You know what we need? Deities. And now we've got 'em. In the following descriptions, the word 'supplicant' will be used to mean 'the person making the prayer', owing to the fact that the former sounds a lot less clunky than the latter.

Prayers cost specific amounts of karma, and sometimes impose other penalties on the supplicant. It is worth noting that in situations of dire need a prayer may be answered even when the supplicant has insufficient karma. In this case, the supplicant's karma will go negative: by praying too much, they've gotten their deity annoyed at them. Also note that except when otherwise specified, prayers made during combat take a full round to complete.

Not all characters support a specific deity. Some characters are polytheists. Polytheists have karma from each deity calculated separately, and the karmic cost of a prayer answered by a particular deity will be subtracted from the supplicant's karma with that deity. However, prayers made by polytheists will usually only be answered in situations of desperate need, and even then will cost twice the usual amount of karma. All comments relating to followers of a deity who have bad karma also apply to polytheists - and since polytheists are likely to have bad karma with at least a few deities at any time, they pay for their versatility with constant misfortune.

A few characters are atheists. These characters are naturally cynical and suspicious of everything, regarding so-called miracles and divine intervention as just magic in disguise. As a result of their distrust of what they see around them, they gain a +3 resistance to psionic attacks. However, awards of both good and bad karma have only 10% of their usual value. Furthermore, their prayers will almost never be answered unless their lives are in immediate danger. If, in desperation, an atheist prays and the prayer is answered, the atheist must immediately convert either to polytheism or to worship of the deity who answered the prayer. Upon conversion, the former atheist loses the bonus to psionic resistance and gains all bonuses and penalties of their new religion.

Unless otherwise noted, prayers that affect the supplicant can only be used on the supplicant - they cannot affect others.

A final note on stat bonuses/penalties granted by deities: at character creation, before bonuses and penalties are applied, a PC's allocated stats must all be no less than 10. So if a deity gives a 50% penalty to Wisdom, for example, the PC may allocate 10 points of Wisdom to end up with 5, but may not allocate 2 points to end up with 1. All fractional points after bonuses/penalties are rounded down: 11 plus a 20% bonus becomes 13, while 11 minus a 20% penalty becomes 8.

Trivuline: Goddess of Wisdom

Trivuline is normally depicted as an old woman in flowing, light blue robes, with a third eye in the middle of her forehead. Followers of Trivuline have their natural Wisdom increased by 50%, but gain HP as if they only had half as much Endurance as they do. (Endurance itself is not affected, only HP gain.)

Trivuline's festival is at the start of the month of Jejune, the first month of spring and the first month of the year. Hers is the Festival of the Census, in which the people rejoice at the opportunity to give personal information to government census takers who pass by their houses. In practice, most of the festivities are more to welcome the new year than to welcome the census collectors. At the festival, it is traditional for each household to slaughter an an animal and bring its head to the priests to be sacrificed; the rarer and more valuable the animal, the more karma it brings as a sacrifice.

Being the goddess of wisdom, Trivuline bestows good karma upon those of her followers who seek to acquire knowledge and act in a wise manner, so as to most effectively obtain whatever it is they seek. Trivuline is a morally neutral deity - she doesn't care what your ultimate goals are, as long as you try to accomplish them wisely. However, Trivuline will bestow bad karma on those who by impatience, rash judgment or taking foolish risks jeopardise the success of their endeavours. Followers of Trivuline who have low karma will find themselves becoming slow-witted and less alert: they will fail to notice vital details of various situations.

The following prayers can be made to Trivuline:

Understanding: The supplicant will be able to understand at least part of any writings or speech in any language, and will also possess minor empathic abilities: the ability to sense the emotions of others nearby and influence their emotions to some degree. Use of this prayer costs 10 karma. The effects of the prayer wear off after 8 hours.

Insight: The supplicant is granted telepathy: the ability to hear and transmit thoughts. Psionic resistance will also be increased by 3 points (so -1 would become +2, and +1 would become +4.) This prayer costs 20 karma. The effects of the prayer last 8 hours.

Knowledge: The supplicant is given scrying capabilities, becoming able to see one area anywhere in the world or know all the properties of one item. The cost of this prayer is 25 karma per item or area scried. Scrying of an item, particularly an artifact, gives *much* more thorough knowledge of it than is granted by the Self-Knowledge prayer (see below).

Self-Knowledge: The supplicant will become aware of any abnormal effects influencing them (such as diseases, curses and so on). All items possessed by the supplicant will be identified in terms of their basic properties (so the supplicant might learn an item was a staff of healing, but not how powerful it was or perhaps even how to activate it). The cost of this prayer is 40 karma.

Lemur: God of Animals

Lemur is typically depicted as a man with long brown hair and piercing green eyes. He wears a coarse brown cloak and usually holds a crude stone knife. Often he is depicted as a human with the head of an animal, particularly a lion or wolf. Followers of Lemur adapt to better resist extreme elemental conditions, increasing their resistances to Fire, Cold, Acid, Electricity and Poison by 1 point each. However, their Wisdom score is reduced by 5 points. Lemurians *can* be powerful spellcasters, but they will effectively only have 95 points to allocate among their stats.

Lemur's festival is at the start of the month of Proem, the second month of the year. His is the Festival of the Hunt, where animals are released in the lands around every town and caught by the townspeople. Caught animals are then brought to the priests to be sacrificed. A wild animal, if caught, is considered to bring the most karma when sacrificed, especially if captured alive. A rat purchased from the local ratcatcher for a handful of coins is not considered quite so noble an offering.

