Church of Thyatia

The beliefs of the Thyatian church include:

  1. That the acts of assault, abuse, murder, theft, lying, and adultery; that these sins stain the spirit of the doer; and that these sins require acts or ceremonies of purification (of severity appropriate to the act) to cleanse from the spirit.
  2. That an unwillingness on the part of the sinner to purify himself of a sin is itself a sin, punishable by seperation from the Church, the eventually result of which is the sinner's spirit becoming too stained to ever be redeemed.
  3. That the individual's role in the afterlife will be determined by the amount of stain their spirit bears at the time of their death.
  4. That it is the responsibility of members of the Church to bring the benefits of Church philosophy to the unbeliever, and to remain present even in hostile lands, so that the benefits of the Church be denied to no one who desires them.
  5. That magic ritual with no confirmed basis in formal magic or clerical ritual consitutes ignorant superstition, and therefore the use of lucky charms, tea-readings, palm-readings, card-readings and so forth are a waste of time.

Structure

The Church of Thyatian is an active political body, although outside of Thyatia itself its priests do not have the same standing as they do within the Empire's bounds. The Church is heirarchically organised, with larger temples having administrative control of surrounding lesser temples. The main Church is in Thyatia City itself, and the devout sometimes make pilgrimages there or to other holy sites.

Because the Thyatian's tend to incorporate the local gods into their pantheon as they spread across the land, the actual mix of honoured gods in any temple can vary dramatically. There are also a number of specific temples to particular gods as well as cults, brotherhoods and military orders dedicated to one or another of the Thyatian dieties.

The devout are expected to tithe 10% or more of their earnings to the Church.

Thyatian Gods and Godesses

The list of Thyatian gods is almost endless, but the following are some of those given homage in Darokin.

Asterius, God of Merchants, Travellers and Prosperity
Asterius is a popular god amongst the devout in Darokin, extending his protective hand to all who work quietly and industriously to better their and other's lot.
Symbol: A wheel.
Special:
Ban: Followers of Asterius must never work towards destablising an area.

Diulanna, Godess of Will and Heros
Diulanna is the patron of determination and drive. She favours those willing to take on impossible odds because they believe in what they are doing. Worship of Diulanna is often linked with Djaea and Terra - maiden, mother and crone.
Symbol: A spear thrust clear through a boulder
Special: All willpower rolls are 1 difficulty less for clerics of Diulanna.
Ban

Djaea, Godess of Knowledge and Compassion.
Djaea is infuriated by misunderstanding, mis-information and ignorance. She commands her clerics to learn all that they can about any subject. Djaea's mate is Khoronus.
Symbol: A large white stone with a serpent curled around it
Special: Djaea's clerics develop a semi-eiditic memory and can commit any information permanently to memory with a simple Intelligence roll (diff 4).
Ban: Djaea's clerics and followers must never destroy knowledge.

Solarios, God of the Sun, The Sun-Prince, LightBringer, Lawbringer
Solarios is embodiment of the Sun in all its glory, and has been followed by mortals since the most ancient times. He dictates a simple ethical code to his followers: seek peace, but be harsh in war; deny aid to the forces of the Dark; and give Solarios his due.
Symbol: A flaming wheel.
Special: Solarios' clerics can cast Produce Fire twice per day at no cost to their Faith points.
Ban: Followers of Solarios must never aid darkness.

Khoronus, Father of Time, Guide to Kings, Patron of Wisdom
Khoronus represents the collected wisdom of the ages - each Emperor of Thyatia has had a private chaplain who served Khoronus. His clerics are expected to make any decisions in a reasoned fashion, considering all angles - they act in collaberation with the clerics of Tarastia as judges in the church.
Symbol: An hourglass
Special: Clerics of Khoronus have an excellent sense of timing - they have an autosucess on any initiative roll.
Ban: Clerics of Khoronus should never rush into a situation without considering all options.

