Attention Faith Managers

[Larethiel]

Corellon Larethian
Creator of the Elves, the Protector, First of the Seldarine, Protector and Preserver of Life, Ruler of All Elves, Coronal of Arvandor

Symbol: A Crescent Moon

Worshipper Alignment: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN

Allies: Chauntea, Cyrrollalee, Eilistraee, Emmantiensien, Garl Glittergold, Horus-Re, Lathander, Lurue, Mielikki, Milil, Moradin, Mystra, Oberon, Selune, Shiallia, Skerrit, Silvanus, Sune, Tapann, Titania, Tyr, Ubtao, Yondalla, the Seldarine

Foes: Cyric, Talos, Malar, Moander, the Queen of Air and Darkness, the drow pantheon (except Eilistraee), the orc and goblinkin pantheons


The leader of the elven pantheon, Corellon Larethian is said to have given birth to the entire elven race. Elven lore states that the Fair Folk sprang from drops of blood Corellon shed in epic battles with Gruumsh mingled with Sehanine's tears. The Creator of the Elves embodies the highest ideals of elvenkind, and he is the patron of most aesthetic endeavors, including art, magic, music, poetry, and warfare. The Coronal is a powerful warrior god whose hands protect his creations with the gentleness of a sculptor and the unspeakable power of a master swordswinger. While other deities may reflect the joy, delights, and accomplishments of the Fair Folk, Corellon stands as an ever-vigilant watcher over them. His life spirit flows from and into the elves and their lands, and while mortal elves daydream and enter the reverie, Corellon never abandons his watchfulness. Only when it is time for the Fair Folk to pass from Faerun to Arvandor does he finally cease watching over each elf and allows Sehanine to take a larger role in caring for them. Corellon is venerated by all the elves who have not turned to dark powers, even those who do not specifically worship him, for the elves were born of his blood, and they do not and should not forget their debt to the Creator. Likewise, Corellon's role in banishing Lolth and the drow from the surface, thus ending the madness of the Crown Wars, has earned him the eternal, if largely unspoken, gratitude of elves across Faerun. He especially favours those killing orcs and drow as well as aiding others and tending to the dead.

Corellon is surprisingly humble, for a regent of his stature.


The Coronal of Arvandor sponsors an order of knights called "The Fellowship of the Forgotten Flower". It is an organisation dedicated to the recovery of lost elven
relics.


Dogma: The elves are sculptors and wardens of magic's endless mysteries. Bring forth the beauty that envelops and lets the spirit gambol unfettered. Seek out new experiences and new ways. Ward against those that would destroy what they cannot create. Commune with the natural and mystical world. Be ever vigilant against the return of the banished darkness and be strong in heart against the corruption of the Spider Queen.


Followers of Corellon may use their high favor to supplicate (see help supplicate) for recall to a safe haven, for retrieval of their corpse after
resurrection, and if they are extremely holy, may ask for and receive artifacts of Corellon.


(A) Elf Domain
(B) Fellowship of the Forgotten Flower - Corellon
(C) List of Deities
(D) Prowess Domain
(C) Sindava, Feywarden of Corellon
(D) Larethiel Ilphukiir, Feywarden of Corellon (I'm making a file...)

[Kirkus]

Code: Select all

{90}Talos
{50}Talos [Tah-los) is the destructive force of nature. He is the god of storms, 
forest fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, vortices and all general 
destruction. Chaos and rebellion are counted among his greatest delights.
Talos is also known as Bhaelros in Calimshan, Kozah in Anauroch among the 
Bednine, Malyk in the Underdark. He has taken many titles since creation, of
these, the most used are The Storm Lord, the Destroyer, the Stormstar, the 
Raging One. Talos lives on the plane known as Fury’s Heart with the rest of 
the Deities of Fury.

His followers wear a holy symbol of lightning, shaped in the sign of Talos, 
a trio of lightning bolts.

