Lurihim, the Hospitalier
The Hospitalier Priests, or the Lurihim, are the attendants of the Archangel of Death, Lurian. The Hospitalier practice sacred medicine – the divisions, adhesions and tensions of the human body, and how to pray to Lurian to forebear the time of death, and thus, heal the body.
Hospitalier have many ways to treat the hurts and harms of the living form, but this is not their only duty. The Hospitalier also care for those already dead, and are the tenders of graveyards and overseers of funerals. The Lurihim venerate the bones and other preserved relics of the dead, and may pray for guidance from those righteous fallen who have rejoined the Lord.
The teachings of St. Istra of Agnis, the patroness of their Covenant, are that every person has a choice between dealing death or giving life, and that life should be cultivated but nor is death to be feared. Death must happen in its own time, with its own means, and while we may beg Lurian for more time to make a better world, this place and the time we spend in it are fleeting, and all belong to Him before long.
The Lurihim operate hospitals throughout the Throne, which are usually based out of the local church. Their clerical arm, Curia Remedium, also performs research into how diseases and other wicked spiritual possessions enter the human form, and how best to banish them.
The Words of SAINT Istra, the Hospitalier
Covenant of Quietude
A member of the Lurihim must never Initiate violence against their fellow man and may only fight to incapacitate in the defense of themselves or others.
Hospitalier Priests may earn a Lurihim Achievement when they read the last words of the dying as part of Convocation or by successfully performing the Operations of Mercy to save a Dying patient. The Lurihim must record every word that their patient spoke during the Last Breath, and write it in a tome that belongs with the diocese.
Initiated Rituals
Ministrations of Istra
The Priest cares for their patient, prolonging their life.
“I swear before the Archangel Lurian, bearer of the fallen, and before the Almighty Lord God, to never harm thee, to protect thy body and thy soul, from this day, until my last day.”
Ritual: The Priest takes a patient who is Dying under their care, and they swear an oath to never do them harm. The Priest lays their patient down on a soft surface, and surrounds them with lit candles. The Priest recites the Prayer of Ministration while performing the actions – they wave a censer of incense (expended) over the patient seven times, change all of their bandages for new ones, anoint and cleanse their brow and hands with holy water, then either lay a damp cloth bearing the Seal of Lurian on their brow or else mark the Seal in ash there.
Props: Candles, bandages, ash or eye pencil, censer
Effect: Upon taking the Oath of Istra, the Priest gains the Devoted condition whenever trying to save their charge.
They gain the Belief: Never harm (patient) , which must be recorded by Staff.
Upon the completion of the Ministrations, the patient’s Dying timer extends by another hour. This ritual may be repeated from the Prayer of Ministration to continue to reset the timer indefinitely.
Lurian
Archangel of The Moon, Nightfall, Slumber, Dreams and Death
Balance Humors
Trade one effect against another.
The Body has within it four humors that are balanced to allow us life. Each of these is analogous to the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air – Blood, Melancholic Bile, Choleric Bile, and Phlegm. Too much of any humor will result in maladies and disarray from within.
Ritual: The subject is drained of a specific humor via a dozen or so live leeches attached to key points on the body. The leeches must remain on exposed skin and the priest should discuss the subject’s recent emotions and experiences as they relate to their humors for ten minutes.
Props: A jar of fake leeches.
Effect: One of four effects is chosen below. The leeching takes around 10 minutes, the effects beginning after that time.
Sanguine Balance – The subject becomes Exhausted for an Hour, but their effective Grit increases by 1 for the rest of the day.
Melancholic Balance – The subject becomes Miserable, but for so long as they remain so, they gain an additional Discipline that may be used once per scene.
Choleric Balance – Misery is removed as Choleric Bile is drained, but the subject becomes Battered.
Phlegmatic Balance – The subject loses Despair as Phlegm is drained, but gains Trauma.
The Ameliorating Blessing
Bless the tools of healing to greater effect.
Ritual: This ritual may be used to bless bandages or create blessed antidotes during a special Action. For bandages, the Priest inks the holy words of St. Istra and the marks of Lurian upon white cloth as small as they may write until the available space is full, then sprinkles the bandage with holy water. For antidotes, the Priest blesses Charcoal, crushing it entirely and finely into dust, then stirring it into a flask of boiling holy water. The priest may create up to five of one or the other if they have the appropriate materials.
