Northlandish
Tokiwa-Dai
Land of Five Cities
Southlandish
Demi-human
Titans |
Croyt
(Intermediate God, LG)
Description:
General Aspect:
Goddess of Marriage and Children: Croyt is the sealer of the bonds of matrimony. She is the patron goddess of wives
and mothers and the guardian of the family, especially children. Croyt guides parents in raising their offspring,
she soothes mothers in pregnancy and childbirth, and she resolves arguments between spouses.
Worshippers:
Wives, mothers, parents, midwives, healers, matchmakers.
Holy Items:
Holy symbol (a simple golden ring). Holy water (standard).
Holy Areas:
Worship of Croyt is performed in the home. Community ceremonies such as weddings are performed in a public place.
Restrictions:
Alignment:
Priests: Any Good
Worshippers: Any non-Evil
Racial Requirements:
Any, including humanoids. Priests must be female.
Ability Requirements:
Wisdom: 15
Constitution: 11
Preferred Weapons (in order of preference):
None. Croyt is pacifist, and prohibits her priests from engaging in violence except in dire circumstances. Characters
may use their unused weapon proficiency slots for non-weapon proficiencies.
Armor:
No armor (including helmets and shields) is allowed to Croyt's priests.
Magical Items:
Priests of Croyt can use any magical items normally available to priests, except weapons and armor (non-armor protective
items, e.g. rings, cloaks, etc., are allowed).
Non-weapon Proficiencies:
Required: Cooking, Fire-building. Preferred: Agriculture, Animal Handling, Brewing, Healing, Herbalism, Seamstress,
Weaving.
Miscellaneous Restrictions:
Priests of Croyt must remain chaste until married. Marriage is required before the attainment of fifth level, and
the priest must have borne her own children in order to achieve eighth level. Special dispensations must be requested
for priests who are barren or whose husbands are infertile. Priests of Croyt use the Druid table for level progression.
Spheres:
Major:
All
Charm
Creation
Guardian
Healing
Protection
Wards
Minor:
Animal
Divination
Law
Plant
Time
Travelers
Granted Powers:
Bond
Range: Inf.
Duration: Constant
Preparation Time: 1 year
Area of Effect: Priest's family
Saving Throw: None
Frequency of Use: Constant
Minimum Level: 1
The priest of Croyt is at least as concerned with
her own family as she is with those of her congregation. Due to this care and love, the priest has an unbreakable
Bond with
every member of her immediate family - mother, father, siblings, husband, and children. This Bond enables
the priest to know instantly when a family member is in harm's way, whether due to injury, illness, even imprisonment
or death. Although the priests does know which family member is thus affected, she does not know what exactly is
wrong, nor the location of the person. The priest does not need to concentrate to get this warning, and furthermore
it can function even over dimensional boundaries.
The preparation time of one year applies to infants, adopted children, new siblings, and spouses, during which
time the priest must be in daily contact with the new family member. A Bond
is not developed with stepparents or stepsiblings,
unless the priest was raised from childhood considering them to be family.
Soothe
Range: 3 yds./level
Duration: 1 turn/level
Preparation Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 1 person/level
Saving Throw: Negates (Spell, special adjustments)
Frequency of Use: 1/day/level
Minimum Level: 1
This granted power enables the priest of Croyt to
Soothe
the nerves of one individual per level. A person suffering from non-magical fear or worry will feel more at ease.
Hostile or angry individuals will find their agitation decreased. Hostile or angry subjects can choose to make
a saving throw. The Magical Defense Adjustment for Wisdom is actually reversed for the purposes of this save, so
that subjects with higher Wisdom scores are more likely to be affected. Elves' resistance to charm applies normally.
Ease Pain
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 hour/level
Preparation Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: None
Frequency of Use: 1/day/level
Minimum Level: 2
Using this power, the priest of Croyt removes non-magical
pain from an individual. The source of the pain can be as simple as a headache or as drastic as childbirth. This
power does not actually heal wounds or infirmities, and if the cause of the pain is not cured, it will return with
the end of the duration.
