Heh. Wolf's in quite another world, and doesn't know or do Loviatar. Can I help, with Realmslore of Loviatar? Or…?
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 28, 2020
Sure. Circa 1479 DR or later? (i.e. in the 5e Realms?) What sort of lore?
To start: Loviatar's worship is high among bored nobles and wealthy "wannabe nobles" social climbers in cities like Waterdeep, Athkatla, Manshaka, Calimport, and Zazesspur.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 28, 2020
1)
More on the daily worship of Loviatar:
The ‘new way’ of the clergy, in the 1470s DR onward, is to inflict useful pain: pain on foes and trade rivals to get them to do your bidding through fear (or fear of the pain you’ll inflict), and the 2)
…same amount of pain inflicted on yourself, to keep you mindful of the price of pain. Preferred ways of inflicting are whips, canes, lengths of thorn-vine used as whips, and the bare open hand (spanking). Many lay worshippers…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 28, 2020
3)
…are masochists or sadists.
Clergy often wear leather outfits of crisscrossed straps, devout worshippers may wear individual ‘devotive pieces’ of adornment such as corsets or chokers or leather bracers when attending rituals, 4)
…and most such rituals consist of clergy-chanted prayers punctuated by whip-cracks (a whip brought down on an altar or on one cleric by another) while lay worshippers unison-recite responses to the passages of prayer (reading…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 28, 2020
5)
…from handbooks or posted words lit by cleric-held lamps). These recitals build in pace and fervor.
Priests of the Maiden of Pain in Waterdeep, Athkatla, Manshaka, and likely other places teach the establishment and maintenance of effective discipline within 6)
…trading costers, shipping fleets, and guilds, for fees. Increasingly popular wear for clergy: black leather half-masks that are cut into a fringe of thongs that hangs over the lower face. Clergy often smile, even through pain.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 28, 2020