Blessed Bandage Recipe: Ink, Bandage, Holy Water
Prop: Bandages completely inked with scripture
Effect: A blessed bandage will stop up to 5 Bleed effects or wounds, so that a single blessed bandage is enough to stabilize most any Downed person. The bandages do not work when they are dirty, and are only good for one use.
Holy Antidote Recipe: Charcoal, Holy Water
Prop: Small phial of water with the symbol of Lurian on it.
Effect: The blessed antidote reduces the effects of any Poison or Drug actively affecting the patient by one level. This may only affect a given patient once until their system has been flushed on Poisons and Drugs.
Lull of Lurian
Put a subject into a dream state.
Ritual: You recite slowly the words of St. Istra, while dangling a silver leonem in front of the subject. After a few minutes, the subject enters an amenable state from which many suggestions are possible. In this state, the subject appears to be sleeping or in a trance and any interruptions or startling events will easily shake them from it, requiring the ritual be performed again. The subject may attempt to resist with Discipline vs Obey to break out of the trance at any time.
Props: Leonem on a chain
Effect: Once the subject is entranced, the Priest may suggest one of the following effects:
The Priest can continue the ritual putting the subject in an even deeper trance making them completely unresponsive and appear dead to all others. This effect will last for several hours before the subject automatically awakens from it fully rested.
The Priest can recant a memory of the subject’s and begin to suggest that such events never really happened. The subject will not forget the events unnaturally, but will believe them to have been a dream or otherwise a product of his imagination, and will not bring it up casually.
The Priest can ask a single question of the subject and she will willingly answer to the best of her knowledge. This knowledge can come from memories that have been blocked out or otherwise forgotten and the subject is assumed to have perfect memory for the purposes of answering.
The Priest can dull the sensations of the subject until they do not register pain or other stimuli, treating their Grit as two levels higher for the purpose of Endurance.
Ablution, Purification by Water
Calling on Lurian’s mercy, the priest cleanses themselves before and after touching the unclean so that the spirits of disease may be bound.
“Wash your hands. Cleanse them so that they will not do the work of vile spirits.”
Ritual: When the priest suspects that the spirits of disease are near, or soon will be, they may call upon Lurian for protection by cleansing themselves in Holy Water. The priest should lay out a bowl filled with Holy Water and vigorously scrub their hands in it. The priest may lead others in this ritual, blessing them with the same protection. Once the danger has passed, those blessed by this rite must repeat it, cleansing their hands a second time. The soiled Holy Water must then be cast out.
Props: Bowl of Water, optional hand sanitizer.
Effect: For the next Scene, participants do not spread Disease by touch, and they may call Sacred Toughness against any Disease calls during the scene.. Should they be exposed to Disease and fail to perform the second half of the ritual, they suffer from the Disease as if they had not resisted it. One portion of Holy Water is sufficient for the cleansing of one person.
Benedicta Sutura
The priest uses a silver needle and thread to sew shut limb wounds.
“Needlework is a surprisingly calming pastime when what you are sewing isn’t crying or bleeding.”
Ritual: The Priest and the patient should first pray together, that God might see fit to protect them from further violence. Then, the Priest must clean the Injured limb and use a Silver Needle and Needleworking Tools to sew shut the patient’s wound, before using a Bandage to bind the wound the limb tightly.
Props: Water, Needle and Thread, Bandages
Effect: The Priest should apply a clean bandage such that it is obvious that the patient is wounded but tended to. The patient may then use an Injured Limb as if it were Healthy. If the tended Limb is used in any intense way, such as fighting, running, or carrying something heavy, the stitches tear, then it is Injured again at the end of the Scene. This may Down the patient as normal.
Aquae Vitae
The priest uses water and salt to bless the weary
“Drink water. For as the body needs water, so too the soul needs nourishment. For so long as life continues in your blood, so too does the presence of God continue on this earth. Drink, so that we may continue the work of God’s hands.”
Ritual: The Priest blesses the Salt and applies a pinch of it to Holy Water in a Silver Chalice, before giving it to an Exhausted petitioner. Upon drinking in this vitalizing blessing, the petitioner is Restored from Exhausted.
Props: Electrolyte mix or sports drink, silver chalice.
