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The Lorewarden's Guild is probably the most powerful Guild in the city of Outpost. The Guild Head, Kurt Zelchew, is an Alderman, while Justus Erlias, the de facto leader of the Council of Aldermen, is also a member of the Guild. The Guild itself is divided into many different factions by the various religions and philosophies which pepper the city, which division often causes great internal strife within the Guild, so much so that the Guild has become more a registry of different religions than a unified organisation.
Hence it is natural that Outpost's history is studded with tales of different religions coming to the fore. Most recently the deity of Kurt Zelchew and Justus Erlias, the god of the One, has come to play a prominent role in the city. However, Kurt Zelchew has grown old and weak, and his leadership of the Guild has come under heavy criticism due to the large numbers of rogue cults that seem to proliferate in Outpost and Nocturne.
Despite its variety, the Guild is unified by a formalised Ranking system:
Information on some of the more noteworthy members of the Lorewarden's Guild and their Ranks, Alignments and religious or philosophical affiliations can be found here.
Below are given descriptions of some of the religions and philosophies available to Lorewardens in Outpost and Nocturne, along with details of the miracles available and how to cast them, and a general guide to the spiritual metaphysics of the world in which Outpost and Nocturne exist.
In the world of Nocturne, there are a number of people who call upon powers from other Planes of existence - some know only a little of what they do and how they do it, some have vast knowledge. Magick and theurgy are the practices of calling upon otherworldly aid by casting spells and miracles to create effects.
Magick and theurgy are two very distinct things - magick calls upon the powers of the Elements to cast spells, and is used by Elementalists, while theurgy calls upon the powers of the Spirits to cast miracles, and is used by Lorewardens. Both use similar methods to generate effects, but the sources and applications of the two sorts of power are quite different.
An Elementalist uses energy from other Planes of existence to cast Elemental spells. This energy is called Mana. There are six basic types of Mana, one from each of the six fundamental Elemental Planes: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Light and Shadow. Elementalists cast spells by bringing raw Elemental energy into the Material Plane and shaping it into any form they so desire.
Elementals and Elemental energies are completely alien to our Plane of existence. Although, having said that, there are some who worship powerful Elemental beings as deities and speak of them in anthropomorphic terms. Elementalists refer to our Plane of existence as the Material Plane; the Material Plane contains all of the Elements from the individual Elemental Planes in various forms, and the physical world is shaped by interactions between these Elements.
Almost every object and creature has a Spirit, which represents the metaphysical ideal image of that thing. As all sapient beings hold a common, subconscious understanding of the ideal of a race or a type of object, so all sapient beings contribute to the form of these Spirits. More powerful Spirits may begin to take on a sapient persona of their own, and even more potent Spirits may begin to manipulate the material world through mortals known as Lorewardens. These are people who are able to both draw upon and influence the powers of the Spirits.
Some Lorewardens affiliate themselves to a particular Spirit, or god, and draw their power exclusively from that deity; most Lorewardens in civilised areas follow a particular deity or pantheon and often call themselves a priest, cleric or monk of that deity, and seek to spread its worship far and wide. Other Lorewardens interact with the Spirits in a more cosmopolitan manner, in that they are skilled in influencing many weaker Spirits, rather than calling on one powerful Spirit.
Spirits can be roughly divided into four main categories - living creatures, natural Spirits, and the two Hierarchies of the Spirit Planes, the Fellowship and the Court. The uneducated masses are sometimes known to refer to natural Spirits as being 'Neutral' and Spirits affiliated to the two Hierarchies as being 'Good' and 'Evil' respectively, but anyone with even a smidgeon of theological understanding knows that these simplistic dualistic labels are both wildly inaccurate and deeply misleading.
When living organisms and plants die, or objects are destroyed, their Spirits are absorbed into the great morass of Spirit energy that surrounds and infuses the world in which we live. When many creatures of the same type have died they sometimes congregate and form a more powerful spiritual entity with some degree of spiritual awareness. It is also not unknown for objects, places and abstract concepts to acquire their own Spirits - in this way are formed entities such as city Spirits and river Spirits (a single river may, for example, have both an Elemental avatar and a river Spirit, neither of which will be aware of the other's existence). These Spirits are known as the Natural Spirits, and are manipulated by Lorewardens attuned to their common nature.
Natural Spirits have a great deal of influence over matters of the Spirit world that surrounds us as a natural part of this Material Plane. They are able to influence other Spirits and their interactions with the living and material realms, even the Spirits of living creatures.
Nobody knows how the Spirits of the two Hierarchies were formed or where they came from. The Spirits themselves tell a multitude of different tales, no two the same. The two Hierarchies go by many names, but many spirits within the Hierarchies refer to themselves and their rivals as belonging to either 'The Fellowship of the Heavenly Road' or 'The Court of the Eternal Wheel', often referred to as 'The Fellowship' and 'The Court' for the sake of brevity. The one point they have in common is that both Hierarchies inhabit a different Plane to this one, yet both seek to return their energies to this Material Plane and impose their influence upon it, their main tools in this endeavour being the Lorewardens who work with them in a deeply symbiotic relationship.
