Church of Pelor: Part 2

 From: Chris Jarvis [cjarvis@gte.net] 

Sent: Monday, October 12, 1998 2:13 AM

To: Greyhawk List

Here is the conclusion of my (very dated) write-up on the Church of Pelor. I should like to once again point out that it suffers from being written before anything else was really published about the deity and his church. Some people have stated that it is a little too martial for their tastes--oh well such is life. If you can't have a martial god of strength and light...there would seem to be a problem. Also I see the ancient Flani  as having some sort of Holy Paladins (even if they were goat-herding savages) that would have seen service against the Suloise and maybe even helped to topple the bad-old Ur-Flannae.

Here it is, many thanks to Samwise of Pelor for prompting me to dig through my archive and finally post this. I truly apologize for the lack of a conclusion to the write-up, but hey, I'm lame. The only other things I might want to add would be the temple organization and perhaps the spells that Pelor specifically grants his priests. That and maybe a sampling of the "special powers" exhibited by the Lions of Pelor. But hey, I'll leave that for some other time. I have to get back to that History of Keoland--and maybe even GM at bit...

--Chris Jarvis

The League of the Healing Hand is reserved exclusively for the enlightened followers of Pelor. It is made up of members of both the  clerical and fighting orders, as well as select members of the laity. Members of the order shine with the inner light of the Sun and strike fear into the hearts of foes of Pelor. The origins of this order are unknown, though it is rumored to have once been the paramount order of Pelor acting has his agents upon Gerth. Past members of the League include Saint Delsin and Saint Pillan. The League has no symbol save that of Pelor himself and no set regalia or attire. It is not even known if the League maintains a chapter house or has a leader.

The Order of the Knights of the Sun is the fighting arm of the Divine  Order of the Radiant Sun. They are pledged to protect and defend their sponsoring order. The Sun-Knights are undead hunters of the first water. Vampires receive their undying enmity and opposition. The Sun-Knights are warriors foremost, and as such they are rarely out of armor. The armor of a Sun-Knight is his pride and glory. Many have any visible metal pieces plated in gold or brass, this includes their helms and shields. The dictates of the order prohibit them from using missile weapons but most others may be used. They generally prefer spears and two-handed weapons. Over their armor, Sun-Knights will generally wear a black surcoat emblazoned with the symbol of their order. Higher-ranking members of the Order are entitled to bear a golden border upon their surcoats. The symbol of the Order is a golden sundisk crossed by two spears in saltire (an X), on a field of ebon. Sun-Knights are versed in the arts of healing as well as warfare, and often serve as chaplains in the armies of good. The Sun-Knights maintain chapter houses in Nyrond, Almer, the County & Duchy of  Urnst, and in the Duchy of Tenh. The Holy Patriarch of the Divine Order serves as the Commandant of  the Sun-Knights from his see in Mazanar in Nyrond. The Sun-Knights cooperate heavily with many of  the holy knightly orders of Heironeous, but are on decidedly unfriendly terms with the Sons of  Pholtus and the martial orders of the Pale.

The Order of the Knights of the Temple of Light are the martial arm of the Golden Order of the Heavenly Torch in much the same way the Sun-Knights serve the Divine Order. The primary mission of the Lightbearers is to banish darkness, reveal decay, and dispel evil, fear, and ignorance. They are also sworn to protect and serve the Golden Order. The Lightbearers are generally of a more scholarly bent than the Sun-Knights; they also do not have the same reverence for their  appearance. They have a similar prohibition against striking an enemy at a distance. But to a Lightbearer weapons and armor are simP.IY tools utilized to accomplish their tasks. The only preference exhibited by members of the order is weapons of quality, though many favor swords of one sort or  another. The symbol of the Order is a red sword upon a golden sundisk. This is often worn as a simple badge on whatever attire the particular Lightbearer has chosen. Ceremonial regalia of the Order are identical to that of the Golden Order save that their saffron robes are emblazoned with a red sword point to base (pointed down). The Lightbearers maintain chapter houses in Furyondy, Veluna, the Shield Lands, the Gran & Bissel Marches, Keoland, the Ulek states, and Ekbir. The Illuminated Holy Patriarch oversees the order as its High Marshall from his see inCandleport. The Lightbearers work closely with the holy knight orders of Rao and the Billets of Saint Cuthbert.

The Lions of Pelor are unique in that their deity individually chooses them. They usually wander the lands, alone, healing the sick and injured, protecting the weak, and ferreting out and destroying evil and malefic blight with zealous intensity. They are the exalted warriors of Pelor, chosen to serve for an unknown period of lime and without regard to theirhierarchical standing. But they are rarely chosen without a specific purpose in mind, which may only be known to the god himself. The Lions are touched by Pelor's divinity with powers and abilities beyond the scope of most mortals. Few foes can stand before one of Pelor's Lions and not know fear.

***************************************************************************

To   unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe 

greyhawk' as the body of the message.