Lemur is the god of animals. As such, he is the protector of all animals, including humans. His moral alignment is basically good. Those who protect and help animals earn good karma with Lemur, whereas those who intentionally allow harm to come to animals without an overriding good cause earn bad karma with Lemur. Lemur dislikes civilised society, regarding it as unnatural; many of Lemur's followers lead a somewhat reclusive lifestyle. Followers of Lemur who have a low karma will find that animals tend to distrust and shun them, and animals of an aggressive temperament will be more likely to attack them.

The following prayers may be made to Lemur:

Instinct: The supplicant will receive advice in certain situations involving decision-making between a number of options (such as which passageway to take at an intersection in a dungeon). The cost of this prayer is 5 karma per decision advised on.

Enhanced Senses: The supplicant becomes capable of detecting tiny movements, sounds and scents, developing senses comparable to those of the most sensitive of animals. The cost of this prayer is 10 karma, and its effects last 8 hours.

Animal Magnetism: The supplicant is granted the power of empathic communication with animals and unintelligent monsters. While these empathic powers are in effect, the supplicant may issue simple commands to animals and unintelligent monsters, as long as the animals are not hostile toward the supplicant and the total levels of all animals affected by a command is no greater than the supplicant's level. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma for 8 hours of empathic communication plus 5 karma for every command issued.

(In combat, each command takes one full round to issue, and the animals will revert to their usual behaviour - though not attacking the supplicant or the supplicant's allies - when not being commanded. A single command may be issued to multiple animals of the same species, as long as the sum total of their levels is no greater than the caster's level.)

Shape Shift: The supplicant changes into an animal or natural monster of a level no greater than the supplicant's. In this form, the supplicant has none of their normal abilities, instead possessing the full powers of whatever creature they transformed into. All items in the supplicant's possession at the time of transformation merge into the animal form - they cannot be used while the supplicant is transformed, but will reappear once the supplicant reverts to their normal form. This prayer costs 50 karma.

If the supplicant so wishes, they may return to their normal form at any time. However, the maximum duration of transformation possible is 1 hour, multiplied by the level of the shapeshifter, divided by the level of the creature transformed into. (Note that many animals have fractional levels less than 1: a level-1 character might transform into a small bird with a level of 0.1, allowing them to remain transformed for up to 10 hours. Of course, if they got attacked in that form, they'd be screwed.) Whether transformed back willingly or due to the duration expiring, the physical shock of the transformation will weaken the supplicant when they return to normal form, reducing their current HP by 50%.

Halumria: Goddess of Life

Halumria is typically depicted as a young woman dressed in flowing white robes, often holding a small bird of some sort in one hand. Followers of Halumria have their holy/evil resistances calculated as if their alignment were shifted one point toward good. For example, a neutral Halumrian (normally +3 Holy, -3 Evil) would have +4 holy resistance and -2 Evil resistance, while a slightly evil Halumrian (normally +2/-2) would have +3 and -3 resistances.

Halumria's festival, the Festival of the Planting, takes place at the start of the month of Esker, the third month of the year. At this time, seeds are planted and prayers are made in order to bless the harvest. A portion of the seeds are not planted in the usual way but are instead given to Halumria as a sacrifice - every person is expected to contribute to the cost of the seeds sacrificed, if only by purchasing a small bag of seeds. The more seeds, and the more valuable the seeds, the more karma they earn with Halumria. (You may be getting the impression by now that a festival is, at least in part, a pretty convenient excuse to buy some karma. If so, you've made a pretty accurate assessment of the situation.)

Since Halumria is the goddess of life, all life is precious to her, including humans, animals and even plants. Saving lives will earn good karma with Halumria, while killing is only excusable if it is done in order to save lives. Killing any living being, even an evil one, will earn bad karma with Halumria unless the killing was unavoidable without greater loss of life. Halumrians with bad karma are more likely to suffer from illnesses, and will generally be more vulnerable to all forms of harm.

The following prayers may be made to Halumria:

Healing: Restores all of the supplicant's HP. This prayer costs 10 karma. Unfortunately, it has a side effect - every time it is used, all the supplicant's resistances are decreased by 1 rank (possibly reaching as low as -X). Resistances can only be restored by surviving a damaging encounter without praying - each such encounter will increase all resistances by 1 rank, up to their original levels.

Restoration: Cures all status ailments affecting the supplicant. Obviously, this prayer can only be invoked if the supplicant is in any condition to pray - an unconscious, insane, completely paralysed, petrified or dead character cannot pray. The cost of this prayer is 25 karma.

Revival: One dead character is restored to life (at the DM's discretion, this prayer may also affect other permanently incapacitating conditions, such as petrification). This prayer costs 50 karma, and Halumria may demand a quest from the supplicant either before or after the resurrection takes place. The quest will generally involve saving lives, and failure to complete it may result in either the prayer being ignored or severe bad karma being inflicted on the supplicant. After being revived, the resurrected character will sleep for 24 hours before awakening.

Divine Healing: The supplicant and all allies immediately have their HP fully restored, without any of the side-effects of the Healing prayer. The catch? The prayer's cost - 100 karma.