Locate Children
Range: 1 mile/level
Duration: 1 hour/level
Preparation Time: 1 turn
Area of Effect: Special
Saving Throw: None
Frequency of Use: 1/week/level
Minimum Level: 3
This power allows the priest of Croyt to find the
natural offspring of a parent. The parent must be present and wish to know the whereabouts of his or her children.
The priest can sense the direction and approximate distance of all the parent's children. If both parents are present
and willing, the range is increased by 50%; however, any offspring which are blood-related only to one of the two
parents will only be found at half the normal range. This power will not recognize adopted or foster children.
Suckle
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 week/level
Preparation Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 1 woman
Saving Throw: None
Frequency of Use: 1/month
Minimum Level: 4
This granted power causes the subject's breasts
to swell with healthy, wholesome milk, as though she had just given birth. This power is used on women who cannot
naturally produce their own milk. It will also purify the milk of a sick mother. Priests of Croyt have been known
to use this spell upon themselves in order to provide for rescued abandoned infants.
Speedy Labor
Range: Touch
Duration: Special
Preparation Time: 3 turns
Area of Effect: 1 mother
Saving Throw: None
Frequency of Use: 1/month/level
Minimum Level: 5
Priests of Croyt are greatly demanded as midwives
for this granted power. In laying her hands upon a pregnant woman in labor, the priest channels the divine will
of Croyt into the mother's body, ensuring that the labor will be quickly successful and safe for the mother. It
does not ensure the safety of the infant, though the power does not cause any harm in itself.
Fidelity
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 day/level
Preparation Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 1 married couple
Saving Throw: Neg. (Spell)
Frequency of Use: 1/week/level
Minimum Level: 7
One of the priest of Croyt's primary duties is marriage
counseling. On a regular basis, the priest will have to deal with parishioners who believe that their spouses are
unfaithful. The Fidelity granted power lets the truth be known. All marriages blessed
by Croyt involve the exchange of gold wedding bands, which this power makes use of. The priest invokes the name
of Croyt upon the ring of one of the spouses (presumably the suspicious one).
From that point until the end of the duration of the power, neither spouse is able to remove their ring short of
a Remove Curse
spell. Furthermore, whenever either of the spouses intends or performs unfaithful actions, two effects will occur.
First, the ring of the offending spouse begins to tighten uncomfortably. The farther the spouse goes in his or
her unfaithful act, the tighter the ring becomes, eventually causing severe pain. In extraordinary circumstances
(if the spouse persists for hours in adulterous activities), the finger can be permanently damaged.
The second effect is notification to the other spouse. The ring of the offender's marriage partner will grow begin
to chill, eventually becoming cold as ice.
Note that intent to commit an act is not the same as fantasizing about an act that the individual has no intention
of committing. Contrarily, actions performed without intent of unfaithfulness (e.g., attempting to remove the ring
before working in filthy conditions) are distinguished from the same actions with adulterous intent (e.g., attempting
to remove the ring in order to pretend to be single). In all, unfaithfulness is defined by the laws of Croyt rather
than the perception of the spouses; while a jealous wife may be infuriated that her husband frequently talks with
a neighboring woman, and may perceive it as a slight against herself, the Fidelity
power will not respond unless he actually
has adulterous intentions.
Turning Undead:
Priests of Croyt turn undead as normal.
Ethos:
The church of Croyt is a community-based,
family-oriented faith. The priesthood of Croyt is made up of women, both married and single, who serve as guides,
counselors, and protectors to the families in their parishes. This reflects the feminine focus of the religion;
it is considered to be the woman's responsibility to maintain and preserve the marriage and the family.
