Priests, Faith, and Divine Power

The Nature of Faith
While many people in Rhean believe in the gods, it is not at all common to find someone who truly has faith in a deity. Belief is easy; after all, signs of the gods are everywhere. Priests perfom magical and miraculous acts through their faith, and even lay members of a faith occasionally receive divine protection or guidance. The difficulty is that the gods are not able to act in the world on their own. They require a door, which is opened through the faith and will of a native of this world. In addition to this problem, the gods are not able or willing to provide everything their worshippers may ask of them. Some of this is due to their limits: even a god cannot be aware of everything at once, and in fact deities are generally not very aware of what happens in the world, unless they are invoked. But even if a god is aware, he may not lend his assistance if doing so does not fit into his plans.

True Faith
Some characters may possess Faith Points. These are a representation of that character's connection to his deity, and are generally reflective of the sincerity of his belief. Characters with the Divine Connection advantage will have a certain number of permanent Faith Points; these can be spent, but can also be recovered, and are only truly lost if the character offends his deity or loses his faith. The number of these Faith Points can also increase if the character strengthens the connection to his deity. It is also possible for characters to gain temporary Faith Points which work in exactly the same ways, but which cannot be recovered once spent. Gaining temporary Faith Points does not give the character the Divine Connection advantage.

Recovery of Faith Points
The following are ways to recover spent Faith Points, assuming they were not temporary. The number listed in parentheses is the amount recovered. Generally, each situation can only restore FP's once in a day.

• Devotions (1): These are the sort of daily devotions and small prayers that any person can perform on their own. These are only performed in specific circumstances which vary by the religion. For example, followers of Turin greet the rising sun; they start out kneeling with head bowed as light first touches the horizon, praying softly, and remain in that pose until the sun is almost visible, at which point they look up and utter a louder prayer. As the sun rises, they stand and slowly raise their arms until the entire disc is revealed, at which point they raise head and arms to the sky and burst into a loud chorus. Obviously, this cannot always be done, and can in any event only be performed once per day. Followers of Turin have other devotions they may perform at noon and dusk.
• Services (2): This is the official religious service for the deity. It must be presided over by a priest.
• High Services (4): These are observances of high holy days, or can be normal services performed by a high priest or equivalent.
• Holy Act (1): The character witnesses or perfoms an act of especial importance to the deity, and intentionally makes reference to the deity in connection to this act. For example, an injured man is healed, and a character who worships Alteum offers the deity of healing a prayer of thanksgiving.
• Blessing (1): The character is blessed by a priest or other person invested with the favor of the deity.
• Holy Man (2): The character sees or touches a particularly holy person (first time only).
• Holy Site (1): The character visits a site of particular importance to the religion.
• Manifestation (3): The character visits or is exposed to a Manifestation of the deity (first time only, thereafter 2 only).
• Incarnation (5): The character has contact with an Incarnation of the deity (first time only, thereafter 3 only).

Uses of Faith Points
Faith Points are a representation of a character's belief in and connection to a particular deity. This faith gives characters certain abilities, at least potentially. True Faith is a requirement for priestly powers, although priests also learn religious lore and minor prayers through their Religion skill; many priests do not have True Faith. In addition, Miracles are much more likely to be granted to those with True Faith. Faith Points may also be used by anyone in certain limited ways. While some of these vary between religions, the more common ones are listed here.

• Peace in Death: it is much harder to disturb the eternal rest of someone with True Faith. Such a person is harder to raise as undead, or to communicate with, or otherwise prevent the soul from resting in peace.
• Sanctified Burial: by spending Faith Points in conjunction with a funeral rite appropriate to the religion, a character may make it harder to disturb the dead.
• Know the Faithful: by spending 1 Faith Point, a character may attempt to sense if another creature has True Faith or a similar divine connection.

Miracles
Roughly speaking, a miracle is the effect of a deity interfering in the world. This may be subtle or gross, i.e. a friend arriving in a time of need, or a holy sword falling from the sky. Miracles generally only happen if someone is asking for them (see above). Although anyone can pray for a miracle, it is rather unlikely that a non-worshipper will receive one, and having Faith points greatly increases the chances of a prayer being answered in this fashion. Note, however, that even if a miracle is not granted by the deity being prayed to, it is possible for something else to hear the request and offer aid. Generally this comes in the form of a bargain; many witches got their start this way.
Praying for a miracle generally requires several rounds. The request should be voiced as loudly as possible in the language that is most commonly used in worshipping the deity. The request does not need to be precise; even if it is, deities commonly answer these calls in their own fashion.

Although each Miracle is unique, there are certain common effects which have been observed.

Prayers and Invocations
Although miracles are granted only infrequently, priests can learn to call upon their deity's power more reliably through both routinely answered prayers and the memory the world has of the god. Doing these things requires the Divine Connection advantage, although it is not always necessary to expend Faith Points. The Prayer skill is used to bring out the memory of the deity from the Mind of the world, while the Invocation skill allows the character to attempt to channel power directly from the deity. It is possible for a character to possess the Prayers skill for a particular deity, even if they do not have any Faith Points or Divine Connection. Certain abilities may still be possible, and the character may use it as a knowledge skill if nothing else. In addition, a character who gains temporary Faith Points may use those to power abilities until they are gone.

One specific type of prayer is a Chant. Simply put, a Chant is a prayer which is continued; its effect, therefore, continues as long as it can be maintained. Chants can be passed off between characters. Both characters must have the ability to use the particular chant, and the two characters should be chanting at the same time for the smallest time period of the ability. For example, if a chant has the cost of 1 Stabiltity per minute, both priests need to be chanting for one minute before it can be considered handed off.