[✗] [MA] Tahariaen Clerics

[Aelesh 540]

 

A venator, hunting their own joy in the Gilded Courts’ beautiful gardens at last.

🝐     Clericism is an aengudaemonic holy magic that occupies [3] magic slots.

🝐     Clericism requires the ability to channel His Cleansed Law, which is bestowed through a connection ritual.

🝐     Clericism is incompatible with all Void magics, all Deific magics, all Dark magics, and all CA’s.

🝐     Clericism is compatible with all Misc magics.

🝐     Clericism is only compatible with the four descendant races; humans, elves, orcs and dwarves.

 

Tier 1 | [2] Verses, attained following connection

   🜞  Ritual Casting, [PH] Calm, [WC] Arbiter of the Silver Cloak, [HA] Shroud from Suffering

 

Tier 2 | [4] Verses, attained [2] OOC weeks after connection

   🜞  [PH] Mend, [WC] Arbiter of the Blue Cloak, [HA] Aegisian Rains

 

Tier 3 | [6] Verses, attained [1] OOC month after connection

   🜞  Zeal, [PH] Cleanse, [WC] Arbiter of the White Cloak, [WC] Prophet’s Purification, [HA] Blessed Waters

 

Tier 4 | [8] Verses, attained [2] OOC months after connection

   🜞  [PH] Purge, [WC] Venator’s Rally, [HA] Eternal Vigil

 

Tier 5 | [10] Verses, attained [3] OOC months after connection

   🜞  [WC] Itharel’s Intercession, [HA] Law’s Revelation

 

Changelog

Spoiler

🝐     Nerfed Itharel’s Intercession by reducing maximum tendrils to [4], and reduced tendrils needed to heal medium wounds to [2].

🝐     Nerfed Prophet’s Protection by removing the ability to deploy it at range.  It is now always centered on the cleric, to make it a purely protective spell rather than something that can be chucked into the enemy backlines to disrupt them.

🝐     Nerfed Calm by removing its anti-magic effects.

🝐     Nerfed Arbiter of the Silver Cloak by removing the cloak’s armour buff.

Big Change

🝐     Pretty much everything has been rewritten.  Many thanks to Ibleesian for their insight and to the clericbros for their critique.  I recommend a thorough re-read if you’re already given this a look.

 

Clerics of old, clutching radiant gifts.

🝐     Aengul of Purity and Justice, Tahariae has ever sought to rid the world of its imperfections.  Of all aengudaemons, He has upheld the sanctity of the Creator’s designs the most zealously.  The clerics who follow Him strive to preserve the world’s destiny, cleansing heretics who practise soul-warping magics and correcting moral failings in the hearts of otherwise righteous descendants.  To the pained, their Lord is succour, to the lost He is guidance and to the evil, to the sinful, to the tainted, He is doom.

 

🝐     The state of the mortal world drew Tahariae into a time of deep meditation some three hundred years ago.  During that time, Tahariae pondered His innermost being and emerged reilluminated.  How the scrolls of His Law now grow under the light of His mind, each moment revealing new truths to guide the mortal world through a sea of falsehoods.  It is this Law, His Cleansed Law, that He is bringing into the world with the aid of His many devout judges, the souls of His departed clerics who dwell with Him now in His Gilded Court.  He sits now as the overseer of a new nation rising in the hearts of all people, a nation of noble souls capable of ruling sagely over all the lands.

 

🝐     Tahariae has come to the understanding that direct aengudaemonic intervention is an imperfection, a fact best expressed by the death of His dear brother Xan.  There is nothing which an aengudaemon can offer that is of more value than the hidden wonders of the descendants or the Most High’s unfailing will.  The purity which Tahariae reveals to the world is a light which He sees glimmering in the hearts of all beings just as they are, an innate goodness and nobility of spirit that can overcome any hardship.

 

🝐     One might call His Cleansed Law the antithesis of Mivtahza, the conviction that the heart of the universe is filled with a compassionate, charitable and chivalrous blood.  The distrust between souls, both descendant and animal, sprouts from the weed Iblees planted in Mundus’ virgin earth at the climax of the Thirty Years War.  There was a time before the Infernal Climb, and clerics aspire to triumph over it and begin a new era of Aegisian idyllicism.  The demonic notion that ‘Might is Right’ is only “true” for a reality darkened by the shadow of the Betrayer’s corruption; a shadow which Tahariae seeks to quell with His overwhelming radiance.

 

🝐     To live the cleric’s life is to discover the Law in the world, communicate that Law to Tahariae through communion, and express the Law in a world that has been blinded to its own inner light.  Of all the passages of the Law, “the Appearance of Truth” is heralded as the greatest touchstone for all clerics, teaching them how to seek the Most High’s remaining sparks of inspiration and kindle them once again.  A mere seven verses, its imagery, charisma and subtle teachings have inspired countless devoted souls.

 

🝐     The Appearance of Truth is chronologically the very first chapter of His Cleansed Law, a poem of seedling ideas from which the whole Law sprouts.  It details Tahariae’s mystical initiation into the art of foresight and prophecy, which He achieved when meditating on the battlefield Aegis had become following the Thirty Years War.  Below are the tenets of the clerics’ path as derived from Tahariae’s first insight into the nature of reality and the struggle the descendants would have to embark upon in order to save that nature from destruction.

 

Tenets

Spoiler

🜋     Clerics are called to recognise Tahariae as an emissary of the one He calls the Most High, who appears often in the annals of His Cleansed Law.  Clerics are further instructed to direct their worship not to Him, but to His progenitor, who Tahariae guides all souls in discovering for themselves.

 

🜋     Clerics are called not only to direct their own worship to the Most High, but to proselytise this worship to all others.  Clerics are instructed that all mortals who have fallen to the throes of aengudaemonic idolatry are to be classified as pāgānus, more commonly called pagans.

 

🜋     Clerics are called to aid the nation states in ordering themselves through their laws and customs, acknowledging the authority gifted to the descendants by the Most High in determining their own ways of life.  Clerics are further instructed that all rationales and ideologies that glorify chaos and disorder are inherently impure, deviations from the descendants' noble character brought about by the interference of fallen powers.

 

🜋     Clerics are instructed to teach the benefits of civilised society, integrating themselves into the social order of nations across the world.  Further, clerics are expected to stoke the fire’s of a common community spirit between all descendants, bridging the gaps between the shattered nations as best they can in an effort to return to the Aegisian peace of yore.

 

🜋     Clerics are instructed to live a life removed from mundane desires such as family, lineage and wealth, choosing to stand as protectors of Mundus’ mortal communities rather than as benefactors of them.  Therefore, clerics are called to relinquish all other pursuits in favour of readying themselves and all the world’s souls for the final war against the beast.

 

🜋     Clerics are instructed to defend the world against all influences that would corrupt the natural law underpinning reality, the very basis of peace that once held sway over Aegis.  Clerics must make every effort to awaken pagans from their madness, teaching them to give up aengudaemonic, Voidal and chaotic forces in favour of the One’s all-embracing order.

🜹     These tenets and themes are cultural.  They do not have any effect on a cleric's potential for disconnection other than to prompt other clerics to consider doing so.  Mortal clerics are able to disconnect one another using the disconnection ritual regardless of whether or not they have “broken” any of these tenets.

 

 

A cleric’s soul revels in the gifts of the Law, a star of bright insight on their brow.

🝐     Clerics are not connected to Tahariae.  The injection of aengudaemonic mana into the cycles of energy within the mortal world is an inherently disruptive and coercive process.  Tahariae recognizes that forcing Mundus to submit to His energies twists it away from the purity inherent within it.  In order to safeguard and exalt purity as the highest good, Tahariae has chosen to protect it from afar rather than intervening directly in mortal affairs.

 

🝐     Without Tahariae’s direct intervention to aid them, a cleric relies on the Cleansed Law itself in order to create aengudaemonic mana from the mana in the mortal world.  Just as they choose to accept His Cleansed Law of their own volition, a cleric can offer the Law to the world itself, to the hidden energies of the sky, the rivers and trees, in the hopes that they too will choose to take sanctuary within its truth.  The energies that are produced shine brightly and act as a passageway for the souls of the Gilded Court to peer into the world and render their judgement upon it.

 

Temples of the Cleansed Law

🝐     The canon of His Cleansed Law is so vast that no physical space could ever contain it.  In order to make the Law manifest in the mortal realm, special temples must be constructed in the image of Tahariae’s courthouse.  The knowledge required to make a temple is available to all clerics regardless of tier.

 

🝐     A temple cannot be constructed with supernatural aid.  It must be a work of mortal toil alone.

🝐     A temple must be at least [15*15] blocks in size.

