Cleric Paladin and Champion Submissions

The world of Layonara currently has 28 Deities in its pantheon, each with his or her own alignment, dogma, and spheres of influence. These deities expand their influence and power throughout the world through their followers. Characters that worship a deity are expected to abide by and exhibit the tenants of faith of that deity.

While the expectations a deity places on the average follower are usually small, the expectations set upon those that receive divine power from their deity are much greater. As recipients of divine power Clerics, Paladins and Champions have a number of additional rules governing their submission and play.

• Clerics' alignments may be no farther than one step from the alignment of their deity. One step is defined as an adjacent alignment (see Alignments) in one of the four cardinal directions (not diagonal.) Neutral Good is one step from True Neutral, where as Lawful Good is two steps from True Neutral.

Every deity in Layonara's pantheon possesses their own dogma and tenants of faith. Those that receive divine powers from a deity (Clerics, Paladins and Champions,) are expected to evangelize that deity's dogma and live by their tenants of faith so that their deity may grow in power and influence. It is important for these representatives of faith to live by their Oaths and Vows and the ideals that they teach. To say one thing and do another will not bring more followers to their deity.

If it becomes clear to a deity that a member of their empowered followers is not living up to the requirements placed upon them, that follower will fall from favor, often with their deity revoking any granted powers either until they prove themselves worthy or permanantly. What actions, on the part of the character, would cause a deity to take such an action against them and the bounds of what action would be taken varies widely depending on the deity in question.

Due to the responsibility of a character who is granted divine power to uphold these things submissions for Clerics, Paladins and Champions must contain the following three sections in addition to the standard submission:

1. An acknowledgement that the player has read and understands the dogma and expectations of their chosen deity and intends to follow them.
2. How this particular character sees and interprets their deity's dogma in the past, and how they will, in the future, reflect that interpretation. This does not mean that your character may not change how they interpret the dogma or how they embody that interpretation as they are influenced by world events and RP. Treat this section as more of a description of how your character currently plans to embody their interpretation of the dogma.
3. A discussion/explanation with respect to how closely the character follows normal practices of the chosen deity, particularly in regards to the character's choice of weapon, armor, clothing and even colors worn.

Points of interest when reviewing your deity's dogma and writing this section of your submission:

• When something is listed as "favored" by a deity, it is exactly that, favored, not mandatory. However, deviations from the favored or normal practices are the types of things that should be addressed in this new section and given reasonable explanations for the exception.
• One exception to deviating from the dogma of a deity is for the champion. A champion must be of the exact same alignment as the deity that they wish to become a champion for and they must follow the dogma precisely, including the weapon of choice. You are a champion of that deity after all, and because you are a champion you must specifically and accurately follow the deity.
• Not all Clergy/Paladins/Champions must have had formal training. Your character may come from a long established seminary if you choose, but it is not required. There are many ways to become an advocate of faith.

The purpose of this extra layer to the biographies is simply to better flesh out and develop the characters that are going to exemplify the faiths of an ever expanding world. Since the characters themselves will be deeper and richer for it, so shall the world be for having all of those deeper and richer characters.