The Calling of the Clergy
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The priests and priestesses of the Lands are the most numerous of the representatives of the gods and goddesses in the mortal world. They are normal mortals who have answered a calling to become followers and agents for one or more immortal and supernatural powers. In the course of this work they become both pillars of the community and holders of divinely inspired spell-like powers. Anyone interested in priests and priestesses will also be interested in the Gods & Goddesses.
From Druids to Clerics
In the ancient past all humans lived in small rustic villages or wandered in nomadic bands. At this time the only kind of clergy were the shamans of nature who represented all the elder gods and goddesses at once. For these shamans all the gods and goddesses were one close family grouping (much like the humans the shamans lived among) and all these powers together shared in ruling and preserving the forces of nature. In the ages since human populations have grown larger and more complex and with this there came a growing trend towards separate congregations with preferences for particular powers including the younger gods and goddesses (this trend seems to have started in Lehenic lands).
Nowadays the most common kind of holy person is the cleric who services one god or goddess and officiates to a particular community of worshippers. However among rural villagers one can still find nature clergy in the form of the Druids. Druids venerate Garlomen & Marumi in particular. However they also follow neutral aspects of Olorin, Urala, Kandoth and Nitara. One can find flourishing churches of all powers (except Garlomen and Marumi who are exclusively Druidic) in all major population centres. More can be known of the Druids by examining the tales of the Royal Dagger of the Brethic Overlord (see in Sage Scrivenings).
Relations with Warriors
After the common masses of labourers and artisans the most numerous class is that of the warriors. Clergy recognise it is important therefore to interpret Divine messages in a way that will resonate well with warriors. Some churches do this better than others. Druids connect well with the amateur militia of villages. The clerics of Bernali relate well to city guard while clerics of Teloch relate well to mercenary soldiers. There will however be warriors among the congregations of all the churches and clergy will recognise the need to employ some warriors to assist in defending the personnel and holdings of the church.
Relations with Mages
There is much suspicion of mages among clergy. For Druids the mages are renegades with the arrogance to try and control natural forces rather than serve them. For many clerics there is a sense of outrage that mages can cast spells while purporting to serve nobody but themselves. Some clergy deny that anyone can get magical power free from some form of commitment to a supernatural entity and these feel sure that mages are themselves a clandestine form of cleric who surely must serve some Wayward Spriits which aspire to Divine status. They disparagingly refer to mages as ‘warlocks’ or ‘witches’. Other clergy however have the sense to co-exist with mages and discover that some mages will even become members of their congregations. However the rivalry between these two classes is strong (in some cases particularly so as between Necromancers and Clerics of the Deliverer).
Relations with Rogues
For clergy most of the acts of a rogue are defilements of moral strictures. And for all clergy the presence of rogues is regarded as a danger to the congregations they care for. A survey of the portfolios of the various gods and goddesses shows that none of them specifically endorse secrecy or stealth nor do they admire notions of short-cuts to getting what one wants from life. However there will always be particular cases in which they recognise the worth of particular rogues (despite what they do) or even the value of roguish acts in extreme circumstances.
Races of Clergy
All races have characters who are deemed to be priests and priestesses. However a distinction needs to be made between human clergy who serve well-defined gods and goddesses and non-human clerics who venerate and draw inspiration from other more amorphous powers.
The Elves are pantheists and venerate ‘the Universe of which we are an integral part’. Elves think that the spirit becomes part of one eternal and infinite spirit. The most accomplished of Elvish clerics therefore also develop some magical talents.
The Dwarves preserve the memory of legendary ancestors from which they think they are reincarnated.
Some humans suggest that these non-humans are therefore godless but they still have among them persons who perform priestly roles and who can access divine spell-like powers.
Halflings worship Halfling incarnations of the same well-defined gods and goddesses as humans - The Deliverer is particularly popular.
Half-Orcs can become clerics of human gods and goddesses or they can be Orcish shamans.
Note that only humans and Half-Elves may be Druids.
