The Order of Vingaard

The pantheon of Vingaard consists of the deities most widely worshiped by the humans of Vingaard. Scholars differentiate the pantheon of Vingaard from the so-called "Old Gods" by association - the pantheon of Vingaard is just that, a pantheon. They have ties to each other and are thought to occupy the same region of the heavens. Nonetheless, though their temples are most prominent throughout the nation, they are far from the only gods worshiped - they are simply the most common.

The Order originated in Vingaard with St. Cuthbert about 500 years ago. Though a young religion, it is considered by many to be the true, "civilised" religion of the modern day, with deities espousing the virtues of compassion, justice and self-sacrifice. The Trinity is the national religion of Vingaard, and is widely worshipped in Lorknir, Arelon and Astinus.

The Trinity

The Trinity of Leng represents the official state religion of Vingaard. It consists of the three gods of Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic Good: Belzor, Enod and Ravi. While they each hold an equal position in the pantheon, Belzor is the patron deity of Vingaard itself, as it was the worship of Belzor that unified Vingaard in the first place. Within the Trinity, Belzor is the crusader - the enforcer of law and the guardian of justice. Ravi is his counterpoint, the goddess of mercy, protection and salvation. Enod stands between them, and cares only that the least harm is done.

Belzor

Lawful Good

Belzor is the god of absolute, unyielding, objective truth. He is one of the most radical of the gods. He embodies the spirit of Justice; to right wrongs, destroy evil, shatter darkness with holy light, and bring the heretics and evildoers kicking and screaming into the flame of divine righteousness. For Belzor, there is no room for maybe, no room for grey areas, and no room for evil to be allowed to continue.

Priests of Belzor are completely devoted to stamping out evil. They do not believe in middle ground, believing that everyone must take a side in the great war between good and evil - and those who do not choose to fight for good are almost as bad as those who willingly choose to fight for the side of evil. A priest of Belzor is ever vigilant, for unlike the other priests it is not their job to promote good, but to destroy evil. They cannot and will not let any evil act go unpunished, and they cannot and will not let any evil being live. This is the will of Belzor.

Although on the face of it, Belzor appears to have but a single goal, there is a gentler aspect to the priests of Belzor, just as most of the "kinder" gods have a darker aspect. He is the god of Fairness, of Justice, and of Absolution. Within his portfolio are the righting of wrongs; to reward the deserving just as the undeserving are punished. For this reason, he is, along with Ravi, widely worshipped amongst hard-working but poor folk in the hopes that he will smile upon them and their fortunes will change, as well as those who believe they have been wronged, cheated, or framed - he is prayed to for vengeance, retribution, fairness and the idea that in the end, good will triumph and the long hardships suffered by the honest will pay off, that all the sacrifices of good men and women to fight evil will not have been in vain - for this reason, he is sometimes known alternately "The God of Martyrs" or the "The Lord of Sorrow".

Belzor is usually depicted a furious-faced man breaking the back of a dragon (usually a black dragon, if colored) over his knee. If only his face is depicted, he will be shown simply as a strong-jawed, stern-faced man. The holy symbol of Belzor is an X bisecting a diamond shape. Belzor's servants use the mace, hammer or stave and gain the ability to Turn Undead.

Belzor's Strongholds occupy an area on one of the edges of Arcadia, littered with heavily fortified portals to other planes. From here, Belzor and his servants watch over the righteous and grant them the strength to combat evil, as well as personally riding out to drive back the forces of evil when they become unruly or threaten the Material Plane.

Justicar of Belzor
Specialty Priest

Prime Requisite: Wisdom
Alignment: Lawful Good
Weapons: Any blunt weapon
Major Spheres: All, Astral, Combat, Divination, Law, Protection, Guardian, Wards
Minor Spheres: Healing, Summoning
Required Proficiencies: Religion(Belzor)
Bonus Proficiencies: None

The Justicars are the chosen faithful of Belzor; along with Paladins of the Trinity, their duty is to bring evil kicking and screaming into the light of day. Justicars expose deceptions, root out plots, and crush the works of malice wherever they go. Their oath is one of war, for even when the common folk forgets it the war between good and evil is very real and goes on each and every day in each of us. They are warriors, soldiers of the divine, and they consider their very life forfeit in service of this eternal conflict.

Justicars gain the ability to Turn Undead from 1st level. They also have the ability of paladins to know the alignment of creatures within 30 feet.