🝐     A temple must have at least [3] rooms with the following purposes; an entryway to divide the profane from the sacred, a hall of prayer in which laymen can receive the Law's sage guidance, and an inner sanctum in which the scrolls of the Law are kept safe.

🝐     The scrolls of the Law within a temple must be made from natural substances.  Alchemical substances are considered natural.

🝐     A temple must be tended to by at least [3] clerics, one for each of the temple’s sacred spaces.

 

🝐     A temple is a natural gateway through which the Gilded Court’s solar symmetry can flood into the world.  The flow of a river might be altered in order to flow out from the temple like a coronal arc, or paving stones might slowly warp and shift over several months to resemble the Sun’s circular image, perhaps even changing colour.  This warping emanates [10] blocks from the temple’s outer walls.

 

🝐     Lightstones grow in the region surrounding a temple.  Many lightstones that grow in the vicinity of a temple have Flexio runes glowing inside them, seeds of the Law having taken root in them during their growth.

🜞  A temple generates up to [3] lightstone nodes, the first of which appears after [1] OOC week has passed since a temple was established.  The second node then appears after a total of [3] OOC weeks have passed, and the third appears after a total of [5] OOC weeks have passed.

🝐     The power swirling within the walls of a temple make it particularly suited for the infusion of vast amounts of aengudaemonic mana into artefacts, allowing for the creation of MARTs through freeform rituals.  These MARTs must be submitted on the forums as normal for approval, where the specifics of their creation must be detailed.

Spoiler

Redlines:

🜹     One of the clerics overseeing a temple must be [T5]; this cleric counts as the ‘head cleric’ of a given temple.  A cleric must be at least [T3] in order to take up another role in a temple.

🜹     A cleric can only be counted as tending to [1] temple at any one time.  This should be marked on their [MA].

🜹     Any significant damage to the temple’s structure or to the scrolls of the Cleansed Law kept in a temple’s innermost sanctum disrupts the flow of energy that a temple channels.  Significant damage might include a hole blown in a wall, a pillar being toppled over, or a fire spreading throughout the temple's halls.  The scrolls kept in a temple are always as vulnerable as regular parchment and can be easily burnt or torn.

🜹     Once damage to a temple is repaired, it begins to function as normal again.  Repairs to a temple are performed mundanely.

🜹     The Cleansed Law can only be contained in its true form within a holy temple, which must be built to certain standards outlined above.  Whilst the words of the Law can leave a temple, and can be written anywhere, the full force of their divinity is lost when not combined with the rest of the canon.

🜹     The lightstones that grow around a temple are identical to those found elsewhere.  The Flexio runes commonly found within them have no effect.

 

 

A newly connected cleric, overflowing with light.  How the Law’s truth sings through their veins!

Connection

🝐     Integrating the Law into one’s life is necessary before a mortal can receive His Cleansed Law in a temple.  This process of integration tends to take several IC years of study, prayer and active service beneath a practising cleric who is able to hear the prospective cleric's confessions and counsel them how to set their sins right.

 

🝐     The process should involve the prospective cleric identifying at least [3] sins that they must atone for through their study of sections of the Law.  Although a student cannot yet read the Law in its true form, they are still able to read passages of it that are transcribed and brought out of a temple, which are instrumental in acclimating them to the lifestyle they wish to lead.  These sins can take many forms and do not necessarily have to be violent.  Sorrow is a sin, a lack of hope and piety, a despair that numbs a soul to the world rather than energising a soul to take part in it.  Greed is a sin, a focus on this corrupt world of poisoned materials rather than the perfect heaven Tahariae is attempting to guide mortals toward.

 

🝐     Once an apprentice is ready to become a cleric, their teacher is able to perform a freeform ritual in a temple which imbues them with a sensitivity to the Cleansed Law’s power.  Henceforth, they are able to invoke the Law in order to cast miracles.  Every cleric is bestowed with a personal colour of light that represents their particular affinity to the Law.  This colour manifests around them in a glowing aura whenever they cast miracles.

 

In days of old, it is said that Tahariae bestowed four lights upon His chosen priests.  With the death of His dearest brother, Xan, the Stag has cut the gold light from His heart and left it as an offering for the departed Lord of the Sun.  Now, only three lights burn in His radiant body…

 

Light of the Pious

   🌣 Also called the Left Antler, the silver light of the pious represents Tahariae’s unwavering devotion to the ways of His Father, and signifies much the same in His followers.  Those blessed with this light are hard to shake from their devotion to the divine, and can be uncompromising in expecting that devotion in others.  Their charisma, however, is unparalleled, moved as they are by the motions of heaven.  Their whole lives are one long prayer, a ritual for a purer tomorrow.

Light of the Wise

   🌣 The white light of sage wisdom is often called Tahariae’s Soul, or occasionally His Pelt.  It is an armour against lawlessness, a tonic which cures the illogical thoughts of tainted souls.  Clerics who shine with this light regularly have an inclination for undoing the threads of tangled minds, and are most versed in the annals of His Cleansed Law.  They are calculating, considered and cautious, staring endlessly at the horizon.  What shadows they see there are deep as midnight, broken only by the Stag’s moonlight.

Light of the Steadfast

   🌣 What renews the soul for battle but the waters of the river, washing one’s hands of war-spilt blood?  Tahariae’s blue light is His mercy for soldiers, men-at-arms and crusaders across the world, His Right Antler of mercy for all those who wage battle time and again in His holy name.  Those blessed with this light can weather any storm, cleansing themselves of emotional hardship with ease.  They are often reserved and aloof, the least evangelising of the three lights, demonstrating their devotion through action rather than through inner faith.

 

Redlines:

Spoiler

🜹     A newly connected cleric must submit an [MA] on the forums, which must be accepted in order for them to begin practicing their magic.

🜹     The ritual performed in order to create a new cleric is freeform, although it must be performed in the innermost chamber of a temple.  The subtleties of the process are revealed naturally to all clerics who are mature enough on their journey, and who have an accepted [TA] which may be applied for after [3] months.

🜹     A prospective cleric must first remove or give up all incompatible connections in order to begin practising clerical magic.

🜹     A prospective cleric must engage in a long period of preparation before they are able to receive the light of the Cleansed Law in a temple.  This period should last at least [3] IC years, but can be longer if the teaching cleric wishes it to be so.

🜹     This period must involve the rectifying of at least [3] particular sins and the study of passages from the Law, which the prospective cleric must implement into their own life.

🜹     Each cleric is only ever blessed with a single light.  A cleric’s light never changes in the course of their service.

🜹     The different colours of light do not change their bearers nor confer upon them special powers.  The above descriptions describe the kinds of person that might attain these different forms of light.

🜹     A cleric must roleplay spells that specifically name a colour as being of that colour.  For instance, the Arbiter of the Blue Cloak always summons an arbiter who glows blue, regardless of the cleric’s personal colour.

🜹     If it is not otherwise specified, it is assumed that a player will roleplay the colour of a summoned judge as being the same colour as their clerics light.

 

 

Judges

🝐     Clerics use their gathered light to call forth the spirits of honoured descendants residing within Tahariae’s realm, who replace the connection that provided the cleric’s of old with Tahariae’s power.  All Tahariaen miracles are performed through this process, a petitioning cleric receiving a responding soul who manifests in the mortal world in order to render aid or punish the guilty.

Spoiler

Arbiter

  🜞  Devout clerics who choose an afterlife beside the beating heart of their lord manifest as arbiters upon first arriving in the Gilded Court.  Arbiters are still touched by the impurities of the mortal realm, which they experience as a weariness or an ache within their souls.  This ache fades as they study His Cleansed Law in its true habitat, His pure paradise, awakening to their full potential without the struggles of the mortal world to steal their attention away.

Justiciar

  🜞  Once a cleric can claim to full mastery of the Law, signified by the end of their spiritual pain, they join the ranks of the justiciars.  These master clerics make up the bulk of Tahariae’s folk in the Gilded Court.  Where an arbiter’s knowledge of the Law might be limited to those parts of it which they had reason to read in life, a justiciar understands the Law in the most comprehensive way possible for a descendant soul, able to call to mind any of the Law’s passages at will.  Justiciar’s tend to develop traits similar to one of the three ranks of Greater Judge as they approach their final ascension, hinting at which station they are most drawn to.

 

The Greater Judges were each Tahariae’s agents of prior eras, though now they dwell with Him in the Gilded Court.  Justiciars may attain to any of the three ranks through continued study and worship.

 

Prophet

  🜞  One of the three ranks of the Greater Judges, prophets represent Tahariae’s Mind and the dreams of idyllic peace that shimmer within.  They deliver these dreams to the most faithful adherents of the Cleansed Law, teaching them secrets of divine lore and aengulic wisdom.  Often they are mediators in impure conflict, both inspiring the good and chastising the evil in an attempt to end a war before it begins.  They are renowned for their facelessness, having lost much of their persona as part of attaining such intimate knowledge of the Law’s ideas.

