Valley Kingdoms: Understanding Sivanism

The last entry focused on some basic concepts of the Sivan faith which pervades the Valley Kingdoms, but I don't think it was as organized or as thorough as it could be. Therefore, we will spend another episode of the Kingdoms contemplating the strange order of Ya and its subordinate deities, and addressing the modern narrative presented by the priests of Ya.

Excerpt from...
THE THEOLOGICAL HISTORY
(Roz Nangar deBayab)

IN THE BEGINNING the Valley was shrouded in the darkness of Yibrum, and there was only shadow. Yibrum is a vast god, neither male nor female, like our Yasivan of the Living Fire, who blanketed the whole earth. We do not know what happened outside the valley in those days, but there came a time when Yasivan entered our Valley and blessed it with light. 

This was the PROCESSION OF THE FIRE out of the wasteland. The Living Fire came in the hands of the High Priest, who brought it to Engan to reside. When it arrived there, the Valley Kingdoms began to awaken, to become truly Alive. Outside of the Valley, there are strange and many gods, but inside the Valley there are only those which were given life by the sacred presence of the Living Fire.

Sivanism posits that all of the pantheon of the Valley gods existed purely by reference to the Living Fire ensconced at Engan, which is itself an expression of Yasivan. If the Living Fire were to be extinguished, it is possible that Yasivan itself might be slain. Thus, the fanatic devotion around which the propagation of the Flame at various temples is faced is directly tied to the ontological need to keep the chief god of the Valley alive.

The Theological History is a narrative account of Sivanism, but the central holy texts are known as the Letheb Scrolls, which are the Scrolls of Trials. These were kept by priests entering the Valley and collected after the first settlements, to serve as a record of the rites and faiths of all the peoples under Sivanist rule during the very early history of the Valley. It is likely that the scribal workshop of Medenva gave that island its importance, causing the Yasivan priesthood to eventually locate there.

THE OTHER GODS
Yibrum. The god of darkness and unbeing, the primal opposite to Yasivan, Yibrum is not much worshipped in the valley. It is often associated with the lands beyond the mountains, and the wastes are said to be holy to Yibrum. In some ways, Yibrum is also identified with or perhaps in alliance with Febass, the Goddess of the Underworld.

Vihu. Vihu is the lord of luck and cats. His shrines are located in many small villages, and he is thought to be a good luck charm against travel, weather, etc. Cats themselves are considered sacred to him, and therefore many strays are fed and congregate at the little Vihan altars.

Febass. Febass is the goddess of both the open sea, and the underworld. Within the bounds of the Valley, water is the domain of her daughter, Flokay, who is much more pleasant than the chthonic and terrifying Febass. However, she is invoked at all ceremonies for the dead, and is asked to give them safe travels to her drowned halls where it is believed those with the Fire in them will be taken.

Ram. Ram is the god of roads and travel, and his waystations are seen all throughout the Valley Kingdoms. His appearance is often that of a horse, though he is often represented simply by a horseshoe or a wheel. Ram is a vagabond god as well, and his name is often invoked when someone is seeking hospitality from the road.

Othi. Othi is an angry and powerful god, who is in command of the storms, the skies, and the weather. He and Veged are said to be married, but he is known to have had dalliances with Ram. His altars are found in lonely places atop hills, or within the Yasivan temples along with everyone else's.

Iva. Iva the Smith is a mighty goddess, who is also called the Fabricator. She is the patron of all handicrafted arts across the Valley, and there are many potters, chandlers, and smiths who give her prayer. Her symbol is an anvil, which can be found in many homes or hung from many throats.

Veged. Veged is the goddess not only of the open fields, but of the dense forest. She is the tamed growth of the farm, and the wildness of the wood. She is a mysterious goddess, as powerful as the storms and as kind as the rivers. Her worship may have predated that of Yasivan, but her old forested altars have gone to seed, and she is only worshipped in the context of the united faith in these modern times. Her symbol is an acorn.

Rosu. The household goddess; Rosu is goddess not only of weaving, but of future-seeing, childbirth, and medicine. She is worshipped by physicians and midwives the Valley over. She is a kindly goddess, but furious when roused. Many families keep small icons of her distaff over their doors to protect their hearth and home.