                         {80}+++++++
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              +:::::::::{50}*{80}:::::::::::::::::+
             +::::::::::{50}*{80}::::::::::::::::::+
            +:::::::::::{50}**{80}::::::::::::::::::+
            +:::::::::::{50}**{80}::::::::::::::::::+
           +::::::::::::{50}**{80}:{50}*{80}:::::::::::::::::+
           +{C0}*{80}:::::::::::{50}****{80}::::::::::::::::{90}*{80}+
           +:{C0}**{80}::{C0}*{80}::::::{50}****{80}:{90}*{80}:::::::::{90}*{80}::{90}**{80}:+
           +::{C0}**{80}:{C0}**{80}::{C0}*{80}:::{50}*****{80}:::::{90}*{80}::{90}**{80}:{90}**{80}::+
            +::{C0}*****{80}:{C0}**{80}::{50}*****{80}::::{90}**{80}:{90}*****{80}::+
            +:::{C0}********{80}:{50}*{80}:{50}***{80}:::{90}********{80}:::+
             +:::{C0}*{80}:{C0}******{80}::{50}***{80}::{90}******{80}:{90}*{80}:::+
              +:::::{C0}******{80}:{50}***{80}:{90}******{80}:::::+
               +:::::{C0}*{80}:{C0}****{50}***{90}****{80}:{90}*{80}:::::+
                ++::::::{C0}**{80}:::::{90}**{80}::::::++
                  +++:::::::::::::::+++
                     ++++:::::::++++
                         +++++++
           
           
{90}(A){50} Dogma                                 {90}(F){50} Fury's Heart
{90}(B){50} Allies and Enemies                {90}(G){50} Fire Domain
{90}(C){50} The Church and Festivals       {90}(H){50} Storms Domain
{90}(D){50} Alignments and Portfolio        {90}(I){50} List of Deities
{90}(E){50} Deity Sponsered organizations


{90}Dogma
{50}Life is chaos and random effects. So grab what you can, for who can say when
Talos may strike, and take you to the afterlife. Beware the forces of nature
which only the Storm Lord commands. Beseech the Stormstar’s mercy for only
through his indulgence will any be spared. One cannot afford to ignore Talos,
so bow down and worship him.

Press {90}(-){50} to return to the Talos main page.

{90}Allies and Enemies
{50}The Storm Lord and his followers are counted as enemies of most goodly aligned
deities. Chief among his foes are the goodly forces of nature Chauntea,
Silvanus, Mielikki, Shiallia and Eldath.  These gods hold a great amount of
animosity toward Talos and oppose him in every way possible. They are gods of
nature  who thrive on creation, peace and prosperity, directly opposed to the
Storm Lords dominion over destruction and chaos. 

Other enemies, just as hotly hated are those that promote building and learning.
Gond, Helm, Sune, Tyr, Lathander, Mystra, Oghma, Yondalla, Corellon Larethian
and most of the elven pantheon. Most of these deities hold Talos in contempt 
due to a difference in dogma, such as Gond is the god of craft and construction, 
where as Talos is the god of destruction. 

Talos is the leader of group of deities known as the Deities of Fury. With the
Storm Lord is Auril, Umberlee, and Malar. These are most of the few deities who
would call the Destroyer an ally.

Press {90}(-){50} to return to the Talos main page.


{90}The Church
{50}The faithful of Talos are known as Talassans. Among the highest rank within the
church a Talassan can hope to attain is that of Stormlord. Stormlords are the 
chief agents of the Destroyer’s wrath, inflicting destructive rampages wherever
they may wander to spread word of his endless fury. Talos only cares that they
call up a storm or engage in a spectacular act of violence ever tenday or so.  

Talos always has too few worshipers for his liking, so his clergy are sent out
into the world to spread word of his might and to try to recruit others to his
worship - either out of fear or because such people enjoy the 
wielding of raw power. 

Talassans pray for the Storm Lord’s blessings at different times of the day
over the course of the year, with the time varying with Talos’s whim, he rarely
has them stick with the same time of day for more than a tenday.

Press {90}(-){50} to return to the Talos main page.

{90}Festivals
{50}Followers of Talos celebrate his annual festivals, Greengrass, Midsummer and
so on, with great ceremonies that call down lightning and summon storms. Their
most sacred ritual is Calling Down the Thunder, in which they slay an
intelligent being by lightning. The most frequently seen ritual is the Fury,
in which a Talassan prays to the Storm Lord then, strikes out at everything
around in a fury of destruction, hurling spells and burning torches while
yelling Talos’s name in an effort to visit considerable destruction in a short
time. It is considered most holy when performed by a lone Talassan. 

