Priesthood of Rualt (Common Knowledge)

RUALT

Lesser Power:
Deity/Priest Alignments: NE/Any Evil
Portfolio: Ice, Cold, Frost
Requirements: WIS 12, CON 13
Weapons Allowed: All Bludgeoning and Ice Axe
Armor Allowed: Leather, Studded Leather, Hide, Chain and Shield
Magic Items Allowed: As Priest
Major Spheres: All, Animal, Combat, Divination, Elemental (no Fire), Healing, Necromantic, Protection, Weather
Minor Spheres: Creation, Guardian
Bonus PRO: Endurance, Direction Sense, Survival (Arctic)
Required PRO: Weather Sense, Axe weapon PRO
Clergy: Priests and Shamans
Turn Undead: Yes
Command Undead: Yes

RUALT (ROO-ALT)

The Power:
Rualt is the Goddess of Cold and Ice, emphasizing it’s destructive nature and fury. She is primarily worshipped out of fear and placated to hold off the depredations of harsh icy winters. Her worshippers consist of trappers, miners, and settlers in the northern lands, barbarians and anyone traveling through cold regions. Her clergy emphasize the power of the cold and pray for the day when the darkness never rises in the north and the long, cold nights last forever. Sometimes tribes of Frost Giants are led by priests or shamans in her service. Her ultimate goal is the eventual destruction of the world through blizzards, ice and snow, a cold and deadly end to beings who dishonor her by hailing the return of sun and heat each year. Her priests are cold, uncaring, deadly and evil, and enjoy using cold for trapping and destroying those who fail to give themselves over entirely to her worship.

The Ethos
All Azura should be covered by the bleak, beautiful cold and chill of white snow and ice. Darkness and cold are the natural state of things; heat and light are unnatural abominations in the order of life. Fire should be quenched; warmth should be extinguished; light should be darkened. Slay those who worship any of these three through any means, but first try to turn them to the dark and cold. If they show proper obedience they may live, accepting the dark and cold into their life.

The Clergy:
All Rualt’s clergy are women. Her clergy is made up of females who wear long white fur coats and little else…their powers keep the cold at bay. Before they reach second level they must learn to create an Ice Axe (as a hand axe, created by the spell Holy Symbol) which is formed from magically hardened ice and becomes their primary weapon and holy symbol. Such a weapon can only be destroyed by above freezing temperatures for extended periods, or magical heat (saves at +4 vs magical fire), and a priestess of Rualt must construct another before regaining any spells or powers.
When they are acolytes, they are forced to spend all night out nude in a blizzard, where they either perish due to exposure or are accepted to Rualt’s faith, where they no longer feel any cold ever again. Their prayers occur in private, where they maintain vigils in the snow all night to learn their spells. They have very few formal temples and shrines, as their priestesses mostly roam the northern lands and are sometimes found in the most remote and foreboding places. Priestesses of Rualt may never battle or attack each other directly; one who does loses all powers and spells. Often many priestesses cooperate and attack isolated towns or villages of unbelievers en masse, using their spells to bring down fierce weather and freeze every living thing as an offering to their goddess.
Rualt encourages cooperation between members of her priesthood and also looks favorably on the accumulation of earthly wealth, which can be used to buy large amounts of food, drink and supplies to support remote villages, towns and cities during the harsh winter months when trade is impossible due to weather conditions. These offerings (bribes) put the settlements in debt to the priestesses, who only ask the people to give thanks to Rualt in return for this support. Often such remote settlements reluctantly find themselves depending more and more on the largesse of Rualt’s priesthood, which leads to a shrine or temple being formed in that location. There are large mining and lumber towns in mountain locations that have huge congregations (over 1000 or so each) worshipping the cold goddess (the worshippers are too dependent on and too frightened of the priestesses to protest!) and some of these locations have elaborate churches built to her glory.
There is a group of female mages called The Frost Witches who worship Rualt and often dedicate new and deadly cold magic to her glory; these can be found in groups of 2-5 sometimes supporting places of worship or militant actions of the priesthood.