Cleric

There are many who choose to devote their lives to the worship of the gods but there are few who are imbued with the power of their chosen god. This makes the work of a cleric highly respected and in some cases revered as a direct line to the gods themselves.

Career

Qualifications

Most clerics start of as acolytes of their deity with extensive religious studies but it does happen that uneducated people become clerics. All that's really needed is a strong faith and devotion to a god.

Career Progression

For a cleric to progress in their profession they must hone their abilities and enact the will of their god as best as they can from their understanding. Some clerics do this by staying in a temple and helping the congregation and people where they live and others choose to become adventurers.

Payment & Reimbursement

The income for clerics can vary immensely depending on what way they choose to serve their gods. Some choose to only accept food or other necessities as payment, living a very simple life with no possessions. Others charge large sums of money for their services, while adventuring clerics rely on the pay from whatever mission they take or the loot that they find.

Other Benefits

Clerics have a high standing in the eyes of most people and few would refuse to help if one was ever in need of anything. In some places clerics are treated like royalty.

Perception

Purpose

Clerics are healers in most cases though they can serve a multitude of purposes. They can work in temples along with priests, priestesses and acolytes, performing holy rituals and aiding in any way they can with their divine magic. They're also sought after to serve in a military capacity as healers, damage dealers or utility.
In addition, there's no adventuring party that would say no to having a cleric unless they just really didn't like them as a person.

Social Status

Clerics are respected by most societies in Arbressian. Specifically clerics of the prime deities that are good or neutral in alignment.

History

Since the Age of Creation, clerics have existed to help the gods enact their will in places they can't be present. Although being a cleric is seen as a prestigious and important profession not many of them reach the kind of fame where their names are widely known to people who never met them.
One cleric who did reach that amount of fame was Morishar Stormborn, a wood elf girl who in her tragically short lifespan managed to do grand deeds. With her she carried a legendary weapon that was said to be able to call lightning storms and fell entire armies but that has not been found after her death.
Another famous cleric isn't actually known for being the cleric. Princess Ralenna Sarric of Eischland is a cleric of Melora and wishes to serve her goddess as an adventurer but after the tragic death of her mother and her siblings, she is now the sole heir of the throne.

Type

Religious

Demand

Clerics are fairly rare and there's not an equal spread of them across Arbressian and as such it is somewhat of a luxury to have access to one, though some clerics travel around and help people in smaller towns and villages as much as they can.