal and Rhya.[4]

Then came Ishernos, the first one, the primal. From its loins came Rhya the beautiful, rising up with Taal the powerful. Surging with life, they came into the world. Everywhere they gazed, the abundance of nature sprang forth. Where Taal walked, the mountains rose from the earth. Where he breathed, the forests reached for the sun. Such was how the world was made.

~ Pedragar, Priest of Taal.[5b]

Sources

  • Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition, 1988, pp. 200-201
  • Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition, Black Industries, 2005, p. 183

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