Valley Kingdoms: Religion in the Valley -- overview and Yasivan

The faith of the Valley Kingdoms is a complicated one, accreted over many centuries by the influx of various peoples and cultures to the Valley. The earliest settlers, Sangaegrun from the desert, brought with them the faith of the Thingatha Empire. The Thingatha faith, known as Yafaba (the Light of the Fire), was focused on the worship of Ya, a principle representing light, flame, goodness, and creation. Ya was inevitably the creator of Yibrum, the Darkness, to whom he was immortally opposed. This dualism has marked faith in the Valley permanently.

A Note About Unity: Most faiths of the valley are unified under the worship of Ya. That is, priests of Ya serve as the general priesthood of the valley and specialized priesthoods often serve under them. The center of most faiths resides in Engen, the Holy Island, in Medenva, the City of the Fire, within the great Palace of the Priesthood overlooking that city. The Unification of the Temples happened under the Empire of the Throne, as part of a bid to reduce the political strength of many of the great temples.

As a result, the most powerful religions were subjugated beneath a single religious leader. This so-called Archpriest is the final authority on the Unified Faiths of Sivanism (see below).

A Note About Localism: The deities of the Valley are believed to be extremely local gods. That is, though they are very powerful deific beings, their spheres of influence do not extend outside of the Valley. Yasivan and Yibrum are the twin creative forces that gave birth not to the world, but to the Valley. The gods of the outside are unknown here, and the gods of the Valley have no power against those alien deities of the land beyond the mountains.

Yasivan, the Living Fire. Ya stands at the apex of Valley theology. Since the early Migration Age and the time of the Thingatha Empire, however, Ya has since been identified as an androgyne rather than a masculine principle. Her counterpart, Yibrum, is also utterly without fixed gender. Unlike the ancient Thingatha faith, Ya is not the first principle; rather, that distinction now belongs to Yibrum, the Dark. Yibrum is depicted as prior to, and not necessitated by, the existence of Ya.

YA is also called Yasivan, the Living Fire. The majority faith of the Valley is commonly referred to as Sivanism, that is the Faith of the Living. Yasivan altars are cylindrical in shape, and always contain a vessel (sometimes of bronze, copper, gold, or other precious metal, sometimes of stone) in which a fire is set to burn. The feeding of this fire is one of the chief duties of the Sivan priesthood.

Ancient Thingathi Yafaban Altar

Modern Sivan Fire Altar

When the early Sangaegrun priesthood entered the Valley, they carried with them a brand of the original Yafaban flame from the Grand Temple of Thingatha. This flame was placed into early Sangaegrun temples and legend claims that it fed the Sacral Fire on Engan, which burns to this day.

WORSHIP: Yasivan, the Living Fire, is worshipped in thousands of different ways, but the most common is the destruction by fire of various objects. It is not uncommon to burn small effigies of precious wood or clay. The fires are usually fed with incense and other fuming substances, and the priests of Yasivan are well known as manipulators of fire—that is, they carry with them many fuming incenses or powders to cause the flames to redouble, or swell, or change color.

Almost all towns have one temple of the Faith. Large cities have many more. These temples serve other gods besides Ya, as well, but generally at the bare minimum they will possess a few priests (called Attendants) to tend the Temple Flame, which is meant never to go out. If a Temple Flame is extinguished, it must be relit by the Flame of the next-largest temple, with the grandest temples only able to be rekindled by the Fire at Engen.

STRUCTURE: Priests of Ya adhere to a strict hierarchical structure, with the Attendants and Novices at the bottom.

Larger temples generally have a number of novices and attendants in service to a Divine Speaker, who will themselves be subordinate to the Lightbearer, or chief priest of that temple. In very large temples, there is a council of nine Lightbearers (nine being a sacred number). Lightbearers are subordinate to the High Divine of their region, which is a priest elected to the leadership of a large temple, usually one located in a major city. The High Divines answer none but the Archpriest himself.

The Kyrian Confession: A faith template for Hârn

The Kyrian Confession has its roots in ancient Manachem theology and draws upon such sources as Kreska and Haismora for its own philosophical roots. Confessionalism took root in Manachem lands some time in the 4^th century after the Founding. It spread to southern Khorassis by means of Manachite trade routes and preachers. Unlike the very insular Manachemic Faith, the Faith of Kyria (the word means Principle in Spyran) was welcoming to converts. In the year 412, the Prophet Calomanis declared himself in Temeth Ai and began openly vying for converts from among the Spyran and Khorassin population. At the same time, Manachem Anchorites founded the monastery at Bagahn and efforts were made to translate the Maroetic Texts into Spyran—this work would finally be accomplished only in the 7^th century by Origentus of Bagahn.

