Caltolav

Centers of Worship

Anywhere there is commerce, hard work to be done or traveling (especially traveling related to commerce).  That’s where Caltolav’s presence can be felt.  Sometimes as a benefit, as when a merchant makes a particularly lucrative trade deal.  Those are times when Caltolav is praised and thanks are given to him.  Other times, like when a newly constructed barn collapses after a violent storm and must be rebuilt, Caltolav is cursed because folks often see it as him giving them more hard work to do.  Larger temples to Caltolav can be found in many merchant’s districts in cities of various sizes.  Smaller shrines are usually found in bazars or trade fairs and here and there at various points on roads (usually near prominent intersections).  Most merchants carry Caltolav’s holy symbol, even if they are not clergy.  For while they might feel like he is working against them at times when a deal falls through and curse Old Pinchpenny, they’re quick to rub the bronze coins with his image for luck and beseech his blessings when they want The Merchant’s Friend to help them out on a new deal.

Introduction

Caltolav is the god of trade, commerce, bartering, hard work, roads and travel.  He is said to have arisen as the various races came together in communities and began bartering with each other for various resources.  His influence spread as civilization flourished and communities grew and organized their trade and built roads to help facilitate it.

Merchants both praise and curse Caltolav, depending on how their fortunes fare.  If they’re making money, then Caltolav is The Merchant’s Friend.  If they’re losing money, then Old Pinchpenny is the recipient of many a colorful cursing.  Thus, merchants always seek to placate Caltolav before any particularly large trade deal in the hopes of making him smile on their side of the negotiations.  Most merchants put out of their minds the fact that their rivals on the other side of the negotiation are likely doing the same.  Those that consider it can’t help but wonder if their invocations of Caltolav cancel each other out, or if perhaps they’re entered into some secret bidding war to curry Caltolav’s favor.  His clergy are notoriously silent on this issue, as it often leads to merchants offering larger and larger donations to their temples in order to “outbid” their rivals when negotiating.  It’s not unheard of for some merchants to barely break even or even take a loss on a deal after taking into consideration the size of the donation to gain Caltolav’s favor.

As The Millstone, Caltolav oversees the various aspects of hard work.  Workers seek to placate Caltolav when undertaking particularly difficult tasks in the hopes that he will either make things easier on them, or make the rewards of hard work worth all of the effort that goes in to it.  He is also cursed as The Millstone when people find the work ahead of them too hard to contemplate.

The Roadwarden keeps watch over roads and trails used to move trade in, around and through various communities.  Without roads, trade would suffer, and this is not something that Caltolav wishes to see.  Merchants, caravan masters and other travelers often offer prayers and/or donations to Caltolav, seeking his blessing for a particularly long journey.  He is often seen as the guiding hand that helps a patrol of guardsmen happen along in the nick of time to save a caravan from bandits.  It’s also not unheard of for travelers that have taken a wrong turn and become lost to invoke Caltolav in order to try and find the right path.

Caltolav is most often portrayed as a solemn bronze dragon, and this is the form he most often appears in when visiting Merisyl.  He’s also been known to appear as a well-to-do merchant of various races (though most often a morphic) with a very shrewd light in his eyes.

His holy symbol is a bronze coin with Caltolav’s head in profile, with the draconic phrase “Noach Gixu Velkix” (Wealth Creates Truth).

The Church

Caltolav’s church is organized along the same lines as a merchant’s guild.  Entry level clergy are known as Peddlers.  They advance through the ranks as follows:  Hawker, Monger, Wholesaler, Retailer, Vendor, Trafficker, Broker, Agent.  The head of a particular temple is known as that temple’s Master Merchant.  The head of all of Caltolav’s churches is known as The Grand Merchant.

The members of the clergy are well versed in the various issues associated with matters of trade, and many is the clergyman who is also the wealthiest merchant in a given city.  Though given Caltolav’s teachings, the members of his clergy find ways to feed a portion of their wealth back into the commerce of their local community to allow trade to flourish as much as possible.  For though Caltolav smiles on their own personal mercantile expertise, he also urges them to aid trade in general when they can, for as trade prospers, so do they and the church.

Some devotees are known as Intercessors and are dispatched by the church to resolve various trade issues.  These may be called upon for disputes when the involved parties can’t come to a resolution on their own, matters of trade disruption, breaking monopolies, and any other matters that could cause disruptions in everyday trading matters on a large scale.

