Holy Blessings

Holy Blessings are rare, exceptionally powerful blessings that can only be gained as a second blessing (level 10 minimum) through a petition. Unlike regular blessings, that are more or less guaranteed, Holy Blessings are never guaranteed, and all applications are subject to a review by the entire admin team. Receiving a Holy Blessing requires a character that is exceptionally developed and well-matched with the blessing, as well as unusually devoted to their god.

## Basic Requirements

* Must be at least level 10; second blessing only
* Character must be devoted to the god they want a blessing from (you can never receive a Holy from a god your character does not genuinely worship)
* Character must have creative works (e.g. art, roleplay, literature) that support the characters connection to the god and the blessing

Characters do not need to be a specific age to apply for a Holy Blessing, nor do they need to belong to the faction where the god they worship is a main patron. They must, however, be able to prove a strong connection to the god beyond what is usual.

If most of the character’s AP comes from non-canon sources (like memes) or does not feature them, the character will likely have a more difficult time successfully petitioning for a Holy.

A character may apply for a Holy Blessing from a different god than who gave them their first blessing, but there must still be substantial evidence of devotion to the god the Holy is from. Generally speaking it is more difficult to receive a Holy from a god that the character was not formerly blessed by, as it means there may not be any established connection to the deity. In Digend’s case, a character must have a Corrupted blessing to apply for a Holy from her.

## Applying for a Holy

* The application may be submitted at any time after the character reaches level 10.
* The petition can be OOC, in-character or combination of both; we heavily recommend OOC for the main petition, as a roleplay post will often make it difficult to showcase the connection and proof, and often adds a lot of length into the petition that doesn’t forward your argument.
* The petition has no set length requirement; however, it can be difficult to argue your case if your petition is extremely short. Be concise - length in of itself is not a merit - but make sure to include everything important!
	+ Most successful Holy Blessing petitions are under 1500 words (median length 1439 words).

* Make sure to link all the proof you want to use. If it is not linked, we won’t go looking for it

To apply, fill in the following form:

 (Required) Petition for blessing. Linking through stash or docs is recommended for accommodating the proof.

## How to Make a Good Petition

Your character feels ready to undertake the challenge of applying for a Holy? Amazing! Applying for a Holy can be a really daunting task, so we’ve created this small guide to help you out.

### **Proof Pieces**

* The proof pieces (roleplays, literature and/or artwork) are just as, if not more, important than the petition text itself.
	+ The goal of a Holy Blessing petition is not to write a convincing stand-alone argument as to why your character should have the blessing. The petition is more like a bridge between the in-game development, and the admins, showing and explaining the work you’ve put into it.
	+ The proof pieces show that the character has developed in-game connections to the blessing and the god. They show us that you have put thought and effort into creating that connection

* You should ideally have at least one proof piece for each of your “core arguments”. If you say that your character has worked hard to understand Kaia’s sphere of life and death, show us. If you claim that your character has a deep connection to Holy Possession due to a lifelong need to be in someone else’s shoes, let us see how you’ve brought that aspect to life in their journey.
* It's a good idea to build your petition or segments of it *around* the proof. If you feel like a proof piece needs a bit of an explanation as to how it relates to your arguments, make sure to give us that explanation
* Linking pieces not directly tied to your arguments to show general activity/other development is perfectly acceptable, but remember that it's the proof pieces that count. Activity alone is not proof.

#### **"Bad Proof" and how to turn it around**

* Completely OOC submissions like memes or many of the OOC events.
	+ Example: “As shown on my breed meme, my common horse character would be the happiest as a pegasus, showing their connection to Alya.”
	+ **How to change:** Draw or write about your character thinking about how not having wings makes them feel and why they think having wings would make them more connected to Alya and how they try and nurture a connection despite not having the wings.

* Links to your character’s reference or long quotes from their personality
	+ Example: “One of my character’s personality traits is brave, which fits Ignacio’s virtue of courage”
	+ **How to change:** A piece showing your character acting bravely will showcase their virtue much better.

