[GLoGtober 4] - Death & Divinity, Bastions, Faith, & Clerics

Death & Divinity

Artist Unknown

Look upon the world, how rain falls, trills down the hillsides, pours into the rivers and seas, and rises again as mist in the air.

If our world is so careful to conserve the stuff of rivers and seas, how careful shall we suppose it to be with the stuff of souls?

And yet, as one can never step in the same river twice, it is known that no being is ever truly reborn. The stuff of their soul melds into the great Will of all things, blending with the immaterial essence, the Materia Animae, of all other souls, and from this great sea, new souls are drawn.

And they are born into the world we leave them.

Our lust for divinity will not lead to life, but to an eternal lingering death, in which nothing is renewed, and all things fade.

The Fault of Eternity

Immortality is not agelessness. 

All things fade, crumble, and give way in time. Though some have achieved immortality through binding their souls to arcane constructions known as “Bastions”, even those great beings fade with time.

As a vibrant painting yellows with age, gods and devils slowly become extremist parodies of their former selves, detached from the present reality, and enacting their will without listening to their younger advisors.

At times a fading god may realize their plight, and relinquish their Bastion to a worthy successor, but these times are few, with long and bloody ages stretching between.

Far more often, those Spiritual Beings still capable of nuanced thought are forced to overthrow the aged god they once worshiped, fomenting dark eras for those mortals beneath their reign.

Bastions

A Bastion is a spiritual place constructed of the Materia Animae, and tied to a physical place through a “Gate”, usually located in a temple or other sacred place. Bastions are alike in many ways to the demiplanes powerful wizards can create, though there are key differences.

Souls may dwell in a Bastion, appearing and interacting as physical beings though they lack a true physical form. Thus gods and angels may freely exist here.

At the same time, beings with bodies may enter and exit a Bastion freely through its gate—a portal located within the mortal realm. While within a Bastion, their bodies interact with souls as physical beings. They may be touched and harmed by them.

Any being with a Soul may be bound to a Bastion by the ruler of that realm at any point before their death, though both parties must be willing. In this case, even if the creature dies, their soul will return to the Bastion. Some Bastion Lords use this to create rewards for their most faithful, while others do so to forge powerful armies.

A creature bound to a Bastion must be killed within the Bastion itself to truly die. If the ruler of a Bastion dies in this way, the Bastion may be bound to a new ruler, typically through a specific and secret ritual particular to each Bastion.

A Bastion’s Power

Dwellers within a Bastion cannot typically assume a physical form in the material world. If they pass through the Bastion’s gate into the mortal realm, they become as a ghost, an invisible intangible spirit that may yet be able to touch the spirits of physical beings through dreams and visions.

In order for a Bastion to truly bring its power to bear on the mortal world, it requires oath-bound mortal servants, magic vile beyond imagination, or both.

My Mortal Hand

White Priest, Final Fantasy

You are a Cleric, the living gateway through which a Spiritual Being pours their will into the mortal world. Great power, you bear, but a great burden as well.

Starting Gear: Priestly Robes, Light Armor, Medium Weapon, Incense. 3d6 GP

Skill: Oratory | Hymnody | Compassion

1. Faith, Oathbound
2. Materia Animae, +1 Spell
3. Blessed, +2 Spells
4. Mortal Hand, +3 Spells

Faith: You are an ordained priest of a Faith.

All characters may belong to a Faith if they wish. Faiths have Tenets, Signs, and Anathema. Performing a Tenet while adventuring grants d4 Favor, while performing an Anathema loses all Favor. 

A character may pray for a boon from the object of their Faith once per day by rolling a d100. If the result is less than their Favor, their prayer is answered in a way the Referee deems fitting, usually involving a Sign of the Faith. Either way, d10 Favor is lost. The presence of a fitting sacrifice, dedicated altar, and ordained priest increase the odds of success by 5% each.

As a Cleric, the following special rules apply:

• You gain [templates]*5 Favor each morning while adventuring, up to 100.
• Performing a Tenet grants 10 Favor.
• Performing an Anathema loses only 50% of your favor.
• You may control existing Signs of your faith within 30’ as an action. Animal signs will not harm you, and have a 4-in-6 chance to follow a single request from you.