The church also sponsors patrols of armed soldiers (usually led by a mid-level member of the clergy or inquisitor) to make sure roadways are kept secure in areas where more secular authorities have neglected to do so.  The members of these patrols take after their patron and call themselves Roadwardens when doing Caltolav’s business.

Godsmongers

In “Of Good and Greed” six disciples of Caltolav are credited with establishing the first trade routes connecting each of continents of Merisyl in trade. Aodar is named after Aodarus Covernim, the  Godsmonger who founded the city as the hub of these trade paths.

A Priest’s Role

Priests of Caltolav also double as merchants in many cases.  They seek to wheel and deal in order to further the church’s aims and means.  They also do what they can to help keep commerce running smoothly in their areas of influence.  Bad economic conditions displease Caltolev and can cause problems not only for secular communities and governments, but also the church.  In this capacity, the priesthood takes it upon itself to foster good trade practices within a community and preaches against merchants being too greedy, as greed can be bad for commerce.  The church also often seeks to intervene on the behalf of common folks when a secular government becomes overly oppressive in its taxation, as overly burdensome taxes can hurt commerce as well.

The priests are also there to help out members of a community that are faced with hard work.  Though some look at them as not too far removed from “slave drivers,” priests of Caltolav will often make an appearance to exhort workers on larger projects and tell them that Caltolav will reward them with a feeling of great accomplishment when their work is done.  Though some take comfort in these words, not all do.  Hence why the phrase “Great, here comes a Little Millstone,” is often heard muttered under a worker’s breath when a priest of Caltolav begins expounding on the benefits of being a hard worker.  In these instances it’s not all just words though.  At times the priests seek to help relieve fatigue through the use of divine magic to help keep workers going when they might otherwise need to stop and rest.

Clothing

Caltolav’s clergy generally dress well when performing duties that pertain to mercantile issues or commerce in general.  After all, it’s a poor merchant that doesn’t dress well, and that would reflect poorly upon not just the individual priest, but also the church in general.

Those priests involved in a job pertaining to The Millstone tend to dress in more practical work-type clothes, though generally well made none-the-less.

Whatever clothing they may be wearing, the priests generally work bronze into the coloring if not wear torcs or bracelets made of that metal.  And of course, none is found without a large bronze coin with Caltolav’s profile on it, often worked into a necklace or other piece of jewelry that is easy to present when necessary.

Holy Texts

Of Good and Greed:  The Merchant’s Way is the main holy text of Caltolav’s church.  It teaches the basics of commerce as well as gives examples of how greed can harm not just a merchant, but the very body of commerce itself in the form of various legendary tales.  It also exhorts good practices like merchants making sure at least a portion of their income makes its way back into the community at large to help drive the wheels of commerce.

Working Rewards is a smaller tome that outlines the reasons to want to work hard when the goal is worthy as well as the rewards one can expect from being a hard worker.  Needless to say, this text is not nearly as popular as the other tome.

Warding the Roads:  Commerce’s Lifeblood is a tome dedicate to the “art” of making sure commerce is free to flow along the roads of the various lands of Merisyl.  It lays out common practices followed by Caltolav’s Roadwardens in their duties to maintain and protect the roads that are so essential to their patron’s pursuits.

Relations with other religions

Caltolav is almost universally neutral to most of the other deities of Merisyl.  The primary exceptions to this are Ator, Szalavalar and Zelaguir.  He gets along well with Ator as her followers often produce a large number of goods that help fuel the wheels of commerce.  Likewise, Szalavalar’s interest in order and contracts is regarded highly by Caltolav, as those are both things that help commerce and hard work go forward.  Zelaguir is despised though, for his portfolio includes deceit and greed, two things that are anathema to good commerce as far as Caltolav is concerned.

Realm

Caltolav’s realm on the Draconic Plane is reputedly the largest open air market in the multiverse.  It is known as The Grandest Bazaar.  Merhcant’s from various planes can be found moving about or selling from their booths.  Numerous inns are scattered about to cater to the merchants and those seeking to purchase their wares.  It’s said that anything one could hope to buy may be found at The Grandest Bazaar, though some items take much more looking to find than others.  No items are forbidden to be sold in The Grandest Bazaar.  The only real rule is “Do not interfere with trade.”  Thieves are dealt with extremely harshly, as are those seeking to cheat someone on a deal.  Caltolav himself resides in a large merchant’s villa in the middle of the bazaar.