The two Hierarchies contain most of the familiar deities, gods, angels, devils (which are distinct from the creatures of the Nether Planes known as dæmons), undead, and other sapient Spirits. Some are almost human in outlook and appearance, others are so alien as to be utterly incomprehensible. Many Spirits of the Hierarchies (though by no means the majority) were once human (or at least humanoid) themselves, but over the centuries or millennia since their death their new existence has changed them beyond recognition. Only a handful are still reminiscent of the living beings they once were, often because they were great heroes in life and have been worshipped as such since their death.
Many works have been written on the philosophies of the two Courts, and it is still an extremely common topic for argument amongst Lorewarden scholars, theologians and metaphysicians, but a broad outline of the general consensus opinion is given below (attempting to cut out as much of the usual bias as possible).
The Fellowship of the Heavenly Road appears to believe in success and progress through harmony and cooperation. This does not necessarily mean order, although it has been observed that most spirits in this Hierarchy do sometimes seem to favour order, but even order can sometimes be disharmonious. They usually seek to impose their influence upon the Material Plane through subtle, gentle means. Their powers often manifest through their ability to reinforce the bond between a being's Spiritual and Material selves - it is theorised that as a living being receives physical damage, the link between its body and its Spirit grows weaker, until the being reaches the point of death and the link is completely broken. When called upon by Lorewardens, Spirits of the Fellowship are able to harmoniosuly merge their energies with those of a living Spirit and guide it back along the link to its Material body, theurgically restoring the health of the Material body in the process. The most powerful of Spirits are even able to restore the link after it has been broken by death.
The Spirits of the Fellowship are able to oppose the energies and influences of the Spirits of the Court, and the disharmonies of poison, disease, fear, possession and deception. They are also able to align a living being's soul in harmony with other Spirits, allowing it to befriend them, and with the universe in general, bringing it health and fair fortune.
The Court of the Eternal Wheel appears to believe in success and progress through force and the imposition of the will. This does not necessarily mean chaos, although it is well known that chaotic environments do provide ample opportunities for the strong and willful to flourish at the expense of others. The Spirits of the Court often seek to impose their influence upon the Material Plane through force and violence, imposing their energies upon even the unwilling and linking themselves with the discarded Material bodies of those who have died. Their powers often manifest through their ability to weaken the bond between a being's Spiritual and Material selves - it is theorised that as the link between a living being's Spirit and its Material body grows weaker, the Material body likewise sickens and weakens and eventually dies. When called upon by Lorewardens, Spirits of the Court are able to hurl their energies violently at the link between a living being's body and Spirit, weakening the link and theurgically damaging the health of the Material body. The most powerful of Spirits are able to utterly destroy the link in moments, and to steal the energies of the link to feed their own energies or the energies of a Lorewarden with whom they are working.
The Spirits of the Court also show a remarkable talent for creating their own links with dead bodies, and hence animating these bodies in a grisly semblance of actual life. This does leave them vulnerable to having these unnatural links destroyed by the Spirits of the Fellowship or manipulated by the Spirits of the natural realm, however.
By weakening selective parts of a living being's link the spirits of the Court are also able to wrench it out of harmony with the universe around it, induce fear, make it unable to distinguish between truth and deception, infect it with disease or poison, or take control of the Material body without first killing its true owner.
Excepting a few unusual races such as the Iaché, almost all living creatures and plants have a Spiritual nature, a Material nature and an Elemental nature. Their Spirit is strongly bound to their physical form, and so does not have an Spiritual Alignment as such. People may be referred to by their peers as being good or evil, may worship or profess an affiliation to any Spirit, god or deity, and may act according to the tenets of one or another religion or Faction, but unless they have found the power within themselves to form a bond with the Spirit Planes and thus become an actual Lorewarden then they will not have an Alignment, except in the most exceptional of cases.
As was mentioned above, most living beings do not have any particular Spiritual Alignment. When they die, their souls will generally be absorbed into the great mass of natural Spirits that surrounds us all. This is true even for most sapient living beings.
Then there are Lorewardens. By attuning themselves to the Spirits of the natural realm or the Spirits of one of the two Hierarchies, they infuse their own Spirit with the nature of the energies with which they deal. Thus the Spirit of a Lorewarden who worships a deity considered to be part of the Fellowship will share some of the nature of the Spirits of the Fellowship, and this nature may well be apparent to Spirits and other Lorewardens.
Naturally this means that a Lorewarden attuned to working with one Faction of Spirits will have difficulty working with Spirits from a different Faction, and thus most Lorewardens tend to specialise in the miracles performed by a single Faction of Spirits. But it is not unknown for the same Lorewarden to draw on the miracles of many diverse powers.