At 3rd level, a Justicar gains the ability to see through invisibility and similar illusions of concealment. Whenever an invisible or concealed creature passes within 60 feet, they are entitled to a saving throw vs. spell; if they succeed, they see through the illusion.

At 5th level, the Justicar gains the ability to detect lies. Whenever a lie is told to them, they have a 50% chance to instantly discern it. Every +1 to their Magical Defense Adjustment (see Table 5: Wisdom) increases this chance by 5%. When they detect a lie in this way, they are not merely suspicious - they are absolutely certain of the lie. The chance to detect lies increases by 5% for every level they gain, up to a maximum of 90%.

Magical means of obscurement, such as Misdirection or the abilities of a Deceiver of Cyric, cannot completely nullify this power. However, they can reduce the chance of detecting a lie by 5% per level of the caster.

At 7th level, the Justicar gains 70% magic resistance against all charms and mind-affecting spells. This increases by 5% for every +1 to their Magical Defense Adjustment (see Table 5: Wisdom), to a maximum of 99%. Furthermore, the bonus to their saving throw to detect invisible creatures rises to +3.

At 10th level, the Justicar gains the Eyes of Justice. Those touched by the Stormbringer in this way are marked by the changing of their eye color to a deep, steely grey. Once they have received this gift, they can "see" treachery and injustice. Firstly, this allows them to see falsehoods as a black cloud issuing from the mouth of a liar (effectively increasing their chance to detect lies to 100% if they can see the subject). It also allows them to observe acts considered unjust by their god, making the judging and determination of wrongs far more black and white for them. Lastly, it lets them track evil intentions. Once created, the imprint of an evil deed hangs in their air for a time, plainly visible to the Justicar. How clearly these trails may be followed can vary - in a large city, where many unjustices cloud and cross each other, it is often impossible. Likewise, petty thievery leaves a far more ephemeral imprint than a murder. This is left to the discretion of the DM. One thing remains constant, however: if the Justicar has seen a particular person commit an unjust act before (even just deceitfulness), they will be able to recognise the "trail" left behind as belonging to that person.

At 15th level, the Justicar gains the Wrath of Belzor, which they may use once per day. While under its effects, the Justicar gains all the abilities of one of the aasimon, including their elemental resistances, spell-like powers, and celestial reverence ability. The Wrath of Belzor lasts 1 round for every 3 levels of the priest. Note that this ability grants the Justicar the general properties that all aasimon gain - it does not transform them into an individual type of aasimar. Once the duration of this spell ends, the Justicar becomes fatigued.

This ability can only be used against those who are truly deserving of Belzor's Justice and have been deemed guilty.

Enod

Neutral Good

Enod is the severe, unshakable healer - the physician, the medicae, the serious-faced doctor. He does not dabble in petty law or foolish chaos; to Enod, such notions are childish distractions. One thing and one thing alone is important to Enod; the sanctity of life. His duty is to maintain the life force of living beings, and to restore it when it is in danger. In his darker aspect, he is the mercy killer, the king of euthanasia; Enod takes life away when it becomes an evil act to allow it continue in its twisted, corrupted form.

Priests of Enod care for the preservation of life above all else. They are usually trained in alchemy and traditional healing besides their own art, and they believe that their power should be used for nothing but the protection of life and the restoration of health. Priests of Enod believe that it is a cardinal sin to let anyone die, even an evil man; take him to justice, imprison him if you will, but if your greatest nemesis is dying in front of you, you must save him. They do not preach compassion as Ravi does, believing that every man is worth saving; they simply do not care whether he is worth saving or not - what matters to them is the saving. Clerics of Enod view life as the sacred gift that was given to all creatures by the gods, and that to despoil it for any reason is the ultimate sin. Imprison them if you will, attempt to rehabilitate a criminal or seal up an evil creature to protect others from it, but do not take its life away, for in doing so you seal its fate. In this view, they are quite closely aligned with Ravi. Enod does not judge what is good and evil; that is for the individual to decide. Enod simply ensures that the individual is alive to make that decision.

