Post by DM Quietus on Jul 16, 2009 2:50:47 GMT -5
Symbol : A tree within a solid circle, the upper half showing the tree itself, the lower half showing the roots. The ground cuts a line across the middle.
Alignment : True Neutral
Portfolio : Birth, Fate, Life, and Death.
Worshipers : Midwives, druids, morticians, and given occasional worship by almost anyone else.
Domains : Need to fill this in later, standard domains don't fit well (Knowledge, as all aspects have an omniscient quality?)
Favored weapon : Club/quarterstaff, or dagger (Moira)
Appearance : Nemus, of course, appears as an oak tree of enormous size, with leaves of many different colors. Due to the true names inscribed on each leaf, the entire canopy gives off a soft, golden glow. Navita, Fatima, and Morta are all depicted as wearing robes, each being attractive for the age she is presented as. Most often, Navita is presented as a child or youth, clambering among Nemus's branches and causing new buds to spawn as she goes. Fatima is depicted as a woman of her twenties, though her eyes suggest a wisdom far beyond her apparent years. Morta gives the appearance of an older woman, with a stern, serious demeanor.
Dogma : Nemus and the Three are typically worshiped as a single entity (often simply referred to as Nemus), who together represent the full cycle of life; Birth, Life, and Death. They call on their followers to oversee each of these, and Clerics of the Three - Navita in particular - often serve as midwives in their communities. Those closer to Morta, on the other hand, more frequently are seen ministering at funerals, committing bodies back to the earth from which they came, and assuring their families that they will gain their proper place in the afterlife. Clerics of Nemus are also seen ministering at the funerals of those faithful to another deity, and are typically the only neutral clerics with regard to such things.
The church of Nemus tends to focus its attention strictly on the community around it, though one of the last rites of passage before becoming a ranked member of the clergy is to take a quest set out by the church, which nearly always involves seeing all three stages of life - birth, the struggle to sustain one's life or meet one's fate, and death. Those strictly following one of the Three will be given quests that more strictly focus on the appropriate aspect. The only thing that can get the church as a whole to mobilize is someone breaking the cycle of Life - this most often shows up with regard to the mass creation of undead. Intelligent undead they concern themselves with less, as they typically have made the choice to step outside the normal bounds of the cycle, but anyone who creates undead minions (skeletons and zombies, in particular) earns themselves the enmity of Nemus.
Clergy and temples : On church grounds, one can always find at least one tree, typically oak, as a representation of Nemus himself. Inside, the design follows no set pattern, though leaf patterns throughout the walls and ceilings are common. Sermons are given by a gathering of four, typically a single man and three women, representing each of the aspects of Nemus, and each presenting the portion of the sermon relating to the aspect they represent.
Below the temple, however, one can always find winding catacombs, with walls of packed dirt. The twisting halls lead to vast burial chambers, where bodies are buried in the walls and marked with stones bearing their names. These catacombs can be expanded as needed, since the walls are simple earth, and the church maintains impeccable maps detailing not only the current spread of their tunnels, but the locations of each body, so that those who wish to pay their respects can do so.
Nemus, the Tree of life : A divine tree, tended to by a trio of equally-divine entities. Each has a particular role related to the tree, as well as an individual identity, and are at times worshiped individually. That being said, they are more often worshiped as one "unit", the tree and its tenders as a representation of the cycle of life.
Each living creature is represented by a leaf on this tree, their True Name inscribed on it for as long as they live. When a new life is born, the tree sprouts a new leaf, to represent that life. When that creature dies, the leaf is shed, falling to the ground, where it remains in place. When that body has moved on - be it burial, cremation, consumption (in the case of animals, most typically), or natural decomposition - the leaf decomposes, the energy of that soul finally free to move on to its afterlife. The soul's True Name is inscribed on the tree's roots, indicating that that soul has moved to the plane that will serve as its final resting spot.
