Holy Orders
Because the triads are not terribly popular, and the Sisters’
clergy and holy warriors are often absent on missions, it is all
but impossible to staff a triad with a high-ranking member
of each Sister’s clergy. Instead, the three churches have a
long-standing arrangement, in which any cleric of a Sister
can serve as a “variegate priest” or “variegate priestess” for a
period of no less than one year and no more than five years.
A variegate priest puts aside the trappings of the goddess he
has served, and wears robes of the three sacred
colors: red, gold, and black. He oversees a triad, determining
its position on matters both secular and religious.
Acting as a cleric of all Three Sisters, he offers spiritual
counsel to worshipers of any of the three faiths, and sees
to the training of each of their clergies. A variegate priest
is addressed as “revered father,” or “revered mother,” and is
introduced as a variegate priest, omitting any titles related
to a specific Sister.
Variegate priests induct members into the Unity: an
order of triad-worshipers. From time to time, three people
come to a triad seeking to be bound together as special
companions, fates and lives tied together as surely as the
Sisters’ were. If the variegate priest believes their intentions are true,
he can induct them into the Unity (see “The
Unity,” following), after which they are so bound.
The average triad has one variegate priest in residence.
A few holy warriors and clergy of the individual altars
come in from time to time. There are also various acolytes
and students in residence, but they do not perform religious
functions beyond study and meditation and purposes, a family.
Triads perform the ritual because
they believe it is in the forming of such unions that the
perfection of the mortal races will be achieved, and paradise
will be realized. Priests require a genuine bond, without
coercion or inequality, and use test of souls to ensure it exists.
The exact nature of the emotional bond varies, ranging
from the forms of love that mortal races feel toward one
another, to a sense of camaraderie greater than the usual
ties which hold teams of hardened adventurers together.
When the ritual is complete, the three emerge as a Unity.
They take on a new name that all three share, to signify
their new familial bond—and indeed, they are all now
family in the eyes of the gods.
By becoming a Unity, the
three live out the mystery of the Journey to the East. One
becomes the Breath, as Naryne is sometimes called, the
speaker for the three. One becomes the Eye, as Thellyne is
for the Sisters, and observes for the three. One becomes the
Arm, as Canelle was, and takes direct action for the Unity.
As the three explore their bond it grows stronger, and they
develop the ability to perform miraculous deeds together.
Characters interested in forming a Unity can do so by
taking the Triad Feats
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