Divine Circle

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For deities of the Divine Circle, see Faiths#Divine_Circle.
 The Divine Circle is the name of the established religious order of much of the world of Edyleine. This Divine Circle consists of a number of gods and goddesses that attend to the religious and supernatural needs of the people, each according to their portfolio. In terms of the hierarchy of the deities, there are actually several circles considered a part of the divine circle, according to the relative ranking of the deities found within. The inner circle consists of the two greatest deities of the Trynsern order, Zennais, goddess of life and magic, and Ulthril, god of death, time, and change. Below this is the circle containing most of the primary movers and shakers of the particular nation worshipping them, twelve deities in all. These deities are organized according to general elemental preference. 
In the Empire of Trynser the Krakoa grouping representing fire contains Raxis, Herix, and Leathane; the deities of the Sun, War, and Love respectively. Whishanna represents wind and groups Kriegdor, god of storms; Meleshar, Goddess of Travel; and Gondovor, the god of Justice. Vrumshuum is the power of water and is associated with Shurridashe, goddess of the seas; Lharis, god of fortune; and Damira, goddess of wisdom. The Power of Earth is Mond, and is represented by the deities of nature, the deep earth, and the home: Edyleine, Morlumbel, and Willethe. Below them are the many gods and goddesses of various other attributes, such as rivers, thunder, unrequited love, and so on. Most of these gods have a patron or two in one of the inner circles. For example, Delthon, the god of weapon craft has both Herix and Damira as patrons.
Individual gods who are popular enough may have their own temples and priesthoods who are subordinate to the Divine Circle. For example, Lharis is the most popular deity in Flurien. That city is the site of the Church of the Lucky Lady, the preeminent temple of Lharis in the Empire of Trynser. Priests and priestesses from this temple range all over the Empire and beyond, including within various polydevotional Divine Circle cathedrals, representing the god/goddess. But the high priest in Flurien still reports to the Archbishop of Trynser City.
Order of the Divine CirclePower worshipped: All recognized Trynsern deities of the Divine Circle.Powers’ alignment: All non-evilPriests’ alignment: any non-evilWorshippers’ alignment: anyWounds: Cure Undead: TurnDomains: Good, Healing, Knowledge, Magic, Protection, War, Missionary (R&R).Qualifications: Non-evil. There are no minimum ability requirements, but a Wisdom of at least 11 would be nice if you intend to cast divine spells.
OVERVIEW
This priesthood represents all of the gods of the Divine Circle and receives their powers from those gods. This order has the functions of representing all of the gods to those many communities that cannot support temples and chapels for each god, and representing those gods and goddesses whose worship scarcely justifies priests of their own (who wants to be a priest of aqueducts?). The Order of the Divine Circle serves as the central sect of the Empire, around which many other orders of the individual gods are aligned. Many who find their calling to the priesthood come to this order first, and as they find themselves drawn to worship of a particular deity, move on to another order. Also, priests who find their relationships with the deity of their particular worship strained for whatever reason may move on to or get expelled to this order.
HIERARCHYPrelate: The overall high priest of all the gods in Trynser. The Prelate does not speak for the individual deities themselves (that’s generally the deity’s high priest’s job), but he does represent the Divine Circle as a whole.Archbishop: The high priest of one of the Great Dominions of the Empire, as well as any independent nations which is represented in the Order of the Divine Circle. There are Archbishops of Trynser City, Kasteban, Karninia, Manebia, Landagar, Garrus, Lydaelia, Suledaria, Askordia, Casterria, and the independent nations of Ardegon and Varintalia.Metropolitan: The high priest of the Order in a particular city.Bishop: The leader of a temple.Priest: Ordained member of the Order.Acolyte: Priest in training.Deacon: Unordained worker for the Order.
RITUALSBirth: A birth is considered a gift from all gods, and as such, the Divine Circle priest are the most appropriate to give the birth rituals. If at all possible, a priest should attend the child’s birth. Most priests are trained to deliver babies, though a midwife or an actual doctor is preferred. After the gore is wiped off and the baby’s health checked, the baby is passed to the priest who slaps it’s butt to make it cry (stabilizing it’s breathing) and driving demons away. Demons love to get into babies as soon as possible, but HATE it when they cry.