The main order of the Temple of Enod is the organisation known as the Healers. They maintain Temples of Enod and are trained in healing by whatever arts are available to them - be it leechcraft, alchemy, or the divine ministrations of Enod himself. A Temple of the Healers is the ultimate neutral ground; any man who is wounded may seek them out for sanctuary and healing, and no man is turned away. An old adage goes that "Only a fool angers a healer, for those who know how to heal know best how to hurt." The Healers do not demand payment of the poor, but those with the means to do so will be expected to pay.

Enod is always depicted as a serious-faced, bald-headed man in clean, white robes. He is sometimes depicted holding a staff in one hand and a viper in the other. His symbol is the Stave of Asclepius - one of his earliest clerics - a winged staff with serpents of ivory and ebony coiled around it.

Enod's Enclave is in Mount Celestia, on the first layer, where they dwell in endless white palaces that rise from the surface of the endless mountain. From here, relatively close to Morus, Enod watchs over his servants and his flock and aids them in ensuring that as few people are forced to suffer or endure pain or hardship as possible. His servants and angels travel the planes, finding the weak and wounded and bringing them to Enod's Enclave for safety and healing. It is said that Enod will grant Sanctuary and Aid to any who approach his Enclave, whether he agrees with their choices or not.

Healer of Enod
Specialty Priest

Prime Requisite: Wisdom
Alignment: Neutral Good
Weapons: Quarterstaff, mancatcher, non-lethal weapons
Major Spheres: All, Divination, Healing, Necromantic, Protection
Minor Spheres: Charm, Guardian, Law, Wards
Required Proficiencies: Religion(Enod), Healing
Bonus Proficiencies: Herbalism or Alchemy

A Healer of Enod follows the tenets of his god to the letter: only in the rarest, most dire of circumstances will they ever willingly bring death to another creature. They have little problem with restraining, pacifying or disarming their foes but to bring death upon another is prohibited except in the most extreme of circumstances. As far as the Healers are concerned, the moment an evil creature is slain their fate is sealed and they are damned. But for as long as they live, even if it is immensely remote, they have some chance of redemption. For this reason, the Healers of Enod are closely aligned with Ravi's flock. The main difference in their dogma is that they care little for the actual redemption itself - they hold that life is sacred, and that death closes all possibilities of goodness for a creature, and so life should be preserved whenever possible.

The Healers of Enod are not complete pacifists, however. While they try to avoid physical violence wherever possible and focus on healing the wounded, they will not hesitate to bear arms when abstaining from violence would cause more harm than good - though they will still favor nonlethal means above all else. Their predilection against violence extends only to living beings, and they have little concern for the undead. They are known to be particularly dangerous in the defense of their temples, on the rare occasion when the foolish have attempted to storm them and take those who have sought sanctuary within. As dedicated as they are to curing sickness and healing pain, they are ruthless and the without mercy when defending their principles.

At 1st level, Healers gain the ability to channel the benediction of Enod into their patients. When caring for patients as described by the Healing NWP, the Healer causes their patient to gain a number of hit points equal to their level each day - to a maximum of 12. If the patient is also getting complete rest, an additional hit point is gained, and if the Healer also has the Herbalism NWP and access to medicinal herbs, then another additional hit point is gained. Up to six patients can be cared for at a time in this way, and basic medical supplies such as bandages and water are required.

At 3rd level, Healers gain the ability to place a willing patient into a deep sleep. They can be broken from this sleep at any time by loud noise, taking damage or anything else which would normally wake someone from a magically induced sleep. If they are not awoken, they will naturally awaken after a full 24 hours have passed, feeling both hungry and thirsty. For as long as the patient is under the effects of this sleep, the effects of any kind of poison, disease, or other physical ailment will be effectively halted, resuming once they awaken. The sleep has no effect on curses or magical ailments.

At 5th level, a Healer's ability to halt poison and disease extends to curses and diseases of a magical nature, as well as to debilitating magical effects in general. None of these will affect the patient for as long as they are asleep. This even extends to such arcane ailments such as mummy rot or the onset of vampirism or lycanthropy; only the curse of a god cannot be halted by this power.

At 7th level, a Healer gains the ability to draw the recently dead back into the realm of the living once each day. The corpse in question must be reasonably intact and must have died within the past round, or they will be beyond this ability's power to restore. The raised person must roll a successful resurrection survival check to survive the ordeal (see Table 3: Constitution) and loses 1 point of Constitution. Further, the raised person's current and maximum hp is reduced to 1; it slowly returns to its original value by resting normally, but cannot be restored by curative magic.

