Philiate of Lurain
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Philiate of Lurain
The Church of Lurain is organized, powerful, directed, and dedicated. The church is the living temporal arm of the Love of the Mother, and every priest of Lurain seeks to advance the maximum good for the maximum number. One of the universal strictures is that every priest of Lurain must use the power granted by the Goddess to aid anyone they meet that is in need, every day. The Philiates of Lurain gather in great stone houses called Temples. These structures are often very large indeed, but are usually low and rambling, with many gardens, balconies, skylights, and breezeways. The aim is to allow as many people as possible the use of the space, and no one will ever be turned away from a temple of Lurain unless they abuse the good nature of the place.
Temples are beautiful places, and the older temples are literally hand finished over every inch of the place, as the dedicated faithful give their time and effort to the Church.
Many Philiates actually spend a great deal of their time out of the temples, moving through the streets and slums, preaching and aiding to all they meet. In Celegia it is absolutely unthinkable to raise a hand against a priest of Lurain, and even hardened criminals know better than to try it. The Philiates would not stop you, but if the Watch or the Templars found out, it's all over. If the neighborhood finds out, well, the culprit probably won't live to reach a Justiciary. The taboo against harming a Philiate is very strong indeed.
There are several sects in the church, but their differences mainly stem from differing views of the best way to bring peace and comfort to the flock.
By far the largest sect is the Kindly, which is the sect that dictates most of the daily activities of most Temples. They give away the beneficent magics of the Goddess to any who need it. The second largest sect is The Healers, and they are even more active outside the Temples than the Kindly. They actively travel in their flock, seeking out those who are ill, down hearted, and injured. The Healers are always seeking disease and hunger to destroy, as well as being vigilant for the social illnesses of abuse, despair, neglect, and perversion. As a result, the Healers are actively opposed to the works of both Puellor and Quellada, and the Healers are perhaps the most likely sect of the Philiates to be involved in fighting, an irony many find delicious.
The Teachers are the sect which concerns itself with the care and tending of children, both those who are young and old, as well as those who remain children their entire lives. Many of them actually reside in Factoriums, bringing the world's knowledge to the newly returned, so that they will be good, honest, loving, and caring people. The Defenders are the smallest of the main sects, and have diminished greatly since Lurain drew the attentions of Domana, with Templars fulfilling many of their old duties. The sect continues, however, and stubbornly persist despite the often horrified pleas of their gentler cousins. The Defenders are the ancient sect charged with avenging wrongs done to the flock, protecting the hearth and temple, and ridding the world of the aggressive evil that infests it. Many Defenders and Healers travel with adventurers.
There are several small, radical heresies of Lurains Church, including the Hearth Stones, the Red Doves, the White Lords, and the Calloused Ones. Even the Defenders cannot condone the philosophies of these mad splinters, but the Goddess can and does lend her gentle grace to them, as long as they maintain their incredibly strict vows. Most of these splinter cults are extremely aggressive evil hunters, relentless in their tender scourging. These splinter cults hail from Lurain's less pastoral younger days, and are reflections of Her desire to protect Her flock from harm by destroying evil before it strikes.
The Philiates of Lurain normally wear robes or trousers and shirts as their vestments, often with aprons tied on over them. The colors of the Loving Mother are white, silver, and Pale, a light shade of green.
The symbols of Lurain are varied as well, with the most common being the White Hearth, showing a stylized hearth (little more than a heavy horizontal line) with a white flame burning in it. Few Celegians realize that the symbol is of fire, and most think it to represent the Mothers tears, which is another symbol of Lurain. Another common symbol for the Mother is the Swaddled Child, showing a baby in a Mothers arms.
Lurain is the God whom everyone is most likely to pay homage to, not because they seek to appease Her, but because they seek to please Her. Most casual worship occurs on Godday and Peceday, with the truly faithful visiting the Temple several times a week. The Church carries out formal worship ceremonies on Godday, Peceday, and Feyday.
Most Temples are never closed and will offer succor to any who request it, although lawbreakers and the evil will most certainly be turned over to the Justiciaries, Watch, or Templars.
The leader of the Church is The High Philiate, the Honored Franklin Alane.
