Icons

Third Horizon culture: Icons

Checking on the Coriolis Discord, I read that the publishers are OK with players recreating tables, figures and data from the RPG source material where the only purpose is the facilitation of playing their game and I hereby promise this is my only intent with this article. The Icons are taken directly from the Core Rules; the inspirations, prayers and blessings are my own invention - Doctor Weather

The first two sections here are reference tools for data in the CORE RULES designed to help me get the Icons into the everyday of my games. The final section is my own creation, for the same purpose.

The Icons and their influences

A note on the 'variants': The Church of the Icons' doctrine does not allow for any divine beings existing beyond the Icons, nor for the Icons having a Dark side that in any way harms or curses humanity. The Church states that any local religious 'variant' is just worship of one of the nine Icons by another name and that humans and the Dark Between the Stars are the only source of evil.
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Influence

	Influence	Variants
Messenger	The bringer of news, secrets and omens	Whisperer (secrets) Seducer (drives you mad)
Dancer	Inspiration, perseverance, lovers and passion	Musician (lust) Beast (strength)
Gambler	Adventure, risk and intelligence Precocious children Sometimes thought to weigh the souls of the dead for the Judge	Trickster - The Laughing Hyena of Algol and Mira's King Macaque, also the juggling tarrab Ensnarer (takes those afraid to take risks)
Deckhand	Homes and ships, blessing those that are well looked after	Waba / Fox (a gremlin for houses and ships)
Merchant	Growth, prosperity and success	Miser
Judge	Justice and punishment Judges the souls of the dead	Blind Warden Martyr
Traveller	Offers protection during trade, exploration and making a new home	Star Singer Demiurge (portal builder) Spider (traps unwary travellers in the web of portals)
Lady of Tears	Escorts the dead on their way to the Judge Comforts the living left behind Her cleansing fire destroys the body to free the spirit	Butcher or Executioner (slowly destroys the body in a way that traps the spirit)
Faceless One	Standing between the Icons of the civilised places and the Dark Between the Stars, the Faceless One both leads people towards the Dark and protects them from it, if they are worthy; those who come away from encounters with the Faceless One come away stronger because of it	Shadow

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Icons

	Gender	Symbol	Image
Messenger	m	Scroll	Pale, swift boy with a stern face and flaming eyes May hold a winged messenger rod May have wings
Dancer	Either, none and all	Sweeping shawl	A performer
Gambler	m	Dice	Young man offering an encouraging hand Little girl offering dice in an outstretched hand, encourage you to roll
Deckhand	m	Key	Tired boy holding a broom or other tool
Merchant	m	Chalice	Portly, well-dressed older man in embroidered silk robes Smiling elderly woman giving alms
Judge	f	Sword	Stern matriarch with a sword at her side
Traveller	m	Ship	Man with eyes on horizon holding a walking stick, compass or astrograph
Lady of Tears	f	Tear	Woman in mourning white with a trace of tears and a mysterious smile, surrounded in cleansing fire
Faceless One	None	None - empty space is left	None - empty space is left Sometimes a shadow

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Sacred rites

For those that wish to follow the doctrine formally laid out by the Church of the Icons, these are the rites you should be observing.

SACRED RITE	ICON	FREQUENCY
The Mission Travel the Horizon, learn and spread the faith	The Messenger	Once in life, during at least one segment
The Life Bond	The Dancer	Once in life
The Creed Declare your faith in a temple	The Gambler	Each year during the Cyclade
The Blessing Bless your home or ship	The Deckhand	Each year during the Cyclade
The Fast Cleanse the body and soul and observe the reminder of material necessity	The Merchant	From dawn to dusk during the segment of the Merchant
The Confession Confess your sins to a priest, missionary, preacher or pilgrim	The Judge	Each segment
The Pilgrimage Travel to one of the holy sites	The Traveler	Once in life
The Alms-giving	The Lady of Tears	Each segment
The Prayer	The Faceless One	Twice daily at dawn and dusk

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CC61, segment of The Deckhand

Contents

• The Icons and their influences
• Influence
• Icons
• Sacred rites

Related

• Blessings and prayers
• Greetings and partings