At 10th level, a Healer always maximises the effects of all forms of curative and regenerative spell. For example, a Cure Light Wounds will always restore 8 hit points, and so on.

At 15th level, a Healer gains the Touch of Enod, which may be used once each day. It will restore all hit points, cure all diseases and poisons, and remove mental disorders caused by spells or by injury to the brain. It will also restore up to 3 lost energy levels and regenerate a single missing limb or organ; regeneration takes a single round regardless of whether or not the severed limb is available.

Ravi

Chaotic Good

Ravi is the Dawn - the light that rises just when the night is deepest. In addition to being a goddess of light, she is also the goddess of salvation; both the salvation of the faithful from the jaws of evil and the salvation of those who have been led astray, bringing them back into the fold of good and helping them to see the Dawn. She is the most unpredictable and understanding of the gods of Good, always seeking to redeem and cure evil rather than destroying Evil.

Ravi is usually depicted as a divinely beautiful woman with ivory skin and flowing golden hair. She is sometimes depicted carrying a lantern with an expression of sorrow or compassion on her face. The symbol of Ravi is the Great Lamp, a silver disk engraved with eight seperate "points" that are rounded triangles, radiating around a central engraved circle, which is often bronze or gold.

Ravi's dwells in Elysium at the Palaces of the Final Rest. Here, the weary dead go, and from here they cannot be called, summoned or resurrected; they are at peace. Her Palaces are truly a paradise, said to be infinite and endless, with the resources and facilities to fulfil the every need of any being whose desires are not of evil intent.

A sect of the Order of Ravi is the Sacrament of Vigilance, a fringe group dedicated to hunting vampires and the undead in general.

Daybringer of Ravi
Specialty Priest

Prime Requisite: Wisdom
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Weapons: Scimitars, spears, maces
Major Spheres: All, Creation, Divination, Elemental(Fire), Healing, Sun
Minor Spheres: Chaos, Charm, Combat, Elemental(Air), Protection, Weather
Required Proficiencies: Religion(Ravi)
Bonus Proficiencies: None

The Daybringers advocate understanding and compassion - and complete devotion. No matter what the reason, a Daybringer never gives up on a person. They will never say "this person cannot be saved", or "this person is unforgivable", but will always strive to bring them back into the light. Clerics of Ravi view a life as something that is full of potential for good or evil, and that the choice between these two is what makes good and evil worth choosing between in the first place. As long as a life continues, the choice will continue to be made; when an evil man dies, his fate is sealed, but as long as he lives he may someday be redeemed. The inverse is the case with beings of pure evil - the undead, demons and the like. With these the priest of Ravi will not simply coexist, will never "live and let live". The light of Dawn must be brought to them, destroying them utterly.

Compassion is the watchword of a Daybringer (except where the undead and demons are concerned), and as a result they tend to avoid killing wherever possible. Nevertheless, if they must do so to defend themselves or the innocent, they will not hesitate to fight. They will always try to guide and redeem those who have fallen to evil, but if an evil person puts the good in danger before this is possible they will sorrowfully dispatch them to their damnable fate. As the Daybringers usually seek out demons and the undead, redemption and compassion is often less of a consideration for them as it is for a peaceful priest of Ravi.

At 1st level, Daybringers gain the ability to Turn Undead. Furthermore, they are considered to be 2 levels higher for the purposes of turning undead.

At 3rd level, Ravi grants Daybringers a measure of protection against the foul effects of the undead and demons. Regardless of whether it normally grants a saving throw, the Daybringer may make a saving throw vs. spell against the debilitating effects of the undead - such as ghoul rot, mummy rot, a shadow's strength-draining, a vampire's energy drain, and so on. Note that if the creature's effect normally grants a saving throw, this effectively entitles the Daybringer to two saving throws against them. If they pass the saving throw, they are wholly unaffected. This only protects against the debilitating effects of the attacks of certain undead and demons - for example, it would not protect against a lich's aura, but it would protect from their energy drain.

At 5th level, Daybringers gain the ability to invoke the power of the dawn once per day, causing them to glow with true sunlight. This invocation lasts for 1 round per level of the priest. For as long as it lasts, all undead creatures within 60' take 1d8 damage per round, and vampires lose 1/6th of their hit points each round. The light of the invocation also provides the warmth of the sun for as long as it is active, and illuminates a 60' area as though it were in bright sunlight, with another 60' of shadowy illumination beyond. The invocation will destroy any drow equipment within 30' as if it had been exposed to actual sunlight.

