Lord of Luminosity

The Eternal Lantern

THE DEITY

Name(s): THE ETERNAL LANTERN, THE SHINING ONE, LORD OF LUMINOSITY, RADIANCE, PELOR

REGIONAL NAMES (HUMAN): Bleslelna (Brandobian), Sharynath (Dejy), Natrakk (Fhokki), Dirasip (Kalamaran), Naetuir (Reanaarese), Shanvim (Svimohzish)

RACIAL NAMES (HUMANOID): Resgad (Dwarven), Javaeclya (Elven), Serit (Gnomish), Birin (Halfling), Kuban-Randtak (Hobgoblin), Gank (Orc)

Spheres of Influence: The Eternal Lantern claims sway over light, strength, healing, day, and certain special times of sunlight ( dawn, noon ).

Alignment: Lawful Good

Spells Returned: At Noon

Favored Weapon: Mace

Appearance: Deity of the sun, Pelor often depicted as an older man in white, with wild hair and a beard of shining gold. The Eternal Lantern is sometimes described as a beautiful young lady. She has porcelain white skin and gleaming golden hair. Her garb is shining plate mail with a white cloak that radiates bright sunlight. The Shining One wields a golden mace (“Daybringer”).

THE CHURCH

Worship: Worship of The Eternal Lantern takes place in open air temples, found in many cities. Altars and shrines dedicated to Radiance also exist in smaller towns and villages. Veshday services begin at dawn, usually with a raucous din of bells or drums. If no instruments are available, worshippers shout to greet the dawn. After a rousing chorus, worshippers who stood the Dark Watch return home to sleep briefly before working, while other worshippers face east and sing the praises of the sun, the visible incarnation of the Eternal Lantern. These praises are spontaneous, although some praises are considered good enough to repeat.

A rift grows among the faith, with the smaller, more vocal faction stressing the need to oppose all forms of evil. In their opinion, the church has placed too much emphasis on the crusade against evil undead and that such focus has allowed more subtle forms of evil to grow unopposed. While this might normally mean little more than difference of opinion, some evidence exists of an increase in undead world wide, and the minority is seen by some as encouraging a dangerous trend that might lead to leaving the undead threat unchecked. The issue has yet to create a split in the church, and the High Lantern does not consider the minority to be heretics. Time will tell if the discussion will generate a new sect within the church, lead to a more balanced position in church doctrine, or fade away.

Holy Symbol: Half of a shining sun, as if seen over a horizon.

Holy Days: The summer solstice is the highest holy day for the Order of Light. On this day, the sun blesses Tellene with her presence longer than any other day during the year. As a token of the Eternal Lantern’s favor, her clerics cast certain spells at no charge for worshippers. These spells are: continual flame, remove blindness/deafness, and remove disease.

Holy Colors: White, yellow and gold.

Holy Animal: The holy animal of the Order of Light is the rooster, associated as it is with the rising of the sun and the coming of daily light into the world.

Raiment: The Order of Light wear white, yellow, and gold robes, with a white (novices), yellow (priests), or gold (high-ranking priests) holy symbol. It is not uncommon for some clerics to have pieces of shale or other shiny materials sewn into the weave of their robes to add a scintillating appearance to them. There is even rumor of an elven cleric from Doulathanorian who had 1,001 shining white pearls woven into his robes – one pearl for each elven warrior lost in defense of the Edosi Forest.

Advancement: Advancement within the church is based upon service in the form of missions to battle the forces of evil, conversion of followers, and participation in the Dark Watch.

To advance beyond the level of Spark, a cleric of the Eternal Lantern must stand a Dark Watch at least once. Before future rank advancements, he should stand the Watch within recent history (no more than a week ago). Without a major victory of some sort against the Church of Endless Night, advancing past the rank of Torch is impossible. Major victories include destroying vampires or more powerful undead, saving a town from an undead threat, or stopping a Nightbringer from creating a large number of undead.

