Liadriel Cult_________________________

Description:  Lesser entity; Wood Elven pantheon.  Outside the Earth Mother, Liadriel is the major deity of the Wood Elves and the patron of music, poetry, dancing, and wine.  Liadriel is androgynous, combining traits both male and female, and appears as an Elf of surpassing beauty with a slight smile.  Liadriel always carries a lute and a wineskin.

Where Worshipped:  Liadriel is worshipped throughout the Old World by Wood Elven musicians, troubadours, and the like.  Many of the Wood Elves living outside their forest homes (i.e., in the world of Humans) tend to worship Liadriel, as do some of the Human Minstrels.  Liadriel is sometimes identified by Humans with a number of minor Human deities. Some of these include Deanosus, god of wine and the vineyards, and Panasia, goddess of the arts.

Alignments:  Good preferred.  Neutral accepted.  Law, Evil, and Chaos prohibited.

Friends and Enemies:  Allied with other divine Wood Elf entity and hero cults.  Respect and reverence for the Old Faith.  Friendly to Halfling cults.  Indifference towards Young Gods and other Human cults.  Patronizing contempt for Dwarven cults.  Enemies of Dark Children, Humanoid Daemonic, and Chaos cults.

Cult Symbols and Dress:  Initiates, Priests, and Winecrafters identify themselves with the following symbols: lute and wineskin, cup, and vine leaves with grapes.  Priests wear green hooded robes which are richly embroidered in gold thread.  The embroidery represent a variety of symbols including vine leaves, musical instruments, fruit, and so on.  Token is a gold lute with a purple amethyst gem embedded in the center.  Cult tokens may also be wineskins, cups, vine leaves, and other musical instruments.  Winecrafters wear forest colors in their clothing, which is embroidered with silver thread depicting grapes and vines.

Cult Careers Available:  Initiate, Priest, Winecrafter

Distinguishing Principles and Doctrines:  Always savor the joys of life and the bounties of the vineyard.  Keep the spirit alive through music, dance, and wine.  Look at life through its beauty and the poetry of the heart.  The darker side of life can be brightened by song and verse.  Use whatever gifts you possess to share life's wonderments to other less fortunate individuals.

Afterworld:  After death, the spirit journeys to peaceful land where the wine flows and song permeates the atmosphere.  This place is called the Resting Place, where the spirit recovers its vigor.  The Resting Place is nothing more than a temporary stop in the great cycle of life and the spirit is reincarnated to start it anew.

Temples and Shrines:  There are no shrines nor temple organization for the cult of Liadriel.  Such things are foreign to the Elven mind.  Instead, areas of natural bliss, such as peaceful meadows, waterfalls, or the shade of a mighty oak, serve as a place for peaceful contemplation.

Saints and Heroes:   Liadriel does not have saints and heroes in the Human sense.  Rather, Liadriel considers as heroes of the cult those of his/her followers who, through song and wine, uplift the spirit of others in times of adversity.

Cult Requirements:  Requirements for Laymen Status:  Automatic for the children of cultists and any adult Wood Elf who wishes to join.  Human applicants are subject to review and approval by a priest.
Requirements for Initiate Status:  Granting of Blessed Sacraments prayer is commonly acknowledged as a sign of a Calling.  Must be sponsored by a priest.
Requirements for Priest Status:  Approval by a priest of a second rank.
Requirements for Winecrafter Status:  Approval by a priest.

Trials:  Liadriel does not normally set trials for his/her cultists.  There are occasions, however, where Liadriel considered that the petitioning cleric did not perform in a manner that is consistent with his/her principles.  In such cases, the cleric may need to undergo a period of time where Liadriel will scrutinize their performance.

Blessings:  A one-time-use bonus or automatic success with dance, musicianship, seduction, and sing skills.

Penances:  Only the grossest of violations would result in the exile of the offender.  Otherwise, Liadriel does not impose any penances on his/her worshippers.

Holy Days:  Conventional holy days in the Human sense have no meaning to the cult of Liadriel.  The deity is worshipped whenever Wood Elves sing or drink, which is quite frequently.  Great feasts and wild celebrations are held on the night of every new moon in honor of Liadriel (the largest of these take place on Hexenstag and Geheimnistag).  It is debatable whether these constitute anything more than a feast in which Liadriel is honored as oppose to a holy day.

Gifts:
Rank 1:  Automatic success once per day with dance or sing skill, or granting of Spread the Word prayer once per day with no MP cost.
Rank 2:  Automatic success once per day with charm skill, or granting of Faith Provides prayer once per day with no MP cost.
Rank 3:  Automatic success once per day with consume alcohol skill, or granting of Heal the Faithful prayer once per day with no MP cost.
Rank 4:  Automatic success once per day with seduction skill, or granting of Pacify prayer once per day with no MP cost.
Winecrafter:  Granting of Blessed Sacraments prayer once per day, may use consume alcohol skill twice per day with a +20 modifier.