Croyteanism is based on a set of tenets, duties of the wife and mother:
- Protection of the family
- Maintenance of the household
- Honor and respect for husband
- Honor and respect for parents
These principles are listed here in order of importance. It is recognized that completion of one the first two
sometimes requires temporarily suspending the third or fourth. These are sometimes referred to as the "Four
Breasts of Croyt," by which the family is nurtured. Croyt's upper two breasts, Protection of the family and
Maintenance of the household, are larger and fuller than her lower two breasts, but these, Honor and respect for
husband and for parents, are said to produce sweeter milk. Protection of children and family is a strong doctrine
of the church of Croyt. As the parish community is the secondary family of the priest, she is charged with safeguarding
them. Due to the pacificist nature of the Croytean faith, this usually means keeping them out of danger, but in
dire circumstances, Croyt grants her priests powerful offensive magics. A priest who neglects her duties to the
extent that her parish is destroyed must quest for atonement, a mission that usually ends, after many detours,
with appointment to a new parish.
The second doctrine of Croyteanism is maintenance of the household. The wife and mother must be able to provide
for her family, sometimes without the aid of her husband. Even the daughter of infirm or dead parents must act
responsibly and take over the duties of raising her siblings. Because of this, the woman must be able not only
to cook, sew, weave, launder, and other basic household chores, but also to work the fields, attend the shop, and
purchase provisions in her husband's absence. The priest's household is her parish, and she is responsible for
ascertaining that the buildings, community tools, and shared resources (dams, mills, etc.) are in good repair.
Spouses are taught to honor, respect, and support one another, and to provide for their family. The bond of matrimony
is lifelong, and the church of Croyt does not recognize divorces, though remarriage after widowhood is acceptable.
Chastity before marriage is promoted, and though surreptitious and occasional fornication by unmarried persons
is often overlooked, habitual offenders are considered outside the church. Adultery is a cardinal sin, and though
it is not grounds for divorce, the adulterous partner may be punished with public humiliation, and in extreme or
repeat cases the offended partner has the option to take up a separate residence.
Croyt is frequently represented as a beautiful, plump, four-breasted woman. She is generally portrayed wearing
a skirt or apron and a shirt left open, exposing her lactating breasts.
Hierarchical Organization:
The church of Croyt is divided into
parishes, groups of which collect into dioceses. Each parish comprises a single community, usually a village or
town, for which there is one Holy Mother. Although larger cities have only one Holy Mother, she may have lower-level
ordained assistant priests in various neighborhoods and suburbs of the city. The parish priest's duties, in addition
to the protection and upkeep of the community as described above, include performing weddings, baptisms, and family
counseling. Many priests also perform matchmaking services for their parishioners, a practice which is supported
by the church. Priests from neighboring parishes sometimes maintain a network of information regarding eligible
bachelors and maidens in the area.
The most superior priest in the diocese becomes the Superior Mother, who performs episcopal functions such as ordination,
appointment, transferal, and marriages of subordinate priests. Superior Mothers also attend annual synods, gatherings
of the Superior Mothers from a region or country to discuss church policy, to advise one another, and to select
Superior Mothers for vacant sees.
The preferred means of succession within a parish is by apprenticeship. The current Holy Mother chooses a willing
and suitable young woman from her community to become an apprentice. Because of the respect and honor accorded
to priests of Croyt within a community, there are usually many volunteers. The apprentice studies under the Holy
Mother until the Holy Mother's death or retirement, at which time she is ordained as the new Holy Mother of the
community. In most cases, appointment is lifelong, but priests with a promising future are sometimes transferred
to parishes which need particular attention. If a Holy Mother dies without leaving an apprentice to take her place,
the Superior Mother appoints an apprentice from a different parish (usually an assistant from an urban parish)
to the vacancy.
It is highly irregular for a priest of Croyt to travel for long periods away from her parish and away from her
own family. In extreme situations, the apprentice or a substitute priest will take over an absent priest's duties.
For duties or missions requiring extensive traveling or time away from the parish, an unmarried apprentice or assistant
priest is selected.
Holy Mothers do not perform regular services. Devoted households set a place of honor at the table for Croyt at
every meal. A priest's duty to her flock requires that she spend much of the day, depending on the size of her
parish, visiting households and counseling parishioners. There are no specifically holy days in Croyteanism, but
the Spring equinox is considered to be an auspicious day for weddings, and in many parishes this means a gigantic,
joyous, day-long community celebration of most, if not all, of the weddings planned for the year.
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