Effect: The Priest uses up a Salt item and a use of Holy Water. Upon drinking in this vitalizing blessing, the petitioner is Restored from Exhausted.
Breath of Life
Awaken those who have been Downed
“It is not the time for sleep, nor the time for eternal rest. Now is the time for action. Arise”
“Non tempus somni. Non tempus requiscendi. Tempus conscii. Arise”
Ritual: The Priest may go to one who has been Downed, but is bandaged and stable, and speak seven sacred prayers into their mouths, telling them it is not their time, but the time to awaken.
Prop: None
Effect: The Priest should mime speaking the prayer seven times into a Downed person’s mouth, though should not actually breath on them. Once the prayers are complete the Spiritual patient may immediately be revived from Downed to Battered without waiting the normal 5 minutes.
Sealing the Tomb
The priest uses silver nails to seal away evil
“Sometimes God has not given us the tools to resolve our troubles in the present. This wickedness will endure to be the tribulations of a later generation. The best we can do is to lock the door.”
Ritual: After commissioning Silver Coffin Nails from a Sacrist, the Priest may use them to seal shut any container, doorway, or any other thing that closes, by nailing them into the frame. While they are easy enough to pry out by mortal hands, spirits shall not be able to harm the container, nor shall undead claw through the door. If the seal is broken for any reason, then the Priest must perform the rite again.
Props: Silver Nails, note to attach to container or doorway.
Effect: Undead are unable to affect the container or doorway, and will leave it alone. Attach the item card for the Silver Coffin Nails to the blessed doorway or container with a note stating “Silver Coffin Nails: Sacred Obey: Undead leave this alone” If the door or container is opened, the blessing is immediately dispelled as the nails fall out.
Saintly Icon of Bone
The priest creates an altar from the bones of saint and contemplates their death
“Reflect on Mortality, for we all must face it eventually. Contemplate how your life has expanded the Meaning of God, and live each day as if you were to join with God by its ending.”
Ritual: The Priest gives thanks to one of the sacred dead, a Saint whose bones will be used to create an Icon, an altar which the faithful may use to contemplate their mortality, and take peace in Lurian’s wings. After the Priest has constructed and blessed the Icon, any faithful human may come to it and contemplate their death.
Props: Altar decorated with bones or a skull
Effect: The Priest must use the bones of a faithful human who died with 0 Depravity to create the Icon of Bone. Using their body in this way is not considered a desecration and will not create a Malefic. After speaking a short phrase that would be acceptable Last Words for their Devotion, any faithful person may gain an additional use of Discipline which lasts for the rest of the day. A person may benefit from this contemplation once per day.
Relic Veneration
Commune with the remains of the dead.
And in the aftermath of these times, I would gaze upon the work that my hands had wrought and wondered who had actually guided me.
But these are questions which plague all sons and daughters. If we could but find the origin of action, we would gain understanding. But alas, all is dark
Ritual: The priest must go to the site where the dead lie, within a few paces of their remains, such as near a reliquary or a grave. There the priest kneels and prays for the soul of the departed for answers related to their guidance or their life, and cries a tear for them born of true emotion. The priest wipes the tear on the grave marker or cenotaph.
Prop: A single tear, truly cried.
Mechanic: The Priest non-verbally gains understanding of the departed one’s Devotion and may ask a question related to their Devotion, as best as the departed understood the answer to be. If possible, the player of the character will be consulted.
Operations of Mercy, Ceremony to save the dying
Ceremonial Rite
By the knowledge passed down by Saint Istra, the Priest may beg Lurian to save the Dying
In a time of grievous emergency, a Priest may beseech God for mercy for His worldly agents and good servants. Lurian’s judgments are absolute to all save God Himself. It is not wrong to appeal for succor when the need is great, and the Lord will grant the body the strength to endure the trial of the blade, should their soul be worthy.
Ritual: A Dying person should be placed in a Consecrated space. One tall white candle must be placed around the patient at each cardinal direction. Incense should be lit with the northern candle flame and placed at the southern pinnacle of the circle. The wounded should be placed on a sheet of crimson velvet in the center of the circle, and stripped to only simple vestments, once this is accomplished the Priest may begin to apply their sacred tools to undo the damage that has been done to their patient.