When listing a character's Spiritual Alignment, characters without Lorewarden skills should almost without exception have none, even if they do worship a particular Spirit or deity, while Lorewardens and those with certain skills exclusive to the Lorewarden's Guild should have their Alignment listed as either 'Natural', 'Fellowship' or 'Court'.
Beings of pure Spirit cannot interact with Elementals, who are beings of pure Elemental energy, just as Elementals cannot interact with Spirits. Neither can sense nor affect the other in any way, nor can either even conceive of the existence of the other. Elementals are completely unaffected by Spiritual theurgy, as Spirits are completely unaffected by Elemental magick.
Humans, on the other hand, are a blend of the material, the Elemental and the Spiritual, like most living beings native to this Plane, and are able to understand all things given time. Humans understand that there are both Elemental beings which dwell on other Planes, and Spiritual beings without bodies (or, in the case of many of the undead, with animated corpses) which exist alongside living things on this Plane and are native to both this Plane and others. Humans may study both Spiritual theurgy and Elemental magick together.
There are some creatures living on the Material Plane who have no Spirit, some of whom are innately magickal. Included amongst these creatures are the Iachæ and the Fæy. Creatures without a Spirit are never affected by Spiritual miracles or effects - a double edged sword, since this includes beneficial effects such as healing and protective miracles.
Undead, meanwhile, are all creatures of pure Spirit, although some of them are able to inhabit and animate the Material and Elemental shells of corpses, and indeed must do so before they are able to directly affect the Material Plane.
Then there are dæmons, creatures from the Nether Plane, whose natures are strong in both Elements and Spirit, but in whom the Material nature is weak.
Legends also speak of other, rare creatures which are a blend of the Elemental and the Spiritual, without any Material nature at all; such an exotic creature would be highly dangerous if hostile, since there are few people who could defend themselves against such a beast.
Some Lorewardens study methods of strengthening the Spiritual nature within base Material items through a process known as Consecration, thus bringing them closer to their metaphysical 'ideal image'. Consecration can enable an item to store theurgical energies in the form of Spirit or miracles put there by a Lorewarden, or even enable an item to draw power from, and sometimes influence, the Spirits directly.
Consecration can also be used to strengthen the Spiritual nature of armour and weapons - Consecrated armour will defend against creatures and attacks of pure Spirit energies from which normal physical armour would provide no protection, and Consecrated weapons will damage incorporeal creatures of pure Spirit and other Spiritual creatures whom mere steel or wood would leave unharmed. For more information on Consecrating items, click here.
The Lorewarden is a character who is in touch with forces beyond our normal range of perceptions, and some beyond our normal Plane of existence. These forces, known as Spirits, are all around us in our natural world of the Material Plane, and others reside in the Spirit Planes outside the Material Plane. Some of these forces are natural to this world, others are foreign to it but seek to exert their influence here for reasons of their own beyond our understanding, and lending portions of their power to Lorewardens is an effective way for them to do so. The most powerful are worshipped as gods and goddesses.
Lorewardens use Spiritual theurgy to cast miracles, much in the same way as Elementalists use Elemental magick. Each miracle requires a certain amount of energy, referred to as Spirit, to cast. For more information on casting miracles, click here.
As detailed above, all Lorewardens must have an Alignment, chosen from amongst the Court, the Fellowship and the Natural Spirits. The player must also choose a religion or philosophy - a number of different religions and philosophies are available to choose from, or an imaginative player may create a new religion of their own to follow. The Alignment of a character's religion must be the same as the character's own Alignment.
| Alignment | Impartial Alignment(s) | Opposing Alignment |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship | Natural | Court |
| Natural | Fellowship & Court | none |
| Court | Natural | Fellowship |
All Lorewardens must possess the skills Enhanced Spiritual Power and Miracle Learning if they wish to cast any miracles. Note that it is perfectly possible to play a Lorewarden without either or both of these skills, but the character will not be able to cast any theurgical miracles.
Enhanced Spiritual Power:
This skill gives a Lorewarden "Spirit" points, at a rate of three points per level in this skill. A theurgical miracle costs one Spirit point per level to cast (i.e. casting a fourth level miracle costs four Spirit points).
Miracle Learning:
This skill grants a Lorewarden the ability to cast miracles. The Lorewarden may cast miracles in a particular Alignment up to a level equal to his Miracle Learning skill level in that Alignment.
For example, a Fellowship Lorewarden with Miracle Learning - Fellowship at level 5 and Miracle Learning - Natural at level 2 may cast first and second level Natural miracles and first, second, third, fourth and fifth level Fellowship miracles.
At least the first two levels of this skill learnt must be in the character's chosen Alignment. See the skill rules for a more detailed description.
For more information on casting miracles, click here.
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