Venator

  🜞  One of the three ranks of the Greater Judges, venators represent Tahariae’s adamantine Body, indestructible and inexhaustible in the face of corruption.  They are fiercely pragmatic hunters overflowing with vigour, capable of excising the very worst forms of taint from Mundus.  Venators are best described as enforcers of His Cleansed Law, appearing to enact the most harsh punishments on particularly corrupted souls.  They are most easily identified by their armour and their gleaming eyes, implanted with sight-enhancing runes of the Law.

Itharel

  🜞  One of the three ranks of the Greater Judges, itharel are half-mortal, half-aengulic creations directly linked with Tahariae’s Soul.  They are joined to their lord as closely His antlers, vessels through which His dawnbright blood can pour out into the world and baptise it.  They are His ultimate suffering, His complete divinity assuming complete mortality.  Some say they are Men of the New Age, an image of aengulic majesty in communion with mortal conviction.  Itharel are renowned for their tendrilous wings of light which emanate from their backs, potent channelers of healing magic that allow them to weave the light in particularly complex ways.

 

 

Disconnection

🝐     A disconnection ritual also exists, which is selectively revealed to clerics by the Court at Tahariae’s behest.  Generally speaking, however, this disconnection ritual is knowledge locked, and must be passed on from cleric to cleric.  It can only be learnt and performed once a cleric is [T5].  It requires that a cleric gathers [2] other [T5] clerics in a temple in addition to their disconnection target.

 

🝐     The ritual takes [6] emotes to cast and requires that participating clerics spend all of their available Verses and all clerics must have their full maximum of [10] Verses available in order to cast this ritual.  Clerics may still cast Zeal in order to refill their Verses once this miracle has been cast.  The ritual involves the condemnation of the disconnectee, withdrawing the Law’s protection from them and leaving the former cleric to fend for themselves in a lawless spiritual desert.  During the ritual, the Court’s many judges gather to punish the target, deafening and blinding them to the Law’s power.

 

🝐     Disconnected souls remain Called to Service for the rest of their lives, limiting the mana available to them.  Although a disconnected cleric is no longer sent on dreaming missions, they remain weakened physically by the tax of mana levied upon their soul.  This Call to Service prevents a cleric from taking up other forms of magic, although they can be reconnected to clericism if they undergo the same sin-shedding trials as they had done when originally connected.  A disconnected cleric regains the ability to activate enchantments without penalty.

 

Redlines:

Spoiler

🜹     The disconnection ritual can be made available to clerics by the Court at Tahariae’s request under certain ST defined circumstances.  Most of the time, however, the ritual is passed on from cleric to cleric as a piece of hidden wisdom.

🜹     The ritual must be performed in a temple, and requires that the caster gathers [2] other [T5] clerics in order to perform the ritual.  These clerics do not also need to know the ritual.

🜹     A character can be reconnected to clericism up to [2] additional times in addition to their original connection, totalling [3] possible instances of connection.  If a cleric is disconnected from their sensitivity to the Cleansed Law again, their soul is so wearied by the process that they can never again heighten their awareness in order to sense and interact with the Law.

 

A devout soul listens to the stars in a moment of calm; so many trials await them.

🝐     Tahariae believes staunchly in a world free of aengudaemonic intervention.  In order to summon the souls of the Gilded Court to Mundus, a cleric draws on the mana of their surroundings to produce aengudaemonic mana through the power of His Cleansed Law.  This process ensures that the energies within Mundus are contained as a stable loop of mana free from interference.  The mana which the Law gathers comes from the environment is compressed and transmuted into aengudaemonic mana through the Law’s power.  Drawing upon this mana would normally leave a vacuum in the environment, an emptiness where the world’s energies used to be, but the Law’s righteousness protects the world from this damage by levying a debt from the casting cleric.

 

🝐     This debt is levied in the form of the Call to Service, a lingering mana deficiency within the cleric’s soul, particularly in the Soul Blueprint or Body portion of the soul.  The Call affects all clerics equally, each shouldering the burden of their work.  Certain miracles also extend the Call to their targets for a limited time, in exchange for the gifts of miraculous healing or otherwise.

 

Call to Service Effects

🝐     The Call to Service causes a bodily weakness similar to Voidal weakness.  This weakness prevents the cleric from wearing armour heavier than medium armour, and prevents them from wielding two handed melee weapons in combat.  Due to a cleric’s reduced strength, wearing medium armour reduces their sprint to [6] blocks, as wearing heavy armour would for someone at full strength.

🝐     If a cleric uses an enchantment created using an impure magic, the Call to Service saps them of a great majority of their mana as just punishment for that souls invocation of the sinful.  Once a cleric has used an impure enchantment, they lose access to their miracles for the next [1] OOC week, and become incapable of activating other enchantments during that time due to their soul’s severe mana deficiency.

🝐     The Call to Service causes dreams in which one is drawn from their body by Tahariae’s will, sent to battle impurities across the world.  These dreams are normally abstract but may involve current events.  One might be sent to comfort someone who has lost a loved one, or they may be sent to chastise a tainted being.  Whatever the case, whenever a cleric is sent on these dreaming missions, the stress of this dream on their mind and soul robs them of proper rest.  This can lead to the cleric awakening already feeling exhausted.  These dreams become particularly prevalent after a cleric has performed miracles.

 

Redlines:

Spoiler

🜹     Clerics always experience the Call to Service as a result of their relationship with the Cleansed Law.  These effects are the basic cleric drawbacks which affect all clerics.

🜹     If a miracle extends the Call to Service to a target, it explicitly references this in its description.  Normally, a character who has the Call extended to them experiences it for [3] OOC days before it ends.

🜹     Impure enchantments include Voidal, dark and deific enchantments created by aengudaemons other than Tahariae.

🜹     The missions a cleric is sent on when they dream cannot be used to gain access to information about other characters or locations.  In roleplay, they may at most lead to a feeling of deja vu, a sense that another character has met the cleric before, owing to a mission the cleric's soul was sent on that involved that other character.  For example, it may be that someone who has just lost a loved one feels strangely comforted by the cleric’s presence, as the cleric has already provided guidance in a dream.

🜹     Neither the cleric nor any character they have met through their dream missions know for certain that they have ever met.  These missions do not allow any character to recognise any other character.

🜹     If a player wishes to involve another character in their cleric’s dreaming missions, they must contact the player of that character OOC and ask for their consent to do so.

🜹     Overall, a cleric’s dream missions are at most ‘forum post roleplay’.  They are an impetus for a player to develop their cleric character by having them respond to different kinds of suffering as they are presented with new trials each night.

 

 

Devoted servant, gentle lord, worker of wonders!  Hail to the one true son, enduring still in the peaceful glade!

 

Wound Chart

🜋 Minor Wounds: Scrapes, Bruises and Lacerations. Everyday wounds that do not cause significant impairment.

🜋 Moderate Wounds: Gashes, Cuts, Punctures, Dislocations and Burns. Wounds that are debilitating and cause moderate impairment.

🜋 Major Wounds: Broken Bones, Impalement, Dismemberment and Mutilation. Wounds that are severely debilitating and can cause permanent impairment or death.

 

Verses

🜋 [T1] 🜋

Clerics use Verses of the Law in order to power their miracles.

Spoiler

🝐     A cleric is suffused with the Law’s grace, which collects in their soul as portions of aengudaemonic mana.  This mana forms into some of the many verses of the Law, which the cleric utilizes to catalyse their ability to cast miracles.

🜞  A cleric’s maximum Verse capacity changes as they increase in tier, according to the following list.

    [T1]:  2 Verses

    [T2]:  4 Verses

    [T3]:  6 Verses

    [T4]:  8 Verses

    [T5]:  10 Verses

 

🝐     A cleric must be able to pray or declare the jurisdiction of the Law verbally in order to cast miracles.  Therefore, preventing a cleric from speaking will interrupt their miracle casting.  Particularly agonizing pain will prevent a cleric from speaking, such as the pain incurred when an arrow pierces their body or when a bone is dislocated.  Equally, if a cleric is stunned or dazed by an effect, this will prevent them from focusing on their miraclecraft.

 

🝐     Whenever a cleric casts a miracle, the glow that surrounds them illuminates the area within [3] blocks of them.  This makes it easy to see in dimly lit conditions.  Vision obscuring fog clears within the radius surrounding a cleric clear away, although they will return immediately once a cleric has moved on from a particular area.  This includes fog created by spells such as deadbreath.

 

Redlines:

🜹     Clerics must reconnect to their pool of available Verses whenever they cast a miracle.

🜹     Clerics begin a scene with their tier’s maximum Verse count.  Once a cleric has spent Verses, they recover them after [12] OOC hours.