At 7th level, Daybringers act at all times as though under the effects of a Ring of Fire Resistance.

At 10th level, Daybringers are completely immune to almost all forms of fire. Dragonbreath deals half damage, and lava deals 3 points of damage per round. No lesser heat may harm them.

At 15th level, the power of a Daybringer to rebuke demons and the undead is absolute. Whenever the Daybringer successfully turns the undead, each being that is affected takes 1d4 damage per 2 levels of the priest with no saving throw. If this damage reduces them to 0 hit points, they are destroyed.

Saints of the Trinity

While not gods themselves, each of the three gods of the Trinity has a single saint, the one who was first gifted with the miraculous powers of the gods and spread their word and power to the people. The Saints are now Archangels in the service of their gods, and are revered throughout Leng as holy beings almost on par with the gods themselves. Each of the Saints took on a number of Disciples, whom they taught until their disciples were also gifted with the benediction of their god, thereby causing the dawn of the "Age of Miracles".

St. Cuthbert

First cleric of Belzor, hailed the worship of Belzor and helped to found Vingaard. His Disciples were the precursors of the Knights of Vingaard. Now serves as the Regent of Belzor and is prayed to for protection and safe voyage. St. Cuthbert is also the patron of holy crusaders; the Order of St. Cuthbert is the Trinity's order of paladins.

St. Asclepius

Appeared the year before St. Cuthbert's death. After proving his power to the Temples of Enod, used his newfound influence to channel their resources and obtain donations from kingdoms throughout Leng, turning the temples of Enod into something more akin to Infirmaries than places of worship and extending the offer of healing for all. Serves as Enod's Archangel of the Forsaken and is prayed to by those who are alone and far from aid.

St. Honoria

The last of the Three Saints, and the Saint of Ravi. After her Three Disciples gained miraculous powers as well, she sent them to spread the word of Ravi and teach the divine rituals to others, and immediately stood down from any position of authority. She spent the rest of her life finding evil warlords and peoples who had caused great misery, and bringing them back into the light. She had great success, but was eventually struck down during one of these attempts. She now serves Ravi as the Archangel of the Gate, and is prayed to by those who are attempting to atone for wrongdoings, escape from past mistakes, and be free from slavery of both body and mind. She is also the patron saint of martyrs.

Other Gods

Nirrin

Lawful Neutral

Nirrin is the goddess of memories and all they entail. As such, she is the goddess of lost and forbidden knowledge, the goddess of resurrection, and the goddess of riddles. She is always depicted as a slim woman who wears a hooded cloak that is coloured the rusty red of dried blood. This obscures her face, revealing only a sly smile.

Nirrin does not grant power to priests, but has many followers all the same. The prayers of Raise Dead and Resurrection both feature an invocation to her regardless of the god the priest worships. She is also revered by magic-users and the Cult of Nirrin, who are dedicated to the aquisition and keeping of secrets. The Cult of Nirrin speaks a secret language, known as the Nirrinese Canticle.

Nirrin's Safehouse is located in Mechanus. There, the collected secrets of all the ages are kept.

Jaeril

True Neutral

Jaeril is the God of Luck - he is known as the Blind Guardian. Many worship him - particularly gamblers and those who risk their life regularly or live their life close to the edge - as such, he is a favourite god of thieves. Jaeril is the god of the dice, the coin-flip, of blind probability; you pray to him for luck, for favour. In his darker aspect, Jaeril is the god of debt, of the price, and of bad luck. In this aspect, he represents both bad luck and the penalties of bad luck - typified by the unlucky gambler's debt, the price he must pay or else dire consequences will ensure. Jaeril is known for his tendency to grant visions or dreams to heroes who catch his fancy.

Followers of Jaeril advocate wisdom and opportunism - luck favours the wise and the quick, so they say. They also preach that if a decision is beyond the wisdom of a person to handle, they should not try to handle it anyway with their inadequate faculties; instead, when they are unsure of what to do, they should simply entrust it to the divine truth of Luck; let the roll of the dice, the whim of fate decide their actions. The mantra of the followers of Jaeril is "Make your own luck".