Korotiku, Korotiku the Spider, The Trickster
Korotiku's worship came to Thyatia from the Pearl Islands, a thousand years ago. He is a patron of cleverness and thieves, a mischevious being and a prankster. His goal is to shake up the complacent, make the pompous look silly, to shatter illusions, to reward the clever and self-sufficient. His clerics are commanded to annoy, but with a lesson behind it.
Symbol: A black spider silhouette
Special: Clerics of Korotiku gain the power of Blur of the Milky Eye
Ban: Clerics of Korotiku may not use their powers to destroy without reason.

Tarastia, Godess of Justice and Revenge
Tarastia often helps those who have been wronged. She is a patron of justive; she does not help those who want the revenge to be nastier than the original offense, and she does not help those who want revenge for inconsequential matters. Her clerics are often called upon as judges - and dispense their justice with an axe, like as not.
Symbol: Black headsmen's axe
Special: On a roll of Perception and Subterfuge, difficulty 5, clerics of Tarastia can tell whether they are being told the truth or not.
Ban: Tarastia's followers must always help those who seek revenge for injustices.

Mother Terra, The Earth Mother
Worship of Mother Terra is as old as sentient life in the world. She encourages her clerics to sanctify life, and to protect the weak. Her clerics are known for being a little hard-headed and literal, distrusting new ideas - and for being political imbeciles. Terra, Djaea and Diulanna are often worshipped as a triptych.
Symbol: A circle of stones with any sort of plant or creature (often a flower) growing for it.
Special: Terra's clerics can speak with one animal type per point of animal ken.
Ban: Terra's clerics must never kill except in their own defense, or in compassion.

Valerias, Godess of Love, Girder-On of Weapons
Valerias is passionate and quick tempered. She is fascinated with romance, especially passion-ridden, ill-considered affairs. She has also been known to bring weapons and armor to lovers facing death together. Valerias is mated to Solarios, always unfaithful, but ever-returning. She commands her clerics to live life at the pull and tug of their whims
Symbol: A rose with exceptionally sharp thorns
Special: Valerias has been known to gift her clerics with powers appropriate to the moment, as long as they are following her directions.
Ban: Her followers must live life at the control of their own whims - those who spend too much time planning out their lives or resisting temptation may find her attention turns elsewhere.

Vanya, Godess of War and Conquerers
Vanya blesses most those who live life in great leaps and bites, those who throw themselves into wars, quests, challenges and relationships. Her clerics are knight-warriors, battletrained and used as shock-troops in the wars.
Symbol: A vertical lance with two horizontal short swords, one above the other, crossed over the lance.
Special: Vanya gifts her clerics with the ability to inspire those fighting along with them to greater heights of combat than would be possible along - all others who fight alongside the cleric automatically receive one sucess on any roll made in the scene.
Ban: Vanya's clerics must always be battle-ready, and never turn down an honourable fight, unless it is obviously suicidal.

Tiresias, God of Music and Entertainment
A curious mix of musician, entertainer and prophet, Tiresias asks his clerics to use poetry and music to reveal hidden truths,and to be thoughtful rather than merry bards.
Symbol: Any local musical instrument, often a lute
Special: It is said that clerics of Tiresias can enchant an audience with their talent.
Ban: Followers of Tiresias must do all they can to encourage free expression.

Tyche, Godess of Luck
Patroness of all forms of luck, good and bad, Tyche is rarely directly worshipped by clerics, but instead has a large following up lay clergy amonst those whose lives are at risk daily.
Symbol: A green silhouette of a pair of eyes.
Special: Tyche gives unto her clerics the ability to put up with the whims of luck.
Ban: Followers of Tyche must trust to their luck.

Wayland, The Smith, Master Artificer
Wayland is an artisan, and a master smith. His clerics all posess some ability to craft items, often in steel or other metals. Wayland is also a passable warrior, but does not entreat his followers to run out and attack passersby.
Symbol: You need to ask? A great big hammer.
Special: A variety of craft-oriented abilities.
Ban: Wayland's clerics must never be a party to wanton destruction of any sort.