The core tenants of the Kyrian Confession are similar to those of the Manachi faith. Confessionals recognize the existence of all other gods in the world but name them, like the drakei of old, false idols. In Manachi they are called halakhim and in Spyran daimoni, but both mean the same thing: spirit. According to the Maroetic Texts, the world is a sort of delusion: a necessary emanation of the Divine Principle. For the Divine Principle was the First Cause, being One and Utterly Simple, but necessity caused the concept of Oneness to fracture—for it was both One and Thought, Whole and Unified, the Chiefest Light. This inevitably led to the rise of the second principle, Action, and the third, Matter. These lesser Lights diffused the unity of the One and thus was the World of Suffering Born.

Daimoni are said to be these lesser Lights, obsessed with the World of Suffering and intent on keeping the poor souls of men imprisoned there. The Confession teaches that reaching for intellectual purity will allow those who die to ascend from the World of Suffering to the World of Forms. There they must wait for the time of the final battle, when the World of Forms may overtake the daimoni and release those trapped in the World of Suffering and all may return to the One.

PIETY GAIN TABLE
PRAYER [20%/1PP] Kyrians are encouraged to pray and meditate on their own time to help attune them to the World of Forms and, beyond that, the Divine Principle. If this prayer is done in a temple, there is a 30% chance of piety gain instead.

FASTING [60%/2PP] One roll is made at the end of each full day of fasting, which cannot include any other activity except prayer and sleep. The chance of accrual increases by 5% for each successive day. The maximum chance is 95%. Fasting castigates the body and brings the spirit closer to the World of Forms.

CONFESSION [80%/2PP] The Confession of grave sins may result in their alleviation. Part of Confessional Kyrianism details the forgiveness of the Divine through his agents, the prelacy. Ordained prelates must hear confession for it to count (else it is merely a prayer).

DAILY MASS [30%/2PP] Daily mass in the Faith is held at sunrise and sunset each day and lasts for thirty minutes. Services may be attended by anyone.

MONTHLY LOW MASS [60%/2PP] The monthly low mass is called the Day of Mourning and attendance at monthly low mass is expected from most laity. There are no daily masses on this day.

HIGH MASS [80%/3PP] This type of prelacy-only mass may be performed by a prelate once a month, at the prelate’s determination.

FEAST OF SOULS [90%/5PP] The first day of each year is the Feast of Souls, when the Confession celebrates the Divinity’s granting of intelligence to each and every higher soul. It lasts all day, and is accompanied by food granted by the local secular authorities.

OTHER FEAST DAYS [30%/2PP] The various listed feasts of the Confession are also chances to gain piety, but only if the penitent attends the religious portions of the feast.

TEMPLE SERVICE [90%/3PP] If the temple specifically requests the services of a penitent to do something (whatever it may be: the establishment of a safe place for the bones of a saint, or the defeat of someone in a lawsuit standing against the temple), this will trigger a temple service roll.

DONATION [90%/variable] Donations are made by lords and laity alike for the care of souls. Donations of less than 20d are usually rewarded with 1 piety. Any donation above 20d should be calculated individually based on the hardship it presents to the giver and what exactly is being given. Land is generally worth quite a bit of piety, as are repairs to the temple fabric or material to build with.

QUEST [95%/variable]

PILGRIMAGE [95%/variable] Feasible targets include Kingsbrook Temple, Clerkenwall Spyra, Bagahn, and other such holy sites. The distance of the pilgrimage will affect the number of piety points gained.

DIVINE INTERVENTION

Base chance: -50%

Conditions: 0%

Retribution: 99%

Piety may only increase the chance of intervention to a maximum of 25%.

OTHER USES OF KYRIAN PIETY

50 piety may be spent to gain a +10% bonus on a single combat skill when facing a pagan, heathen, or heretic.

100 points of piety may be spent to gain a +5% bonus on all rolls during a single combat against any pagan, heathen, or heretic foes.

50 piety may be spent to gain a +5% bonus on any one roll.