Some Notes on the Churches
The characteristics of every church can be derived from the descriptions given in other documents of the gods or goddesses they follow. However a few comments can be made on the structural and cultural aspects of particular churches…
The Druids
The Druidic movement is unique in that it is organised on the basis of natural rather than political borders. As a result the power structures of the Druids transcend national identity. This makes the Druids the only transnational religious structure in the Lands (which wins them the resentment of some national rulers). There is one Grand Druid who resides in the ancestral homeland of the Deben Wood. That figure is served in turn by three Druidic Cardinals - one each for Westara, The Wandering Lands, and the Eastern Expanse. The institution of separate churches is so old in Nerina and its surrounds that unitary nature worship is all-but-extinct there (however the Sinti have a religion that seems practically Druidic if independent of the authority of Deben Wood). Note that Druids will only consume meat if they or those serving the meal have hunted and killed the giver of that meat.
The Churches of Bernali and Elchemar
These two churches follow very different powers but both are characterised by a very lawful disposition. As such the churches of both Bernali and Elchemar are very well organised and structured. Also they cultivate and preserve strong formal links between national church groups. So they conduct regular exchange programs in which every national church has representatives present in every other national church. Likewise both churches hold international conferences annually. The Conclave of Bernali allows its attendants to work towards common legal standards across the Lands while the Convention of Elchemar allows for the display and sharing of all manner of new technological developments from across the Lands.
The Churches of Teloch and Linesa
These churches are much more disparate in nature and every national church has developed over time in almost complete isolation from any others. This is in keeping with the chaotic nature of these two powers. As a result one will find marked differences between the clergy of both Teloch and Linesa from one nation to the next. Every national church of Teloch comes to identify with the military needs and characteristics of its own state. Every national church of Linesa comes to mirror the national culture of its home nation. There is a recognition and respect between clergy of the same power from different nations but rarely anything more than that.
Village Churches of the Deliverer
In urban areas the churches of separate gods and goddesses are most common. In rural areas the unitary worship of nature under the guidance of Druids is most common. However there are some villages in bordering territory between urban and rural areas in which there is a desire to follow separate powers exclusively but a lack of infrastructure to warrant having several separate churches. In such villages a practice has developed in which there is just one church – nominally of the Deliverer – at which small shrines are housed for every god and goddess. The village church will have just one cleric of the Deliverer but worshippers of other powers can also use the space. This development arises from the fact that the Deliverer has the best relations with all other gods and goddesses. Also the services of the Church of the Deliverer (graveyards and genealogy records) are ones most needed by any small community.
The priests and priestesses of the Lands are the most numerous of the representatives of the gods and goddesses in the mortal world. They are normal mortals who have answered a calling to become followers and agents for one or more immortal and supernatural powers. In the course of this work they become both pillars of the community and holders of divinely inspired spell-like powers. Anyone interested in priests and priestesses will also be interested in the Gods & Goddesses.
From Druids to Clerics
In the ancient past all humans lived in small rustic villages or wandered in nomadic bands. At this time the only kind of clergy were the shamans of nature who represented all the elder gods and goddesses at once. For these shamans all the gods and goddesses were one close family grouping (much like the humans the shamans lived among) and all these powers together shared in ruling and preserving the forces of nature. In the ages since human populations have grown larger and more complex and with this there came a growing trend towards separate congregations with preferences for particular powers including the younger gods and goddesses (this trend seems to have started in Lehenic lands).
Nowadays the most common kind of holy person is the cleric who services one god or goddess and officiates to a particular community of worshippers. However among rural villagers one can still find nature clergy in the form of the Druids. Druids venerate Garlomen & Marumi in particular. However they also follow neutral aspects of Olorin, Urala, Kandoth and Nitara. One can find flourishing churches of all powers (except Garlomen and Marumi who are exclusively Druidic) in all major population centres. More can be known of the Druids by examining the tales of the Royal Dagger of the Brethic Overlord (see in Sage Scrivenings).
Relations with Warriors
After the common masses of labourers and artisans the most numerous class is that of the warriors. Clergy recognise it is important therefore to interpret Divine messages in a way that will resonate well with warriors. Some churches do this better than others. Druids connect well with the amateur militia of villages. The clerics of Bernali relate well to city guard while clerics of Teloch relate well to mercenary soldiers. There will however be warriors among the congregations of all the churches and clergy will recognise the need to employ some warriors to assist in defending the personnel and holdings of the church.