🜹     If a cleric attempts to cast a miracle without the prerequisite Verses available, they will be afflicted with a terrible pain as the Law attempts to draw out mana from deep within them.

🜹     A cleric may walk or defend themselves from attacks whilst casting a miracle, but may not sprint, make attacks, prepare potions or activate enchantments.

🜹     A player must emote appropriate tells which make it obvious that their cleric is casting a miracle.  These tells should include their cleric glowing in their personal colour of light as aengudaemonic mana is created by the Law’s power.

 

Casting Implements

🜋 [T1] 🜋

Many more powerful miracles require that a cleric is wielding a casting implement.

Spoiler

🝐     Clerics are able to use casting implements in order to better focus their miraclecraft.  A casting implement cannot be a weapon of war, and must instead be some kind of holy relic such as a totem, staff, scroll or blunt athame.

 

🝐     All clerics are capable of creating casting implements through a freeform ritual.  This ritual might involve carving particular verses of the Cleansed Law into the implement, or simply emblazoning a meaningful sigil tied to the cleric’s path.

 

🝐     Clerics who wield a casting implement are able to cast Zeal, giving them access to many more Verses with which to cast miracles. They are also able to invoke the Greater Judges when casting War Cleric miracles.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric’s casting implement must be ST-signed.

🜹    A cleric’s casting implement cannot be a weapon of war.  It must be a holy relic used in the performance of rituals.  Examples include; totems, staves, scrolls or blunt athames.

🜹     A casting implement must be wielded in a cleric’s hand, and cannot be a piece of jewellery.

🜹     A cleric’s casting implement can invoke their understanding of the Most High, and so could take the shape of a Canonist Cross, a runed implement praising Yemekar or otherwise.

🜹     A cleric can wield a casting implement alongside a shield or a one-handed weapon.

 

Ritual Casting

🜋 [T1][2 Emotes | 0 Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

Whilst outside of combat, clerics can extend the casting of a miracle in order to spread the burden between them.

Spoiler

🝐     Ritual Casting is a passive ability available to all clerics whilst outside of combat.  It requires that at least [2] clerics are present in order to be used, and can be used to augment the casting of any miracle, extending its casting time by [2] emotes.

 

🝐     Casting a miracle as a ritual allows the participating clerics to spread the Verse cost of their chosen miracle amongst themselves however they wish.  For instance, a miracle that costs [6] Verses could have its cost split evenly between [2] clerics, each spending only [3] Verses.

 

Redlines:

🜹     Ritual Casting does not change the way that a miracle behaves.  It does not increase its power, nor does it allow summoned judges to perform feats they would not otherwise be able to.

🜹     The leader of a miracle being cast using Ritual Casting must be able to cast the miracle being cast normally.  They do not gain access to the miracles of those helping them in their ritual.

 

Zeal

🜋 [T3][2 Emotes: 1 Connect + 1 Cast | 0 Verses] 🜋

(Combative / Active)

The cleric rouses their pious spirit and gives themselves over to the Law, refilling their reserves of spent power.

Spoiler

🝐     Zeal requires a casting implement in order to be cast.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric draws on the the Law in order to refill their reserves of Verses.  For example, if a cleric has [4] Verses remaining and has a maximum of [10] Verses, they gain [6] Verses.

🜞   Therefore, at [T5], a cleric has access to a maximum of [20] Verses.

 

🝐     When a cleric casts Zeal, they are taxed more heavily by the Call to Service as it draws upon their soul.  The Call drags their soul closer to the sublime realities of the Gilded Court, which causes the cleric to begin hallucinating flora, fauna and holy ghosts from the Court in the world around them.  These hallucinations distract a cleric's focus, causing all attacks made with weapons to miss for the next [3] emotes.  This does not affect a cleric’s ability to aim and cast their miracles.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric can only cast Zeal once in any given scene.  It refreshes after [12] OOC hours.

🜹     The hallucinations a cleric experiences as a result of casting Zeal cannot be circumvented.

 

Calm

🜋 [T1][2 Emotes: 1 Connect + 1 Cast | 2 Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric calls forth an arbiter of the Gilded Court in order to dull mortal sufferings with the Law’s spiritual medicine.

Spoiler

🝐     The cleric calls the watching minds of the Gilded Court close, who intercede by reciting any of the verses of the Law, each one a medicine for a different kind of suffering.  Those who hear the recited verses have their pains, physical and spiritual, soothed by Law and light.  This miracle lasts for as long as the cleric remains able to focus on the Law.

 

🝐     The pains caused by physical wounds are dulled whilst a soul can hear the gathered judges reciting the Law, though not altogether prevented.  This dulling allows for clear thought, mental fortitude and a general sense of comfort, but it does not restore function.  If the target is already sapped of energy by a particularly terrible wound, they remain so.  Any bleeding caused by Minor Wounds is staunched by this miracle, but Medium and Major Wounds are unaffected and continue ailing the afflicted, which can lead to death.

 

🝐     Spiritual suffering caused by accursed corruptions of the soul or twisted artefacts is temporarily lessened, offering brief serenity and respite from their associated mental afflictions.  Hexed objects lose their grip on their keeper's psyche, and the negative effects that witchdoctory inflicts on those who receive its false gifts are temporarily cured.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot cast other miracles whilst channeling this miracle.

🜹     This miracle always dissipates when combat starts.

🜹     This miracle cannot heal injuries, only numb the pain caused by them.

🜹     This miracle does not slow the progression of diseases or poisons, though it can make an afflicted soul more comfortable.

 

Mend

🜋 [T2][2+ Emotes: 1 Connect + 1+ Cast | 2+ Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric heals the wound of a descendant with the aid of a judge, using the Law to soothe unjustly dealt pain.

Spoiler

🝐     Mend takes [2] emotes to cast when healing Minor Wounds, [3] emotes to cast when healing Moderate Wounds and [4] emotes to cast when healing Major Wounds.  Mend costs [2], [3] or [5] Verses depending on which severity of wound the cleric is attempting to heal.

 

🝐     The cleric summons a soul from the Gilded Court commensurate with the severity of the wound they are attempting to heal.  Arbiters are capable of healing Minor Wounds, justiciars are capable of healing Medium Wounds, and itharel must be summoned to heal Major Wounds.  The summoned judge can interact with their target in order to heal them in any number of ways; for instance, they might bring with them a needle and thread made of light which they use to stitch the wound shut, or they might use a torch burning with divine fire to magically cauterise the wound.

 

🝐     When attempting to heal broken bones or reattach dismembered parts of the body, a lightstone is required as a reagent.  This lightstone is woven into the target’s body by the attending justiciar or itharel, creating a brittle suture of ichorous crystal that prolongs the miracles healing presence.  This lightstone remains in the target’s body for [3] OOC days as the healing process continues.

🜞   The implanted lightstone must be protected from any damage in order for it to slowly flake away during the healing process.  If struck violently, the crystal will shatter, either releasing the sutured body part in a gorey reopening of the original wound or causing severe internal damage as the crystal shatters within the healed target's body.

 

🝐     When a target is implanted with a lightstone as part of their healing, they are Called to Service for [3] OOC days following their healing as repayment for the gifts of the Court.  They experience all drawbacks listed under the Call to Service section, just as a cleric does.

 

Redlines:

🜹     If the miracle is interrupted before it concludes, the targeted injury returns to its prior state.  This does not exacerbate the wound.  If combat begins whilst this miracle is being cast, the miracle is interrupted.

🜹     Mend cannot regrow body parts.  Instead, it reattaches body parts to their original possessor.  It can only be used to do this as part of the scene in which the body part was lost, or within [3] OOC hours of that scene concluding.  The target must have the body part they wish to reattach with them.

🜹     Healings that require a lightstone include broken bones or reattaching dismembered parts of the body.

🜹     The lightstone used to perform body part reattachment is consumed during the casting of this spell and is lost forever.

🜹     The damage caused by a lightstone exploding inside the body is equivalent to a Major Wound, particularly non-lethal organ damage.  Wounds caused by rupturing lightstone in the body will kill a mortal if not tended to quickly.

🜹     Organ damage to the brain or heart will almost assuredly kill someone before a cleric can heal them with this miracle.

🜹     This miracle cannot purify taint.  The destruction of taint in an object or in the body is performed through the Purge miracle.

 

Cleanse

🜋 [T3][4 Emotes: 1 Connect + 3 Cast | 2+ Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric expunges poisons and illnesses through the Law’s power, calling upon the aid of a wise prophet.

Spoiler

🝐     Cleanse costs [2] Verses when healing Minor Afflictions and [4] Verses when healing Major Afflictions.  It targets [1] descendant currently suffering from a poison or disease.