For each 50 piety spent during a mental conflict with a daimon, the penitent may gain a +10% bonus on their check. These points must be spent BEFORE the roll is made.

Ritual SB

Voi Int Aur

Skills: Drawing 2, Mathematics 3, Law 3, Heraldry 3, Second Language 2, Second Script/70+SB, Astrology 1

Teachings of the Confession

Where did the world come from?

In the beginning, there was only the Light. This was the Divine Principal, which suffused all places and things. The Divinity was thought, and thought itself. From the form of this Principal there inevitably sprang a second: the Darkness or Shadow, which is the Principal of Being and Becoming. Thus, was the world created by the natural emanations of the Divinity. The One was made into the Many, and contaminated by Action rather than Thought.

The Void was given Mass, which obeyed the Form of the Divinity. Some of the Forms took on Being from the Darkness, and they became the Daimoni, the false gods of the now-created world.

The Three Worlds

The Confession recognizes three worlds, based on the Manachite vision of the universe. There is the World of Sorrows, which is our world of gross matter. There is the World of Forms, which is where the Daimoni dwell and the world from whence sorcerers draw their power. There is, lastly, the World to Come, which is undivided union with the Divinity.

When a body perishes, its soul (its form), returns to the World of Forms. It may thence be devoured by a daimon, making them stronger. Perhaps strong enough to challenge the Divinity itself! But if they are Faithful, their pure thought will carry them on winged steps through the daimoni and to the World to Come.

The Daimoni

Daimoni exist throughout the World. They are evil spirits that seek to mislead, trick, and tie mankind to the World of Sorrows. They convince us to reproduce, to fight, and to be bound to earthly pleasure. Some of them are powerful enough to masquerade as gods.

Sorcerous Damnation

Sorcerers are guilty of a deep and abiding sin. They tie themselves to the World of Sorrows by manipulating the World of Forms for their own ends. They are, in a very real sense, usurping the position of the Divine. Their brilliant souls draw daimoni to them like moths to a flame. When they die, their souls are consumed by the daimoni… or they become new daimoni themselves, if they have done great evil.

Sorcerers may be moral people, but their sin is unforgiveable in the eyes of the Divine.

Canon Law

Disputes of Canon Law are decided by great Conclaves of the western Metropolitans and Archprelates in meeting with the Divine Hieros. There are consistory courts throughout the Temple controlled lands, where violations of canon law are treated. New decretals must come from the Hieros or the Conclave in full regalia.

What of the other Faiths?

The Manachem are our ancestors, and their faith is akin to ours. They are mistaken about a great many things, but their thinkers are wise and their people are well accepted amongst us.

The Rûmiloi are a dangerous and awful heresy born from their Manachite brothers. If they weren’t so powerful, we would exterminate them.

The Skraeling Gods and the native gods of Wyranth are daimoni. Their worship must be discouraged, undermined, and exterminated so the Confession can rule the West and prevent more from becoming food to the false gods.

The Father of Fire is a strange faith that should be suppressed.

CIRCLES OF COMMAND

I  -- Laity

II – canon cleric

III – prelate

IV – master prelate

V – archprelate, lord prelate

VI – metropolitan, Eastern archprelate

VII – Hieros

CENTRAL AUTHORITY

The Hieros, the Divine Light

The Church Elders

The Conclave (Eastern Metropolitans and Archprelates)

REGIONAL AUTHORITY

High Prelate (primate)

Archprelate (Bishop)

TEMPLE HIERARCHY

The Chief Prelate or Master Prelate

The Provost

The Prelates

The Canon Clergy or Teachers

ATTIRE
Teachers wear black robes. All prelates wear white robes trimmed with gold. Monks and nuns wear roughspun. Archprelates wear whatever they desire.

Orthodoxy and Orthopraxis

HERESY. A common word on the internet these days, mostly because its fun to say, and partially because its used commonly in the Warhammer 40k universe. But what exactly are heretics? Do they necessarily even exist in fantasy worlds? How can we better understand the way heretical movements functioned, what made them heretical, and why there were no heretics in diffuse religions? Well, we can examine the topics of orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

Orthodoxy — Right Belief.
This is a central tenant of the Catholic Church which was pushed to the fore by the co-opting of the previously underground church infrastructure by the Roman Empire. Orthodoxy reflects a necessity that everyone believes the same thing. Heresy (from the Greek root "to choose") cannot exist without a strong strain of ortho doxos, straight (or right, or true) belief. Thus, the presence of an orthodoxy inevitably hereticizes all other forms of belief. While this need not be universal and all-encompassing (There is only the One True God vs. When you worship this god, you must do it with this belief) but it tends to be.

