Shouft

The Shouft, also called the Path of the Prophet or the Great Pilgrimage, is a religious journey to the holy shrine of Foratuna in Ororr. It is a key element of Therist religious practice, a spiritual journey visiting sites of religious significance.

The devout wishing spiritual enrichment, or sinners or criminals wishing to make restitution, follow the route the Great Prophet took after the conquest of Toborr, beginning at the port city and travelling upriver by boat to Foratuna, the spiritual heart of the church.

Pilgrims traditionally travel to Toborr at the mouth of River Wiyel, often the longest part of the journey. They then travel upriver by pilgrim galley, visiting shrines and holy sites along the way, before a two-day journey overland to the holy retreat at Foratuna. The trip from Toborr to Foratuna is at least 2500 km, taking at least a month, though pilgrims travelling from distant parts of Ororrplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigOrorr

Ororr [o-ROARR, ɒ̝rɔ'ɾ], also called the Holy Motherland of Ororr, is a theocratic nation in Anásthias, one of the world's great powers. It the largest nation in the world, perhaps the largest empire in history, occupying the entire northwest of the continent between the mountains and the sea. Ororrlanguagelanguagelanguage can take many months before even reaching Toborr.

The origin of the word “shouft” is unclear. A leading theory is that it comes from the Outhai nomads, meaning migration. It may also derive from an ancient Li-Bam dialect meaning movement.

The Journey of the Prophet describes how the Great Prophet felt the call of the Mother and left the protection of his army, and with a few followers journeyed south, meeting and talking to people in towns and cities along the way. After a journey of many weeks he crossed the parching desert to the holy place of Foratuna, where he communed with the Goddess and devised the holy principles of the mother church-state of Ororr.

High status pilgrims first began making making the trip to Foratuna in the first century ME, whilst the Prophet was still resident at Foratuna, and this increased after his Retreat. Today all devout Therists try to make this journey at least once in their lifetime, while still fit and able, though it is not mandatory. The Shouft has been criticised for only being open to the well off, but local churches often make collections for the less well off.

The Pilgrimage has evolved significantly over the centuries, so that today pilgrimages are highly organised. With regular river boats and stops along the way, it has become vital to the economy of the River Wiyel.

Today, most pilgrims first make their way to Toborr. Although many begin their journey in the old city itself, the city authorities created a staging post just south of but in view of the city, to avoid the crush of pilgrims on the old city island. From Toborr they journey upriver by pilgrim galley, stopping at religious sites along the way. Traditionally, pilgrims would take the galley oars, both for practical purposes and as an expression of penitence. Today pilgrims take turns at the oars, physical hardship and suffering being a key part of the pilgrimage experience. In practice many wealthy citizens hire a galley with a crew of pilgrims or professional oarsmen, though this is frowned upon. Only criminals seeking remission are obliged to row the whole distance.

Since most river galleys also have sails, any extra motive power from the wind is considered the beneficence of the Mother.

A modern galley makes the journey from Toborr to Ayetua in about six weeks, plus stops to visit shrines, historic sites and natural wonders. The final part of the journey from Ayetua to Foratuna is a three or four day walk overland, stopping at pilgrim campsites along the way. Pilgrims then take ships from Ayetua for their homeward journey.

The principle sites along the Shouft are:

• Toborr, site of the final battle the Prophet personally commanded
• Remel, ancient religious site, where a stone idol stood and paid homage to the Prophet
• Torroramai, capital city of the Church-State, visiting the National Temple in the Holy City
• Seqal, where the prophet worshipped at the old temple
• Ayetua, start of the desert crossing
• Foratuna, holiest site in Ororr

Pilgrim boats stop for up to three days' rest at these cities. Many other historic cities are visited along the way, though these only involve stops for a few hours or overnight.

Pilgrims are welcomed at Ayetua on their return journey, where they celebrate and ritually discard their pilgrim clothes.

Visits to Foratuna are only permitted during a three month period marking the dry season in the Wiyel valley. Despite this pilgrims are seen throughout the year, since they can take many months to reach Ayetua, and to journey home. Given the huge numbers of pilgrims wanting to travel, would-be pilgrims must apply via their local temple, and then buy passage with an organised package service. These are often organised locally or regionally, with guides organising all transportation, food and accommodation costs. Wealthier parties hire an entire galley with paid oarsmen - normal pilgrims rowing themselves in shifts, which is considered the most “holy” option.

Pilgrims with official Shouft papers are issued with a brass pendant stamped with holes denoting their unique identity number. This confirms their official pilgrim status, serving as identification at official hostels and in case of illness or death. Pilgrim pendants are traditionally issued at Toborr, at the start of their journey.

Pilgrims traditionally wear a polma, a garment of raw linen made from a single length of cloth, sometimes coloured, which can be wrapped around the body a number of different ways, covering the head to protect from sun and weather, or bare to the waist in hot weather.

They also carry a small bag with a few personal items and a limited amount of money. Pilgrims are warned against carrying valuable items, and with pre-authorisation, are able to withdraw small amounts in cash from lenders in most cities.

Since pilgrims are required to start their journey in the far north of the country in Toborr, many Ororrans historically claimed this was discriminatory against those who lived at the opposite end of the country, since they could have to travel for many weeks before even starting their arduous journey. Consequently since the fifth century their have been “unofficial” pilgrimage routes. The first of these came from Deltirot, who would travel downriver as far as Torroramai, the back upriver via Seqal to Foratuna. These were called the “greenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen

The Green Kingdom of flora and fauna includes humans, mammals, birds, whales, greenfish, and most green plants and crops cultivated by humankind. pilgrims”, travelling down the green branch of the River Wiyel, marked their unofficial status with a green or green-edged polma.

Despite resentment by pilgrims taking the “full” journey, these alternate routes were eventually given official sanction. Today there are several pilgrim colours denoting different starting cities, where pilgrims can be issued with official shouft markers:

• Greenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen
  
  The Green Kingdom of flora and fauna includes humans, mammals, birds, whales, greenfish, and most green plants and crops cultivated by humankind. - beginning at Delan, attracting pilgrims from Deltirot and the south
• Blue - beginning at Remel, attracting pilgrims from Gaskanin and the west
• Red - starting at Tulfi
• White - the full shouft, starting at Toborr

Nearly all pilgrims visit the capital city Torroramai, even though the city was built long after the time of the Prophet.

Additionally there are the pilgrims with purple fringes of peupra dye, meaning they have travelled usually by sea from the port of Jorapor in distant Vildon. These do the full pilgrimage from Toborr, but demand extra respect for the vast distances they travel to reach Remel. Jorapor is about 7500 km by ship to Toborr, about four months' travel.