Jaeril is usually depicted as a thin man in robes, sometimes holding puppet strings in his hand, sometimes holding a set of dice. He is always depicted as laughing. In addition to Luck, Jaeril also presides over Prophecy and Fate, and is said to be a cousin to Nirrin, though she sees him as a fool and a scoundrel and associates with him only when absolutely necessary. He is said to protect beggars and the downtrodden.

Jaeril and his followers can usually be found in the Outlands, spreading their whims wherever they will. Jaeril does not grant power to specialty priests, though he sometimes deigns to favor mortals that catch his eye. As a result, his contingent is small and made up of all sorts of interesting and disreputable characters from all walks of life.

Tempus

Chaotic Neutral

Tempus is one of the few non-good gods who is openly worshipped - though his temples are rare, they are nowhere near as scarce as those of Jaeril. Tempus is the lord of combat, trial by arms, skill with blade, bow and all other devices of death, and scourge of the magic-user. His temples are rare, but his priests are fairly common - his temples are often relatively secluded, being built on frontier lines and in dangerous lands, and their primary function is simply to train battle-clerics. Once trained, the battle-clerics may serve whichever cause they feel is worthy, contributing both prowess with weapons and the divine gifts of their lord to defeat their foes and level the playing field against magic-users. Tempus is widely worshipped by soldiers, mercenaries and warriors of all kinds. It is said that while he does not cheapen a warrior's victory by granting him aid in combat, he will protect him from cowardly and dishonorable warfare - traps, magic, hailing arrows - so that the final fight may be fought on equal terms between men.

Tempus dwells on the very edge of the Plane of Acheron, in his Fortress of Honor. The Fortress overlooks a massive portal that leads directly into Morus, from where he watches the battles of Morus. The worthy dead are sometimes offered to join him in his Fortress of Honor instead of going to whatever afterlife they would otherwise find themselves in, and those who have attained Mastery or better in a weapon always receive this offer upon their death. Here they do constant battle, and are joined in this by many warlike beings from across the multiverse - including a few titans who have thrown in their lot with Tempus. Despite standing alone, Tempus is one of the more powerful gods worshipped in Leng - if his priests are to be believed, he could easily stand against any individual member of the Trinity. It is said that he is not truly native to Morus, and that his aspects are worshipped as gods of war and honor throughout many worlds.

Tempus is depicted as a heavily-armoured warrior with a shining sun upon his chest, at the center of which is a large red ruby. Statues of the god himself are fairly featureless, but he is always depicted fighting multiple opponents, often magical beasts. His symbol is that found upon his breast; a 10-pointed golden sun with a ruby or disc of red copper in its center.

Priests of Tempus may use any weapon they please. They gain the ability to enter a beserk rage when wounded that deprives them of their reason but allows them to fight as a fighter of equivalent level until the battle is over. This can be done more than once each day, but fatigues after the second use. If they are multiclass fighters, they get a free weapon specialisation instead.

Battleguard of Tempus
Specialty Priest

Prime Requisite: Strength
Alignment: Any Neutral
Weapons: Any melee
Major Spheres: All, Chaos, Combat, Guardian, Summoning
Minor Spheres: Divination, Elemental(All), Necromantic
Required Proficiencies: Religion(Tempus)
Bonus Proficiencies: None

The Battleguards of Tempus are a class to themselves. While Tempus is widely worshiped by soldiers, warriors and warmongers the world over, the Battleguards do not simply seek his aid in achieving their goals. For the Battleguards, the battle itself is the objective. This is not to say that a Battleguard does not have his own principles and beliefs, and that he may not fight for a cause he has to believe in - but these causes have nothing to do with his faith. The will of Tempus is trial by battle, and a Battleguard seeks combat and glory above all else.

Battleguards are trained in the ways of war, and few weapons are forbidden to them. However, a Battleguard priest will never use cowardly means of combat. This includes the obvious choices such as traps and poison, but they also eschew ranged weapons of all kinds. Let those who need to rely on such weapons hide behind their bows and arrows; the faithful of Tempus do not fear death, and will charge into the fray and let their sword-arm decide the result.