Thus, one of the key elements to forming heresies is orthodoxic requirement in the faith. But orthodoxy requires other things to prop it up and promulgate it. They are (I) Centralized Authority, (II) Systems of Dissemination, and (III) An Orthodox Canon.

(I) Centralized Authority. In order to determine what qualifies as part of the orthodox canon and to administer the faith, some form of central authority is required. If a faith has no governing body, it cannot enforce orthodoxy. This can be a non-permanent assembly of all temple-leaders (such as a synod, convened to discusses matters of canon law and determine what does and does not fall under the rubric of the orthodoxy), a permanent position (such as the one held by the Roman Emperor, who could convene and threaten synods), or a permanent council (such as the rabbinical and Levitical councils which dominated Jewish faith). In any case, the central authority must pick and choose what belongs in the faith and what constitutes "right thought." If a faith is massively decentralized and has no overarching authority, it will be subject to many more permutations and local changes.

(II) Systems of Dissemination. Cathedral Schools, Rabbinical Schools, training centers, and public masses serve as systems of dissemination to the masses and the priesthood. Most pagan ceremonies of the ancient world took place in private, hidden from the regular laity, and training of priests was a secretive task that was performed in the sanctum sanctorum. But for a strict orthodoxy of correct beliefs to thrive, these training methods must be made open to scrutiny so they can be corrected. These channels are also required to transmit the central authorities version of the faith so they can be reproduced in the lower orders.

(III) A Canon. This isn't as strict a requirement as the others (though it is possible any or all of the three could be circumvented by processes I'm not thinking of at the moment) but it serves to cement orthodox practice. The canon doesn't just include holy writings or teachings, but also usually many crusted-on exegetical practices and treatises which help explain the original holy work. The Catholic example of this is the writing of the Church Fathers like Origen, Augustine, and Jerome, which explicates biblical writing and cemented it as a single strain of orthodoxy in the Late Antique Church, which chose certain interpretations over others.

Orthopraxy — Right Action.
Polytheistic Classical Antique religions are much more likely to be interested not in what their worshippers believe (because who cares?) but rather what they do. If you burn an offering to a god because you want something, you are participating in an exchange. The god may literally "eat" the incense and smoke of the offering as a form of sustenance (perhaps why more prayers make gods stronger) or it may be symbolic. However, the control of belief is much less important than the control of actions. Temples want sacrifices, they want loyal worshippers who will make the right choices, and they rarely care if someone believes something outside their faith. You think Mars can fix your house? Fine, we don't think so and we won't make the sacrifice to him on your behalf, but that's your business.

Thus, it is clear that without the trappings of Orthodoxy, heresy cannot exist. Extremely variant views may be relatable to heresy within even an orthopratical view (for example, eating the dead in honor of Mars would be disgusting, unthinkable, and awful and a practice to stamp out) but even then, it's not so much the errant belief that is responsible as it is the errant action.

So look carefully over your setting and ask yourself again: can heretics exist?

Complicating the 7th Sea: Objectionist Sects

There is only one movement of Objectionism in the 7th Sea main rulebook or in the Eisen book (where one would logically expect to find the religion expanded). Since we're complicating Théah, let's go ahead and add back in a bunch of sects, make it a little spicier.

Amboisnots—the Reformed Church of Montaigne, Amboisnots are a Magisterial Objection sect found in Montaigne. Since the first reforms of Lieberism, the Montaignians have been struggling to find a way to cope with Amboisnots; the Edict of Chartrouse in 1610 declared Objectionism legal in Montaigne and recognized members of the Amboisnot Church as citizens of the kingdom. This was in the wake of the Tumult of Hugo, a plot conducted by Hugo du Toraine in an attempt to wrest control of the Montaigne government from the Church of the Prophets by kidnapping the young king.

Lieberism—the "main" branch of the Objection movement, Lieberism follows the teachings of Matthias Lieber and grew from his objections to the Vaticine order. Whenever "normal" Objectionists are mentioned in a 7th Sea product (as opposed to Church of Avalon folk) they are Liebers.