The Priest must consult the Words of Saint Istra to determine which rite is needed to save the patient, depending on the nature of their wounds.
The Ceremony
Before beginning, the priest must prepare a clean cloth for the patient to lie on, and a circle of candles should be readied around it so that the priest may see their work.
Then the Priest should purify themselves by the Ablution ritual and beg Lurian to stave off the spirits of disease that prey upon the wounded. Should the Priest be unable to do this, the patient will take Fortitude Disease 1 at the end of the scene.
Now the Dying patient should be brought in, and the Priest should perform the Ministrations of Istra on them, but not replace their bandages yet. This will pause the Dying timer. Should the Priest be unable to do this, the patient’s Dying timer will continue.
The Priest should make use of the Lull of Lurian to induce a trance state in the patient. The ceremony is deeply traumatizing if conscious unless the patient is under the Anesthetic effect. Should the patient be conscious and aware during the ceremony, they will be Traumatized and may gain a new Mild Insanity about pain, or increase the severity of an existing Insanity about pain.
The wounds should now be seen to, cutting away fabric and dying flesh so that the mortal wounds can be tended to. This will reveal what caused the patient to begin Dying, and allow the Priest to determine which rite must be called on to save them.
The Operations for Mortal Wounds
-Injury to the Back and the Spine are wounds of cowardice, either in fleeing from battle, or felled by ignoble trickery. The Priest must invoke Hope from the Scriptures, calling out against cowardice and admonishing courage, whilst straightening the patient’s back and binding them in Blessed Bandages to provide stability to the spine.
-Injury to the Gut and abdomen can cause terrible filth to enter the body, an opening that vile spirits are all too willing to take advantage of. Should the gut have been opened and the patient’s insides exposed, the Priest must use boiled Holy Water to perform Ablutions on the very organs of the patient, lest the spirits of filth take hold of them, before returning them to their rightful place within the abdominal cavity.
-Injury to the Chest or Shoulder, or suffering a magic attack from a Water Strike, cause the Lungs to fill with fluid and collapse. The Priest must insert a specially prepared silver lance, hollowed for this purpose, through the patient’s chest and into the lower lungs, allowing the fluid to drain. Then the priest must speak the liturgy of the Breath of Life into the patient’s mouth seven times to induce the lungs to take on their natural shape.
-Injury to the fragile bones in the Lower Arm and Hands require careful reinforcement to the small bones using Blessed Bandages to secure Silver Coffin Nails aligned with each of the patient’s broken bones. The injured limb should be immobilized after treatment is finished.
-Injuries to the Lower Leg and Upper Arm are fractures of the long bones, and require an expertise in the workings of bone for sacred purpose. The Priest must make the patient as a living Icon of Bone, binding the intact bones of the sacred dead to hold the patient’s wounded bones in place.
-Injuries to the Upper Leg cause a grievous loss of blood, and as with other severe Bleedings, must be handled thusly; The Priest must elevate the patient’s feet and legs whilst tightly binding any Bleeding wounds in Blessed Bandages. The Priest must administer the blessing of Respite, feeding the patient salt and holy water. The patient will be Exhausted until they consume a Hearty Meal.
-Should the patient be Downed due to Strikes, either from Arrow, or a magical Earth Strike, or gunfire’s Bang, then the Priest must be careful to remove all debris and traces of the missile from the wound, as it will be deep and piercing. In order to remove the missile without causing further harm to the patient, the Priest must undergo the Lull of Lurian themselves to be put into a trance, so that Lurian may guide their hands precisely.
-If a burning Flame Strike is the cause of the patient’s state, the wound will be widespread and very prone to infection. The Priest must cleanse the entire area with Ablutions before administering a salve of Honey, before applying at least three strips of Blessed Bandages to cover the entire burn wound.
-Should the patient be the victim of Poison then the Priest must expel the bad blood with utmost haste, and they must be careful to Balance Humors such that the poisoned Sanguine humor is counteracted.
-Injuries of the most Hideous sort, dealt by the terrible forces of darkness arrayed against Humanity, may only be truly dealt with in the spiritual realm. The Priest must first beg Lurian to allow a saint passage for a brief time back into the realm of the living, and then must call on a saint for whom they can perform a Relic Veneration. That a saint shall come and do battle against the wicked spirits within the patient’s body, where the Priest cannot, and with Lurian’s blessing they shall be victorious. The patient may thrash with the internal struggle, and the Priest may have to call out prayers to the embattled saint until the spiritual battle is complete. Once it is finished, all the priest can do then is to close up the patient’s wounds and offer a thankful prayer.