At 1st level, Battleguards gain the ability to enter a Berserk Rage for 10 rounds. While raging, they gain a +2 bonus to hit, damage and to all saving throws. A raging Battleguard will charge heedlessly into battle, and will never run away from a fight. If they run out of enemies to fight, they either attack the closest living target in the area (even a friend) or suffer 5 points of damage for each of the remaining rounds as they forcibly vent their berserk anger themselves by punching the ground, biting themselves, ramming their head into inanimate objects and so on. There is no limit to the number of rages a Battleguard can enter per day, though raging is extremely tiring. Wearing heavy armor exacerbates this, and as a result many Battleguard choose to fight unarmored or only lightly clad. It takes a full round to enter a rage.

At 3rd level, the shield of Tempus protects the Battleguard from cowardly missiles. All ranged attacks against the Battleguard incur a -2 penalty to hit.

At 5th level, the Battleguard may chant a terrifying hymn to the god of war in battle. For every three rounds he sings, the enemies of the Battleguard must make a morale check as long as he is not obviously overwhelmed or being defeated.

At 7th level, the Battleguard mind is bolstered against all spells that affect the mind. While raging he is completely immune to spells of this kind; otherwise he gains a +2 bonus to his saving throws against them.

At 10th level, the Battleguard delays the debilitating and damaging effects of any spell that strikes him when he is raging. Any spell that is cast on him and would normally have an effect on him is instead delayed until the end of his rage, when its effects immediately set in. It is entirely possible for the Battleguard to win a combat and then fall to the magics that hang about him when his rage ends.

At 15th level, the Battleguard gains the ability to use an ordinary war-horn to call up the shades of fallen warriors from Tempus' Fortress of Honor to fight at his side for a time. The conjuring lasts for 60 minutes and may only be called upon once each week. This ability functions identically to the Horn of Valhalla, summoning 3d4 beserkers to fight for the Battleguard. They have an AC of 4, 6 hit points per die, and are armed with swords, battleaxes and spears. They will gladly fight until their foes are all dead or the duration ends, but will not stay once the battle is won unless there is an obvious impending combat. The beserkers summoned will be 3rd level if the Battleguard is level 15-16, 4th level if he is 17-18, 5th level if he is 19-20, or 6th level if he is level 21 or higher.

Nasir/Cyric

Lawful Evil

Also known by his olden name of Cyric.

Nasir is the god of contract, betrayal, trickery and treachery. He is the god of control, blackmail, and theft. He is also the god of aquisition, lawful or otherwise, and of lies. He is popularly known as the Mad God despite his lawful nature, and loves nothing more than to subvert and betray for absolutely no reason at all - the act in of itself is enough. He is petty and self-centered, and enjoys misleading individuals of all inclinations so that they perform acts that ruin their lives or so that they make fatal mistakes, and demands that his priests do the same.

Worship of Nasir is not openly performed, although many treacherous types may pray to him. He is worshipped by a Cult of evil priests around Leng, who serve him by enticing others into contracts, agreements or friendships and betraying them in order to further their own agenda and the agenda of their deity. Nasir despises honesty, integrity, and anything which is done out of purity of heart. A selfless, profitless act is a sure way for a priest of Nasir to lose his power. Nevertheless, despite his dark image, he like the other gods of Leng has two faces; on the rare occasion upon which is is venerated, it is as Cyric the Lawyer, the negotiator, the builder of contracts.

Nasir is never depicted in a religious context, as he abhors temples and chapels. His symbol is a circle of black iron with an X through it. Nasir's Hall is located deep within the core of one of the Orbs of Carceri, from where he consorts with Lolth in the Abyss and spins his plots throughout the planes.

Deceiver of Nasir
Specialty Priest

Prime Requisite: Intelligence
Alignment: Any Evil
Weapons: Staves, clubs, short swords, knives and daggers
Major Spheres:
Minor Spheres:
Required Proficiencies: Religion(Nasir)
Bonus Proficiencies: Disguise or Forgery

Many who work deceit and falsehoods offer prayer to the veiled god, Nasir of the shadow. But the Deceivers follow his ways not to further their own ends - though they may well do so in the course of their service - rather, for them it is the act of treachery itself which they adhere to. The Deceivers bring glory to Nasir by walking amongst the just and the righteous, the pure and the innocent - and corrupting them. They entice others into contracts and agreements, then betray them. They poison good relations, foster envy and pride, and build bad blood. They walk amongst every level of society, keeping their garb carefully concealed at all times. Masters of disguise and trickery, their god-given powers and their training in the ways of subterfuge allow them to manipulate themselves into positions of power, positions where they can do the most damage. A Deceiver is a spider, hiding amongst flies and spinning his webs, waiting for the moment to strike for the glory and profit of both himself and his deity.

