Manurl is a strange god by Pentan standards. He does not ride, for he is not a human god. He is a cat. He lives outside the herd for the most part, but his friendship with Dostal brings him in to help. He is honored by Pentans for feeding the people in the Darkness, but he wants little honor. In truth, the Cult of Manurl largely exists because Manurl chooses his followers and guides them, rather than because any seek him out. It is an acknowledgement of what exists, and most Pentans do not understand the Cult of the Trapper Cat.
Manurl has always lived in Pent and has always lived alone. He was the small brother of the Cat Gods - Sakkar the Sabretooth, the tiger Hsa, Chen-Ga the leopard, and similar. His children are the manul, the wild cats of the steppes, and like them, he preferred solitude. He wandered the land in the God Time, hunting and trapping prey.
This would have continued on, had Dostal not found him. The Darkness had only just begun, and Dostal was still mastering his art. He was learning still from the beast gods he met across the land, and he saw the evidence of Manurl’s passing - the traps in which Manurl caught his prey, the bones left by his ambushes. Dostal began to track Manurl.
Even Manurl could not escape the unerring eye of Dostal. When they met, Manurl was angry. He didn’t want to be caught. But Dostal offered him a brace of gophers and marmots that he had caught, and Manurl paused to listen. Dostal knelt and asked: “Teach me your ways, that I might trap prey as you do. If you do, I will honor you with gifts and speak your name to my people.”
Manurl considered this. He ate the marmots and answered: “I will show you if you can find me. My name is Manurl, and I am not found. If you can find me, it will prove to me you are worth teaching.”
For a full month, Manurl would hide and hunt, and Dostal would find him. Each time, Manurl showed him a new trap, a new trick. At last, Dostal asked: “Your ways are so useful. Could I welcome you to my camp, as I did to Brother Dog?”
And Manurl answered: “I will not be your brother. I am Cat, not Dog. Only those I choose are mine. But if you will let me have them, I will honor your people and deign to stop in your camp. When I feel like it.”
Dostal swore this pact, and Manurl smiled. “I have only shown you the traps you are worthy of. I have kept the best for myself. But if you welcome me when I visit, perhaps I will show you more.”
The tales of Manurl appearing to help and leaving as quickly are many, after that. He never accepted living in the tents of the First Herd, but neither was he ever gone. He would scorn their care and their thanks, but each time he appeared, he left food for the hungry and taught tricks to the cunning. This is the nature of the manul: it is not the brother of humanity, but a friend at a distance, and those whom Manurl claims do not bring it closer, but instead live further.
The Cult of the Trapper Cat is small, and most tribes have perhaps one or two members, if that. It has no structure, for every member is a priest, chosen by Manurl for their nature being close to his. Normal people do not join the Cult of the Trapper Cat, and never learn the deep secrets of traps and ambush. They must instead worship Dostal, who learned the tricks that a normal person could. Only those chosen by Manurl during their initiation to adulthood may join the Cult of the Trapper Cat, for Manurl will only accept those who, like him, crave solitude and an existence on the edges. Most members of the cult are rarely seen by their tribes, appearing a few times a year to uphold their duties to the tribe but otherwise living as hermits, unseen, among the beasts.
Manurl is one of the few Pentan gods who has neither Rider nor Mount aspect, for he is never depicted as a human. He is either a very large manul with black and brown fur or he is a small, manul-headed, shaggy man with black and brown fur. In either case, he is usually kept at a distance from other figures in art, often near but not with Dostal and Brother Dog.
Manurl marks the children he chooses with his own rune, a child of the Beast Rune and the Death Rune. Those who will bear it are typically loners, eccentric and often averse to what the rest of Pent considers normal socialization. Their soul horses are often similarly strange. The Manurl rune may replace the Death or Beast Rune, for those initiating into the cult later in life. Whatever rune it replaces is transformed at its current rating into the Manurl Rune.
MANURL: The Manurl Rune is the rune of a trapper, a killer that lurks in shadow and stays apart from people before suddenly appearing at times of their own choosing. Initiates may use it to, among other things, move unseen, fight with tooth and claw, vanish in plain sight, lay traps, recognize threats, ambush prey, see in darkness, track foes by scent, sleep comfortably anywhere, move with shocking speed, leap from horseback, squeeze through narrow places, stare down anything, or be charming but unapproachable. Those strong in the Manurl Rune are aloof, solitary, and hard to read.
Manurl opposes the Runes of Life, Man, Light and Chaos.