Press {90}(-){50} to return to the Talos main page.

{90}Worshiper Alignment 
{50}Lawful Neutral, Neutral, Chaotic Neutral,
Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil

{90}Priest Alignment 
{50}Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil, 
Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil

{90}Portfolio 
{50}Storms, Destruction, rebellion, conflagration, earthquakes, and vortices.
As a side note, Talos attempted to assume dominion over wild and destructive
magic but was forestalled by Mystra.

Press {90}(-){50} to return to the Talos main page.

{90}Talos sponsored organizations
{50}Only rumors whispered tell of a mysterious group of wizards who specialize in
exotic combinations of elemental magic. These wizards are known as the Lords
of the Tempest it is believed. 

Other whispers in dark places speak of Talos sponsoring a crazed cabal of sages
and mystics bent on bringing about the end of the world, known only as the
Circle of Rust and the Worm.

To learn more information about these orders, meet and speak ICly with a
follower of Talos. You cannot roleplay being part of these groups without
Talos’s agreement.

Press {90}(-){50} to return to the Talos main page.

{90}Fury’s Heart
{50}The Deities of Fury reside on the plain known as Fury’s Heart. It is commonly
compared to the Barrens of Doom and Despair, home to the likes of Bane,
Beshaba, Loviatar, and Talona. Both planes are filled by desolate landscapes,
little life and no redeeming qualities. Fury’s Heart is a turmoil of storms,
howling winds, crashing waves, biting blizzards and wild beasts. Where the
Barrens refuses to support life, Fury’s Heart actively seeks to crush it. 

Fury’s Heart is an enormous expanse of wild terrain that stretches from the
frigid tundra of Auril’s Winter’s Hall across Malar’s Land of the Hunt, to the
distant mountain range Pandesmos, where in the Towers of Ruin resides Talos
the Destroyer, and across the length, breadth and depth of the Blood Sea, home
of Umberlee, violent weather is the norm throughout the plane. The wind is
rarely below severe and storms are nearly constant. 

Just added color, if I did this wrong can someone tell me, please?

[Mariela]

That's rather impressive....

Talos wins.

[Larethiel]

Are we to put in the holidays and ASCII of the symbols? Cause that seems rather...much?

[Orplar]

Everyone else has done a wonderful job, Kirkus just went above and beyond. nothing to worry about.

[Selveem]

Hey Kirkus,

Are you sure about the line where it states Talos hates those who alter the weather? What if the person altered the weather from a nice sunny day to storms?

[Kirkus]

yeah I got that line straight from the source.... which source I can't remember, either Faiths and Pantheons or the campaign setting. Basically, my interpertation of that line is, he hates any who change the weather outside his blessing. We can probabily clear up the language if you think its necessary.

[Selveem]

I think that would be a good idea. I've seen his HP do it.. I wouldn't want a big ordeal over that for nothing.

[Kirkus]

Alright I just decided for simplicity to take out the line. I think there is enough info there for people to get the jist of Talos's position. And like Selveem said, that line is just gonna confuse people.

[Liandria]

I liked Kirkus's, so I swiped some of the format, and the Dogma was just too long not to give it its own.

Edit: Thank you to Sairaiven for telling me to use "Code" and not "quote"
Edit: Thank you Ynaura, for the Ascii

Code: Select all

{C0}Mystra
{B0}======

{C0}The Lady of Mysteries, the Mother of All Magic
{70}Mystra {80}(MISS-trah){70} is the goddess of magic and possibilities, 
which makes her one of the most powerful deities in Faerun. Her portfolio 
consists of Magic, spells, and the weave. In rasheman she is reffered to 
as "The Hidden One."

Mystra is said to have trained the first of the spellcasters in the realms 
and judges each new spell and magical item created to determine whether it 
should be permitted into the realms. She makes her home in Dweomerheart, 
in the plane of Elysium.

The current incarnation of the goddess is her third incarnation. The first, 
Mystryl,sacrificed herself during the fall of the Netherese when the archmage 
Karsus attempted to wrest her powers. The second incarnation of the goddess 
was destroyed  in the Time of Troubles, by the god Helm. Her successor a 
wizard named Midnight arose at the end of the godwar and assumed the name of 
Mystra as well as her portfolio and remains as the current Lady of Mysteries.