A Flicker can usually find or appropriate help in fighting undead. If undead creatures are known to plague the area, the Flicker gains a +4 bonus to skill checks made to persuade others to help (usually Diplomacy, but sometimes Intimidate is appropriate).

A Flame must be able to cast divine spells of at least 3rd level. A Flame who is killed by an undead creature with the spawn ability does not become an undead.

If a Torch has the Craft Arms and Armor feat, he can craft weapons with the disruption property at half the normal cost in gold (the experience point cost remains unchanged). Also, a Torch’s stipend increases to 150 gp/month.

A Lantern must have access to the Sun domain. A Lantern’s second follower is always another cleric.

Sacrifices: Members of the Order sacrifice small white, yellow or gold gems on a monthly basis.

Friends and Allies:

The Courts of Justice: “Bringing the light of justice to everyone is an admirable goal.”

The Theater of the Arts: “They lighten the emotional loads of our lives, making it easier to live a tranquil life…”

The Church of the Life’s Fire: “To life, sunlight is the source and sole provider…”

The Church of the Night’s Beauty: “The moons they worship provide even the night with light. To break the night’s darkness is helpful, indeed.”

Foes and Enemies:

The Temple of Strife: “They use the darkness as cover for their evil deeds. If we eliminate the dark, we remove them as an element…”

The Congregation of the Dead: “These creatures need the nights’ darkness like the living need sunshine. The world would be much better if they no longer existed.”

The Church of Endless Night: “To want the void of absolute darkness to embrace you is pure insanity. Who but a madman would want to never feel the light on their skin, or to see with their own eyes?”

Major Temples: Important centers of worship for the Order of Light exist in Bet Kalamar, Sobeteta, Bet Urala, Baneta, Bet Seder, and Gaketa.

High ceilings, open windows, and a large door facing west mark these temples. The door faces west so that the worshippers can enter into the light of the rising sun, which shines behind the cleric through a window. The interior contains continual flames for keeping the darkness at bay after sunset.

Construction guidelines for cathedrals are stricter. The faith allows only the purest white marble for the walls. Frescoes emphasize yellow, orange and red. Permanent daylight spells maintain a warm and even light throughout the interior.

The faith’s holy seat rests in Zoa’s Circle of the Gods, where its size and opulence must conform to that city’s restrictions on the Cleric’s Guild. Its main building stands sixty feet high, all encompassing one massive worship area. The window overlooking the Bay contains sixteen huge pieces of glass, allowing for the most impressive indoors view of the harbor the city offers.

In addition to the lesser buildings around the temple that provide living space for the Magnus and his staff, the Assembly also maintains Zoa’s lighthouse. Due to cramped quarters in the Circle of Gods, the lighthouse has become a gathering point for clerics and others before embarking on missions of destruction against the undead. The lighthouse has therefore become something of a secondary symbol, representing this aspect of the faith.

Miaroo Xookaer, a Zoan native, leads the faith wisely and diligently. He has ordered an increase in the Dark Watch patrols and measures independent parishes by the number of worshippers involved and the frequency of these activities. Some clerics find the competitive atmosphere this measurement fosters harmful to the faith. Furthermore, they fear that some clerics are lying about their numbers in order to improve their standing within the faith. Xookaer’s attention to the Dark Watch falls short of an obsession, but it has definitely harmed his relationship with his senior clerics, and it has wrought as much harm as it has good.

Sayings: “Rest now to celebrate the new day.” - “Daylight soothes you. Dawn warms and moves you. The sun’s rays caress you until you slip away. Oh the lovely light of day.” - A morning prayer (often sung): “Oh shine on me to make them see, such a wonderful sight in the new dawn’s light. Rest they may, but soon comes day. And I wish them to see your glory gleam.” - A line said to foes conquered during the Dark Watch: “You shall never again dream or see the great light. Darkness disperse. I claim the night.” - A farewell: “Push the day into the night.”