Vorisius

Vorisius is the Spellwarden, patron deity of defensive magicks and those that wield them. In life Vorisius lead the nascent Altarae, in the aftermath of the Great Betrayal, to codify the foundations of their society as well as the duties of the Court of Winter. Chief amongst these policies was the idea that arcane magic was sacred — a great power only to be wielded by the wise. While Mystras' death wrought many horrors unto the world, Vorisius feared most the unchecked spread of the arcane arts into the world. Harried and distracted by the myriad demands upon him as Warden of Winter, Vorisius abdicated his position and devoted the rest of his mortal life to the resolution of this quandary. 
Vorisius appears to mortals garbed in robes of midnight blue, his face hooded and hidden, concealed all but for his pale elven ears and fractal faerie crown. His breath leaves a lingering trail of hoarfrost in his wake, and he is oft depicted with a cane or crutch that serves as his staff. Vorisius displays his favor via spontaneous gusts of wind infused with cold, inspiring mana of the Ardent Gale. His ire for those that trespass against him manifests as the opposite — a fell wind that saps both wits and wards from the sacrilegious. Vorisius is affiliated with ravens, crows, and ash trees. His holy symbol is an ashen staff with an octahedronal snowflake as its head. 
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==Blessings==
====Charm of the Arcane Arts====
While this blessing is active, you gain a piety bonus to Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft skill checks, and to Use Extraordinary Device skill checks made involving arcane items.
====Spellwarden's Scorn ====
While this blessing is active, you gain a piety bonus to concentration checks and to checks made to dispel magic.
====Winterwright's Raiment ====
While this blessing is active, you gain a piety bonus to Fortitude saves made against cold weather effects and to saving throws against effects with the [Cold] descriptor.
==Obedience and Boons==
Spend five minutes reflecting on the death of Mystras and its disastrous consequences for mortalkind. Spend the rest of the hour correcting or seeking to correct abuse of the arcane arts; or attempting to prevent abuse of the arcane arts. Increase your Spell Resistance by +1, or by your piety instead vs. arcane effects (gaining SR if you have none).
==Description==
====Dogma====
The Edicts of Vorisius are few but demanding. Vorisius is infamous among the pantheon of Mystran Loyalists for his swift abandonment of followers who cannot uphold his them. 
==== Abuse of the Arcane Arts ====
Vorisius' followers with arcane talents are tasked with the cultivation of ambition and wisdom, often through service to another. This way, a Vorisian mage may pursue the advancement of their craft while retaining their humility. A mage lacking in either — or worse, both — commits sacrilege upon the divine blood of the Allmother.
Those of Vorisius' followers without skill or experience in the arcane arts are forbidden from tampering in forces beyond their ken.
==== Opposition ====
Vorisius demands his followers oppose and correct abuse of the arcane arts if they are able, or to facilitate such attempts if they are not. Much of Vorisius and his followers' reputations as mage-slayers derives from unmerciful applications of this Edict.
==== Prevention ====
Through control of information, a canny Vorisian may encourage the growth of responsible practitioners of the arcane arts while discouraging the number and severity of arcanists who are unwise and unworthy. Education serves as Vorisius' method of cultivating the existing and future generations of inevitable arcanists, while censorship serves to keep "forbidden" knowledge and abusive magi away from one another.
====Adventurers====
Adventurers command a great respect among the faithful of Vorisius. These figures are expected to guide the wayward, be they willing or otherwise, towards the path of wisdom. Often a Vorisian adventurer will conceal magical gains deemed too risky for the public eye, or serve as the countermagus to an adventuring party or other organization to serve their theistic interests.
====Favored Classes====
Arcanist, Cleric, Druid, Inquisitor, Witch, Wizard
====Clothing====
Dark and pale blues are common colors for the faithful, as are grey and black. A traditional priest of Vorisius will wear a set of rich, dark robes with a hood that hangs over the face, or a loose vest worn over armor, accompanied by an openly-worn holy symbol.
====Holy Texts====
The Whitemist Compendium is a collection of essays written by Vorisius in the final days of his mortal life, in which he reflects on the precarious nature of arcane magic in the world after Mystras' death, and the responsibility of the modern arcanist to police their own. Its final chapter, the Guardian's Dilemma, was written after his apotheosis, which contains the foundations for Vorisius' dogma. 
====Relations with Other Religions====
Vorisius has great respect for Derassion specifically among the other members of the Loyalist pantheon. The Scion of Rivers' arcane practices are beyond reproach — a rare view indeed. Although the two differ mildly on their approaches and attitudes regarding the storage of magical writings, they have established a dry, friendly rapport over the Ages, and lent aid to one another many times.
In Amen-Arum, Vorisius sees a grief-stricken leader and kindred spirit. They have both seen the near extermination of their people, and this saving grace is the only barrier that holds Vorisius' condemnation for the Mourning Lord at bay. Were it not for the fact that Amen-Arum never chose to be either Warden or Scion, and that he actively seeks a successor for the former title, the Scion of the Sun would have in Vorisius an ancient enemy.
From Vorisius, Hadeus Imperator receives no such allowances. Vorisius cares little for the Holy Xilosian Imperium — for Hadeus and his ever-growing pantheon of ascended humans — but Chryses of Xilos holds the Heart of Winter and refuses to pass it on to a worthy successor. In this and other ways, he has betrayed the ancient traditions of his Altarae ancestors... traditions which Vorisius helped to found. He despises Chryses for this treachery, and watches the false Warden of Winter closely, waiting patiently for the opportunity to seize the Heart of Winter and safeguard it until a new Warden can be found.
====Realm====
Vorisius' domain is in the heart of the the Ardent Gale. Travelers who navigate the Trave to this plane, and survive the trek through scourging winds of unstable mana and the ever-present threat of death by supernatural cold, are greeted by the sight of Winter's Glade. The Glade is a quiet realm, protected from the dangers of the plane by Vorisius' will. Its peaceful valleys and flowing rivers are populated by wild fey loyal to Vorisius, and are visited by the occasional pilgrim.
====Vassals====
Vorisius is served by the Vorikae — a broad term for the hosts of Vassal fey that serve Vorisius, commonly affiliated strongly with elements of his portfolio. The most pious of his worshipers are reincarnated as potent and unique fey creatures, to become closer to the nature of magic, and to better serve Vorisius in the afterlife.
=====Elioud & Nephilim=====
Elioud and Nephilim of Vorisius alike inherit his stark features, with sharply pointed ears and uncharacteristically cold skin. While both develop strong and intensely personal moral codes as they mature, Vorisian Elioud are more like to uplift and inspire while Vorisian Nephilim far more often prefer to deal in death and judgment..
Category:Deities of Knowledge
Category:Deities of Magic
Category:Deities of Protection
Category:Mystrism
Category:Lawful Good Deities
Category:Minor Deities
Category:Deities