The priests of Ellenida have the ability to call upon their god to help them. The exact form of that aid depends on the situation and on the god- one should never rely of getting what one prays for.

The difficulty of invoking the god depends on the following factors: the location, number of worshippers involved, the caster’s standing with the god and the effect requested. The range and duration of the effect is decided by the god, not the priest. Invocation time is fairly constant at two minutes.

Your spell points are determined by your spirit stat squared. In play your spirit stat is used to determine the success of your invocation.

1. High Holy Place
2. Holy Place
3. In Tribal lands
4. Outside Tribal lands
5. In Hostile God’s lands

1. Large City (5000)
2. Small City (2000)
3. Town (500)
4. Village (200)
5. Mob (100)
6. Crowd (25)
7. Large Group (10)
8. Small Group (5)
9. Couple (2)
10. Individual (1)

You will note that the invocation actually becomes EASIER as the number of worshippers involved increases. This is because the god is much more likely to manifest to save a city than to save a single worshipper!

1. High Priest in good standing
2. Initiated Priest or fanatic
3. Lay Preacher
4. Priest of allied gods
5. Lay Member, outcast priest and priests of foreign gods

The effect points cost varies enormously. In general, you’d be insulting the god to try calling on him with less than 5 points of effect.

The gods of the Southern cities supply their priests with some magic powers to use on their own behalf. As a result, they are very hard to call upon- minimum of ten effect points. These powers are like the sorcery spheres of Benediction and Malediction, using casting point costs as per sorcery but being cast with religious spell points. See the sorcery handout for more details.

Gods do not enjoy being called upon for frivolous reasons and also dislike having to save worshippers too often. To represent this, the god will become angry if ever a dragon comes up when calling on the god, either played from the hand OR DRAWN FROM THE DECK FOR TRUMPS, ETC.

The god’s anger will usually affect only the caster, so if the invocation succeeds the god will probably save the rest of his worshippers but punish the caster somehow.

Unlike sorcery spell points which come back at the normal rate of 1 per hour or after a full night’s rest, religious spell points are only regained by religious observance:

+1 Rich sacrificial offering

+5 Unique sacrificial offering

+1 Per week of devotion and

prayers (lay preachers)

+1 For converting someone to

the religion

+1 For erecting a small statue or

shrine to the god

+3 For erecting a medium statue

or shrine

+10 For erecting a large statue

+10 For establishing a new temple

As you can see, you are going to have to be a very devoted worshipper to get your spell points back!

Most cults recognise two sorts of priest: the lay preacher and the initiated priest. A lay preacher is a member of the religion who is well versed in the doctrines of the faith and who can perform the normal rites of worship to the god, but has not devoted himself to the god. Almost anyone can become a lay preacher of his own god, and in some religions the priests of one god may act as lay preachers for allied gods. The lay preacher is invested at an informal ceremony conducted by any initiated priest. In general, the temple has little hold over the lay preachers, although many require an oath to defend the faith and to serve the temple in times of crisis.

Initiated priests on the other hand have devoted their lives to the god and are expected to serve within the temple hierarchy. They must spend most of their time performing their religious duties and their freedom to wander is severely curtailed. In general a priest will only have about 20% of his time free to pursue his own interests. He must also serve in the temple army during a time of crisis, performing whatever duties the high priest sees fit to require.

The benefit of initiated priesthood is that the priest is in much closer contact with the god, resulting in a much higher rate of regaining spell points through prayer and devotion. Only the high priest of the religion can create a new initiated priest.

In general, any character with an A or B spirit code can choose to be a lay preacher of his or her own religion (but doesn’t have to be). Any character with a Spirit code of C or better can try to call upon their god.

To be an initiate priest requires the use of a special ability; the value of the card played determines how high the character is in the priestly hierarchy:

1. Heretic
2. Outcast or renegade
3. Hermit
4. Missionary
5. Village priest
6. Priest in a small temple
7. Senior priest
8. Leader of a small temple
9. Leader of a large temple
10. High Priest

The Kingdom of Galadiahos lies in the valley of the river Gala. It is bounded to the east and west by mountains that form a great rift valley. As the river reaches the coast it exits the rift valley and meanders across the wide Southern plains where the Sons of Kavalarees ride.