Mystra's holy symbol is a {C0}a star ringed {90}river{70} though the older 
symbol of her predecessor {60}a single blue-white star{70} is still accepted. 
No new symbols of this sort are being produced, all new symbols bear the 
current goddess' symbol.

{00}.................{C0}\|/
{00}................{C0}--*--
{00}.........{C0}\|/{00}.....{C0}/|\{00}.....{C0}\|/
{00}........{C0}--*--{00}....{90}*{00}......{C0}--*--{00}.......
{00}.........{C0}/|\{00}......{90}**{00}.....{C0}/|\{00}........
{00}...................{90}***{00}..............
{00}...................{90}**{00}.{90}*{00}.............
{00}......{C0}\|/{00}.........{90}**{00}.{90}**{00}.....{C0}\|/{00}.....
{00}.....{C0}--*--{00}......{90}**{00}..{90}**{00}.....{C0}--*--{00}....
{00}......{C0}/|\{00}.....{90}**{00}.{90}*{00}.{90}**{00}.......{C0}/|\{00}.....
{00}...............{90}**{00}.{90}**{00}.{90}**{00}.............
{00}................{90}**{00}.{90}***{00}.{90}**{00}...........
{00}.........{C0}\|/{00}.....{90}**{00}.{90}***{00}.{90}**{C0}\|/{00}.......
{00}........{C0}--*--{00}...{90}**{00}.{90}*{00}.{90}**{00}.{90}*{C0}--*--{00}......
{00}.........{C0}/|\{00}...{90}**{00}.{90}***{00}.{90}**{00}.{90}*{C0}/|\{00}.......
{00}..............{90}**{00}.{90}****{00}.{90}***{00}.{90}**{00}........
{00}.............{90}**{00}.{90}*****{00}.{90}****{00}.{90}**{00}.......


(A) Dogma                              (G) List of Deities 
(B) Allies and Enemies                 (H) Dalvyn, Lord of Mysteries
(C) Festivals                          (I) Tandria, Mage of Mysteries  
(D) The Church, Orders, and Alignments (H) Spaki of Mystra  (no description)
(E) Magic Domain                       (K) Gesine of Mystra (No help file)
(F) Illusion Domain



{C0}Mystra's Dogma{70} 

{70}Love magic for itself, not lust as a ready weapon to reshape the realms 
to your will. Learn when not to use your magic, and you will have learned 
true wisdom. Play with magic and learn how best to wield it, but not when 
the price is paid by others. Strive to use magic less and less as your powers 
develop, not more and more, often the threat and promise of art outstrips its 
perforance.

Remember always that magic is an art, the gift of the Lady, and that whose who
can wield it are privileged in the extreme. Conduct yourself humbly, not proudly.

Use magic deftly and efficiently, eschew carelessness and recklessness in unle-
ashing the art. When magic imperils you, hide it or hurl it away into other
planes rater than destroy it, for any destruction of art is a sin.

Seek always both to learn new magic and to create new magic, but experimenting
to learn to craft something oneself is better than merely buying scrolls or
hiring tutors. Exult more in creation than in hurling of spells, and ensure your
creations are sharde with others and so outlive you.{70}

Followers of Mystra may use their high favor to supplicate (see help supplicate)
for recall to a safe haven and resurrection. If they are extremely favored, they
may ask for and recieve artifacts of Mystra. Mystra favours those of her 
followers who use magic to aid others, and those who smite down the followers of 
Cyric. She frowns upon sacrifices and defiling the dead and is unimpressed with 
those who flee from followers of Cyric. 



{C0}Allies and Enemies of Mystra{70}
 
Allies - {F0}Kelemvor, Selune, Oghma, Azuth, Deneir, Milil, 
         Corellon Larethian, Isis, and Thoth{70}
Enemies - {F0}Cyric, Bane, Talos, Shar{70}

Mystra remains close with Kelemvor, whom she ventured with and came to love during
the Time of Troubles, before both deities attained their immortality. Azuth, Lord 
of Spells, is a friend and advisor to Mystra. Though he was closer with the former 
incarnation their friendship still remains proffesional. Mystra is friendly with
the deities of Deneir, Milil, and Oghma who praise knowledge as she does, and the
gods and goddesses of Magic in other pantheons: Corellon Larethian, Isis, and Thoth.