Ein: Goddess of Love

Ein is typically depicted as a scantily-clad woman, smiling enigmatically. By human standards, she's incredibly beautiful and her smile is very seductive. By anyone else's standards, she tends to look rather sinister. Einites have their alignment-based resistances shifted toward good in much the same way as Halumrians. They also get a +1 bonus to Charisma, but a -1 penalty to Psionic resistance.

Being the goddess of love, Ein demands that her followers earn good karma by sacrificing personal gain for the sake of others. Conversely, any sort of selfish action will earn bad karma. Einites with bad karma will have their charisma reduced, and will find that they are generally less popular and well-liked than they were before.

Ein's festival is the Festival of Unity, which takes place at the start of Zephyr, the fourth month of the year. This is the only day of the year on which people may be legally married. Since the sacrifice (symbolic or otherwise) of virgins has gone out of fashion in recent times, the festival is now used to assist the poor - in order to earn good karma with Ein, people are expected to work in orphanages, donate to charities and so on. The more assistance provided (and the greater the inconvenience incurred as a result), the more karma is earned.

The following prayers may be made to Ein:

Friendship: One target immediately becomes slightly less hostile and more friendly toward the supplicant. The cost of this prayer is 5 karma.

Sacrifice: The supplicant loses 50% of their current HP, but one ally is fully healed and cured of all ailments short of death. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma.

Restore Soul: The supplicant permanently loses one point of Endurance, but a dead ally is revived. The cost of this prayer is 40 karma. Although the revived ally will be conscious upon revival, they will be incapable of any physical or mental exertion greater than walking or normal conversation until they have slept for at least 8 hours.

Love's Gift: The supplicant's HP is immediately reduced to 0, rendering them incapable of further participation in combat (and at severe risk of death if attacked), but all allies are fully healed. The cost of this prayer is 70 karma.

Paltine: God of Time

Paltine appears as an ancient man in ragged clothing. He constantly has a blank expression on his face, as if intently watching something nobody else can see. Followers of Paltine gain 5 points of Agility, but have their Endurance reduced by 20% of its allocated value (an Endurance score of 25 would become 20, for example).

Paltine is a highly lawful deity, respecting only one 'proper' way to get things done. This way is almost invariably the most thorough and time-consuming way. Doing things in this way will earn good karma with Paltine. Taking shortcuts to save time, however, will earn bad karma with Paltine. However, although Paltinites may not save time, they may not waste it either - time not spent toward productive activity is time spent earning bad karma. Paltinites with bad karma will find that they never have quite enough time to do everything they need to do.

Paltine's festival is the Festival of Passing, held at the start of Lambent, the first month of summer and the fifth month of the year. In this festival, people acknowledge the passage of time and resolve to spend their time more productively in future. The old are honoured at this festival - any form of assistance provided to the elderly will earn good karma with Paltine.

The following prayers may be made to Paltine. Note that unlike other prayers, Paltine's prayers do not require a full round to complete - they take effect instantaneously and may be invoked while taking some other action:

Haste: For the duration of combat, the supplicant will always move first in each round except against other hasted characters, and can move twice as fast through the bands (4 bands without a physical attack, or 2 bands with an attack). This prayer costs only 5 karma, but using it causes the supplicant to be aged by one month (20 days).

Slow: All opponents of the supplicant have their movement capabilities halved (1 band without an attack, no bands with an attack), and can move only after all allies have finished moving. If Slow affects a hasted character, the two effects cancel each other out. This prayer costs 20 karma and lasts for the duration of combat.

Stasis: This prayer places a willing target in temporal stasis until the supplicant chooses to reanimate them. While in stasis, the target will not age, and the course of disease and poisoning will not progress, but they will not be capable of any action. The cost of this prayer is 25 karma.

Time's Healing: This prayer fully heals the supplicant, restoring all HP and curing any bad status effect which would normally wear off with time (but good status effects which wear off with time will also be negated). The cost of this prayer is 30 karma, and using it causes the supplicant to age one month.

Time Stop: Everything currently occurring around the world is frozen in place - allies, enemies, even projectiles in mid-flight. This prayer only lasts a short time (2 or 3 rounds in combat, about a minute outside of combat), but the supplicant can affect their surroundings while time is stopped - attacking opponents, opening doors and so on. The cost of this prayer is 50 karma, and using it ages the supplicant by one year.

Initirvia: Goddess of the Seas

Initirvia is generally depicted as a tall young woman with blue robes swept back as if by a strong wind, often with one arm outstretched above and in front of her as if grasping at something. Followers of Initirvia receive a bonus of 2 points to Cold resistance, but penalties of 2 points to both Electric and Fire resistance. In addition, their Agility is increased by 20%.

Initirvia is a chaotic deity, ever-changing as the wind and unstable as the waves. Her followers must be equally adaptable, seizing opportunity whenever it presents itself, in order to earn good karma. Initirvia despises those who through fear or caution remain in the comfort of the old and the known, and will inflict bad karma upon them. Initirvians with bad karma will find themselves plagued by constant bad weather (where 'bad' is the exact opposite of whatever weather conditions would be ideal at any given time), and are quite likely to suffer shipwrecks when at sea.

Initirvia's festival is the Festival of the Catch, held at the start of Shamal, the sixth month of the year. Those in coastal towns traditionally flock to the waters in order to catch as many fish as possible. At the end of the day, each person sacrifices one fish from their catch: the more valuable this fish, the more karma it earns.