After this the baby is sprinkled with holy water and the priest says a brief prayer asking the gods to bless the baby, keep it healthy and hearty, and keep demons from infiltrating it’s soul. The priest notes the name of the baby, and the time and place of its birth unless interested government officials take this duty off his hands.
Coming of Age:
Acceptance of Faith:
Marriage:The Marriage rituals of many larger communities are often handled by the priesthood of Leathane, but the Order of the Divine Circle priests are the next most common type to perform this ceremony.
Death:In the course of a priest’s business, it often becomes necessary to attend somebody’s death, whether as a service to the afflicted on his deathbed or as a result of a combat that the priest participates in. In the presence of a priest of Ulthril, the Divine Circle priest usually defers the actual performance of the necessary rituals to that priest, giving whatever assistance is needed. This assistance most often takes the form of gathering information about the deceased and comforting the bereaved.
Without a priest of Ulthril present, the duty of giving the deceased his last rites falls to the priest of the Divine Circle. In this case, the priest says a prayer for the deceased, addressing as many specific issues about the dead person’s soul as time and circumstances allow, and pleading with the Lord of the Dead to allow the deceased’s body and soul to rest peacefully. For example, the last rites of Kraig Tharderd, a ruthless and insane criminal brought to a lethal justice by an adventuring group including Divine Circle priest Galen Sunglimmer were:
“Lord Ulthril, Lord of the Dead and Keeper of Souls, I consign upon thee the soul of Kraig Tharderd to guide to his proper destiny. Although Arucabel and Vand have tortured this poor man’s soul, leaving but a glimmer of the radiance and the glory that you, and all gods, have instilled in our unworthy souls from birth, take whatever flicker of life and humanity that now departs this pitiful husk and keep it now and forever free from the demons that plagued it in life. Please keep his vacant husk free from any further evil influences and allow it to return to Our Divine Mother Edyleine. I beg this of thee, Ulthril, and I beg thee Edyleine to reclaim this body into yours so it may not be fouled by demons and evil spirits. By the names of all gods I pray.”
If pressed for time, “Lord Ulthril take his soul.” is considered barely adequate, but will do.
If he is able and a priest of Ulthril is not present, the priest is responsible for recording whatever brief information is available and necessary for the priests of Ulthril to come and do their funerary duties, sometimes including the location of the body. Of course, an adventuring priest traveling and smiting evil regularly may not be able or inclined to document all this information, but it is good if he could see that it is done somehow. This often means delegating the duties to the local priests.
By the way, when defeating enemies in battle, it is also common for Divine Circle priests to thank Raxis for granting victory.
Funeral:As one would expect, the priesthood of Ulthril is the one that most people come to for the funerary services of their beloved. The priests of Ulthril usually are not too far away for most people in the Empire, and there are Ulthrilan priests who travel on a route for weeks at a time to conduct their duties. However, they cannot be everywhere. By Trynsern custom, dead bodies should be buried or cremated reasonably soon after death. However, disposing of the dead without the proper rituals is considered bad. It is widely believed that doing so invites the body or the soul to walk the earth restlessly. Therefore, funerary procedures are included in the Divine Circle’s priests-of-all-trades training.
The burial prayer is pretty much identical to the last rites, and the efficient priest may make a single prayer if the deceased is being buried immediately. Other funerary duties include sprinkling holy water over the bodies (if available), consecrating the burial site and the body, and casting whatever other spells are necessary to defend the burial ground and the bodies from desecration.Ordination:
Temple Blessing:
GARB:Divine circle priests wear mostly white garb with bits of pink for priestesses and light blue for male priests.
TEMPLES:
DOCTRINE:Sex:Divine Circle priests are expected to abstain from sexual relations in order to concentrate on their work and avoid offending the more prurient gods. However, succumbing to physical charms is considered relatively minor as far as transgressions go and discreet relationships are not persecuted strongly. Priests who display a pattern of friskiness may be subject to disciplinary action, encouraged to concentrate their worship to gods who allow (or encourage) this behavior, or choose another line of work, perhaps serving the Order as a layman.
Marriage:The Divine Circle considers marriage a wonderful thing. Just not for their ordained priests. For a Divine Circle priest who wishes to get married, a lifestyle change is in order, as he or she can no longer follow this path.
Category:Faiths
Category:Divine Circle