HACHIMOTO – King of the White Cloth

Status:  Younger God

Level:  8000

Avatar:  Aarint

Hachimoto is the Oriental god of honour and healing. He is the epitome of mercy and compassion. He is represented as a handsome young man sometimes holding a white cloth or flag in his left hand. In his hair he wears a white feather.

In recognition of the extent of his charitable works to the gods during the times of their great adventures, and so that Hachimoto could always help those in need he was awarded the gift of ‘The Laying of Hands’. This became a key factor in his success during the terrible times of testing when Shen Lui ran away and left the eastern world in a state of drought and plague.

According to the teachings of the Hachimoto priesthood, who recorded the tales of their god during the terrible plagues. They state that for his reward Hachimoto was given the title of the king of the white cloth and charged by Feng Po to convert the lands of Ered to the teachings of Feng Po and reduce the religions of Alalu and Antea. When Hachimoto arrived in the Hot Lands he saw that apart from the Aiell it was a land inhabited by changeling ogres and strange humped beasts.  Hachimoto spoke unto his most faithful servant Tako and sent him to meditate in the great temple of Alalu.

Whilst he was praying, an ogress transformed herself into a beautiful woman calling herself Bargees and warned that if Tako did not take her as his consort, she would command all the brethren to devour all of the Aiell.

Tako communed with Hachimoto who agreed that the ogress should bear Tako’s children and they would be the descendants of Hachimoto himself. Tako agreed and drinking a cup of his god’s seed returned to the arms of the ogress Bargees.

Unfortunately Tako and Bargees children were born covered totally in hair and had tails. They were also Carnivorous (priests of Hachimoto are strict vegetarians). So Tako commanded that all his offspring (and there were many) were sent to the Jungle of Kallad there to live and mate with the monkeys.

When Tako returned to Kallad Jungle a year later, he found that his offspring had multiplied a hundred-fold, and they were starving.  He gave them some food, whereupon their hair fell out and their tails vanished. They had become human beings by the blessing of Hachimoto.  Tako was now able to convert these peoples to the faith of Hachimoto and establish the Sakya Munj (Common – The inner circle of Desert Healers.) Which became the established healing cult in the Hot Lands. But never quite eclipsing the cults of Antea and Alalu.

acimoto priesthood Hachomoto wa

SYMBOL

 A white clothe square or flag

WORSHIP

Most clerics run healing colonies called the Sakya Munj. They are centred around desert oasis or near large towns or cities, and it is here the ill and diseased come to be healed. Others can be found wandering the deserts or Jungles healing and curing those they come across, or come to them in humble supplication. All are opposed to violence in any form and the only thing to be gained from those who threaten them is the curse of their god.

TEMPLES

Temples to Hachimoto are sparse and barren affairs usually made from mud and wattle they are very uncomfortable yet very practical. They would normally have a single congregation room were prayer is offered and the rest of the building is given up to the treating of the sick.  There is no personal sleeping area for the priests themselves, who donate their sleeping quarters to the more needy.

HOLY DAYS

On the first and third day of every month a priest of Hachimoto must complete a single selfless deed to bring him closer to Hachimoto. This deed should be from the heart and be rewardless. Where possible the priest should also remain faceless and the only clue that he has helped the individual would be a small white cloth left for the helped to find.

FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

Priests of Hachimoto have no enemies however the cults of Antea and Alalu treat them as a threat and will warn off prospective priests who interfere with their works.

CULT REQUIREMENTS

No one who has ever taken a life may join the cult. The clerics are never permitted to carry any other weapon than a staff for defence and a knife for cutting bandages. No cleric of Hachimoto must ever refuse healing to one who comes in humble solicitation. They may never commit acts of aggression, even if provoked, and may only use their staves in self-defence or the defence of others.

STRICTURES

• Never take the life of a sentient being, even in self-defence.
• Never refuse healing to one in need.
• Never eat any form of flesh including eggs.
• Never harm, or cause to be harmed, a sentient being, except in self-defence.
• The dead are no longer any concern for Hachimoto, and therefore you are prescribed from any tampering with, or corruption of a dead body (!)