The Cascade is a collection of faiths centering around specific coral reefs and the ecosystems around and within them. Followers of these faiths, who mostly hail from the locathah and other aquatic peoples of the Wounds, worship the reefs in which they live as manifestations of the process they call the Cascade - that is, the endurance and continuity of life.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Varies by reef; common edicts include: encourage reefs to grow, heal the injured, lessen the physical or mental burdens of another, swim freely, protect the reefs
- Anathema
- Varies by reef; common anathema include: damage coral reefs, over-harvest a natural resource, betray a friend or someone who trusts you, prevent the motion of waves, allow usable material to go to waste, give up in the face of adversity
Beliefs and followers
The Cascade is not a deity or a codified religion, but rather a phenomenon to which is ascribed spiritual significance. After millennia upon millennia of living in the coral reefs of the Wounds, the locathah and others have become keenly aware of the sheer variety of life they contain and how each creatures support another in an intricate dance. They have come to view this, the Cascade, with a sense of religious reverence, as what keeps themselves and their reefs vibrant and thriving.
Strictly speaking, on its own the Cascade is more of a philosophy than a true religion - it is the reefs themselves that are the object of worship. Each is treated as, if not quite a deity, then something close, a benevolent living god itself composed of both the flesh-forms and spirit-forms of all that live within and around it. Every reef, whether that be the major ones such as the Itzazoa, Vivid, or Vese-Te-Mona or the great many smaller ones that can be found throughout the Wounds, is worshiped slightly differently, with varying areas of concern, tenets, and domains, depending on local conditions and the populations that live around them. The religions of all reef-gods have a number of shared edicts and anathema, however, centering primarily around the need to protect the reefs and heal the injured whenever possible.
Itothani, Bakari, and Angareza locathah all commonly venerate the Cascade, yet it is less common amongst the Bakari due to their exile from the Corpse. Some aquatic elves and merfolk also adhere to the faith. It is almost unknown amongst the sahuagin of the Wounds.