Cult Prayer Lists

Initiate
Required:  Bless Token, Blessed Sacraments, Detect Magic, Gift of Tongues, Heal Cultist
Honors:  Heal Petitioner, Know Follower, Light the Path, Seek Shrine
Rank 1
Required:  Leap of Faith, Learn God's Will, Mindlink, Sacred Circle, Soullink, Spread the Word
Honors:  Cure Poison, Dispel Sorcery, Identify Divine Instrument, Remove Minor Curse, Sanctuary
Rank 2
Required: Bless Thy Servant, Distraction, Faith Provides, Great Soullink, Make Thy Servant Whole, Pillar of Flesh, Summon Guardian, Treat Illness
Honors:  Artful Dodger, Grant Greater Prayer, Hand of God, Know Enemies, Nullify Prayer, Sense Hidden Danger
Rank 3
Required:  Contact Soul of the Faithful, Heal Injury, Heal the Faithful, Light of Day/Darkness of Night, Self-Defense
Honors:   Banish Ensorcelment, Know Alignment, Nullify Lesser Instrument
Rank 4
Required:  Divine Vision, Drawing Down the Moon, Pacify, Preach the Word
Honors:  Entanglement, Grant Sacrament of Prayer, Nullify Greater Instrument, Remove Great Curse

Numina Forms
Counselor:  None
Guardian:  Guardians may be summoned in the form a songbird (thrush, robin, jay, etc.).  Profiles follow those of normal animals, but with an Int of 20 and 10 MP.  Spirit guardians may take the form of ghostly deceased priests.
Servant:  None
Avatar:  None

Special Careers

Winecrafters
   Winecrafters are skilled in all stages of wine production.  They can identify vintages, additives, and other properties of the wine through taste and smell.  In many cases, Winecrafters blend various wines in differing measures to achieve a specific body, taste, and effect of the wine.  Winecrafters are also skilled in preparing meals to complement the wine and hosting festivities.  Moreover, Winecrafters have the ability to add specific herbs to certain wines so as to render the wine as a liquid drug.
   Prerequisite Career:  Those who would become a Winecrafter must be members of the cult of Liadriel and have some farming and hosting skills.  They must be approved by a Priest of Liadriel and spend some time (years) learning their craft from experienced Winecrafters.
Advance Scheme
M   WS   BS   S   T   W   I   A   Dex   Ld   Int   Cl   WP   Fel
-    -    -   -  +2  +2 +20   -    -   +10   +20  +10  +10   +30

   Prerequisite Career: Gamekeeper, Herbalist, Herdsman, Minstrel, Woodsman
   Career Exits: Entertainer, Initiate (Liadriel), Raconteur
   Skills: Carpentry, Consume Alcohol, Cook, Etiquette, Herb Lore, Identify Plant, Manufacture (Herbal) Drugs, Silent Move-Rural, Story Telling, Viniculture
   Trappings: Hand Weapon, Leather Jerkin, Pruning Tools, Wine Barrels, Underground Storage (Cave)

Favored Cult Skills
Layman:  Dance*, Sing*
Initiate:  Charm, Musicianship*
Rank 1:  Consume Alcohol*, Wilderness Lore (Forests)
Rank 2:  Hypnotise
Rank 3:  Seduction
Rank 4:

Sub-Cults and Honorary Orders:  None

Cult Prayers

Pacify
Prayer Rank: Fourth
Magic Points: 12
Range: Cleric
Duration: Until next sunrise
Area of Effect: BMP yard radius centered on cleric
Resistance: None
   This prayer grants the invoking cleric the ability to calm all creatures within the area of effect who are hostile towards the cleric or his companions.  These once hostile creatures will lay down their weapons and sit as they find contentment in the song or music that must accompany this prayer.  Moreover, should the invoking cleric pass a Fel test (with the appropriate modifiers), these creatures may be called upon to provide a service, such as protecting the cleric and his companions or leaving them alone.  Naturally, any request that is obviously intended to do the pacified creatures harm ("Would you mind looking the other way while I slipped this sword through your ribs.") will automatically end the prayer's effect.  If the cleric luckily survives that episode, he'll still have to contend with Liadriel (after all, this action would definitely be a gross violation of Liadriel's principles).
   This prayer also provides the cleric and his companions with a +20 modifier to all fear and a +10 modifier to all terror tests caused by hostile creatures within the area of effect.