Duties: Lurains priests are required to give aid to anyone (or anything) who is in need, at any time or place. When at temple, all priests create food and water everyday and give it away to all who wish it. They also act as healers for their flock and rush to accidents with bandages and healing spells. They attend the sick, curing disease, and purifying water supplies. As well, they are often asked to settle disputes by detecting truth or by locating objects.
Lurain's Colors: The raiment of Lurain is most commonly White, Silver, and Pale (a light green)
Hit Dice: d6
Requirements
Alignment: True Lawful, Lawful Good, or Pure Good. Skills: 1 rank Knowledge: Lurain Spells: Able to cast 1st level Cleric spells. Special: Must have Lurain as patron deity.
Class Skills
The Philiate's class skills (and key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana/history/religion/the celestial cascade) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int)
Skill Points: 2 per level + Int Modifier
Advancement Table
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Spells per Day
1 +0 +2 +0 +2 Reaction modifier +1 level of existing Cleric class
2 +1 +3 +0 +3 Immune to Negative Levels +1 level of existing Cleric class
3 +1 +3 +1 +3 Soothing Word 1/day +1 level of existing Cleric class
4 +2 +4 +1 +4 Immune to Poison +1 level of existing Cleric class
5 +2 +4 +1 +4 Love of the Mother +1 level of existing Cleric class
6 +3 +5 +2 +5 Soothing Word 2/day +1 level of existing Cleric class
7 +3 +5 +2 +5 Hearthplace +1 level of existing Cleric class
8 +4 +6 +2 +6 Immune to Ability Damage +1 level of existing Cleric class
9 +4 +6 +3 +6 Soothing Word 3/day +1 level of existing Cleric class
10 +5 +7 +3 +7 Immune to Evocation effects +1 level of existing Cleric class
Class Features Weapons and Armor: Philiates to Lurain rarely wear armor, and gain no armor or weapon proficiencies.
Domains: Community, Good, Healing, Law, Protection, Strength
Spells per Day/Spells Known: When a new Philiate level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in Cleric. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of Philiate to the level of Cleric the character has, then determines spells per day and spells known accordingly.
Reaction Modifier: When making interaction checks with people in a position to know who and what the Goddess Lurain is about, in all cases where interactions are made using Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, etc, the Philiate modifies the result by one level in his favor if the other party is evil aligned, or two levels in his favor if the other party is non-evil. This may not change the party's actions, but at a minimum, Philiates get treated with more respect than almost anyone.
Immune to Negative Levels: If a Philiate may be afflicted with a Negative Level from any source, ignore the result. The Philiate does not receive the negative level, and the creature inflicting it does not receive any bonus or penalty for the attempt. There is no roll or other mechanism required: The immunity is total and automatic.
Soothing Word: This power is exactly like the divine spell Calm Emotions, except that it has no range, and the saving throw has an additional modifier of the Philiates Class Level.
Immune to Poison: A Philiate is now completely immune to all effects of all types of poison.
Love of the Mother: All creatures affected by any healing effect (including but limited to skill checks, feats, powers, and spells) made by the Philiate now adds one bonus point of healing per two class levels of the Philiate per effect. Note that this is per creature, so Mass heals may be enormously improved.
Hearthplace: Once per day, the Philiate may declare a place to be his Hearthplace. This is usually a campsite, a small dwelling, a single room, or similar place, with a maximum area of a twenty foot radius from a point of the Philiate's choosing. The Philiate and any he declares to be welcome receive the benefits of a triple-strength Bless as long as they remain within the Hearthplace. Any who enter the Hearthplace without being bid welcome by the Philiate suffer as if a triple strength Bane were upon them. All rest effects made while in a Hearthplace are calculated as if the most favorable possible conditions prevailed in the area. Hearthplace lasts for 1 hour per class level of the Philiate using it, and is typically used to fortify their home, sleeping chambers, or campsite. If a Philiate uses Hearthplace in the same spot three times in a row, then on the fourth use, and all subsequent uses, the duration becomes a full day. Thus, a Philiate can declare a place a Hearthplace, and after three days, the effect becomes essentially constant, as long as it is renewed each day. Note that a Hearthplace effect does stack with both bless and bane.
Immune to Ability Damage: The Philiate is now immune to any ability damage of any sort, from any source.
Immune to Evocations: The Philiate is now immune to the effects of any spell, power, or spell-like ability that emulates a spell, from the School of Evocation.