Cult of Quinnas

Worship from the masses is few and far between, Quinnas does not hold the same stigma as the darker gods, such as Maia or Charn who's domains are considered by many to be evil. In fact many people would openly worship Quinnas if he was but a single aspect of luck. People who have asked for his aid have often found that all their luck has increased, both good and bad, something that usually proves fatal, the last thing you want is to discover that your chances of being stabbed decreases at the same time as your ability to attract arrows increases. Great amounts of money have been won or lost during bets where Quinnas was invoked. People have gained job promotions thanks to asking for his aid, or ended up slopping out latrines because their boss took offense to something. Secrets have been protected and discovered. All in all, the populace soon realised that Quinnas is neither malicious or benevolent and what outcome his aid has can never be predicted, for that would deny his very domain.

Where his influence lands is completely to his fancy, quite often, those million to one chances people pray for are due to Quinnas, when it starts raining as soon as you put the washing out, despite it being a sunny day a few minutes ago are most likely thanks to his influence. Many believe that the other Gods shun him because his chance warping influence can even effect them. His eyes were gouged out by Khanes due to one of his plans going awry thanks to Quinnas, Khanes hoped that if Quinnas could not see, he could not influence. If anything it only enhanced his abilities, for without knowledge of the stakes luck and chance takes a greater factor.

Despite this, people still worship him in their own little ways. Many don't do it directly, often the most common is to carry a rabbit's foot on ones belt or coin purse, rarely a preserved rabbit's eye, held inside a small sealed wooden box an inch square. Rabbits and hares are considered holy to Quinnas, two similar animals, the rabbit is supposed to increase good luck, while the hare brings bad. Others might carry a blindfold, putting it on for a few minutes when the might want chance to favour them in some way, sometimes even wearing them throughout, depending entirely on chance to see them through. Those who do chance upon a run of good favour often offer up some of their winnings to Quinnas, less to get his attention, but more to stay on his good side whenever he does give it.

Only the most dedicated of risk takers and gamblers actually swear themselves to Quinnas in a more religious way, becoming some of the very few who can invoke him directly, Quinnas knows he can turn to his followers for guaranteed entertainment, since they thrive on him placing challenges in the way and try and get out of them. Many dedicants join the Dens of Quinnas, combinations of gambling dens and temples, but not all follow the devout path, the occasional adventurer might follow Quinnas, revelling in the risk and challenge that spring about him and using them to improve his own skills. There was once a Quinnan lion tamer, who's run of success was immense, gaining fame over many years until he unfortunately choked on a hairball.

Those less educated treat Quinnas as a god of good luck, failing to take into account any bad that might come with it, one of the most common adages repeated by Quinnan priests. 'Luck is relative'. If you go on a winning streak in blackjack, that means some poor soul is losing rather badly. The chance of rolling 5 ones on 5 six sided die is amazingly slim, and rolling it is a brilliant stroke of luck, unless you needed twos or more, in which case it's the biggest stroke of bad luck possible. Another popular adage, though rarely told outside of the Dens, is 'You must make your own luck'. A religion worshipping a deity as inconsistent as a god of chance quickly learned not to depend on him directly, instead they focussed on becoming the most proficient bunch of cheaters available, besides, why wait for that ace to come up when you can just slip one out of your sleeve? Now you're taking the chance of people discovering your cheating instead, a much more interesting gamble than the game itself.

Dens of Quinnas

Although worshipping him is a bad idea, Quinnas still ends up with enough dedicated followers to warrant a temple in each major city dedicated to him, usually also a gambling den or tavern where dice and cards are more than welcome. They usually remain hidden since the worship of Quinnas brings unwanted attention, also Dens of Quinnas quickly develop a reputation as cheaters, which loses customers. Better to remain undercover so more patrons attend. Still, all have the identifying feature of a blindfold somehow integrated into their pub sign. The temple priests also tend to be the bartenders, waiters and dealers within the den, using the money gained to fund the table and the rather risky sacrifices to Quinnas.

Religious Hierarchy

The head of the temple tends to be referred to as the Master of the Deck. He holds the deck of cards which is always used during the sacrifice to Quinnas, a complex single player game which the other priests watch intently, mostly to try and figure out the rules. It generally results in the Master losing a lot of money to Quinnas, but every so often he comes out on top and benefits from a strong run of luck for a few days, as well as getting to keep whatever money was ante'd up in the first place. He also holds the scales of chance, representing the balance of good luck with bad. Some priests believe that these scales can be read by the Master to judge how in favour with Quinnas the temple is at the moment. In truth it's used by the Master to check that he hasn't been cheated out by people using weighted gold or dice, but he's not going to tell that to the rest of his followers, except the Collectors. The Collectors are like the paladins of Quinnas, seeking out those people who had a run of bad luck to claim on any debts owed, or to chuck people out of the den if they seem to be getting a little too lucky.

The rest of the priests are just referred to as Gamblers, and are people who are quite happy to take a risk at life, spending their life averagely on top, with the occasional slip to keep them on their toes and to keep life interesting. Only a Gambler who really pushes his luck is in any real danger for Quinnas enjoys seeing his worshippers worm their way out of a situation as much as he enjoys putting them in it in the first place.

Newly inducted priests are called Fools, for rather obvious reasons, having only just started their first steps into the faith of Quinnas, they tend to either take too many risks, or play it too safe and end up losing out because of either. They haven't quite found that fine balance yet and as such look all the more foolish for it.