The Closing
After the Priest has performed the proper rites for the patient’s Injuries, they must finish by sewing closed all of the patient’s wounds with Benedicta Sutura and wrapping them gently in Blessed Bandages.
Props: four tall white candles, darkened room, makeup kit, see component rituals
Effect: During the ritual, the Priest uses their ‘sacred tools’, a makeup kit, to apply wound makeup to their patient (OOC) as they work to perform surgery (IC) as one in the same act. Should the Priest have all the necessary Rituals for the sort of wound that caused the patient to be Dying, then after this procedure the patient is no longer Dying and is restored to Battered, without gaining any Maims from the process. After saving the patient’s life, the priest gains a Lurihim Achievement.
Sacred Rituals
Sear the Spoiling
Seal a wound against evil spirits
Maleficent spirits are ever present and seek every opening that can be found to enter us and plague us from within. Even when wounds are fresh, they find a way to be bound in with a bandage. Best to erase all doubt and vanquish their presence, though the tax is steep. But the toll for doing the Lord’s work is never paltry.
Ritual: The Priest, while in a Consecrated space, must bring a Bottle of Wine to a boil and pour it upon any and all open wounds to cleanse them of evil spirits. The injuries must then be bound with bandages so that they patient might heal more quickly.
Props: Heated (but not boiling) wine or red liquid; or ice water. Alternately, bandages may be pre-soaked as appropriate and then applied to the subject.
Effect: A Battered patient is burned by the boiling wine and is Traumatized for the next 4 Hours, after which the patient awakes having recovered from Battered, and from any Injuries that were treated with Benedicta Sutura. The Trauma gained from this ritual may not be removed by any means until 4 hours have passed.
Sanctum Hospitium
Create a place of safety and healing
A Sacred space may further beckon the Grace of Lurian, if it is pleasing to His eye. This work shall only be done in a place which is Holy and clean of all malicious intent and free from the stains of Sin. As He is shrouded in moon-white robes, so too shall such a space be draped. And fragrance and smoke which are most pleasing to Him shall be offered day and night. In such a space may the faithful feel the comfort of true sacrosanctity.
Ritual: The priest sanctifies a room or building against the wicked spirits of disease and calls on Lurien to show mercy on those who take refuge within. The walls should be covered with white draping fabric and the entrance should be marked with the Seal of Lurien. Beds should be prepared with clean white cloth, and a bowl of holy water should be placed at the entrance so that all who enter may ceremonially cleanse themselves by Ablution. Once the room is prepared the priest declares to all that within is a sanctuary and vows to protect any human who seeks peace and healing within.
Props: White cloth, bowl of water, Seal of Lurien
Effect: The space counts as Consecrated for the purposes of Lurihim rituals only. While within the sanctified space, everyone gains one Toughness vs Disease, and are passively Stabilized as if two hands were on them. The ritual is immediately broken if any violent act occurs in the sanctified space.
Chirurgery
Reset a badly healed injury.
The blade, God’s most sacred tool. With it, a mere man can control fate. The blade can end life and give it back. It can create and destroy; the fulcrum of time and destiny.
Ritual: Within a Consecrated space, the priest must tightly bind off the affected area with red cord or white cloth inked with the words of the gospel. With a blade of silver, the priest must reopen the wound back to its original state as closely as possible, to call back the flow of time over the wound. The priest must then correct the wound’s alignments and reset it upon a path to heal correctly while reciting from the words of St. Istra’s prayers to Lurian. The patient must not move during this procedure to show courage in the face of death, or else the ritual will fail. Once the work is done, the priest will bathe the injury in holy water then tightly bind it with a bandage.
Prop: knife, red cord or blessed bandage, water
Effect: This Ritual wounds the area that includes the Maim damage. For the remainder of the Event the limb counts as if it were Maimed 1 degree of severity higher. At the beginning of the next Event the Maim will downgrade one level of severity as the area with the wound recovers, available in its improved condition next session. Even fully recovered, a maim healed this way will always be slightly painful to use. This ritual cannot heal head maims. If the ritual is interrupted it fails, and the maim is increased in severity one step.