If this process is tampered with - such as certain spells, generally including Death effects and the animation of the soul's body - can interfere with this process. Death effects, in general, interfere with the connection between the body - and thus, nature - and the soul, by forcibly tearing them apart from one another. Animation of undead is perhaps the cruelest thing one could do, however, as it directly affects the connection between the body and soul; Normally, the soul serves as a conduit for positive energy, granting the body life. Animation of the body as an undead forcibly ties the soul to the body past death, perverting the soul into instead acting as a conduit of negative energy. By doing so, the soul is prevented from moving on to its proper afterlife, its connection with nature severed in such a deep way as to make it impossible for all but the most powerful magics to restore it.
Navita, Fatima, and Moira - The Three
The Tree of Life has three women who tend to it, all of whom are currently unnamed. These women, in older times, were depicted as being Dryad-like in nature; This has changed more recently, as humans have become a greater force within the world, and in their egotism began to depict them instead as more human-like. Older and more primal races maintain their depiction of these women as being dryad-like.
Roles :
Navita - Tending the tree. Navita tends to the tree, seeing to it that it gets the nourishment it needs. She knows when a creature is born, and is the one that aids the tree in producing a new leaf bud, which unfurls as that individual grows. It is said that these buds will unfurl the moment the individual earns their True Name, but that if no bud is created for a child, it can never truly grow and mature to that point, remaining - in essence - soulless, until they are granted a leaf on the Tree of Life.
Fatima - Scribing the names. Each living creature, as a result of their choices and experiences in life, eventually gains a unique True Name, which describes them in the language of the Divine. The person who takes on this role has the responsibility of scribing that name into that person's leaf, and when that person's True Name changes - as it can do, after a major shift in the person's life - Fatima is tasked with altering the leaf appropriately.
Moira - Pruning the tree. The third and final of the Three, she is tasked with pruning the leaves of those who have died. She knows the instant a person dies, and removes the leaf, letting it settle to the ground to be absorbed back into the tree's roots. It is said that if she were to not do her job, the taint of souls still being attached to the tree after death could cause the entire tree to sicken and die.
Alignment : True Neutral
Portfolio : Birth, Fate, Life, and Death.
Worshipers : Midwives, druids, morticians, and given occasional worship by almost anyone else.
Domains : Need to fill this in later, standard domains don't fit well (Knowledge, as all aspects have an omniscient quality?)
Favored weapon : Club/quarterstaff, or dagger (Moira)
Appearance : Nemus, of course, appears as an oak tree of enormous size, with leaves of many different colors. Due to the true names inscribed on each leaf, the entire canopy gives off a soft, golden glow. Navita, Fatima, and Morta are all depicted as wearing robes, each being attractive for the age she is presented as. Most often, Navita is presented as a child or youth, clambering among Nemus's branches and causing new buds to spawn as she goes. Fatima is depicted as a woman of her twenties, though her eyes suggest a wisdom far beyond her apparent years. Morta gives the appearance of an older woman, with a stern, serious demeanor.
Dogma : Nemus and the Three are typically worshiped as a single entity (often simply referred to as Nemus), who together represent the full cycle of life; Birth, Life, and Death. They call on their followers to oversee each of these, and Clerics of the Three - Navita in particular - often serve as midwives in their communities. Those closer to Morta, on the other hand, more frequently are seen ministering at funerals, committing bodies back to the earth from which they came, and assuring their families that they will gain their proper place in the afterlife. Clerics of Nemus are also seen ministering at the funerals of those faithful to another deity, and are typically the only neutral clerics with regard to such things.
The church of Nemus tends to focus its attention strictly on the community around it, though one of the last rites of passage before becoming a ranked member of the clergy is to take a quest set out by the church, which nearly always involves seeing all three stages of life - birth, the struggle to sustain one's life or meet one's fate, and death. Those strictly following one of the Three will be given quests that more strictly focus on the appropriate aspect. The only thing that can get the church as a whole to mobilize is someone breaking the cycle of Life - this most often shows up with regard to the mass creation of undead. Intelligent undead they concern themselves with less, as they typically have made the choice to step outside the normal bounds of the cycle, but anyone who creates undead minions (skeletons and zombies, in particular) earns themselves the enmity of Nemus.
