The Temple of Divine Diversity. Place of worship in a city of Ten Thousand Gods. The Temple of Divine Diversity is a magnificent building with gilded spires and domes, situated on one side of the Grand Plaza on East Isle of Llaza. It was formerly inhabited by the official priesthood of the Empire of Splendour who fled when Llaza became independent roughly 150 years ago. The building remained empty for several decades, except for squatters and rats, until Viceroy Yorshin Bas, a deeply spiritual man with Eruvist leanings, decided to clean it up and start using it again. There then followed several years of political and religious wrangling about which god it should be dedicated to, given the complex and multi-cultural nature of the city until it was eventually decided to make the temple non-denominational. The building is run by a committee made up of religious leaders in Llaza. They contribute to the upkeep of the building and organize a schedule of the many festival days. Furthermore, prominent families can pay to hire it for personal ceremonies (weddings, funerals, coming of age ceremonies and so forth). This can lead to clashes, as it is often the case that money outweighs faith in deciding who gets to use the Temple. As there are many lesser temples dotted around the city it is rarely the case that a particular sect has nowhere to practise their religion, just not the biggest and best location in the city. The presiding priest of rank in the Temple is Humble Master Yandarshin of Sunset Canyon, a determined man of Dronish origins (with characteristic orange skin) who professes to be primarily a worshipper of 'The Spirit of the City of Llaza'. On New Years Day, as part of the Turn of the Year celebrations, all the wealthy and important figures of Llaza parade around the city dressed in their finery, dispensing food and money to the needy and generally trying to outdo each other in acts of largesse. The parade ends at the Temple where a service is held to thank the gods for the good things, take wisdom from setbacks and to pray for good fortune (in both senses of the word) in the next year. The most interesting feature of the Temple is a system of pipes and chambers that means those on the dais addressing the congregation can be heard with amazing clarity and volume in the Plaza outside. The mechanism, which no-one now actually understands, can be closed for private ceremonies but it is extremely useful for the Turn of the Year Service. Yandarshin of Sunset Canyon ('Old Yan') Male human Clr12 (cloistered): CR 12; Medium Humanoid (Human); AL N Abilities Str 5 (-3), Dex 10 (+0), Con 9 (-1), Int 15 (+2), Wis 16 (+3), Cha 15(+2). Initiative +0; Speed 30 ft. Armour Class 10; touch 10, flat-footed 10 Saves Fortitude +7, Reflex +4, Will +11 (+13 against enchantment) Hit Dice 12d6-12; hit points 30 Base Attack/Grapple +6/+3 Melee Quarterstaff +3 (1d6-3) Full Attack Quarterstaff -1/-5 (1d6-3/1d6-3) Special Abilities Turn Undead 5/day Special Qualities Lore +14 Skills: Appraise +10, Concentration +7, Decipher Script +14, Diplomacy +22, Gather Information +8, Heal +8, Knowledge (geography) +13, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nobility) +12, Knowledge (religion) +17, Knowledge (the planes) +8, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +8 Feats: Diligent, Leadership, Negotiator, Scribe Scroll Languages: Celestial, Draconic, Dronish, High Imperial, Low Imperial, Themnassic. Possessions: Simple white robes, quarterstaff made of oak. Domain Powers: Community - +2 competence bonus to Diplomacy, calm emotions 1/day; Knowledge - Knowledge skills are class skills, cast divinations at +1 caster level; Liberation - +2 morale bonus on saves against enchantment. Spells Prepared (D=Divination, CL 13th; *=Domain spell): 6th level (2+1/day, Save DC 19) - Heal, heroes feast*, forbiddance. 5th level (3+1/day, Save DC 18) - Break enchantment*, mark of justice, raise dead, scrying (D). 4th level (3+1/day, Save DC 17) - Detect scrying (D), dismissal, divination* (D), neutralize poison. 3rd level (5+1/day, Save DC 16) - Create food and water, dispel magic, locate object (D), remove disease, remove curse*, tongues. 2nd level (5+1/day, Save DC 15) - Augury (D), consecrate, detect thoughts* (D), fox's cunning, gentle repose, slow poison. 1st level (6+1/day, Save DC 14) - Bless*, bless water, command, identify (D), sanctuary, shield of faith, unseen servant. 0th level (6/day, Save DC 13) - Create water, detect magic (D), detect poison (D), guidance (D), message, read magic. As a cloistered cleric, Yandarshin gains the Knowledge domain as a bonus domain. His Leadership score is 19, based on character level 12 + Charisma bonus +2, great renown +2, a reputation for fairness and generosity +1 and having a base (the Temple) +2. His followers (of which there are 40 1st level characters plus leaders) call themselves the Defenders of The Temple. They are a mixture of clerics, warriors and fighters. If you have Oriental Adventures you may wish to use the Sohei class. Using Yandarshin 'Old Yan', as the high priest of the Temple of Divine Diversity is affectionately known, is a Dronish man of a sprightly 60 years old. He wears simple white robes (although a closer look reveals that they are well-made and embroidered white on white) and keeps his head shaved (but there is little hair left to remove anyway). These are both symbols of his humility before the gods and of his neutrality in worldly affairs. Although he is a cloistered cleric he has a long history of adventure and travel, having served as a ship-board priest for many different merchant clans. At 12th level, he is the most powerful priest in Llaza (which should say something about relative power levels in this part of the World of Conclave), and his spell selection reflects the general purpose usage he prepares every day. There are spells to help the afflicted, spells to deal with incursions from the spirit realms and spells to keep an eye on things around the city or help those in need of advice. For different occasions, this selection will change. For example, if expected to attend a treason trial, Old Yan might prepare a zone of truth spell. During times of an outbreak of sickness, he will prepare more remove disease and resistance spells. Old Yan is neutral, but he has chosen to channel positive energy so he can turn undead and spontaneously cast cure spells. Old Yan is unlikely to figure in the lives of very low level player characters but they may meet him if they require raising from the dead or if they become involved in Llazan politics. He tries to be impartial in his dealing with all the various factions of Llaza, and payment towards the upkeep of the Temple is the best way to get on his good side. As an old adventurer and avid reader he is full of stories of far off lands, and can be a helpful store of knowledge. Old Yan effectively worships the Spirit of the City of Llaza, a conceptual entity that embodies the populace of Llaza, the River Dragon whose body it is built upon, and the Nameless Hero who slew the dragon. The Spirit of Llaza offers the domains of Community, Liberation, Trade, Travel and Water. It has no organised priesthood to speak of, nor any favoured weapon. Its symbol is the blue dragon of Llaza, and its portfolio is the continued prosperity, fortune and independence of the city. Trade Domain The trade domain celebrates the peaceful interaction of intelligent beings to their mutual benefit, and the enjoyment of attempting to get the best of a deal. The domain also provides magic to help the mechanics of trade, from security of goods to moving from place to place. Appraise, Bluff and Sense Motive are considered class skills with this domain. In addition, once per day a cleric with the trade domain may perform a feat of charm, adding his cleric level to any charisma-based check. Domain Spells Comprehend languages Eagle's splendour Shrink item Tongues Secret chest Mass suggestion Find the path Sympathy Mass teleportation (c) 2007 The Creative Conclave. Contact us.

Links The City of Llaza Dronistor Empire of Splendour Imperial Religion Merchants League