The Patron Deity of the city is Ohros the Pale, a pale and silent god whose domain is the silence of the tomb. The kingdom associates several lesser gods and goddesses with Ohros’ rule. The accepted wisdom is that the gods and goddesses are but aspects of Ohros himself, forms taken on by the god for particular tasks. The Ierestie Heresy claims that the gods and goddesses are separate entities who were once the patrons and champions of the eight nomad tribes who originally colonised Galadiahos, driving out the beasts and demons who held sway here before.

In any case, the four gods and goddesses make up the Eight Deaths. They are in much closer contact with their worshippers than the remote Ohros and are commonly called upon for blessings, rather like the Christian saints.

The Eight Deaths are:

Meleesa is the Death of the Scorpion. She is the patron of those who must fight to overcome superior odds and those who must hunt for food. She is also credited with control over poisons and is very popular in the arid reaches of the Rift valley. Her followers wear a red sash around their waists to mark their devotion.

Eptos is the Death of The Burning Sun, an implacable warrior with infinite patience. He is the patron of fertility and crops and watches over travellers. His followers revere the sheaf of corn as his particular emblem.

Keros is the Death of Age. He bears the book of hours in which each man’s deeds are recorded so that he can be judged when he comes before Ohros’ judgement ready for his next life. He is the patron of scholars and architects and his symbol is the groma, a surveying tool.

Estasia is the Death of Joy. She appears as an impossibly beautiful woman dressed in the mot diaphanous of garments. She is the goddess of lust and passion, of overindulgence and of orgy. Her cult is small and is not officially recognised as being suitable for worship although the legends all make her divine status clear. The clergy think that her cult is disruptive, and there is nothing that a Southern priest hates more than disruptive. Her priests all have a tattoo of a two interlocked spirals somewhere on their body.

Kagouros is the Death of Foul Decay. He is the master of diseases and is thus often invoked to avoid plagues and to cure the sick. His priests are not permitted to expose their faces to the sun so always appear masked in the day and appear very pale at night.

Olomon is the Death of Drowning. He is the lord of the seas and of the boats that sail upon the river. The river itself is considered to be a goddess in her own right. It is said that Gala is Olomon’s mother and her cult has become subsumed into Olomon’s cult. Followers of Gala or Olomon revere the water and ritually bathe at least once per day. Gala was once revered as the goddess who brought life and raised the crops but Rekisia is said to have tricked Gala and stolen this power from her. Thus Gala and Olomon are always at odds with Rekisia and the alliance of the waters and the soil to bring fruitful crops is a perilous one.

Tomeea is the Death of the Swords, a ten-armed red-skinned Kemes woman with a crown of white orchids. Her followers bear her emblem upon their swords and shields for she is the patron of warriors and brings good luck in battles. Her sword is proverbially two-edged and no gift from Tomeea is without a price.

Rekisia is the Death of Starvation. She watches over the fields and is the goddess of farmers and agriculture. Her symbols are the sickle and a crown of barley. She is very popular in the rural areas but not widely worshipped in towns.

Ohros’ siblings are the Serpent god Sfayee, Ohia the Viper and the renegade god Spatlos the Extravagant. Sfayee and Ohia have small temples in Korona, Limanos and Diadhos but their worshippers are regarded as suspicious foreigners. This suspicion leads to wild accusations of witchcraft, sorcery and vile deeds involving snakes and snake venom. Many Svika follow Ohia the Viper.

The northern flood plain of the Gala is home to many nomad tribes and the Children of Kavalarees are acknowledged as divine, if inferior and barbaric sorts of gods. They have temples in the largest cities and a priest of Horveekos can be found in any town where the tribes come to trade.

The Northern civilized gods and the Outlander gods are not worshipped in Galadiahos and anyone openly celebrating their sacraments will be considered a dangerous madman or a raving heretic.