Hyperianism—An extreme (l'objectionist extreme) sect, Hyperianism grew from the split between Andreas Hyperius and Matthais Lieber over the divinity of the Prophets and their physical presence in the world. Hyperianism emphasizes both the Theology of the Will (voluntary union of Theus and Man) as well as the State of Predestination (all those who will be saved are predetermined to be saved). Hyperianism is primarily to be found in Northern Eisen and parts of Vendel.

Rededicants—A primarily peasant sect, very popular amongst the Eisen peasantry and parts of northern Vodacce, Rededicants believe that they must be figuratively reborn into a community of the faithful. Persecuted by both the Vaticine as well as the Magisterial Objectionists (such as Liebers), the rededicant theology focuses on mystic revelation and the ability of the individual to tap into the power of Theus and receive insight. Communities without traditional marriage or other social ties feature prominently in Rededicant faith—as does the denial of the material world as evil. This has prompted the Vaticines to label the Rededicants "Manikees," a sect that was suppressed in southern Montaigne and northern Vodacce during the Middle Ages.

The Priestly Experience

I've had some problems with clerics, religion, and priesthoods in D&D, and a variation of this problem has irritated me since I started playing the game. The question, and I've yet to see this really answered in an official product, is why don't clerics and their use of healing magic affect the world in a greater way? I've come to answer this in a number of ways myself; there are a series of small answers that add up to, what I think, is a real solution.

Stating the question broadly: In a world where healing magic is available, why isn't the social structure different from what we know of the middle ages? The implicit assumption is that the widespread use of healing would extend the lifespan of everyone in the setting, not just the adventurers. Why should a king ever be assassinated if the local high priest can resurrect him? These questions of social stability plague my mind, since the very way in which human beings interact with one another or conceive of social position would inevitably change.

My answers are multifarious, as I've stated above. The confluence of the following setting-assumptions keeps healing magic from overwhelming the established social order:

• Not all priests have the ability to commune with their gods. (This may stand to revision now that I've read the 1e rules in the DMG describing the low level clerical spells, namely 1-2, being empowered by the rituals learned by priests... though, the more I think about it the more I think I will simply say that those rituals are only learned by those novices who show aptitude and desire to take on the additional sacred duties) This means that of the many priests in a locale, only some will have a class.
• The gods are jealous and strict with magic, reserving its use for those who pledge themselves to one cult exclusively, which is a small segment of the population.
• The law of the pantheon, as enforced by its beneficent autarch, prevents gods from becoming flagrantly involved in the lives of mortals except through the official and approved channels of the clergy.
• Powerful magic is difficult to access, and takes a real toll on the priest and the god. Thus, it is not waved around and applied everywhere it could be.
• Resurrection is against the code of the Gods, and must be cleared with Akem the Gatekeeper, who is notoriously cranky and rarely lets anyone return to the Middle World. As the Papyrus of Anki states: "The Gates of Death are closed."

So, these facts restrict the massive use of healing magic that would break down a lot of normal assumptions about life, living, and society. Kings who are assassinated cannot be returned to life because their souls are jealously guarded by Akem, who sends them on to their proper rewards but almost never returns them to the world above.

Between the dictates of Haeron, the chief god of the mannish pantheon, there is to be no bestowing of spontaneous miracles and priests are to be rewarded for their devotion. This is one reason why dedicated priests cannot access high level magic as soon as it would benefit their patron; the other is that their minds are physically unready for that level of power, and were a god to dump it onto them it may very well annihilate them in an orgasm of glorious light and energy.

But what about the High Priests of the faiths? Can they attain this station even if they're of low level? It would suggest a failure to align oneself properly with the Godhead as well as the inability to channel the most potent forces of the god. However, the appointment to high offices of faith is generally a political matter at least as much as it is a religious one. Could a reformer with little practical experience in enacting miracles hold that office?

It seems to me that there must be a way for non-classed priests to gain experience through service to the temple. However, it also seems that yes, non-casting priests should be able to hold high office, though it may not be the solution that deity would desire. After all, isn't it worth having a prime servant who can manage and save your temple, even if he can't manifest potent miracles? This relies, of course, on the assumption that the priest must be mentally and physically capable of achieving the higher ranks of magic before they are unlocked to him. If this precept were false, any god could grant any spell to any one at any time (but doesn't because of various reason). This would mean that the leader of any faith would be a de-facto level 15 mythos priest in addition to any other class he might have.