🜞   Minor Afflictions:  Mundane poisons (eg. venomous animals), routine diseases (cold & flu).

🜞   Major Afflictions:  Alchemical or magical poisons (eg. azhl anemia, thanhium poisoning), long-term illnesses (cancer & leprosy).

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric summons a prophet from the Gilded Court who brings with them some means by which to remediate the target’s ills; the iridescent waters of an otherworldly river might be an all-neutralising anti-venom, whilst herbs from the woodland surrounding the Court might be suited to curing all manner of diseases.

 

🝐     Long-term illnesses must be healed over at least [2] sessions of this miracle, each session reducing the intensity of the illness until it has been eradicated entirely.  Contagious diseases immediately become non-transmissible after [1] session of this miracle, as the Law intervenes and restricts the suffering caused by the illness to the unfortunate victim.

🜞   The cleric’s player should discuss with their target exactly how many sessions are needed for the illness to be eradicated.  A targeted character’s player may choose that the miracle never fully heals the illness their character is experiencing, only succeeding in keeping its symptoms at bay.

 

🝐     The target is Called to Service for [3] OOC days following their healing as repayment for the gifts of the Court.  They experience all drawbacks listed under the Call to Service section, just as a cleric does.

 

Redlines:

🜹     This miracle cannot heal genetic illnesses, nor conditions afflicted upon a soul from birth.  For instance, it cannot cure a cursed child of their deformities.

🜹     This miracle cannot heal a soul of corruptions.  It can only heal bodily afflictions caused by materials or illnesses.

🜹     When using this miracle to heal a lore-approved poison or illness, the details of the lore should be carefully considered.  The lore should be consulted to determine how many sessions of healing are necessary for the affliction to be eradicated.  ST consultation is also recommended if it is not clear.

🜹     This miracle can be roleplayed as only partially effective with a single application.  Particularly troublesome conditions might require multiple sessions of healing for there to be a noticeable effect, or it might be that mundane healing through alchemical concoctions is necessary to finish the process.

🜹     This miracle can be roleplayed as merely alleviating the symptoms of a condition that will surely claim the targets life.  It might be that the prophet’s presence and kind words are themselves a kind of healing and kindling for their faith as the target goes to their death.

 

Purge

🜋 [T4][4 Emotes: 1 Connect + 3 Cast | 3 Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric excises taint and supernatural corruption with the help of a venator, whose holy blade slices sinful energy from a descendant's soul.

Spoiler

🝐     Purge targets [1] mortal soul that has been warped or wounded by impure supernatural powers.

 

🝐     Purge is able to undo the influences of the following forms of magic upon a soul; necromancy, mysticism, blood magic, naztherak, frost witchery, dragonfire sorcery, shamanism, druidism, templarism, seer magic and Void magic.  Any wound poisoned with the energies of these magics can be acted upon by this miracle.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric summons a venator from the Gilded Court who begins excising the targets taint with their radiant weapon, stripping it from their being by inflicting glowing wounds.  These wounds bleed an ethereal, black blood that sublimates quickly upon leaving the target.  Mortals bear these wounds for [3] OOC days following the casting of this miracle, during which they are Called to Service.

 

🝐     The venator’s stripping of this black blood from their target causes any lingering supernatural effects to cease or be reduced to mundane equivalents.  For instance, the hellish scars caused by malflame become mundane burn scars that cause them no further supernatural pain, and necromantic plagues become mundane illnesses capable of being cured naturally or with the Cleanse miracle.

 

Redlines:

🜹     This miracle cannot be used to lessen the drawbacks that a character experiences as a result of practicing an impure magic.  It cannot be used to lessen a Void mages weakness, nor can it be used to calm the mind of a templar experiencing the Touch of Jophiael, nor can it be used to dull a corcitura’s hunger for blood.

🜹     This miracle purges impure energies from descendants souls.  For example, a victim burned by malflame who is purged of that malflame corruption would find that the supernatural pain inflicted upon them ends, and the scarring caused by the malflame’s burns is transformed into a purely mundane burn scar.  As another example, an accursed plague put upon a descendant by a necromancer could be transformed into a purely mundane illness, that could then be healed with the Cleanse miracle or other mundane means.

🜹     Whilst a cleric is capable of purging seer magic from a targeted descendant, they do not become aware of the source of the seers magic.  A cleric will understand the power as being broadly aengudaemonic in nature.  In addition, a cleric will not understand that two different individuals afflicted with seer magic effects are in fact under the effect of the same kind of magic.  The great differences in the forms that seer magic takes makes it impossible for a cleric to identify them with one another.  Therefore, it is most likely that a cleric will come up with their own explanations for each encounter they have with seer magic.

🜹     This miracle can only be used to cleanse magical effects currently afflicting a target’s soul.  It cannot be used to destroy magical artefacts.

 

Arbiter of the Silver Cloak

🜋 [T1][3 Emotes: 1 Connect + 2 Cast | 2+/- Verses] 🜋

(Combative / Active)

The cleric summons an arbiter’s silver cloak to enshroud themselves with radiance, which they use to harass their enemies with arrows of silver light.

Spoiler

🝐     Arbiter of the Silver Cloak costs [2] Verses; if a cleric’s light is silver, it costs [1] Verse.

 

🝐     Once cast, an arbiter of silver light manifests and drapes the casting cleric in their radiant cloak which allows a cleric to spend Verses in order to launch magical projectiles at targets within [16] blocks.  When the cleric first casts this miracle, they may immediately launch a projectile.  After firing this initial projectile, the cleric may launch further projectiles every [2] emotes by spending an additional [1] Verse.

 

🝐     The projectiles behave like arrows fired from a shortbow; they are capable of piercing light armour well, are able to pierce medium armour but have their damage mitigated, and may be completely stopped by heavy armour when striking their plates.  Natural armour counts as light armour, and so may be pierced through easily.  These projectiles behave as if they are made of aurum for the purposes of vulnerability interactions.

🜞   The cleric’s player can decide what the summoned projectiles look like.  They may be jagged, glass-like shards, or they may be fully formed crossbow bolts.  They should be some physical object which lodges in the target and dissipates slowly overtime, so as to illustrate the below effects.

 

🝐     The launched projectiles slowly disintegrate into targets whose flesh they pierce, flooding their veins with molten silver light.  This light causes the target's veins to erupt with a deep pain that causes muscles to cramp and spasm as the target’s sins are viciously purged from their soul for the next [2] emotes.  The area affected by this light is scarred for at least [3] OOC days or permanently if the character’s player chooses.  The scar outlines the target’s veins in shimmering silver that glows more fiercely and aches whenever the character thinks about their past sins or engages in sinful activities.

🜞   Characters normally incapable of feeling pain still experience the pain inflicted by these projectiles.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot take any action other than to walk or defend themselves whilst casting this miracle or sustaining their cloak.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, prepare potions or sprint.

🜹     A cleric cannot sprint whilst sustaining their cloak.

🜹     The projectiles launched by this miracle behave as if they are made of aurum.

🜹     The aching that scars inflicted by this miracle cause when an afflicted character thinks of their past sins does not necessarily hamper their effectiveness in combat, although a player may choose to roleplay this effect as if it does.  However, the pain inflicted when this miracle initially strikes a target is severe enough to hamper a character’s combat capabilities.

🜹     A cleric’s cloak does not protect them from attacks, spells or thrown potions.

🜹     Should the player’s character decide to make their character’s scars permanent, they may be healed at a later date.  This can be accomplished by asking a cleric for help through the Calm or Heal miracles, or asking dark mages.  For example, necromancers can use their powers of lifeforce draining to excise the divine energy from the scarred area, whilst vampires can drain the limb of some of its blood and erase the aengudaemonic mana lingering in the scar.  This is a mostly freeform process which most forms of dark magic can accomplish.

 

Arbiter of the Blue Cloak

🜋 [T2][2 Emotes: 1 Connect + 1 Cast | 2- Verses] 🜋

(Combative / Active)

The cleric asks an arbiter of the blue to intervene in the battlefield, either attacking an enemy or defending an ally from attack.

Spoiler

🝐     Arbiter of the Blue Cloak costs [2] Verses; if a cleric’s light is blue, it costs [1] Verse.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric manifests an arbiter who wields Tahariae’s blue light of war.  The arbiter manifests within [8] blocks of the casting cleric; the location where the arbiter will manifest fills with glimmering blue light, telegraphing where they will appear.  The arbiter manifests in one of [2] modes, either attacking a target with their light-infused weapon or defending against an attack with a sacred shield.

 

🝐     When summoned to attack a target, the arbiter is incorporeal and wields a one-handed weapon, which may be decided by the casting cleric.  They launch their attack immediately against a target within [2] blocks of their summoned location, and dissipate upon making the attack.  The arbiter is as strong as a human and their weapon is as durable as ferrum.

