Royal Ancestor Worship

As followed by the Royal Family of Porters Bar, and other members of the Shay family.

Quasi-deity, Psychopomp and patron of The House of Shay (TN)

The Royal Ancestors have the power to grant spells to their descendants, although (technically, according to the Pathfinder rules) they are Mythic Characters, rather than true deities. This faith is only available to members of House Shay.

Lei, the founder of Porter's Bar, was bought up in a culture that demanded respect for the spirits of the ancestors, and she continued that tradition when she settled in Porter's Bar. She set up a small shrine where a light could burn, and she could give occasional thanks to the spirits of her ancestors for their help and assistance.

It was her fourth child, Lanwe, who developed the shrine. When his mother died, and his father left with her body, Lanwe turned to the small ancestral shrine for comfort. Almost immediately he started to feel relief and succour and vowed to dedicate his life to the memory of his mother and his other ancestors. At first, he was regarded as having a problem, and it was assumed he needed more time to recover from his mother's death - but over time he started to develop a calmness and wisdom that was envied and almost venerated by his peers.

Over the next two generations, it became normal for all children of the royal family to study at the shrine of the ancestors and take guidance from the teachers and their writings. From there, it was but a short step to believing that the royal advisors should be chosen from the teachers and students at the shrine. Nowadays, junior priests of the Cult of the Royal Ancestors manage the day-to-day functions of the royal household, while the senior priests are all Royal Advisors.

The Royal Ancestors have a very informal church, with no major temples and just a few small shrines. Every member of the family is encouraged to study for the priesthood, as acceptance confirms their position in the family and reinforces the message of family loyalty and advancement. To qualify as a potential heir to the throne, a character must be a priest of The Royal Ancestors and a Dragon Blood Sorcerer.

All Priests are members of The House of Shay. The majority have a single level of a divine class (often Adept) and are employed in the administration of Porters Bar, or a major Shay household. Higher level priests are called to serve as Advisors to the throne of Porters Bar. Priests also have access to two new spells: Summon Psycopomp (L1) & Hero's Grave (L3) - both of which can be found here. These are not bonus, or domain spells, but must be learned in the same way as any other spell.

Shrines are personal, and can be as little as a single candle along with the Shay dragon symbol.

The Royal Ancestors ares a quasi-deity a Pathfinder mythic character who can grant access to two domains, and can only grant spells up to Fifth Level, drawn from the Adept Spell list – any slots for higher level spells may be filled with lower level spells. Nor do the ancestors allow adepts to take a Familiar at Level 2 - Instead, they are granted access to their domains.

Your faith is your greatest source of protection, and you can use that faith to defend others. In addition, you receive a +1 resistance bonus on saving throws. This bonus increases by 1 for every 5 levels you possess.

• Resistant Touch (Sp): As a standard action, you can touch an ally to grant him your resistance bonus for 1 minute. When you use this ability, you lose your resistance bonus granted by the Protection domain for 1 minute. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
• Aura of Protection (Su): At 8th level, you can emit a 30-foot aura of protection for a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level. You and your allies within this aura gain a +1 deflection bonus to AC and resistance 5 against all elements (acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic). The deflection bonus increases by +1 for every four cleric levels you possess beyond 8th. At 14th level, the resistance against all elements increases to 10. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.
• Domain Spells: 1st—sanctuary, 2nd—shield other, 3rd—protection from energy, 4th—spell immunity, 5th—spell resistance.

You see death not as something to be feared, but as a final rest and reward for a life well spent. The taint of undeath is a mockery of what you hold dear.

• Gentle Rest (Sp): Your touch can fill a creature with lethargy, causing a living creature to become staggered for 1 round as a melee touch attack. If you touch a staggered living creature, that creature falls asleep for 1 round instead. Undead creatures touched are staggered for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
• Speak With Dead (Su): At 8th level, as a standard action, you can ask one question of a dead creature as if using speak with dead. The dead creature you are questioning does not gain a Will saving throw if your alignments are different. You can use this ability for a number of times per day equal to your cleric level.
• Domain Spells: 1st—deathwatch, 2nd—gentle repose, 3rd—speak with dead, 4th—rest eternal, 5th—slay living, 6th—geas/quest, 7th—destruction, 8th—waves of exhaustion, 9th—wail of the banshee.

Priests may choose their spells from the following list:

• 0th Level: create water, detect magic, ghost sound, guidance, light, mending, purify food and drink, read magic, stabilize, touch of fatigue, vigor.
• 1st Level: bless, burning hands, cause fear, command, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, endure elements, face of the devourer, obscuring mist, preserve, protection from chaos, protection from evil, protection from good, protection from law, scarify, shield the banner, sleep, Summon Psychopomp.
• 2nd Level: aid, animal trance, bear’s endurance, bull’s strength, cat’s grace, cure moderate wounds, darkness, delay poison, enemy’s heart, inner focus, invisibility, mirror image, resist energy, rumbling fury, scorching ray, see invisibility, tremor blast, web.
• 3rd Level: animate dead, bestow curse, blood rage, contagion, continual flame, cure serious wounds, daylight, deeper darkness, Heroes Grave, lightning bolt, neutralize poison, remove curse, remove disease, tongues.
• 4th Level: cure critical wounds, minor creation, polymorph, restoration, stoneskin, wall of fire.
• 5th Level: baleful polymorph, break enchantment, commune, heal, major creation, raise dead, true seeing, wall of stone.