The following prayers may be made to Initirvia:

Wave Motion: The supplicant and all allies will always move first in every round for the duration of combat, except against other hasted opponents. The cost of this prayer is 10 karma.

Control Weather: This prayer affects local weather conditions in the supplicant's immediate surroundings. Winds up to gale force, rain, small hail or light snow may be created or suppressed, and a temperature change of up to 50 degrees Farenheit (20 degrees Celsius) may be effected. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma for every 24 hours it is maintained.

Breakwater: All damage received by the supplicant and all allies is reduced by 50%. However, this prayer is only effective as long as the supplicant continues praying, to the exclusion of other actions. The cost of this prayer is 25 karma per round.

Second Wave: Two actions may be taken by the supplicant in the round in which the prayer is invoked. Any action is permissible - attacking physically, casting a spell, using an item or invoking another prayer. Obviously, the Second Wave prayer does not take a full round to invoke. The cost of this prayer is 40 karma. [Theoretically, it's possible to 'chain' Second Wave prayers - a prayer, an action, a prayer, an action, and so on - to gain an unlimited number of actions in one round. In practice, the karmic cost of the prayer almost always prevents more than 2 or 3 extra actions being taken in this way. Since this method is less karma-efficient than the standard use of this prayer, it's not really too big a loophole.]

Levine: God of Light

Levine is normally depicted as a stern, thin, middle-aged man in the robes of a priest. Levinites have their alignment shifted one rank toward good, much like followers of Ein and Halumria.

Levine is the god of light and, by extension, holiness. Followers of Levine are expected to shun material comforts beyond the basic necessities for survival, preferably donating all excess wealth to the church. Aiding holy institutions such as the church, either by donations or other means, earns good karma for Levinites - succumbing to the temptations of the material world is punished with bad karma. The destruction of creatures viewed as innately evil, such as undead and demons, also earns good karma. Conversely, willingly associating with such evil creatures or the commission of evil acts oneself will earn bad karma with Levine.

As one would expect, Levinites are rather over-represented among the priests of the Pantheon; paladins are almost invariably followers of Levine. Followers of Levine who have bad karma will find themselves becoming a magnet for evil forces: undead and demons will hunt them down and attempt to destroy them.

Levine's festival, the Festival of Initiation, occurs at the start of the month of Calcine, the seventh month of the year. This is the day on which priests are initiated into the church, and elected officials are inaugurated. (This festival is more than half a year after the actual election day, which tends to lead to officials being re-elected for at least two years on the basis that 5 months isn't long enough for a leader to prove themselves. If it weren't for the festivals, a much more reasonable solution would be making the election day closer to the inauguration day, but that's not gonna happen.) During this festival, people spend some of their time doing work for the church in order to earn good karma - the more the church is assisted, the more karma is earned.

The following prayers may be made to Levine:

Illumination: The supplicant glows with a brilliant light, equivalent in many ways to the light from a bright lantern but generating no heat. This light is sufficient to fully illuminate everything within a 40-foot radius of the supplicant. The cost of this prayer is 5 karma; the light fades away after 8 hours, or can be 'switched off' voluntarily at any time before that. Note that the light is *not* equivalent to sunlight for creatures such as vampires who are harmed by exposure to the sun.

Enlightenment: The supplicant is informed of all the properties of one item or creature - its power and abilities, and (in the case of a creature) strengths and weaknesses. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma per item or creature information is provided upon: more than one enlightenment may occur in a single round.

Vision: The supplicant sees and hears all that is happening in one part of the world for a few moments. The cost of this prayer is 25 karma per area. The larger the area seen, the less detail; a room could be viewed as if the supplicant were standing in the middle of it, but a city could only be seen as a distant overview.

Second Sight: The supplicant's perception is enhanced. For 8 hours, they become capable of seeing invisible creatures, are immune to illusions of all sorts, and can sense the general magical auras of items, creatures and places (for example, a cursed item will radiate a detectable aura of evil, but the exact nature of the curse will not be known.) The cost of this prayer is 40 karma.

Divine Radiance: Holy light shines upon all enemies of the caster, striking them down. This light behaves as if it were a holy attack with a base damage of 20, and were cast by someone with a Wisdom of 100 and a level equal to that of the caster. The cost of this prayer is 50 karma.

Mirus: God of the Sun

Mirus is generally depicted as an obese man dressed in fine clothing and holding a sceptre. Followers of Mirus gain +2 to both Light and Fire resistance, but suffer a penalty of -3 to Cold resistance.

Mirus, being the god of the sun, is a somewhat kingly figure, and represents social order. Mirites are expected to actively participate in their society, whether as leaders or followers; working to improve their society will earn them good karma. Antisocial behaviour, on the other hand, earns bad karma with Mirus. Mirus also dislikes misers, bestowing good karma upon those who put their money to good use as soon as they earn it and inflicting bad karma upon those who hoard wealth for no particular purpose (saving up money to buy a specific item which one greatly desires is okay, but saving up a large amount of money just in case one happens to need it later isn't.) Followers of Mirus who have bad karma will find themselves ostracised from society, despised by their leaders and resented by their followers.

Mirus's festival, the Festival of Radiance, occurs at the start of the month of Haslet, the eighth month of the year. On this day, people think about how they can assist in making a better society, valuable items are sacrificed to Mirus and gifts are exchanged between people. The greater the total value of the items given away, the more karma they earn.