Mystra despises Cyric for his actions during the Time of Troubles, and the 
destructive tendancies of his portfolio. Similarly, she has no love for the god 
Talos who seeks to gain a portion of her portfolio and subsume destructive magics. 
Her chief rival has become Shar, who possesses and created the Shadow Weave, which 
Mystra wishes to gain in order to complete her governance of all magic.



{C0}Mystran Festivals and Ceremonies{70}

Starflight is a ceremony that is often used as an initiation when an individual
joins the priesthood, or a celebration when two worshipers are wed. It is a 
special ceremony that involves the casting of Starflight empowering those under
its blessings to fly. 

Magefire is a celebration of renewal, it is held on the first day of winter in
memory of a time when the realms were nearly destroyed during the Rain of Fire 
cataclysm. It is a bittersweet remembrance, but its outcome is what is celebrated.

15th of Marpenoth is celebrated among the Mystran church as the anniversary of 
the day the wizard Midnight was elevated by Lord Ao and became the current Mystra.
It is mostly celebrated in Waterdeep as a large festival ending in fireworks 
around the House of Wonder.

Hymn of the Lady is a ritual that is performed at funerals and magemoots. Visions 
of the dead are called up into and often times the goddes inserts into them her 
own guiding scenes.



{C0}The Mystran Church, Orders, and Alignments{70}

Worshipper Allowed Alignments - {F0}Any Alignment{70}
Cleric Allowed Alignments - {F0}Good to Neutral {80}(LG, NG, CG, LN, CN, LE){70}

Mystran Clergy work to preserve and keep magical lore, so that it will never be 
lost in future generations. They seek out old magics, as well as experiment and 
delve in new magics. The magical lore is housed in secret libraries, safeholds, 
and hidden stashes where it is kept safe until it is required. The church keeps 
an eye on manypowerful casters and holders of powerful artifacts, and are gene-
rally content to know the location of an artifact rather than possess it. The 
exception to this is when they learn that an article of magic rests in the hands 
of the destructive, irresponsible, or insane, in which case they seek to acquire 
it whenever possible.

All wielders of magics and seekers of magical lore of any race are welcome in the
Lady of Mysteries' service. Mystra's high priests are called "Dweomerkeepers" and 
her Clerics are known as "Servants of Mystery." The church is divided into speci-
alized orders, and relations between these orders are very good. A large portion 
of the church, its Wizards remain outside these orders serving the church.

 {E0}- {F0}The Monitors - A clerical order rarely seen in the realms.
 {E0}- {F0}Knights of the Mystic Fire - An order of Paladins 
 {E0}- {F0}Order of the Starry Quill - A fellowship of Bards
 {E0}- {F0}Order of the Shooting Star - A band of Rangers{70} 

(A) Order of the Starry Quill        (C) Order of the Shooting Star
(B) Knights of the Mystic Fire

[Lathlain]

I don't mean to belittle any of these entries in any way - the vault of information and the research that's been put into them are simply fantastic - but I feel that some of them are too long as help files. It may just be me, but more than two pages of a help file (and even that's not ideal) in one block becomes far too much of a slog to read through in game!

Would it be possible, perhaps, to make some of these sub-headings different help files unto themselves? Maybe include basic deity information on the main page, with a link to 'dogma', 'clerics', 'symbol', 'relations' and so on.

[Liandria]

I expected that, which is the reason for the (A) Dogma ..so the person will only see the general blurb about Mystra and her portfolio, and if they want to read about her dogma they can hit "A"

I ask if it was acceptable, and I was told to go ahead with it... so I hope it can be managed, even though the coding keeps smashing all my directories together... which was definately properly spaced when I put it in there and in Notepad... Anyone know how to fix that?

[Lathlain]

That was my fault - in my blindness I didn't even notice the index in the middle there. Ignore me - you've beaten me to the punch

[Larethiel]

Could there be a general word about how the help files are to look like? What to add next to the basics etc. (Rites, Holidays, ASCII-Art, etc.) because as it occurs to me, the helpfiles already posted are not very consistent, varying greatly in form, lenght and general content.