* Links to your character’s reference or long quotes from their history
	+ Example: “When my character was a child, they got into an accident where their brother died to save them; this taught them about Kaia’s sphere of life and death.”
	+ **How to change:** Explore the topic further with a literature or art submission - either taking us back to that life-changing moment, or the character reflecting on it later in life.

* Extremely short/casual mentions in longer pieces, especially things like common sayings or everyday beliefs typical to the faction.
	+ Example: “In my RP “God comes knocking”, character uses the expression “they have seen us meet”, showing their close connection with Argus.”
	+ **How to change:** Show us instead the character doing something special, like reflecting on their belief, their gods values, or overcoming a crisis of faith.

* “Headcanon” plotting, connections or development
	+ Example: “My character has many friends, such as Pony, Horse and Zebra, and has never betrayed them, showing their dedication to Cascade’s virtue of Loyalty.”
	+ **How to change:** We recommend not including any proof that purely relies on things that you can not show us (for example: private plottings on Discord). It would be better instead to work with one or more of the players to further develop the friendships and allow us to see the character’s loyalty in action.

* Player decisions or contributions that the character did not make IC
	+ Example: “My character gave birth to a hybrid child, showing their connection to Digend.”
	+ **How to change:** Tell us instead how having that child made them feel, and how it brought them closer to Digend.

### **Petition**

* Keep it concise. If you find yourself repeating the same arguments over and over without adding anything, prune
* Make sure you have proof pieces for your core arguments
* Show us how your character is unusually devoted and/or thematically connected to their god or the god's sphere and virtues. Remember - most people in Hireath are at least somewhat religious - what makes your character special?
* Spend time establishing a thematic link between your character and their desired blessing. This is just as important as the god connection - character’s can be extremely religious, yet never receive a holy.
	+ While you can get your character a regular blessing that is at odds with their personality, goals and desires, a Holy should always in some way tie to who your character is.

* The following should be avoided. While mentioning them is fine, they should not form the core of your argument - the focus should be on connection to the god and the blessing.
	+ How your character and/or their faction would benefit from the blessing
	+ How your character would use the blessing

### **Questions**

This is a list of questions to help you form your petition. You don’t have to answer all of them, but if you find that you can’t answer any of them by reading your petition, it might need to delve deeper into the connections your character has.

* Why does your character feel such an unusually strong connection or devotion to this particular god? What about that god inspires their devotion?
* What does your character do that makes them stand out from the other devotees of that god?
* What parts of the god’s sphere does your character embody, or in what ways is the sphere particularly important to them?
* Does your character embody the god’s virtues, or aspire to them? How?
* Why does this blessing fit your character above all other blessings (not just the other Holy Blessing from this god)?
* What is your character’s thematic connection to the blessing?
* How does the blessing reflect and fit who your character is?
* In turn, what about your character would resonate with the God? What have they done, said or experienced that would make them special in the God’s eyes?

## Blessing Review

* Please be patient! Reviewing a holy blessing petition always takes time, as all admins need to read and vote on the application
* If the vote is in your favor, you will receive a blessing reply + the opportunity to customize your own Holy Blessing bauble.
* If the vote was not in your favor, you will receive a reply explaining why you did not receive the blessing at this time. You may apply again in **3 months time**.
* If you are rejected for a Holy again on your second attempt, you may make one final attempt to apply for a completely different Holy from a different god after a **minimum of 6 months.**

## Holy Blessings In-Game

* Holy Blessings are incredibly rare, and only a few are seen in a generation, if that. For this reason, NPCs or even mentions of Holy Blessing users in backstories are not permitted unless referring to an established character
	+ This means its completely reasonable (and even likely) that your character would not be aware of the extent of their powers, and may need to experiment and discover things before they're very good with using their blessing.
* While each faction would have a decent idea of what the Holy Blessings of their main patron are like, they would not know details of how other holies work. They would not even necessarily recognize them when seeing them in use. Remember, characters don’t have access to the Blessings page.
	+ It is often assumed that a Holy Blessing is a strange, personal blessing. For example in Aodh, Holy Reality Manipulation would likely be known as “Solaris’ blessing” after its famous user.