The following prayers can be made to Mirus:

Sunlight: The supplicant will radiate an aura equivalent in all respects to full sunlight, becoming able to see great distances anywhere within their line of sight. Creatures harmed by exposure to the sun will be affected just as if they were struck by direct sunlight while in the presence of the supplicant. This prayer costs 10 karma, and lasts 8 hours or until voluntarily dispelled.

Fading Light: All the supplicant's HP are belong to us restored instantly. Unfortunately, all HP restored by this means will gradually be lost over time, and after an hour or so the supplicant will be back to their original state of health. However, this HP loss will never cause the supplicant's HP to drop below 1, even if they took further damage during the time in which their HP was fading. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma.

Sunbeam: Blazing sunlight breaks through any roof or canopy above the supplicant and burns its way to the supplicant's enemies, damaging all of them. This spell inflicts damage in the same way as Levine's Divine Radiance prayer, except that it is Light-elemental rather than Holy-elemental. The cost of this prayer is 50 karma.

Healing Sunrise: The HP of the supplicant and all allies begins to regenerate over time. For every 5 seconds of time that passes, or every round of combat, each ally will be healed by 1 HP per experience level (so a level-10 character would regain 10 HP every 5 seconds, or 120 HP every minute.) The cost of this prayer is 60 karma, and its effects last one hour.

Soltrone: Goddess of Peace

Soltrone is normally depicted as an old woman dressed in white robes and holding a book in one hand, with a kindly expression on her face. Followers of Soltrone gain +1 to all resistances and have Endurance increased by 20%, but have Strength reduced by 50%.

Soltrone is the goddess of peace, and therefore despises all forms of violence and combat. Resolving situations without resorting to violence will earn good karma with Soltrone, while every battle actively participated in earns bad karma. Those who have bad karma with Soltrone will find themselves plagued by war and strife wherever they go.

Soltrone's festival, the Festival of Reflection, occurs at the start of the month of Ascus, the first month of autumn and the ninth month of the year. In this festival, people look back on what they have done throughout the year and try to lead a more peaceful life in future. During this festival, the sick and infirm are honoured - any form of assistance given to sick people earns good karma on the day of the festival.

The following prayers may be made to Soltrone:

[Note that Soltrone is one of only three deities whose prayers can also be used in the large-scale battle system, if used by the commander of a force. (The other two are Xolthax, and Initirvia's Control Weather prayer.) When used in this way, the prayers do not take a full round to take effect.]

Truce: All damage inflicted in the battle currently taking place is reduced to 10% of its normal amount, effectively causing combat to run at a ridiculously slow rate. This prayer costs 10 karma and lasts for the duration of battle or until voluntarily ended. In the large-scale battle system, the prayer still costs 10 karma but its effects are different: it doubles one unit's defensive power and halves its offensive power (fractions rounded down).

Calm: All characters with hostile or violent intentions toward the supplicant will immediately stop fighting and become neutral toward the supplicant (although they will certainly become hostile again if attacked.) This prayer costs 20 karma, and its effects generally last just long enough for the supplicant and their allies to escape from their enemies. In the large-scale battle system, this prayer prevents one enemy unit from taking any action for one round.

Lucidity: The supplicant and all allies are cured of mental ailments, become able to see the invisible, see illusions for what they truly are, and gain +2 to their Psionic resistance. This prayer costs 35 karma, and its effects last one hour.

Tiele: Goddess of Fire

Tiele is usually depicted as a young woman, sometimes a child, with short red hair, dressed in fine clothing and wielding a sword. Followers of Tiele gain +2 to Fire and Cold resistances, but suffer a penalty of -5 to Endurance.

As the goddess of fire, Tiele represents youth and activity. She despises misers and cowards, inflicting bad karma upon them, while she gives good karma to those willing to fight for their beliefs, regardless of risk. Adventurers, political activists and missionaries may all be Tielians. Followers of Tiele who have bad karma may find themselves lacking in courage and resolve in desperate situations.

Tiele's festival, the Festival of Taxation, occurs at the start of Thuja, the tenth month of the year. At this festival, the common people rejoice [in theory, at least] at the chance to give away a portion of their income to the government. Tax rate for adventurers in Alelith is 10% of total income: in other nations, or if the adventurer happens to also be earning income from another source, the tax rate may be higher. On this day, the churches also try to collect money from people: the more money freely donated, the more karma is earned.

The following prayers may be made to Tiele:

Firelight: A small flame appears, floating above the supplicant's hand. The flame's light is sufficient to illuminate an area up to 30 feet in front of the supplicant, or to set fire to ordinary wood or other flammable material. (The supplicant must place their hand within one foot of the material to be ignited.) The cost of this prayer is 5 karma, and the flame can be maintained for up to one hour.

Cleansing Fire: This prayer will cure most status ailments (just about anything short of death) from any one target (possibly the supplicant, but not necessarily). However, this power comes at a price - the recipient of this prayer's effects will have their current HP reduced by 50%. This is still a small price to pay if it cures an otherwise fatal disease, though. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma.

Rebirth: The next time the supplicant dies, they will automatically be resurrected. Revival takes a few minutes to occur, and will cause a permanent loss of one point of Endurance. The cost of this prayer is 30 karma.

Rain of Fire: Flames rain from the heavens, inflicting fire-elemental damage on all enemies. This prayer is similar to the Divine Radiance and Sunbeam prayers: see those for details of how damage is calculated. The cost of this prayer is 50 karma.

