Ancestors

This is a god devoted to man's communion with and honoring of his dead ancestors. As such, this is a god of civilization and learning, even of courtesy.

The priests of this god keep the deeds of ancestors and heroes in the minds of the population. They commune with and honor the dead, and are also devoted to learning from them # not just reading their writings, but communicating with them magically, even exploring alternate planes to understand the meaning of life and death.

They are also devoted to the protection of new generations, whom they teach to appreciate the previous generations of this race.

This priesthood places a high value on truth.

Priests of the god of ancestors hate the undead, regarding them as a mockery of true and noble death. These priests seek to eradicate the undead whenever encountered.

Lesser gods of this attribute would be devoted to subsets of the broad field of Ancestors. Such subsets include: Ancestors of a particular race, of a particular city, of a particular extended clan; all male ancestors, all female ancestors, all warrior ancestors, all scholar ancestors, etc. It would be appropriate for a civic deity (see Community, below) also to be a god of the city's ancestors, for instance.

Ancestor deities are not inclined toward either sex.

The priests of this god are on good terms with the priests of Birth/Children, Community, Divinity of Mankind, Fate/Destiny, Race, and Sites. The priests of this god dislike the priests of Disease.

Alignment: The deity is neutral good. His priests may be chaotic good, neutral good, or lawful good. The flock may be of any neutral or good alignment.

Minimum Ability Scores: Wisdom 12. Wisdom 16 means +10% experience.

Races Allowed: Dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, halflings, humans.

Nonweapon and Weapon Proficiencies: Nonweapon Proficiencies Required: Local History. Nonweapon Proficiencies Recommended: Reading/Writing, Heraldry, Religion. Weapon Proficiencies Required: None. Nonweapon Proficiency Group Crossovers: Priest, General.

Duties of the Priest: Guidance, Marriage. Education: These priests must teach new generations the value of veneration of ancestors, and are therefore also repositories of a lot of historical knowledge. Missions: To investigate old mysteries, find out what really did happen to famous ancestors who disappeared or perished mysteriously, sort out the truth from old legends of the city's heroes, etc. Prophecy: Listening to the omens whispered by the dead.

Weapon and Armor Restrictions: Weapons Permitted: Club, dagger/dirk, dart, knife, quarterstaff. Armor Permitted: None; no shields. Oriental Campaigns: Also bo stick. All together, these constitute Poor combat abilities.

Other Limitations: None.

Spheres of Influence: Major Access to All, Astral, Creation, Divination, Guardian, Necromantic, Protection. Minor Access to Charm, Healing. This does not give the priest all the minor accesses to spheres indicated for a priest with Poor combat abilities, so he'll also have some Granted Powers.

Powers: Detection (as described in the Designing Faiths chapter) of graves and undead. The priest can detect graves where remains lie, and the presence of undead, within 60'; he can tell the difference between the truly dead and the undead, but has no other analytical ability (i.e., he cannot tell that the undead detected is a vampire); through wooden or thin stone walls, he can only detect them at a distance of 30', and through thick stone or the earth can only detect them at 10' distance. (Therefore, when he walks over a grave, he will only detect its presence if it is 10' or less down.) Immunity (as described in the Designing Faiths chapter) to the charm abilities of undead creatures such as the vampire. Turn undead (same as the Cleric ability). At 8th level: Prophecy (as described in the Designing Faiths chapter); the priest cannot actively try to prophesy; when receiving prophecies, he is hearing the voices of the dead advising him.

Followers and Strongholds: The followers are received at 8th level, and consist of five third-level priests and fifteen first-level priests, all of the same priesthood. The priest may take the following on adventures: Five priests, no more than two of whom may be chosen from the third-level priests. The priesthood will pay for half of the cost of stronghold construction at 8th level. The stronghold must also act as a genealogical library for the surrounding communities, and will constantly be visited by scholars looking for information on families and ancestry (or who come with information to contribute).

Possible Symbols: Tree.

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