[Liandria]

Well the deities are all very different, some only have a paragraph long Dogma others like Mystra actually have about 5 paragraphs in the books, some are very introverted and antisocial others are social butterflies and allies and enemies with half of every pantheon.

This makes it hard to give each Deity the proper amount of information and be a uniform length. For some deities to reach that length they may have to chuck in a bunch of fluff and filler, others would be struggling to keep it under the limit.

I don't think any other deity has died twice, but I felt that definately should be mentioned in the help file, and it would be common knowledge, as are the festivals. People -know- when they get to celebrate... especially if drinking is involved >.> Some deities have more festivals than others too.

[Larethiel]

There was no critic indicated

I was meaning, are we to add all the holy days, rites etc. into the helpfile? I am aware of followers of a deity usually knowing when they celebrate But for uniforming the helpfiles I think then, every deity-helpfile should contain the holy days of the deities, rites, descriptions therefor etc.

[Liandria]

Ah, I personally think that the more these help files are fleshed out the better it is for those who don't have access to some of the resources. Having been bugging members of my faith for clarification on a few things I've been surprised just how many haven't been able to look into their faith beyond the Mud itself.

The better a player understands the god and their character, the better the interaction can be. I think that's the whole reason for this revamping in the first place.

When I run into things that confuse me as a player, I have 30 GBs of electronic books I go digging into with glee, but not everyone can manage that level of nerdiness >.> I think these help files go a long way to make up for that. And I think the addition of ascii into the help files really adds another dimension to it and makes them fun.

[Lathlain]

There must be some curbing of information to an extent. I know I, for example, truncated Cyric's dogma back to a paragraph for the sake of space, which broke my heart ^_^

I don't honestly think there's anything wrong with having a lot of information (provided it's all put in its respective sub help-file), but the issue here is consistency - there is quite a variation in the help files so far when compared to the original Mask template. Is anyone able to provide any clarification on this? If we are angling towards this latter format, I may have to consider revising my submission.

[Layna]

Bearing in mind that some people might not have the same interface height as others (I have mine set to more than 65 lines - but basic telnet only allows for 24 if I recall correctly) I would strongly suggest having the ascii split from the main body of the text and put in its own subsection. It is true that some players might not have access to the information in book form, but there is a wealth of information here on the forums (and I'm thinking here of the deities forum, particularly the 'resources' sticky). Perhaps some of the additional fluff could be added to the webpages with a url included in the helpfiles?

In any case, I do believe there needs to be a standard format and a consistent layout and either way some faith managers are going to have to re-do their submissions - so are we using Kirkus' model or the previous one?



(Edit because cutting and pasting from the work wordprocessor (what? Am I supposed to be -working-?!) doesn't work terribly well ^_^)

[Kirkus]

I put all this information in for a few very specific reasons. I remember what it was like to not have any information. No one seems to know anything about Talos. I walk around the mud and people smile and not at me. It's so out of character for them and THEY don't even know it. Plus, we have like 5 members, bear with me, I know that a bit of a stretch but hold your horses, we might actually have 6. No one knows anything about us.

That and I felt this was finally a way I can give back to the portion of the mud that I have affected the most. My gift to them if you will.

I'm not expecting this to be thrown up as some single page that would threaten to crash the mud if three people look at it at the same time, I was hoping to have it split into sections, so you type (A) and get more detail about this and type (B) and get more detail about that. Oh by the way that reminds me I need to add the 'press - to return to the previous page'

As to festivals, I think this is very important. This is where I invite the delegates of the rest of the Deities of Fury to step up! This will blow everyone else's socks off. Bad deities doing good things for the people. Malar holds a feast for the people before winter or just after I can't remember, these are the things that ooc'ly we don't know.

And just as an after thought... If anyone wants help, I am willing to work. PM me and we will go from there. I am willing to add what I can. But as a warning, the Talos help file for me was a labour of love, I had nearly all the information already inside my brain. I used the books to check and quadruple check it. So the warning is this; I will try my hardest to do what I can for any that want my help, but the less I personally know about your deity the harder it will be. But I will do what I can.