Relations with Mages
There is much suspicion of mages among clergy. For Druids the mages are renegades with the arrogance to try and control natural forces rather than serve them. For many clerics there is a sense of outrage that mages can cast spells while purporting to serve nobody but themselves. Some clergy deny that anyone can get magical power free from some form of commitment to a supernatural entity and these feel sure that mages are themselves a clandestine form of cleric who surely must serve some Wayward Spriits which aspire to Divine status. They disparagingly refer to mages as ‘warlocks’ or ‘witches’. Other clergy however have the sense to co-exist with mages and discover that some mages will even become members of their congregations. However the rivalry between these two classes is strong (in some cases particularly so as between Necromancers and Clerics of the Deliverer).
Relations with Rogues
For clergy most of the acts of a rogue are defilements of moral strictures. And for all clergy the presence of rogues is regarded as a danger to the congregations they care for. A survey of the portfolios of the various gods and goddesses shows that none of them specifically endorse secrecy or stealth nor do they admire notions of short-cuts to getting what one wants from life. However there will always be particular cases in which they recognise the worth of particular rogues (despite what they do) or even the value of roguish acts in extreme circumstances.
Races of Clergy
All races have characters who are deemed to be priests and priestesses. However a distinction needs to be made between human clergy who serve well-defined gods and goddesses and non-human clerics who venerate and draw inspiration from other more amorphous powers.
The Elves are pantheists and venerate ‘the Universe of which we are an integral part’. Elves think that the spirit becomes part of one eternal and infinite spirit. The most accomplished of Elvish clerics therefore also develop some magical talents.
The Dwarves preserve the memory of legendary ancestors from which they think they are reincarnated.
Some humans suggest that these non-humans are therefore godless but they still have among them persons who perform priestly roles and who can access divine spell-like powers.
Halflings worship Halfling incarnations of the same well-defined gods and goddesses as humans - The Deliverer is particularly popular.
Half-Orcs can become clerics of human gods and goddesses or they can be Orcish shamans.
Note that only humans and Half-Elves may be Druids.
Some Notes on the Churches
The characteristics of every church can be derived from the descriptions given in other documents of the gods or goddesses they follow. However a few comments can be made on the structural and cultural aspects of particular churches…
The Druids
The Druidic movement is unique in that it is organised on the basis of natural rather than political borders. As a result the power structures of the Druids transcend national identity. This makes the Druids the only transnational religious structure in the Lands (which wins them the resentment of some national rulers). There is one Grand Druid who resides in the ancestral homeland of the Deben Wood. That figure is served in turn by three Druidic Cardinals - one each for Westara, The Wandering Lands, and the Eastern Expanse. The institution of separate churches is so old in Nerina and its surrounds that unitary nature worship is all-but-extinct there (however the Sinti have a religion that seems practically Druidic if independent of the authority of Deben Wood). Note that Druids will only consume meat if they or those serving the meal have hunted and killed the giver of that meat.
The Churches of Bernali and Elchemar
These two churches follow very different powers but both are characterised by a very lawful disposition. As such the churches of both Bernali and Elchemar are very well organised and structured. Also they cultivate and preserve strong formal links between national church groups. So they conduct regular exchange programs in which every national church has representatives present in every other national church. Likewise both churches hold international conferences annually. The Conclave of Bernali allows its attendants to work towards common legal standards across the Lands while the Convention of Elchemar allows for the display and sharing of all manner of new technological developments from across the Lands.
The Churches of Teloch and Linesa
These churches are much more disparate in nature and every national church has developed over time in almost complete isolation from any others. This is in keeping with the chaotic nature of these two powers. As a result one will find marked differences between the clergy of both Teloch and Linesa from one nation to the next. Every national church of Teloch comes to identify with the military needs and characteristics of its own state. Every national church of Linesa comes to mirror the national culture of its home nation. There is a recognition and respect between clergy of the same power from different nations but rarely anything more than that.
Village Churches of the Deliverer
In urban areas the churches of separate gods and goddesses are most common. In rural areas the unitary worship of nature under the guidance of Druids is most common. However there are some villages in bordering territory between urban and rural areas in which there is a desire to follow separate powers exclusively but a lack of infrastructure to warrant having several separate churches. In such villages a practice has developed in which there is just one church – nominally of the Deliverer – at which small shrines are housed for every god and goddess. The village church will have just one cleric of the Deliverer but worshippers of other powers can also use the space. This development arises from the fact that the Deliverer has the best relations with all other gods and goddesses. Also the services of the Church of the Deliverer (graveyards and genealogy records) are ones most needed by any small community.
posted by Daniel | 8.5.06
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