 

🝐     When summoned to defend against an attack, the arbiter is corporeal and wields a huge tower shield that is as durable as ferrum.  They remain manifest for [2] emotes and may defend against an attack launched within [2] blocks of their location.  They immediately dissipate upon defending against an attack.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot take any action other than to walk or defend themselves whilst casting this miracle.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, prepare potions or sprint.

🜹     A cleric’s summoned arbiter immediately dissipates once summoned, although a cleric can ready this miracle for casting and wait for an opportune moment in which to do so.  A cleric can keep this miracle prepared for casting for up to [3] emotes before the Verses they spent to cast it dissipate.

🜹     A player must clearly emote where their cleric’s summoned arbiter will appear using the described ‘glimmering blue light’.

🜹     An attacking blue arbiter is incorporeal and provides no protection against attacks.  All attacks pass through them and strike those behind them.

🜹     The weapon a cleric chooses when summoning their blue arbiter to attack functions as a mundane weapon would.  Maces smash, swords slash and spears pierce.

🜹     If the arbiter misses their attack or is unable to make their attack, they still dissipate quickly after having been summoned and do not linger.

🜹     A defending blue arbiter cannot bash or charge with their shield.  They are only able to defend against attacks.

🜹     A defending blue arbiter is capable of defending against the 1st emote of a channelled spell such as a flamethrower or water blast, but quickly dissipates after having defended against this initial part of the spell.

🜹     A defending blue arbiter is capable of defending against projectile based spells.  The larger and more overwhelming a spell becomes, the more difficult it becomes for them to protect those behind them from the effects of the spell.  In general, spells that a descendant could not block themselves by standing in front of them cannot be feasibly blocked by the arbiter summoned by this miracle.

🜹     A summoned blue arbiter does not interrupt line of sight spells.

🜹     Thanhium weapons absorb the mana within a summoned arbiter when they strike them.

 

Arbiter of the White Cloak

🜋 [T3][3 Emotes: 1 Connect + 2 Cast | 4- Verses] 🜋

(Combative / Active)

The cleric calls forth an arbiter of the white to declare the Law’s peaceful ways, healing an ally of a wound.

Spoiler

🝐     Arbiter of the White Cloak costs [4] Verses; if a cleric’s light is white, it costs [2] Verses.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric manifests an arbiter who wields Tahariae’s white light of peace.  The arbiter manifests within [8] blocks of the casting cleric and targets [1] descendant suffering from a Minor Wound or Moderate Wound.  Minor Wounds are healed instantly, where Moderate Wounds take [1] emote to heal, in which the target must refrain from making attacks or sprinting and remain within [8] blocks of the casting cleric in order to receive the prophet’s light.

 

🝐     If a cleric is successful in healing a wound, they can exact a toll from the character who dealt the wound, so long as that target is within [16] blocks.  The target is surrounded by a pillar of light as their energies are drawn into the heavens, leaving them sluggish and disoriented.  The target cannot make attacks or sprint for the following [1] emote.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot take any action other than to defend themselves whilst casting this miracle or sustaining their summoned arbiter when healing a Moderate Wound.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, prepare potions or sprint.

🜹     A cleric cannot cast this miracle on themselves.

🜹     The arbiter cannot move or take any actions other than to heal their target.

🜹     The arbiter is incorporeal, and provides no physical protection from attacks aimed at the target of this miracle.

🜹     A target of this miracle who is being healed of a Moderate Wound cannot take any action other than to defend themselves whilst being healed.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, prepare potions or sprint.

 

Prophet’s Purification

🜋 [T3][4 Emotes: 1 Connect + 3 Cast | 6 Verses] 🜋

(Combative / Active)

The cleric petitions a prophet to protect them and their allies from supernatural harm using their boundless, peaceful light.

Spoiler

🝐     A cleric may only cast this miracle once in a given scene.  This miracle can only be cast by a cleric who is wielding a casting implement.  It can be channelled for up to [3] emotes after initially being cast.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric calls forth a prophet from the Gilded Court to protect them from foul magics.  The prophet manifests directly above the casting cleric and begins meditating in a powerful aura of light that emanates [3] blocks from the prophet.  The prophet moves with the cleric as they walk whilst channeling the miracle.  The area surrounding the prophet becomes well lit.

 

🝐     Characters stood within the light have the lingering effects of impure magics immediately quelled and spells launched into the light are unravelled by the prophet’s Law-enforcing energies.  Malflame is smothered and ceases its burning, necromantic tethers cannot be established and Voidal manifestations quickly break down.  This quelling does not heal the wounds caused by these magics, however, and merely ends their ongoing effects.

 

🝐     Characters stood within the light can remain connected to their sources of impure power, although they cannot cast or begin casting spells drawn from those sources of power.  Enchantments are suppressed in the same way, and cannot be used to cast or begin casting spells whilst within the light.  This effect does not interfere with undead, azdrazi, frost witches or any other kind of creature; it does not slow their movement, nor does it reduce their strength.  Equally, this effect does not unsummon summoned creatures, such as conjured Voidal creatures, infernal imps or puppeteered undead, although it does prevent them from casting magical abilities in the same way that it prevents mortal casters from doing so.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot cast other miracles or take any action other than to walk or defend themselves whilst casting this miracle or sustaining their summoned prophet.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, prepare potions or sprint.

🜹     The cleric’s summoned prophet is incorporeal, allowing all attacks to pass through them.  They are not capable of taking actions themselves, and meditate single-mindedly on the Law in order to continue generating their aura of light.

🜹     This miracle does not hinder supernatural beings who enter it beyond cancelling out activated abilities.  They are still able to move at full speed and launch attacks at their passive level of strength.

 

Venator’s Rally

🜋 [T4][4 Emotes: 1 Connect + 3 Cast | 6 Verses] 🜋

(Combative / Active)

The cleric calls forth a venator to leap into enemy lines, striking enemies and granting succour to their allies.

Spoiler

🝐     A cleric may only cast this miracle once in a given scene.  This miracle can only be cast by a cleric who is wielding a casting implement.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric calls forth a venator from the Gilded Court to leap into the fray.  The venator manifests beside the cleric and leaps into the air with light-empowered strength, landing at a location up to [8] blocks away from the cleric.  When the venator lands, it strikes all enemies within [2] blocks of its landing area with a mighty swing of its weapon, knocking them out of the area and wounding them appropriately before dissipating.  The venator manifests with a two handed weapon determined by the casting cleric, so the inflicted damage may be blunt, piercing or slashing.

 

🝐     The cleric can choose either [1] character who is suffering from a Moderate Wound, or [2] characters who are suffering from a Minor Wound in the area that the venator lands.  The targeted characters are healed of their wounds.  Healed characters are exhausted by the suddenness of the healing, and cannot make attacks for [1] emote following the heal.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot take any action other than to walk or defend themselves whilst casting this miracle.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, prepare potions or sprint.

🜹     The attack that a summoned venator unleashes upon landing at their targeted location behaves like an attack made with a ferrum weapon.

🜹     The summoned venator’s initial attack is strong enough to knock all regular weight characters out of the area that it lands in.  Especially heavy characters, such as ologs or paleknights, are not knocked out of the area.

🜹     The attack that a summoned venator unleashes upon landing at their targeted location must be ‘simple’.  It cannot be carefully targeted and it will not react to moves that those struck make to defend themselves.  The venator returns to the Court too quickly after landing to adjust their aim.  This is to prevent parrying, blocking, or any other more complex interactions with the venator, ensuring that the attack they launch is primarily focused on knocking characters out of the landing zone rather than injuring them.

 

Itharel’s Intercession

🜋 [T5][5 Emotes: 1 Connect + 4 Cast | 6 Verses] 🜋

(Combative / Active)

The cleric calls forth the solar soul of an itharel, burning enemies with their powerful tendrils of light and healing allies around them.

Spoiler

🝐     A cleric may only cast this miracle once in a given scene.  This miracle can only be cast by a cleric who is wielding a casting implement.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric calls forth the soul of an itharel, which manifests above them in a sun-bright explosion of energy.  The cleric can target up to [3] characters with this explosion, which is gathered up and sent forth by the itharel’s tendrils in solar arcs.  These characters are struck by a red hot blast that immediately burns areas of exposed skin and knocks them away from the cleric by [2] blocks.

🜞   In an event scenario, the cleric can focus the itharel’s tendrils on a single, large enemy.