Ylthrine: Goddess of Plants

Ylthrine is normally depicted as a young woman surrounded by vines, ferns and plants of all varieties. Followers of Ylthrine gain +1 to Poison and Light resistance, but lose -2 to Fire resistance.

Ylthrine's festival, the Festival of the Harvest, occurs at the start of the month of Fallow, the eleventh month of the year. On this day, the harvest begins. Much of the produce harvested on this day is sacrificed by farmers, or sold to other people who then sacrifice it. The more produce sacrificed, the more karma earned.

Ylthrine is the goddess of plants. Therefore, not surprisingly, most of her followers are radical environmentalists. Eating any part of a plant other than the fruit is frowned upon; if a fruit is eaten, its seeds should be planted. Eating seeds, or products made from seeds (such as bread), is frowned upon by Ylthrine and will earn bad karma. Other forms of deliberate destruction or exploitation of plants, of course, also earn bad karma: Ylthrinites can't burn firewood or use any other wooden products unless they were made from dead wood collected off the ground. (A few shops actually offer "Ylthrine-friendly" wood and wood products, at a highly inflated price). Good karma is earned by improving plant welfare. Many Ylthrinians keep a garden, but of course for most adventurers this is not an option. Therefore, many adventurers instead choose to plant a few seeds from plants appropriate to the climate of every new location they arrive in.

Followers of Ylthrine who have bad karma will find that nature seems to have turned against them: harsh terrain and bad weather will affect them a little more than it affects others, and food they carry will decay faster than usual.

The following prayers may be made to Ylthrine:

Plant Communication: The supplicant gainst the ability to conduct simple, short-range telepathic communication with plants. The supplicant may ask the plants for any information, and they will answer to the best of their knowledge. The cost of this prayer is 5 karma, and it lasts 8 hours, but there's a catch - all forms of communication with animals, whether verbal or by other means, are impossible for the duration of the prayer's effects, and its effects cannot be ended before the 8-hour duration expires.

Plant Command: The supplicant can issue simple commands to plants in the surrounding area, and also plant-like monsters who are non-hostile toward the supplicant and of total levels adding to no greater than the supplicant's level. Normal plants be can be ordered to perform simple tasks such as entwining around an object, but cannot do anything that would involve uprooting themselves unless they are normally able to do so; plant-like monsters can perform their full normal range of actions, but will revert to normal behaviour [though not attacking the supplicant or their allies] when not being commanded. In combat, commanding plants takes a full round of the supplicant's time. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma per 8 hours of commands plus 5 karma per command issued (a single command can affect multiple plants of the same species.)

Animate Plant: This prayer transforms a tree into a treant, of the same level as the supplicant. It has a Strength and Endurance of 40 (therefore an HP of 130 * level), an Agility of 20, and a Wisdom of 0. Its resistances are +1 Piercing, +2 Poison, +2 Light, -3 Fire, +3 Holy and -3 Evil. It hits with its branches to inflict Bludgeoning damage, and its weapon and armor strength and skill are at the optimal values for its level. Full telepathic communication and command are possible, but in combat, either the supplicant or the treant can act in one round, not both. The treant has two abilities apart from its physical attack: Plant Communication and Plant Command powers mimicing the prayers of the same name. The cost of this prayer is 30 karma, and it laasts 1 hour or until the treant's death.

Regrowth: This prayer restores 10% of the HP of the supplicant and all allies every round, for the next 10 rounds. The cost of this prayer is 50 karma.

Talcron: God of Thunder

Talcron is traditionally depicted as a bearded warrior, wearing no armour but holding a spear in one hand and a hammer in the other. Followers of Talcron gain a +2 bonus to Electric resistance, but have Agility reduced by 20%.

Talcron, the god of thunder, is also strongly associated with justice. Justice, here, is meant in the retributive sense - making people pay for their crimes. Talcron is a lawful good deity, but much more lawful than good. Upholding justice earns good karma with Talcron, while breaking the law or allowing criminals to be freed before they have been properly brought to justice will earn bad karma with Talcron. Followers of Talcron are liable to find themselves treated unjustly by others. Being struck by lightning as a result of severe bad karma with Talcron is uncommon, but not unheard of.

Talcron's festival is the Festival of the Election, held at the start of Lour, the twelfth month of the year. On this day, the people rejoice at the opportunity to support their nation by voting. Voting takes place in all countries which observe the religion of the Pantheon (Helb, all of Milya, and parts of Bours - Emnar does observe the Pantheon's religion, although it regards its own deity as reigning supreme over the others of the Pantheon). Exactly how democratic this voting is, of course, varies from country to country, the only actual requirement being that some sort of government official be elected by the people. In more democratic nations, such as Alelith, many officials are elected - all people elect the prime minister, the army elects its generals, and the mages' guild elects its guildmasters. On the day of the festival, people also try to serve the cause of justice in whatever way they can - the more successful they are, the more good karma they earn with Talcron.

The following prayers can be made to Talcron:

Thunder Shield: The supplicant gains +X Electric resistance, and any opponent attacking the supplicant in melee will suffer a base of 5 Electric damage for every attack that hits. This prayer costs 10 karma, and lasts for the duration of combat - if used outside of combat, it wears off after about a minute.

Thunder's Force: The supplicant will move a little more slowly, always acting last in every round of combat except against other slowed opponents, but all damage inflicted by the supplicant increases by 50%. The cost of this prayer is 25 karma, and it lasts for the duration of combat.