Clergy and temples : On church grounds, one can always find at least one tree, typically oak, as a representation of Nemus himself. Inside, the design follows no set pattern, though leaf patterns throughout the walls and ceilings are common. Sermons are given by a gathering of four, typically a single man and three women, representing each of the aspects of Nemus, and each presenting the portion of the sermon relating to the aspect they represent.
Below the temple, however, one can always find winding catacombs, with walls of packed dirt. The twisting halls lead to vast burial chambers, where bodies are buried in the walls and marked with stones bearing their names. These catacombs can be expanded as needed, since the walls are simple earth, and the church maintains impeccable maps detailing not only the current spread of their tunnels, but the locations of each body, so that those who wish to pay their respects can do so.
Nemus, the Tree of life : A divine tree, tended to by a trio of equally-divine entities. Each has a particular role related to the tree, as well as an individual identity, and are at times worshiped individually. That being said, they are more often worshiped as one "unit", the tree and its tenders as a representation of the cycle of life.
Each living creature is represented by a leaf on this tree, their True Name inscribed on it for as long as they live. When a new life is born, the tree sprouts a new leaf, to represent that life. When that creature dies, the leaf is shed, falling to the ground, where it remains in place. When that body has moved on - be it burial, cremation, consumption (in the case of animals, most typically), or natural decomposition - the leaf decomposes, the energy of that soul finally free to move on to its afterlife. The soul's True Name is inscribed on the tree's roots, indicating that that soul has moved to the plane that will serve as its final resting spot.
If this process is tampered with - such as certain spells, generally including Death effects and the animation of the soul's body - can interfere with this process. Death effects, in general, interfere with the connection between the body - and thus, nature - and the soul, by forcibly tearing them apart from one another. Animation of undead is perhaps the cruelest thing one could do, however, as it directly affects the connection between the body and soul; Normally, the soul serves as a conduit for positive energy, granting the body life. Animation of the body as an undead forcibly ties the soul to the body past death, perverting the soul into instead acting as a conduit of negative energy. By doing so, the soul is prevented from moving on to its proper afterlife, its connection with nature severed in such a deep way as to make it impossible for all but the most powerful magics to restore it.
Navita, Fatima, and Moira - The Three
The Tree of Life has three women who tend to it, all of whom are currently unnamed. These women, in older times, were depicted as being Dryad-like in nature; This has changed more recently, as humans have become a greater force within the world, and in their egotism began to depict them instead as more human-like. Older and more primal races maintain their depiction of these women as being dryad-like.
Roles :
Navita - Tending the tree. Navita tends to the tree, seeing to it that it gets the nourishment it needs. She knows when a creature is born, and is the one that aids the tree in producing a new leaf bud, which unfurls as that individual grows. It is said that these buds will unfurl the moment the individual earns their True Name, but that if no bud is created for a child, it can never truly grow and mature to that point, remaining - in essence - soulless, until they are granted a leaf on the Tree of Life.
Fatima - Scribing the names. Each living creature, as a result of their choices and experiences in life, eventually gains a unique True Name, which describes them in the language of the Divine. The person who takes on this role has the responsibility of scribing that name into that person's leaf, and when that person's True Name changes - as it can do, after a major shift in the person's life - Fatima is tasked with altering the leaf appropriately.
Moira - Pruning the tree. The third and final of the Three, she is tasked with pruning the leaves of those who have died. She knows the instant a person dies, and removes the leaf, letting it settle to the ground to be absorbed back into the tree's roots. It is said that if she were to not do her job, the taint of souls still being attached to the tree after death could cause the entire tree to sicken and die.