 

🝐     Allies within [3] blocks of the cleric may be healed by the itharel’s surplus of light.  The itharel heals allies in one of the following configurations; [3] allies afflicted with Minor Wounds, [2] allies afflicted with Moderate Wounds or it may stabilize [1] ally afflicted with a Major Wound.  Allies are healed of Minor Wounds instantly, whilst Moderate Wounds take [1] emote to heal, and Major Wounds take [2] emotes to stabilize.  The cleric must continue channeling this spell whilst the itharel heals its targets, and must remain in range of their targets whilst they are being healed.  Targets must refrain from making attacks or sprinting and remain within [3] blocks of the casting cleric in order to receive the itharel’s healing light.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot take any action other than to defend themselves whilst casting this miracle or sustaining their summoned itharel.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, prepare potions or sprint.

🜹     A cleric’s summoned itharel will unmanifest if they cease sustaining it or if their concentration is broken.

🜹     A cleric cannot focus their itharel’s tendrils in a non-event scenario.

🜹     The cleric cannot move whilst sustaining their summoned itharel.

🜹     Characters stabilized by this miracle cannot re-engage in combat, as their body is spent of energy by their swift healing.  They remain semi-conscious for the rest of the encounter, and will need to rest for at least [12] OOC hours once the encounter has concluded.

 

Shroud from Suffering

🜋 [T1][3 Emotes: 1 Connect + 2 Cast | 2+ Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric calls forth an arbiter to bring civilization’s order to the wilderness, filling the surrounding area with a comforting radiance that staves off the untamed elements.

Spoiler

🝐     The cleric calls forth an arbiter of the Gilded Court who manifests above them in a radiant cloud of spiralling symmetries, born out of the Court’s own solar fractal.  These symmetries issue forth from the arbiter and enshroud the [3] block radius surrounding the cleric.  If the cleric ceases all movement and kneels in prayer, they are able to expand the effective area of the shroud to [5] block radius surrounding them.  This miracle lasts for as long as the cleric remains able to focus on the Law.

 

🝐     The area within the shroud is a bastion against the chaos of the world, a place where civilization’s peace reigns supreme.  Inclement weather or other passive, hazardous environmental effects are unable to pass through the cleric’s shroud.  The temperature within the shroud becomes comfortable regardless of temperatures outside the veil, debris in the air such as sand, rain or snow is guided around the area without passing through it and regardless of light levels outside the shroud, the area within becomes well lit.

 

🝐     This miracle can be used to protect a cleric and their allies from the effects of tainted areas, such as Voidal hollows or areas of abyssal coagulation.  In these areas, a cleric must spend an additional [1] Verse for every [5] additional emotes that they channel the miracle for.

🜞   When first casting this miracle, the cleric can channel this miracle for [5] emotes before they must begin expending additional Verses in order to continue channeling the miracle.

 

Redlines:

🜹     A cleric cannot cast other miracles or take any action other than to defend themselves whilst sustaining their summoned arbiter.  They cannot make melee attacks, ready or fire ranged weapons, or prepare potions.

🜹     A cleric cannot sprint whilst sustaining their summoned arbiter.

🜹     The shroud does not prevent other magic users from connecting to their sources of power or casting spells.

🜹     The shroud does not inhibit supernatural creatures.

 

Aegisian Rains

🜋 [T2][6 Emotes: 1 Connect + 5 Cast | 6 Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric calls forth a prophet who brings with them taint-cleansing rains in order to purify land or destroy tainted relics.

Spoiler

🝐     Aegisian Rains targets up to [3x3] blocks of land.  This miracle can also be used to destroy objects infused with the powers of tainted magics, such as Voidal enchantments or the deific creations of fallen aengudaemons.  If this miracle is cast in this way, the rains are focused squarely on the artefact in a powerful torrent, preventing them from also being used to cleanse land.

🜞   From [T4], a cleric may target an area of land up to [5x5] blocks in size.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric calls forth a prophet who cleanses the targeted area of land or accursed object with holy rains from the skies of the Court.  Any supernatural taint present within the target is eroded by the rains, which froth, foam and steam with divine energy.

🜞   This miracle can target the energies infused by the following magics; necromancy, mysticism, blood magic, naztherak, frost witchery, dragonfire sorcery, shamanism, druidism, templarism, seer magic and Void magic.

 

🝐     Areas cleansed by this miracle have their soil, stone, plants or otherwise bleached of their sins, resulting in a strange paleness.  Roses may begin to grow white petals that once were red, the soil itself may change in texture to resemble a chalk-y or clay-like white substance and animals born in the area may develop a strange albinism.

 

🝐     Similarly, items purged of their magical influences shatter into pure white shards, retaining some of the physical characteristics of their previous material.  All materials become slightly spongier and softer, breaking down and distorting with even a little pressure, similarly to very soft metals such as gold.

 

Redlines:

🜹     Unlike Blight Healing, this miracle does not restore life to plants, nor does it make them grow more vigorously.  The most that this miracle will do in restoring wildlife is readying the soil for roots to spread through it once again.  Seeds will need to be sown for new growth to begin, and this will need to be tended to as any regular garden would.

🜹     Likewise, this miracle cannot be used to make soil that would normally be inhospitable to plantlife suddenly become fertile and receptive to seeding.  It will at most restore soil to its natural state.

🜹     When using this miracle to destroy an MART or a shrine, altar or other magical location created by another group, the ST should be contacted to manage the casting of the miracle.  The ST may require more Verses to be spent in destroying the target, and may respond to the target’s destruction with unique, event-based consequences.

 

Blessed Waters

🜋 [T3][4 Emotes: 1 Connect + 3 Cast | 4 Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric calls forth a judge in order to imbue a targeted vial of water with miraculous healing powers.

Spoiler

🝐     Blessed Waters requires a vial of fresh water as a reagent, and must be performed in a temple of the Cleansed Law or nearby a location infused with power through the Eternal Vigil miracle.

 

🝐     Once cast, the cleric chooses either the Mend or Cleanse miracle.  The cleric calls forth the judge who would normally channel the miracle they have chosen, and asks them to imbue the targeted vial of water with a lesser version of their chosen miracle.

 

🝐     Waters imbued with the Mend miracle are capable of healing at most Minor Wounds and must be poured over the targeted wounds in order to be effective.  Each vial of water may at most heal [2] Minor Wounds in the same scene.  After both charges have been used or the scene ends, the vial is considered spent, regardless of whether or not both charges were used.

 

🝐     Waters imbued with the Cleanse miracle must be drunk in order to be effective, and are capable of healing at most Minor Afflictions.  A vial of water imbued with the Cleanse miracle only has [1] charge, as a character must drink the entire vial in order for it to be effective.

 

Redlines:

🜹     Blessed Waters may only be cast by a cleric once every [3] OOC days.  A cleric may create at most [3] vials every OOC month.

🜹     Vials of blessed water created by this miracle require ST signing.

🜹     Vials of blessed water abide by the redlines of the miracles they have imbued within them as normal.

🜹     Vials of blessed water cannot be used during combat.

 

Eternal Vigil

🜋 [T4][4 Emotes: 1 Connect + 3 Cast | 6 Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

The cleric carves a mural with the help of a flame-wielding venator, creating a gateway through which the judges of the Court may step onto Mundus’ soil.

Spoiler

🝐     Eternal Vigil requires a lightstone as a reagent.  Once cast, the cleric calls forth a venator from the Gilded Court who appears carrying a brazier, single coal or other object burning with heavenly fire.  Working with the venator and their flame, the cleric is able to sear designs into a nearby surface which become infused with the Cleansed Law’s power, creating a gateway through which judges are able to pass.  The lightstone necessary for casting this miracle is inlaid within the mural and acts as the mural's source of power when called upon.

 

🝐     When casting this miracle, the cleric chooses [1] of the following miracles; Calm, Arbiter of the Blue Cloak or Shroud from Suffering.  The powers of that miracle are imbued into the mural and can be activated by any individual who speaks a particular verse of the Law whilst standing within [3] blocks of the mural.  The verse is chosen when the cleric first casts this miracle.

🜞   When the mural is activated, the judge associated with the imbued miracle seems to manifest from within, stepping out into reality as if the mural itself had come to life.  This can happen in any number of ways, taking direction from the appearance of the mural.

 

🝐     The imbued miracle functions as normal, behaving as if a casting cleric was stood in the mural’s center.  Importantly, all miracles take an additional [1] emote to activate as compared with their regular counterparts.

 

Redlines:

🜹     Eternal Vigil may only be cast by a cleric once every [1] OOC month.

🜹     A mural must be ST-signed.

🜹     A mural can only be activated once in a given scene, resetting when a new scene begins.  Two scenes must be at least [12] OOC hours for a mural to reset.

🜹     A mural can only ever have [1] miracle imbued within it.  This miracle can be changed by casting Eternal Vigil again on the same mural, without having to expend another lightstone.

🜹     The lightstone inlaid in a mural created by this miracle must be clearly visible, although it can be protected by a cage, shroud or other enclosure.  This enclosure must still be feasibly breakable.