Thunderstorm: While equal in power to Divine Radiance and other such damaging prayers, instead of hitting all enemies, this inflicts electrical damage on one enemy at random every round for the duration of combat. The cost of this prayer is 40 karma.

Motanxith: God of Hate

Motanxith is generally depicted as a faceless or headless warrior in spiked platemail, swinging a ball and chain. Depicting Motanxith's face is considered very bad luck. Followers of Motanxith have their alignment-based resistances shifted one rank towards evil (like the effects of Ein or Halumria, but in reverse). They also receive a 50% bonus to Strength, but a 50% penalty to Wisdom, a 20% penalty to Endurance, -2 to Charisma and -1 to Psionic resistance. They make powerful warriors, but not much else.

Motanxith's festival, the Festival of Separation, takes place at the start of Brumal, the first month of winter and the thirteenth month of the year. At this time, people sacrifice weapons to Motanxith - the more lethal the weapon, the more karma earned. This festival is also used for formal rituals of separation, such as divorces - many executions are also carried out on the day of this festival.

Motanxith is the god of hatred, and therefore views generosity as weakness. Followers of Motanxith, while not required to actually make others' lives miserable, aren't expected to help others, and certainly aren't expected to accept help from others. Motanxithians who manage to be self-sufficient earn good karma, while those who rely on others to assist them receive bad karma. Motanxites with bad karma will inflict less damage in combat.

The following prayers may be made to Motanxith:

Bloodlust: The supplicant flies into a blind rage. All damage inflicted by the supplicant increases by 50%. However, the supplicant loses control over their own actions, randomly attacking allies and enemies with their most powerful attacks for the duration of the battle. The cost of this prayer is 10 karma.

Fury: The supplicant's Strength is temporarily increased to 100, plus any bonuses provided by equipment and status effects. This will greatly improve the supplicant's power in physical combat, and allow them to perform tasks such as bending metal bars or breaking down doors with ease. The cost of this prayer is 25 karma, and it lasts one hour.

Wrath: A wave of pure destruction flows from the supplicant's body and washes over the battlefield. It damages every living thing on the battlefield except the caster, and often isn't too picky about tearing apart non-living things either - using a Wrath prayer indoors can be slightly risky. It is similar to other damaging prayers such as Divine Radiance except that its base damage is 25, it is non-elemental (affecting everything equally no matter what their resistances are) and it hits allies as well as enemies. This prayer costs 50 karma.

Lyrcontia: Goddess of Darkness

Lyrcontia is normally depicted as a tall, thin lady in a black cloak. Followers of Lyrcontia have their alignment-based resistances shifted one rank toward evil, have Light resistance decreased by 2, and have Agility increased by 20%.

Lyrcontia's festival is the Festival of the Fast, held at the start of Gelid, the fourteenth month of the year. On this day, people eat nothing and generally try to separate themselves as much as possible from the ceaseless activity of the mortal world. Clothing is sacrificed - the finer the clothing, the more karma it earns.

Lyrcontia is the goddess of darkness, and by extension, of stealth and the arts of the thief. Followers who achieve their aims through stealth and deception earn good karma with Lyrcontia. Lyrcontia punishes those who lack a sense of subtlety - followers whose idea of raiding a fort is blasting open the front gates and killing everything that moves will find themselves earning plenty of bad karma. Lyrcontians with bad karma will find it more difficult to avoid being noticed by people they'd really rather not be noticed by.

The following prayers may be made to Lyrcontia:

Darkness: All non-magical sources of artificial light in an area will be instantly extinguished. Temporary magical lights will also be negated. Permanent sources of magical light will only be extinguished temporarily, generally for about one minute. The cost of this prayer is 5 karma.

Night Vision: The supplicant becomes able to see normally even in conditions of total darkness. This prayer costs 10 karma, and its effects last 8 hours.

Stealth: The supplicant becomes able to move silently, and almost invisible (unless somebody is actively looking for them, there's very little chance they'll be noticed). The maximum duration of this prayer is 8 hours, but it is dispelled instantly by exposure to direct sunlight. The cost of this prayer is 20 karma.

Obscurity: The supplicant becomes undetectable to all forms of magical scrying and detection. As a side-effect, the supplicant will have no visible reflection in a mirror while under the effects of this prayer. This prayer costs 25 karma, and its duration is 8 hours.

Shadow Form: While under the effects of this prayer, the supplicant can become visible or invisible to any or all of the five basic senses at will, and become corporeal or non-corporeal at will. While non-corporeal, the supplicant can move through solid objects, but cannot alter their surroundings in any way. In non-corporeal form, the supplicant is immune to damage from all elements except Light and Holy, against which they are -X; even ordinary sunlight is physically painful and will rapidly cause damage. This prayer costs 40 karma, and its duration is 1 hour.

Malcontius: God of Death

Malcontius is usually depicted as an emaciated man dressed in a black cloak and holding a scythe. Followers of Malcontius have their alignment shifted one rank toward evil.

Malcontius's festival, the Festival of Remembrance, takes place at the start of Mistral, the fifteenth month of the year. At this time, people traditionally visit the graves of people important to them. The more respect paid to the dead on this day, the more good karma earned with Malcontius.