Manurl is friendly towards Dostal, and it is that friendship that keeps Manurl returning to aid the First Herd. He is hostile towards Tholm, however, as Tholm’s bird allies hunt his children. Brother Dog has learned to avoid Manurl, and dogs tend to avoid Manurl’s cat children as well, but they often fight when they are together. Beyond this, Manurl tends to be guarded and hostile towards most other gods, preferring to avoid their company. He has a distaste for Hurfor’s revealing light, as it gives him fewer places to vanish into.
The Cult of Manurl is not large and has no true organization. Most tribes have perhaps one or two Manurl cultists at all, and they tend to avoid each other’s company as much as anyone else. All of the rites of Manurl are solitary, save for the gifting of food to the tribe. Most members of the cult create their own shrines to Manurl in the wild lands, hidden on hillsides or mountain outcrops. They tend to attract manuls, who settle in large territories around these shrines. Every member of the cult is considered a priest, there being no qualification beyond Manurl’s touch. Temples to Dostal typically contain a small shrine to Manurl at which offerings will be left for traveling Manurl cultists, who typically come by night and remove these gifts silently.
The holy places of Manurl are sacred secrets, revealed to none outside the cult. Most are pristine hills or small caves in which manuls den for a time, and they are often the places that Manurl’s cultists make their temporary homes.
Initiates of Manurl must possess the Manurl Rune at 1W or higher. They are not rendered impure by the blood or body fluids of animals, and they are generally expected to live on their own, on the outskirts of whatever land their tribe settles on. This is not required, but it is exceptionally common and usually by preference. Manurl cultists are required by their god to return to the main tribe once every season to deliver a gift of meat, enough to feed several families. They may skip one gift per year, to remind the tribe that the manul is not tame. Many initiates decorate themselves in ways that resemble manuls, wearing thick layers of fur.
The holy days of Manurl are secrets, revealed by the god to his cultists. (Or perhaps are declared arbitrarily when the cultists feel it is appropriate.) On these days, the members of the cult perform secret rituals, usually dressing in a way that is even more cat-like, sometimes with prosthetic ears or tails they have made. These rites often involve spying on others, both human and animal, lazing about after making a kill, or dancing in the dens of the wild manuls. They are performed alone, with no witnesses but cats.
Manurl receives sacrifices of birds, gophers and marmots as his primary gifts from non-members of the cult. These sacrifices are usually given in thanks for meat gifts or to recognize Manurl’s role in driving off pests, and are usually overseen by the Cult of Dostal. Manurl’s own worshippers sacrifice a portion of each of their kills to their god, usually a piece of the liver.
Manurl’s subcults tend to have very few members, often only one or two. They are generally recognizing heroes that were children of Manurl and emulating them, and most outsiders do not even realize they exist. All are based in the Manurl Rune.
Erden the Watcher: Erden was a son of Manurl and one of the daughters of Sakkar the Sabretooth, the god of sabretooths and the fear of animals. Erden preferred his father’s ways, but was still a master of fear, leaving signs in the camps of those he watched, stealing their secrets and their things, and always going unseen as his victims grew more and more fearful. Followers of Erden may use their Manurl Rune to leave calling cards, steal things, find hidden secrets, or enter protected places unnoticed.
A devotee of Manurl must forsake all magic not born of Manurl and must have a Manurl Rune at 11W or higher. Most devotees are barely seen by their own tribes, depositing their gifts of meat in secret and otherwise living wild, as Manurl does. They are shadows, whispers in the dark, who aid their tribe but are seen only when they choose it and spoken to only when they desire. They may serve their khan as a spy or may just be an unseen presence that aids the tribe when they choose, but none can command their comings and goings.
Living Trap (MANURL): Manurl taught Dostal many of his traps, but he kept the best for himself. The best trap, Manurl knew, was himself. When he wanted to take down prey that he could see no other way to defeat, he would sneak around them, watching them and learning their ways. It would take time, but once he understood them, he understood their desires. He would go to a place they would approach alone and emerge from hiding. Always, he would appear to be something they wanted - a cat to play with, an easy morsel to eat, a bearer of a beautiful gem. They approached him, thinking him harmless. Then he would strike, snuffing them out as they overreached to claim him. If he was in a state of purity, they would have no chance to strike back.
Manul Horse (MANURL): Manurl is one of the few directly worshiped gods of Pent who is not a mount. He is a cat, not a man or horse, and the greatest trick he offers to his chosen is the chance to be other than human as well. By entering a state of purity, Manurl’s chosen may climb upon their horse and melt into its shadow, emerging as a manul by leaving their human self inside the shadow. Until they return to their horse, they remain in this state, with all the capabilities of a manul and none of a human. However, should their horse be slain, they are trapped forever in this form until their own death.