Windwalkers

Windwalker Pilgrim by Nathan Turner & Elia Pellegrini on Unsplash

The Windwalkers are both a sect and a monastic healing and philosophical order dedicated to worshipping The Father, one aspect of the bipartite creator god/dess of the Sundered Lands. They revere the power of the wind and storms he summons, and the priests and priestesses of the order are almost invariably focused on the domain of Tempest. Clerics and monks of the order share the name with wider adherents of the faith.
Found far to the south of the Sundered Lands in the deserts of the Deep Sahuul, they make their home in the Rock of the Wind, an immense spear of granite thrusting out of the desert almost half a mile into the sky. The stone is carved in a variety of shapes that appear odd to the eye, but the winds blowing past and through them create subtly shifting haunting tones, and Windwalkers meditating in spinning dervish dances are able to use these tones to aid in divinations and auguries. The passageways and channels cut throughout the Rock allow the wind complete access, so that nothing can be hidden from its scouring.
The lower two-thirds of the Rock are dedicated to the Temple of Air, where their meditation and healing rituals take place. The incurable and desperate travel immense distances to obtain healing of diseases and curses which does not work anywhere else, as the clerics summon the Winds of Change. Chanters ring the room as the sufferer stands in the centre. Malign influences within them are exorcised into their lungs and sweat, an inky miasma beginning to surround the individual, exuding from their breath and pores and clotting over their skin. At the height of the ritual, the fierce, dry desert wind roars through the temple chambers, suffusing the air with the scent of incense and summer flowers after rain, and spiralling around the one seeking healing. The affliction is torn from them and shredded as their skin is scoured of the miasma, leaving them weak as a newborn but completely healed.
The top third of the spire is carved with a broad, spiralling staircase, with frequent landings for pauses and meditation, until it reaches the Temple of the Sky Father at the very top. Open to the air on all sides, it consists of carved rock columns and many braziers bearing offerings of incense into the sky. Missionary clerics conduct their farewell services here before casting themselves from the open edge, being borne aloft by the Father's winds and carried in the direction they are needed.

Tenets of Faith

• Embrace and respect the wind as it carries you where the Father wills, and exist in harmony with His purpose.
• Scour from the world the abominations and mockeries of nature which contravene the Father's will.
• Aid those who respect the Father, and teach those who do not know Him.

Worship

Members of the Windwalkers sect who live near the Rock of the Wind (which is almost all of them) are expected to make the pilgrimage to the top and pray in the Temple of the Sky Father at least annually. Those who are unable for reasons of age or infirmity receive whatever help is required, and it is not unusual to see serene monks tirelessly carrying elderly worshippers up the broad steps.
Storms are times for prayer and veneration throughout the order and the wider sect, and sandstorms are viewed as sources of both humility before the strength of the Father, and celebration of his might. Members of the faith will divide their time during sandstorms between the celebratory feasts and quiet contemplation, as they feel led. Despite the fact that the Temple of Air is completely open to the winds, even the strongest sandstorm will never raise more than a breeze within, and the sand never enters.

Priesthood

Clerics of the Windwalkers are always found clad in layers of gauzy veils, with the number and colour distinguishing their rank and oaths of service. White distinguishes novitiates and those who have not moved into a particular aspect of the priesthood, while smoky gray is the colour of diviners and pale blue marks healers. They always have at least one veil covering their face, although they may choose not to wear as many as their rank determines.
Vestments are formed of many thin layers of floating silk, cotton, and gauze, although during the cold desert nights they are worn over heavier clothing.

Granted Divine Powers

While the priests and priestesses of the Windwalkers receive the common spells of the Tempest domain, both they and the monks who serve as the guardians of the Rock are also granted a number of spells and abilities which are almost unknown elsewhere, even amongst other clerics and druids who worship the Parents. These are all focused around wind-based powers, granting them the ability to travel swiftly, move unseen, summon minor wind elementals as servants, and even fight with blades of wind or be defended by shields of it.

• Shielding Wind - a howling gale of air forms a shield around a person, place, or object. It can extend itself into a spherical shell to thwart attempts to bypass it, and attacks against the subject are extremely difficult.
• Wind Compass - tiny piping flutes of air sound within the caster's ear as they move, with the tones changing if they change direction. This allows casters to maintain steady headings in even the fiercest sandstorms.
• Wind Servant - much like an invisible servant spell, this summons a minor wind elemental to serve the caster.
• Wind Shadow - an ability of the Windwalker monks, this allows them to take on a translucent and almost weightless form, gliding silently upon a magical breeze. No betraying scent or air current precedes them, and no footprint or track marks their passing.
• Windblade - an invisible blade of cutting wind forms in the caster's hand, which they can wield as a blade or direct to fly through the air to attack enemies.
• Windrider - the caster and their companions are plucked into the sky to float like feathers on the breeze, carried swifter than a running pace for hours in whatever direction the caster desires.