Oathbound: You are soulbound to a minor power in service to a greater deity, and the two of you grow together.

This Guardian Spirit is bound to your location, but blesses you with a sense that allows you to see spiritual beings and magical effects.

In addition, your Guardian Spirit can transform your Favor into Magic Dice, such as a wizard uses. You may hold up to [templates] MD, and each costs 5 Favor.

You know 3 random spells from your chosen Faith (see below), and the spell Heal/Harm.

Materia Animae: You may summon your Guardian Spirit as a magical object of no more than 2 bulk. If armor, it grants +2 AC, if a weapon, it gains +2 to hit and damage. It flies back to you when summoned as a free action on your turn. You can sense your Guardian’s surroundings up to 30’.

Blessed: While you hold 25 or more Favor, gain your Faith’s Blessing.

Mortal Hand: Once per day call upon the power of your faith to recover your full health as a free action, or perform one major miracle related to the Signs of your Faith. The Referee adjudicates.

Common Faiths

These faiths may need to be adjusted, or a Referee may choose to use them as-is.

Spells are from The Common GLoG

The Seer Stones

Seven Stones, untouched by metal, stand high on the hills above the City. All pass beneath their eyes, and the stars themselves bow before them. The worthy pass through their gateway to paradise below, but the wicked are barred, left to wander this world…

Tenets: Exact justice—an eye for an eye. Destroy the undead. Seek the good of righteous citizens.

Signs: Stone, Owls, Dreams

Anathema: Murder, Necromancy

Blessing: Foresight, twice per day, avoid a negative effect that would have otherwise affected you. Alternatively, expend a use to ask the Referee what would happen within 6 seconds if you perform a particular action.

Spells:

1. Commune
2. Deflection
3. Detect Evil
4. Enchant Tool
5. Find the Path
6. Protection from Evil
7. Quest
8. Resistance
9. Sending
10. Scry

Verania’s Circle

She it was who caught down the youngest moon, broke it upon the earth, and shaped life there from. She is wild, cunning, caring, and merciless.

Tenets: Preserve life. Honor mothers. Defend children. Avenge the innocent sevenfold.

Signs: Vines, Bears, Moonlight

Anathema: Harm the innocent. Defile natural beauty.

Blessing: Whole, twice per day, restore d6+Level HP to a living being you touch.

Spells:

1. Awaken
2. Bind Creature
3. Cure/Cause Disease
4. Light & Shadow
5. Stormbolt
6. Summon Swarm
7. Thorns
8. Unstable Evolution
9. Windwalk
10. Unstable Evolution

Celeon

“Bright depth, mistress of verse, crash of drum and stirring of harp, queen of the Mer and sorceress of the sea, grant us to live only as long as wonders lay ahead.”

Tenets: Go boldly into danger. Seize thy heart’s desire. Speak only the truth. 

Signs: Water, Horses, Lightning

Anathema: Cheat your companions, bow to mortal nobility.

Blessing: Swiftness, take an extra action in combat.

Spells: 

1. Banish
2. Conceal or Reveal
3. Enfeeble or Enhance
4. Fog
5. Illusion
6. Mask
7. Mirror Image
8. Purify Food and Drink
9. Shadow Step
10. Starfall (as Fireball)

The Red Hand

All shall fall and die, but the Red Hand of Ardolazh will wither last of all.

Tenets: Foil another god’s will, Secure Power, Bring others into the Hand.

Signs: Wind, Serpents, Terror

Anathema: Aid other gods, hear the  Hand spoken ill of without rebuke.

Blessing: Pain, You grow two thin fangs which secrete venom twice per day. An injected creature must save or take d6 damage per turn until cured.

Spells:

1. Cause Disease
2. Detect Magic
3. Dreamwalk
4. Inflict Wounds
5. Raise Dead
6. Silence
7. Siphon
8. Weakness
9. Wither
10. Word of Death

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This post was built for my GLoGtober 2024 challenges!