Exorcise Disease
Diminishes the severity of diseases.
Ritual: The Priest heats incense upon a censer filled with hot coals within a Consecrated space. The more severe the Disease, the more coals must be used. The patient and the Priest breathe in the incense for at least 5 minutes. After that time, if the patient can spend Discipline, they may ask the Priest to proceed, swearing courage against the might of God. If the patient cannot spend Discipline, they cannot muster the courage to ask, and the Priest may not continue the ritual.
The Priest proceeds by emptying the brazier of coals, a little at a time, upon the patient in the area that is most affected by the Disease, praying before Lurian to drive away the possessing ghosts and spirits, and asking the Lord to forgive, through the patient’s submission, any transgressions that have brought forth the lord’s divine judgment.
Prop: Ice cubes
Effect: This treatment is more than many bodies can handle, and the subject takes a Hit to the torso with Power matching the amount of coals used (the Power of the disease to be driven out – 1, 2, or 3). Toughness may be used to resist these Hits. If the patient is Downed by this ritual, it is exceptionally painful, and the subject is also Traumatized and made Miserable by the experience.
After the ritual is complete, the severity of the Disease is reduced by one step.
Ceremony of Trepanation
Improve the mind through chirurgery.
The mind is the seat of thought, and exists within the head. Just as spoiled food rots the gut, spoiled knowledge rots away the mind, creating impure thoughts and actions. There is a way to help those unfortunates, to use the chirurgeon’s art to banish the evil from a mind and invoke a portal to God’s pure grace. Only the crest of the sea through the rise of the solar brow ridge is suitable to this task.
Ritual: While holding the patient still to a table within a Consecrated space, place straps of supple leather across the neck, shoulders, and brow, to be affixed to the table. The priest should use the Lull of Lurian to put the patient into a trance state
Depending on the chirurgeon’s goals for the patient, different techniques may be called for. The priest should consult the diagrams for which procedure is correct. All of these procedures require the use of Surgeon’s Tools.
The Drill, Chirurgery
The priest must use a hand drill to delicately create a hole in the skull plate of the patient, being careful not to penetrate the brain itself. The release of bad humors will reduce the intracranial pressure. This is used to treat most Head Maims. Detached is reduced to Loose Screws, which can be relieved completely and Seizures or Migraines can be reduced to Headaches, which may also be entirely relieved by this procedure.
The Spike, Coffin Nails
The priest must carefully insert Silver Coffin Nails into specialized places in the patient’s brain, binding the evil spirits within their mind. This may be used to lower all of the patient’s Insanities by one grade, but a nail must be inserted for each Insanity reduced this way. To reduce an Insanity by more than one degree, the ritual must be repeated once the patient is Healthy.
There is a more controversial use of the Spike, as it can also be used to “gentle” especially troubled souls. By inserting a silver nail past the occipital bone near to the eye, the patient is permanently given Terrible Resolve, though they are also immune to Misery after the procedure. Nothing short of a miracle can reverse this process. This is mostly commonly done to wizards who have abused their power.
The Knife, Saintly Icon of Bone & Lull of Lurian
While the patient is under the effects of Anesthetic but still conscious, the priest must use a razor sharp knife to remove a coin sized piece of bone from their skull. While their brain is exposed, the patient must be put into a trance state, so that their sleeping mind may be directly influenced. The priest carefully listens to the patient’s reactions while cutting into precise parts of the brain and giving them instruction. The priest fortifies any of the patient’s Beliefs during this process, making them inviolate. Afterwards the patient speaks of the Beliefs in an emotionless, affected way.
After the procedure the removed piece of bone is made into a medallion for the patient to wear. While wearing this medallion, wherever the patient could state the fortified Belief to call Discipline they may instead call No Effect.
Props: Small hand drill, brad nails, knife, straps, egg
Effect: The priest must perform the above actions (drilling a hole, inserting nails, or cutting out a coin sized portion) on a raw egg. The egg should be emptied out through a small hole before beginning.
The patient must be Healthy at the start of the ritual. As soon as the procedure begins, the patient begins Dying. The Operations of Mercy should be performed immediately after this ritual is complete, as if the cause of Dying was a Bleeding wound to the head.
