MYTHOLOGY: In contrast to Modella, Tee-hi is a polytheistic religion. The Tee-hi have gods for everything and are always creating new ones. Sometimes several versions of a new god competes, as new technologies emerge, until one becomes the most popular image. All the many gods stem from the four ancient gods in a sprawling genealogy that is complex and contested. The four ancient gods each represent one of the four key elements. There is Faytan, goddess of fire. She appears as a woman made of flame. She is said to burn things down so fresh beginnings and opportunities can emerge. Creation requires that first there is destruction. There is Manjon, goddess of water who appears as a living wave. She represents power through flexibility. There is Gandfir, god of the earth. He appears as a mountain. He represents things and ideas that are solid and dependable. Finally, there is Spritfon, god of air. He appears as a leaf dancing in the wind. He represents the importance of invisible forces in our lives and is shown as having a playful personality. There are countless other gods. Some of the more recent include, Roarma, goddess of the car, she appears as a car with a woman’s face and feathers, she represents speed and is the great granddaughter of Spritfon and Gandfir. Also popular is Shamchess, god of motorbikes. He appears as a man whose two eyes are the wheels of a motorbike. Sometimes he wears a bike across his eyes, like a pair of racing goggles. Among the darker new gods is Crackton, god of the gun, he appears as a gun made of fire, and Mandem, goddess of paper money. She is the granddaughter of Gandfir and Manjon. She appears as a boat’s mast with arms and a head that’s a crow’s nest. The religion was spread by a dwarven prophet called Maka – he travelled the known world spreading the word of Tee-hi. Tee-hi is the start of the phrase ‘Tee-hi Bar’ dwarvish for ‘One who has seen the gods’. The phrase is still sometimes used as a greeting by the faithful.
MAGIC: Today Tee-hi mages are only allowed to perform healing magic at licensed hospitals. Official temples ban the use of all other magic in accordance with the law and a near global taboo that emerged since the great plague. There are those among the faithful who still practice this magic in secret and many of them work for the criminal gangs that infest the streets of Albasa. They say that Tee-hi magic relies on the user invoking the relevant god and harnessing their energy for the mages purpose. However, if you call on the same god regularly, they might demand something in return.
In the Genesys system Tee-hi corresponds to the Divine Magic skill.
SOCIAL CONTEXT: Tee-hi is practiced by most halflings (some still follow Modella trying to atone for the betrayal of Gant) and orcs (a minority follow a god called Gorenard from the orc homeland of Carel) in Albasa. It is also followed by nearly all dwarfs, it was, in fact, originally conceived by the dwarves of Messasa, the religion spread from that country across the known world over eight hundred years ago. Tee-hi temples accept a broad range of philosophies and have no tendency to clamp down on heresy claiming their gods can be understood in a myriad of ways. Although there are no religious prohibitions in Tee-hi against intoxicants worshippers are still bound by the laws of Albasa and temples forbid their use on temple grounds, something that wasn’t always the case, changing with the law nearly fifty years ago. Tee-hi are expected to abstain from sex outside of marriage but may marry up to four other partners. In the last fifty years a few Tee-hi families have amassed great wealth and are counted among the aristos but the majority of worshippers still belong to the lower classes in Albasa.