MYTHOLOGY: Modella was a virtuous warrior who set off on adventures with his halfling servant Gant. On their greatest adventure, Modella is anointed by the prophet Nomando, he and Gant then travel to the Cloud Mountain and at the top Modella slays the Over Demon, Sigrath. Modella uses the magical sword Gant found for him in an earlier adventure, to cut the four heads off the demon in a single slice. Unfortunately, the demon’s blood sprays from the top of the mountain across the globe falling on the creatures of earth and infecting them with evil in their hearts. Having slayed the demon, Modella then ascends to heaven where he finds the other gods have grown decedent. They no longer serve humanity but spend their time on perverse entertainments. Outraged by their lack of pity for humanity, Modella slays the other gods. Gant stands against this and in the end, despite resenting having to do it, Modella kills Gant and is all alone in heaven. He then becomes so singular and powerful that he bursts into flames and becomes the sun, shining life giving light across the world and leading to a new golden age. Modella prizes intellect, learning and simplicity.
MAGIC: Today Modella priests are only allowed to perform healing magic at licensed hospitals and sigil magic at the Royal Mint where it’s used to verify money and undermine the efforts of counterfeiters. Before the great plague (the one 400 years ago that fed off magic and killed magic users) Modella priests practiced a wide range of spells and had a detailed magical system. Few survive who have any knowledge of it, and any that practice it are considered heretics by the temple authorities. The magic of Modella works on a system of correspondence. Those who practice it have to find certain items that have the essences essential to the forces used to activate a particular spell. There were once hundreds and hundreds of spells written in the library but they were destroyed by the city after the great plague.
In the Genesys system Modella corresponds to the Arcana Magic skill.
SOCIAL CONTEXT: Modella is the religion practiced by most of the humans in Albasa and is the most common faith among the aristos. Under the reign of the fascist dictator Calum Hoxha (that ended over fifty years ago), Modella became the official religion of the Kalhom Empire of which Albasa was the capital. At the end of the war the Kalhom empire was broken into three city states of which Albasa is one. It is still the largest religion in all three states that grew out of the former empire. The Modella Temples in Albasa are run by priests who answer to the Arch Priest. He has religious authority over all followers of orthodox Modella in the greater state of Albasa not just the city. Followers of orthodox Modella are expected to refrain from drugs, alcohol and sex outside of marriage. There are heretics who have different interpretations of the myths of Modella. There is even a cult that claims that the demon Sigrath didn’t die in the ‘rain of blood’ and they worship her and claim she is coming back for revenge on Modella.