If the egg representing the patient’s skull cracks or breaks for any reason once the ritual has begun, the patient dies. If the egg shell flakes or the cuts are messy and unclean, the ritual fails, but the patient survives.
Saintly Cults
saint Irene, the plaguewarden
A fierce woman in life, Saint Irene is known for her brave actions both in plague-ridden cities and in battle against necromancer who called wicked spirits of disease. Her followers wear her distinctive Corvid masks and armor themselves against disease
Herald of Lurian
Create an armor against illness.
Then should the beak be filled with fragrant herbs, to remove the spoil of wickedness from the breath. Guide you the hand through oiled hide and tie you the wrist with sinew. Let no part of your flesh see the light, such that you dwell in shadow away from all mutable life. Be as his Holy Corviscera, awaiting death with removed vigilance.
Ritual: The priest can create a guise to protect him from the wicked spirits that possess the sick. A suit of oiled leathers is specially crafted and covered in blessed crow’s feathers. A helm and mask must be specifically crafted with a long, hollow beak and goggles with lenses, which is filled with fresh flowers before use. It is customarily worn with a hooded cloak or a wide-brimmed hat. Once the priest obtains the suit of leather armor, she boils it in holy water while intoning prayers to Lurian.
Props: Plague doctor mask, cloak decorated or accented with black feathers, wide brimmed hat or hood
Effect: The Priest must spend 5 Liturgy Effort during a Liturgy Crafting Action to create this special Outfit.
Recipe: Leather Armor Set, Light Repair Kit, Holy Water, Herb with Pleasant trait, Glass
This is a full suit of leather armor that has been customized and sealed against wicked spirits. It continues to act as Light Armor and provides one Armor Call. When worn by any character, they call No Effect against Disease calls or Poison calls made from range, such as inhaled poisons. If a character owns this item, they may be assumed to wear it when a Disease Outbreak occurs as long as they come into play wearing it.
saint Clement, the Healer
This gentle soul was said of have cared so deeply for the sick and the ill that they took on the illness of others, and shed bloody tears for others to be cured. Adherents to this cult make use of icons of the saints likeness and the blood of those who have survived illness to cure those who would not otherwise survive.
Binding Spirit of Disease
The priest uses the essence of wicked spirits to bind the disease assailing their patient, preventing it from progressing.
Vignette
Ritual: The priest must obtain Bezoars of the appropriate essence to the disease they seek to bind and fashion them into amulets bound in silver. The priest and their patient must call out to Lurian to bind the spirit of disease so that it may cause no further harm, after which the patient must wear the blessed amulet until the disease has run its course.
Props: An amulet using a malefica gem, or other colored stone of the appropriate color.
Effect: After receiving the blessing from the Priest, for so long as the patient wears the amulet, the targeted Disease will continue to progress towards recovery, but Attribute loss will not progress any further and they no longer suffer the Battered effect from having a Disease. Any Attribute loss that has already developed from the disease remains, and the patient remains infectious to others.
Once the patient has recovered, the amulet loses its potency and cannot be used again.
The appropriate bezoars are as follows:
Sanguine Essence: Strength and Speed Diseases
Phlegmatic Essence: Fortitude Diseases
Choleric Essence: Intellect and Resolve Diseases
Melancholic Essence: Faith Diseases
Martyr’s Icon of Remedy
The priest uses the blood of someone who has recovered from a disease to create a cure.
Vignette
Ritual: The Priest must carve a small tablet of stone or clay and indent the Seal of Lurian along with the name of the martyr who has successfully defeated the targeted disease. The priest must then use the blood of that martyr to fill in both the Seal and the Name. This Icon of Remedy is now ready for healing.
Once the Icon of Remedy is created, the Priest may pour Holy Water across the bloody name into a silver chalice and administer it to anyone suffering from the same disease that the martyr defeated.
Props:. Tablet with Seal and Name in red.
Effect: Each Icon of Remedy is made for a specific Disease, which must be listed along with its contributor on its Item Tag. Any Spiritual person who drinks the Holy Water from this ritual immediately reduces the level of the specified Disease by one, which may cure it completely.