🜹     The lightstone inlaid in a mural is very brittle, and shatters easily if struck.  Breaking an inlaid lightstone causes the miracle being cast to fail immediately.

🜹     If a location is imbued with the powers of the Calm or Shroud from Suffering miracles, it must be fed additional Verses in order for its effects to continue after the first [5] emotes of its effects have passed.  This is identical to the way that these miracles normally function.

🜹     If a location is imbued with the powers of the Arbiter of the Blue Cloak miracle, the activator of the mural is able to determine if the summoned arbiter will perform an attack or defend against one when it manifests.  The arbiter’s range is identical to the range of a normal casting of this miracle, as defined by its redlines, treating the center of the mural as the location it is being cast from.

 

Law’s Revelation

🜋 [T5][5 Emotes: 1 Connect + 4 Cast | 6 Verses] 🜋

(Non-Combative / Active)

A master cleric calls for the oversight of an itharel in adding their own theses to the Cleansed Law, or calls forth a spectre of a past cleric in order to hear their wisdom.

Spoiler

🝐     Law’s Revelation must be cast within the innermost chamber of a temple, as it requires that a cleric has access to the scrolls of the Cleansed Law kept there.  Once cast, the cleric calls forth an itharel who aids them in either adding a thesis of their own to the canon of the Cleansed Law, writing new verses into its vast annals, or conjuring forth a spectre of a past cleric whose own work is already found in the Law.

 

🝐     Theses that have been added to the Cleansed Law become available for reading in all temples of the Cleansed Law.  All clerics are free to use these theses to support their own interpretations of the Law, allowing them to emphasize and de-emphasize different parts of it as suits their culture.

 

🝐     Theses that greatly conflict with the Law’s core tenets are likely to be rejected; examples of non-viable ideas include fraternising with impure mages for profit, incentivising the worship of pagan gods or advocating against the laws of the descendants.  The clerics’ core tenets act as the foundation for defining these unacceptable ideas, being the primary tenets of the clerical way of life.

 

🝐     Any theses of the Law can be targeted by this miracle in order to have a spectre of that theses’ writer manifest in order to answer questions about it.  The thesis’ writer must be dead in order for this spectre to be conjured.

 

Redlines:

🜹     The thesis that a cleric adds to the Cleansed Law must be submitted on the forums for review.  This review should focus primarily on checking whether or not the thesis could be accepted into the Law.  The review is primarily an ST made decision, although the opinions of the cleric player base can be an important measure when making this decision.  Ultimately, the review does not have to be overly in-depth, as the primary areas of concern are whether or not the thesis coheres with already existent law.  Added theses will never become new tenets for all clerics to follow, except as decided by ST.

🜹     When calling forth a spectre of a past cleric, the original player of that character must be contacted for consent to summon their character.  If they are available to play the character and control their responses, they are able to do so under the guidelines of a player-run event.  Otherwise, the spectre answers questions robotically as a result of a poor connection to the Gilded Court caused by the unpredictable movements of the heavens.

🜹     The spectre summoned by this miracle is incorporeal, and cannot take part in combat in any way.

 

An era of Purity lost, an era of Justice dawning.

🝐     One more log on the fire that is the TAHBOWL…  I got started on this about a month ago and have been slaving away at it ever since.  This has been an enormous project, with much more needed here than in my Divination lore which turned out very short when all was said and done.  If you’ve read all of this and gotten to this part, stand up, go and get something to drink, go outside, you’ve done enough reading for now.  But thank you very much!

 

🝐     The Cleansed Law is a new world order that all clerics can adhere to in their own ways, something that can fit into any culture on the server in order to create a cohesive identity.  I also wanted to callback extensively to the various parts of our wider server lore and to Tahariae’s lore itself.  I’m very pleased with the integration of Tahariae’s past servants as those who intercede on His behalf, and am very excited for old cleric players to get the opportunity to play their deceased characters again through Law’s Revelation.

 

 🝐     For me, the biggest opportunity in focusing on law and justice as Tahariae’s domain is in encouraging the clericism community to function as the adjudicators of that law.  The process of considering the Cleansed Law and discovering how it can best be applied to the world should hopefully lead to interesting philosophical roleplay, and hopefully to at least a little bit of bureaucracy.  As the Cleansed Law grows in size, the discussions that will be able to be had about it should naturally become more in-depth and engaging as characters gain access to an increasing number of treatises on different topics.

 

🝐     The writing of the Cleansed Law itself is a world lore project that would commence following the acceptance of this piece.  At first, it would primarily consist of treatises written by NPCs, Tahariae or otherwise, before growing organically through the use of the final Holy Alteration miracle, Law’s Revelation.  My hope is that this process will naturally generate an interesting, dynamic and meaningful set of documents that cleric players can use in their roleplay to guide their characters actions.

 

🝐     Many thanks to…

🝐     …christ2man & TheKingOfTheMoon for your help with getting this done, your input has been invaluable.  Couldn’t have done it without you.

🝐     … SacredSource, Johann, Wandiferous and the rest of the covenant clericbros for your input and oversight.

🝐     …Pallodium for the sweet formatting, the post has turned out looking amazing!

🝐     …Ibleesian, for giving me a hand cutting this beast down to size.

 

Edited December 1, 2024 by Aelesh

[Zarsies 6795]

The promised one.

[Johann 2498]

COVENANT CLERICBROS HARD LAUNCH LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO

[SacredSource 397]

Deer magic. Deer magic. Deer magic. 

 

LESGO COVENANT CLERIC BROS

[christman 3529]

 

HELL YEAH ! ! !

[Jihnyny 5233]

i think this is the one?

[𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠 814]

i actually quite love the flavor of this though i have some balancing concerns, i hope this write does well in the TAHBOWL

[King_Kunuk 3022]

I really do like this write. I think it has an interesting theme to it, although as others have said their are a few balance issues as well as some lore interactions that I am not a particular fan of

[frvma 1014]

There's some very, very nice ideas in this. Like others have said, I have some balancing concerns. But I wish you all well in the upcoming cleric bowl 2.0!!! 

[Werew0lf 24179]

paladins

[Nimbus_Strike 271]

[Hiccup392 724]

Clericbros!!

[PrimnyaQuorum 3999]

This probably has the most culture/flavor of the clericbowl writes so far and for that alone I hope it does well!

 

That said - some of the balancing here is a bit overtuned, imo - combine the fact that Clerics are now glorified anti-magic AoEs, and a lore-integrated desire to work with descendant cultures and you could have a bad mix of Cleric disables magic -> 30 humans on horse ride into someones face and emote to start a encounter. 

 

CRP Balancing is always wack though, I imagine that'll get sorted eventually. I have my own opinions on the idea of purging a Voidal connection at default, compared to something like a Arcane Scion's Distant Soul and a Voidstalkers Torn Soul ™️ but what exactly the voidal connection is, is still vague iirc. It's also a OOCly consented ability though, and more flavor never hurt anyone

[Aelesh 540]

1 hour ago, PrimnyaQuorum said:

This probably has the most culture/flavor of the clericbowl writes so far and for that alone I hope it does well!

 

That said - some of the balancing here is a bit overtuned, imo - combine the fact that Clerics are now glorified anti-magic AoEs, and a lore-integrated desire to work with descendant cultures and you could have a bad mix of Cleric disables magic -> 30 humans on horse ride into someones face and emote to start a encounter. 

 

CRP Balancing is always wack though, I imagine that'll get sorted eventually. I have my own opinions on the idea of purging a Voidal connection at default, compared to something like a Arcane Scion's Distant Soul and a Voidstalkers Torn Soul  but what exactly the voidal connection is, is still vague iirc. It's also a OOCly consented ability though, and more flavor never hurt anyone

 

Have nerfed Prophet's Protection in response to this, making it always centered on the cleric.  This should prevent them from deploying it in the enemy backlines before sending in the troops, as in your example.

[Aelesh 540]

28 minutes ago, ibleesian said:

This is incredibly strong for a T2 ability, I would honestly set this to T4 or T5 in it's current iteration. Being able to 12 block mount sprint into a group and prevent them from connecting is silly, as theres no redline specify that one could not maintain this aura and sprint from what I can see.

I also don't really understand the point of this ^ redline, it seem

 

Calm is a non-combat miracle, so you wouldn't be able to cast it in the circumstances you've brought up.  Unless I'm not understanding the ways in which the non-combat vs. combat spell rules work.

 

That being said, I'm happy to remove it if you think it's uninteresting / not needed.  The basic was idea was simply that the Law's presence interferes with impure magic casting.  Since it's an out of combat spell, we figured it was harmless because it wouldn't have any bearing in the kinds of scenes you've brought up.

 

Also not sure if your second sentence has been cut off.

Edited November 30, 2024 by Aelesh