From 1st level, a Deceiver of Nasir is aided both through practise and divinity in their deceits. Whenever a Deceiver is bluffing or telling a falsehood to an NPC, their Charisma score is treated as if it were two points higher, with reaction adjustment and all related stats being adjusted accordingly.

From 3rd level, a Deceiver of Nasir gains the power to thwart certain priestly spells of discernment - Detect Lies, Detect Evil/Good/Chaos/Law and Know Alignment in particular. This resistance also applies to spells that reveal the thoughts, such as ESP. Unless cast by someone 3 levels or more above the Deceiver, spells of this kind will be unable to detect the Deceiver's falsehoods - they will appear truthful to a Detect Lie, good or neutral to Know Alignment, ESP will not reveal thoughts of treachery or their true nature, and so on. The Deceiver can elect to suppress this ability and allow the spells to function normally on him, but by default it is "always on".

At 5th level, the Deceiver gains the ability to alter the appearance through an illusory gift granted by Nasir. This functions as the 1st level wizard spell Change Self, and may be used once per day for every 3 levels possessed by the priest. Unlike the wizard spell, the effects of this ability last for a full 24 hours. As does the wizard spell, the Change Self spell allows only a general type of form to be assumed; it does not allow the appearance of a specific person to be assumed.

At 7th level, the Deceiver gains some measure of control over the minds of others. Once per day for every 2 levels they possess, the Deceiver may attempt to hypnotise a sentient creature capable of understand his language by looking it deeply in the eyes. This functions similarly the 1st-level wizard spell of the same name: the victim is entitled to a saving throw with a penalty of -2. This penalty is reduced to -1 if the victim is wary, and increases to a +1 if they are hostile. If the saving throw is failed, the victim becomes entranced for up to one round per level of the Deceiver. While so entranced, they are susceptible to brief and reasonable-sounding suggestions (see the 3rd level wizard spell Suggestion). The Deceiver may end the trance at any point before its duration runs out. Unlike the Hypnotism spell, this ability affects only one creature at a time; however, its effects extend well after the trance ends. In addition to the normal kinds of suggestions that can be given to the recipient of a Hypnotism spell, the suggestions made by the Deceiver will continue to persist for up to 1 hour per level of the Deceiver after the trance has ended. For example, the Deceiver could inform the victim that dangerous acid is in fact pure water - if they were 7th level, then for the next 7 hours their victim would believe this to be the case.

At 10th level, the ability of the Deceiver to alter their appearance with illusions becomes more sophisticated. They have complete control over the nuances of the guise assumed, meaning that they may embellish with whatever details they wish - no matter how minor. They may also assume the appearance of specific people that they have seen without memory being a factor. This guise will easily deceive those who are only familiar in passing with the person being imitated; those who know the subject are granted a saving throw vs. spell. A -2 penalty is imposed to this saving throw if the Deceiver has the Disguise NWP, and a further -2 if the Deceiver has studied the subject carefully. Finally, the illusion grows to include olfactory and physical components, meaning that a "wrong scent" will not disturb the facade, and nor will casual physical interaction reveal the Deceiver's true nature. However, prolonged interaction of this sort will grant a saving throw vs. spell to realise an illusion is at work, and it may be felt that the clothes and flesh of the Deceiver feel somehow wrong in the hands of an intelligent observer.

At 15th level, the Deceiver's ability to twist and manipulate divination magic is complete. They have complete control of the outcome of any divination spell as long as it satisfies two conditions. First of all, they must be aware of its casting - a Deceiver cannot manipulate the results of a scrying spell if he does not know he is being spied upon. Secondly, the spell must be cast on or principally about them. They cannot, for example, manipulate a Commune spell, as this involves summoning and questioning an extraplanar entity. Assuming these conditions are fulfilled, the Deceiver is able to make the outcome of the spell reflect whatever he desires, within reason. Detect Evil could be made to read good, neutral or evil. Detect Magic may reveal nothing at all or artifact magic of astonishing power - or even divine magic of a good-aligned god. A spell such as ESP might reveal totally convincing thoughts that are in truth totally fabricated. Even spells with straightforward functions may be twisted significantly - for example, a Deceiver could make a See Invisibility spell reveal himself as someone else, or in a different location.