It began as a movement searching for new gods, and turned into a theocracy of its own. Let’s learn more about the Seeker Religion. Buy War of the Lance: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3164/war-of-the-lance-3-5?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Not all Seekers were all bad–in the beginning anyway.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today I am going to talk about the Seeker Religion. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing the novels The Annotated Chronicles, the module DL1 Dragons of Despair, in addition to the Lost Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home and War of the Lance sourcebooks for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
The Seeker movement was the inevitable result of the gods leaving Krynn. And I know the official gods’ perspective, that mortals left them, but let’s be honest, the gods took their clerics and skedaddled. There’s no two ways about it. Famine, regional war and disease were the results, in addition to the massive geographical, and governmental changes caused by the Cataclysm. Naturally the people of the world would look to the heavens for aid as their fathers and grandfathers had done before them, but since the gods were absent, it left a vacuum.
The prevailing belief in the concept of divine beings looking after you is never stronger or more necessary for some, than when you are on your proverbial knees. And the people of Krynn were as bad off as they could be. So a search for new gods began. With every grass-roots movement, it may begin with the best of intentions, it inevitably spirals out to something much worse. The Seeker Religion is no different. They knew the gods had abandoned them, and in their search for new gods to worship–reliable and caring gods, they inevitably made up their own. This religion had its primary holdings in Abanasinia in the third century after the Cataclysm, but it spread farther than that.
A loose knit organization of clerics would travel to the towns of Haven, Solace and Gateway, preaching the Seeker philosophy. There was yet no formalized religion, just the movement of searching for evidence of the gods–any gods. They initially worked independently but quickly realized the strength in numbers and organization. So they began to hold meetings, formalizing the religion. This is not entirely different from the Council of Nicea in our own history where rabbis were bribed and coerced to create the old testament in an effort to unify a dying Roman empire. This series of meetings is where the core philosophy of the Seeker movement was codified: The Seekers are searching for new gods and will announce them, once they are discovered–gods worthy of respect and worship. So they were not just looking for any gods, but rather ones that would serve the people of the world.
This philosophy was unveiled in Haven to less than spectacular results. You see, the Seekers were not the only group leveraging the absence of the gods to manipulate, profit from, and control the people of Krynn; again, like in our own world. In Haven specifically there was a new religion which sprang up around the serpent god Belzor. The brown robed clerics were loath to give up any control over the populace. They would kidnap and murder Seeker representatives if and when they began preaching in Haven, and showcase nightly miracles in their temple. The largest hindrance to winning over the population was that they had a god to worship, and the Seekers had none. Coincidentally the Belzor religion would run into the Companions and specifically a young Raistlin Majere who would reveal them for the charlatans that they were, nearly getting himself burned at the stake in the process, opening yet another vacuum for the Seekers to enter, and enter they did.
The people felt duped, and accepted the seemingly honest search for gods with the Seeker movement with open arms. From Haven, the Seeker religion spread like wildfire. Gateway and Solace quickly joined the trinity of Seeker towns, and many small hamlets would be led by Seeker clerics. It was then that the inevitable happened. As with any organized religion, it outgrows its founders and even its followers, becoming an entity unto itself. It begins to crave more power and control, and this is exactly what the Seeker religion did. The Seekers decided the people could not effectively guide themselves, so they installed a High Theocrat to tend to the people’s needs and rule the town. Each town had its own High Theocrat, and as the saying goes: Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Like the Kingpriest before them, the fear of losing power leads to inquisitions. This instills a culture of spy networks whose sole aim is to control the population. By the time the War of the Lance came around, the Seekers were led by a Highseeker and nine Seekers who served as a council. The Council Hall of the Seekers was a glorious hall surrounded by six towers in the center of Haven. There was even a military arm which was formed to protect the seeker movement and Theocracy called the Holy Guard. Unable to find gods, but desperately needing them to control the population, they created their own gods. They instilled in these gods decidedly human qualities and outlined them in a holy text called Gratio Praxis. This tome was leveraged much like the Solamnic Knights Measure, to direct and control its followers.
The five seeker gods are as follows: Omalthea: Motherlord of the Pantheons, Sauvey: once consort of Omalthea, God of vengeance. Fatherlord of the lesser pantheon, Zeshun: queen of the night, goddess of material things, Ferae: daughter of Omalthea and Sauvey. Goddess of fertility/life/growth, and finally Cadithal: the laughing god, consort of Ferae. The success of the Seeker religion was in the memory of its founding where the adherents truly practiced piety and cared for their neighbors. In the end, the Praxis was leveraged by Highseekers like Hederick, who were decidedly mad, but equally brilliant at turning the peaceful-minded words of the Praxis to their own ends.
Of course, the War of the Lance spelled the end of the Seekers. Once one of its most revered adherents, Elistan, joined the worship of the old god Paladine, and began practicing the miracle of healing in his name, it was difficult for any other religion to stand up to him. Many Theocrats like Hederick and councilmembers like Locar were revealed to be nothing more than unscrupulous traitors to the populace who held them in high regard. They made deals with Dragon Highlords, who only enslaved the population when it was convenient. And when the old gods returned, there was no reason to worship new gods who couldn’t perform miracles.
The Seeker Religion at its height spread from Abanasinia to Solamnia, and even when the gods returned and the War of the Lance ended, some people clung to their old beliefs out of habit and comfort, as the spreading of the old gods religion would take years; so it’s no surprise that it would take an equal amount of time for this religion and philosophy to fully die out. It just goes to show that the lesson the gods intended to instill by abandoning their worshippers and creations was wholly lost on them, and the people would create new Gods in their absence, cutting off their noses to spite their faces. That is the way of man, in fantasy and in real life.
Outro
And that is all the time I have to talk about the Seeker Religion. What do you think of the organization? Did the Seekers ever have good intentions? And finally, would you trust former Seekers after the War of the Lance? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
Until we conquer the evils within ourselves we can never conquer the great evil that threatens to engulf us!
Subscribe to the podcast today! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | Blubrry | Youtube Music | RSS | More