Saint Agnis, the gravewarden
This saint was the only survivor of a terrible war, and took on the holy duty of burying the many dead. Though it took her years, Saint Agnis was able to remember each one of her fallen city. Those who venerate Saint Agnis take responsibility for their local graveyard, returning the restless dead to their slumber and remembering all who lay there.
Visage of Lurian
The Priest marks their face with the face of Lurian Themself, painting their face to look like a skull. The dead, even those restless and hungry, recognize the Priest as their shepherd, and do them no harm.
Ritual: The Priest must spend time meditating on their own death while in a graveyard, before praying that Lurian will allow them to take up Lurian’s Visage. If the Priest can honestly take up the Belief: Never Fear Death, then they will be allowed Lurian’s protection while they tend to the dead in their care. The Priest must either paint their face to look like a skull, or else wear a decorative skull mask. They should also wear a cowl or hood to cover their head.
Props: Skull face paint or mask, hood or cowl.
Effect: The Priest may choose to take the Belief: Never Fear Death. While they are obeying this Belief and are wearing the Visage of Lurian, then they may call Sacred Obey: “Undead ignore me” at will as long as they do not take violent or overly disruptive action around the undead.
Fossor Artifex
The priest tends to the graves of the holy dead so that they may not be forgotten.
Peace is a dream, and we are not its architect. The Lord desires that we find the path to peace, but it is a dark, winding road, and we only know it by the screams of those who have fallen off the ledge
Ritual: The priest takes charge over the graves of those who have passed on in the Lord’s grace. They must see to it that there is a proper graveyard and should make sure that each body interred there has a grave marker that lists their name and epitaph. Additionally, the priest should ensure that the dead are respected, decorating the graveyard with flowers and white candles. Stories of these Fossor Priests are varied, but it is agreed that the caretakers of the grave are favored by Lurian’s blessings.
Props: Grave markers, flowers, white candles.
Effect: The priest must take care of the Graveyard, but depending on the preparations they perform, they may find the Graveyard to be a place of contemplation and restoration.
For each Priest with this ritual acting as a Fossor in the Graveyard it is assumed that there is a ready grave available each day for burials, without the need for a burying scene, effort, or shovels.
Should the graveyard be well decorated with flowers and candles, the priest may use Spiritual Authority at will, and should use it to keep a calm and decorous atmosphere in this place of eternal rest.
While the Fossor Priest wears the Visage of Lurian and is within the Graveyard they may not only be protected from the Restless Dead, but even have the authority to command them to lay themselves down to rest. If the priest is under both ritual effects and the graveyard has an open grave ready, the Priest may call Sacred Obey: “Undead Lay to Rest”
If there is a Saintly Icon of Bone built within the Graveyard, then meditating upon that shrine is known to bring a sense of deep relief to those in mourning. While the Fossor Priest maintains a Saintly Icon of Bone, those who meditate at it may ignore the effects of one level of Despair for so long as they are within the Graveyard.
Ferry Unto Death
Saint Agnes was said to have terrible nightmares, even while performing her sacred work. It is said that she entered the realm of the dead in her dreams.
Ritual: The Priest lays down on something soft, among candles, with a censor of lit incense at their head while within a Consecrated space. The Priest begins speaking the Prayer of Ministration while performing the following actions: The Priest passes the censor around their own brow seven times. The Priest then pricks their own palms with a silver knife, then washes the blood away with holy water. The Priest washes their own brow with the blood and holy water, then draws or has drawn the Seal of Lurian on their brow. The Lull of Lurian is performed then, by themselves or another, to place the Priest into a trance, and as the trance settles on, the Priest lays – or has laid – a blessed bandage across their eyes as a blindfold, then pulls – or has pulled – a shroud over their face, laying down to sleep.
Props: Candles, ash or eye pencil, censor, inked bandage
Effect: The Priest sleeps, then experiences a powerful nightmare as their soul is sent into the realm of the dead. This experience is perilous, and they will be attacked pitilessly by the restless dead and other wicked things. It is unclear whether or how well weapons or rituals work in their dream to defend them.
During this time, the Priest is said to be able to learn things or speak with the dead, but this experience is difficult to document and not well understood. The Priest may awaken at any time by shouting their intent to do so. If they die within their dream, they awaken with Misery and Despair.
other saints
There are many blessed souls that the church has seen fit to Lionize, and as such this is not the full list of church approved cults.