Malcontius is the god of death; one might think you'd earn good karma with the god of death by killing people, but it's not quite that simple. Malcontius only wants people killed if they're destined to die. Therefore, Malcontians earn good karma by saving those destined to live, and killing those destined to die, and earn bad karma by killing those destined to live or saving those destined to die. A few notes on this:

Saving those destined to live is a bit of a grey area in Malcontian philosophy, mainly because it's hard to tell someone destined to live from someone merely not destined to die. In general, saving someone only earn good karma if there's some clear destiny they still need to fulfil. On the other hand, someone is regarded as destined to die if they're dying of natural causes, have permanently lost all higher mental functions or have lost the favour of their patron deity. If part of a Malcontian's destiny involves killing someone, this too will earn good karma for them. (Therefore, Malcontians would be well-advised to keep their list of goals in life clearly in mind when planning their actions).

In practice, it's generally accepted that if a person's destined to live, it won't be possible to kill them. It is, however, perfectly possible to save someone destined to die. This could happen, for example, if a Malcontian resurrected someone who had died of natural causes, or someone who died just after achieving their primary goal in life. Malcontians with bad karma may find that anything they really want to kill will constantly elude them.

The following prayers may be made to Malcontius:

Detect Soul: The supplicant becomes able to sense the location and approximate power of all sources of life-force in their immediate area, and also whether the life-forces in question are of living or undead beings. This prayer costs 5 karma.

Command Undead: This prayer allows the supplicant to control any number of mindless undead of a total level no greater than the supplicant's, or a single intelligent undead of less than the caster's level. The effects are the same as similar prayers such as Command Animals and Command Plants, as is the cost: 20 karma for 8 hours of command, plus 5 per command issued.

Unlife: This prayer fully restores one character's HP and status, and can even resurrect a dead person (although resurrected characters will initially be in a severely weakened state of health). However, in addition to the karmic cost of 40 karma, this prayer also drains the supplicant's life-force, reducing their experience level by 1.

Call Nether: This prayer awakens the forces of the underworld and briefly channels them through the supplicant to annihilate their opponents. Evil-elemental damage is inflicted on all enemies in a similar way to other all-enemy prayers like Divine Radiance and Sunbeam. Its cost is 50 karma.

Ruination: This is a prayer of most terrifying power. If invoked, it will instantly kill a single living being of the supplicant's choice anywhere in the world. There is no chance of failure or resistance, and the supplicant need not even know their enemy's location, only their name. However, this prayer will only be fully effective if the victim's level is less than or equal to the supplicant's level - at higher levels than the supplicant, the victim will only be weakened by the prayer. (Exactly how badly they're weakened is DM's discretion, but it's generally still pretty severe). This prayer costs 80 karma, and reduces the supplicant's experience level by 1. The prayer can only ever be used once by a particular supplicant against a particular victim - if the victim survives or is resurrected, they will be unaffected by future use of the prayer.

Xolthax: God of War

Xolthax is traditionally depicted as a warrior dressed in full ceremonial armour, wielding a broadsword and shield. Followers of Xolthax gain 20% bonuses to Strength and Endurance, but a 50% penalty to Wisdom and a -2 penalty to Psionic resistance.

Xolthax's festival takes place at the start of Vesper, the sixteenth and last month of the year. It is the Festival of the Tournament, in which ordinary people experience the glory of battle. The minimum expected to earn good karma with Xolthax on this day is buying a ticket for the arena: many adventurers will participate in the arena to earn even more good karma, especially if they're victorious.

Xolthax is the god of war, and with him, nothing succeeds like success: by employing sound, successful strategies in combat, one earns good karma with Xolthax. Conversely, by employing flawed strategies leading to needless losses, one earns bad karma with Xolthax. Followers of Xolthax who have bad karma will find it harder to stay focused in combat; their attacks will fail more often and they will be more vulnerable to opponents' attacks.

The following prayers may be made to Xolthax:

Courage: In Skirmish, the supplicant and all allies become immune to natural and magical fear, gain +1 to Psionic resistance, and have all inflicted damage increased by 10%. In the large-scale battle system, this prayer causes one unit's morale to increase by 20. The cost of this prayer is 10 karma, and its effects last for the duration of combat.

Heroism: All damage inflicted by the supplicant increases by 50%, but damage suffered from opponents' attacks increases by 10%. This prayer costs 25 karma, and lasts for the duration of combat.

Victory: In Skirmish, the supplicant and all allies have all inflicted damage increased by 25% and all received damage reduced by 20%. In the large-scale battle system, all friendly units' morale increases by 10. The cost of this prayer is 40 karma, and its effects last for the duration of combat.

Note that in Skirmish, the damage-increasing effects of the three prayers are not cumulative: only the best bonus applies Invoking all three would increase the supplicant's inflicted damage by 50%, increase all allies' inflicted damage by 25%, make the supplicant and all allies immune to fear and increase their Psionic resistance by 1. Note, however, that one of the effects of Heroism *does* alter one of the effects of Victory: using both would give the supplicant the 10% increase and the 20% decrease in received damage, resulting in an overall 10% decrease in received damage, while all allies would just get the 20% decrease. (Yes, I know the supplicant should technically have a 12% decrease, but I think we're all too lazy to calculate a 12% decrease every time.)

In the large-scale battle system, however, it's entirely possible to use Victory on the army and then Courage on a single unit, or even several Courage prayers on the same unit, or several Victory prayers on the army (as long as you have enough karma to invoke the prayers, of course).