I reject this as a matter of both worldbuilding as well as class sense. I don't want a level 12 fighter who is also an ordained priest to be elected to be High Lawkeeper and suddenly rocket up to the powers of a level 15 Peaceward. Which means, then, that I don't want any god to grant any spells to anyone, so I'll keep the dictate stating that priests must grow into the use of powerful divine magic or it will eat them alive from the inside.

Still, doesn't it make a kind of sense that classed priests can gain experience by going about mundane jobs in the temple? The other option (that classed priests can only gain xp by killing people and/or fulfilling their dogma with magic) would limit high level priests to adventuring to get to their rank. I can't imagine that ever level 3 or level 6 priest had to go out and kill monsters (or fight in a war, or something of that nature) to gain access to his magic. Therefore, it must be true that they can garner xp in some way other than by exercising their powers on the road.

Even as I typed that I think I may have found an equitable solution that doesn't bend any rules and doesn't add any ones. Priests receive 200xp (by the 2e DMG guidelines) for casting spells that "further their dogma." One would assume that casting these spells for the service of their temple would count as doing this in the pursuit of the god's dogma—thus, any time a priest were to cast a spell for his temple, he would receive 200xp. After all, shouldn't the ability to cast higher level priestly spells be predicated on the use and exercise of the very "muscles" (in this case the flexing of the things which allow the priest to contact the divinity at all)?

Of course, I might supplement this with experience for NPCs from meditation and deep study of the holy mysteries. After all, it takes gads of experience for a mythos priest to reach level 15—for the sake of the argument and because I'm at work, let's say 45,000xp which would necessitate a lifetime casting of 225 spells all of which directly furthered the work of the god. Granted that a sedentary priest might cast, say, 1 spell a month and perhaps half of those would actually count, that leaves an average of 37.5 years before they reached level 15...

Actually, that's not all that bad. Jigger the numbers a little, and there might be something to that.

The Ale-connors of Heimir

Heimir was originally an Eylic god, mostly worshiped in Old Middlemark and the Anarean basin with some tendrils of culture extending through the Skinchanger Kingdoms that would eventually become a powerfully devoted cult. Interaction with the Thegnari and Eyls spread his worship to the Empire during its Second period and Heimir (Heimirus in Varan) is now amongst the gods that the imperials consider to be their own, having long integrated him into their pantheon and forgotten the ancient days before his introduction.

The monks of Heimir are inevitably male; unlike the other gods, Heimir accepts no women into his sacred orders. Indeed, Heimiran monks only worship in one of two forms: wandering, or cloistered. There are no regular priests or clerics of the God of Beer that do not follow one of those two rules. He has no temples outside the monasteries, and his monks are forbidden from all manner of activities, not least of which is marriage and having children.

Monks of Heimir concentrate their daily labors on two things. The first is, of course, providing hospitality to strangers. No Heimiran monastery, inn, ale-house, or other establishment will turn away someone who needs a roof over their head. The second, and more time consuming, is following the ancient brewing recipes of their houses and making the beers which are sacred and pleasing to the Laughing God.

The Symbology of Scepters

Royal Scepter

When you hear the word scepter what do you think of? Personally, I instantly imagine a rod of about two feet in length, something belonging to the 17th century or later. Something like the the thing pictured to the right. I have always been fascinated by Greek myth, and the kings of the Greeks were said to carry rods to display their station. I found this, when I was young, to be a very evocative image. Agamemnon with his rod of kings was an image that was long part of my consciousness.

In my mind, Agamemnon's rod of kingship looked something like a Roman baton of captaincy. That was a model I could use, mentally, to imagine a Greek king's symbol of office.

Then King Agamemnon rose, holding his sceptre. This was the work of Vulcan, who gave it to Jove the son of Saturn. Jove gave it to Mercury, slayer of Argus, guide and guardian. King Mercury gave it to Pelops, the mighty charioteer, and Pelops to Atreus, shepherd of his people. Atreus, when he died, left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes in his turn left it to be borne by Agamemnon, that he might be lord of all Argos and of the isles. (Iliad, Book II)