The Congregation

The Church is not just the clergy, nor the buildings where they officiate. The Church is composed of the whole body of believers united in Christ, and the congregation is an essential element, and sometimes a powerful one. In England, recent decades have seen the development of churchwardens who oversee and help run the Church buildings. Similar roles are developing in Italy, France, and Germany. Congregations can also petition the local bishop to have an unpopular priest removed and for visitation, where a bishop tours the parishes questioning locals about their priest. This provides an important opportunity for the laity to speak ill of, or praise, the incumbent. In the case of serious problems with a priest, it is not uncommon for the congregation to boycott the parish church, and call on the Church authorities to remove and punish the offending clergyman.

In recent decades there has been an explosion of lay devotion and popular piety. For centuries almost all saints have been drawn from the clergy, but a few of the laity are now canonized, as the Church has accepted that even lay people can aspire to extraordinary personal holiness. The concept of purgatory, while still ill defined in doctrine, means that an increasing number of people may hope to one day reach heaven. Even those whose earthly lives have been less than exemplary may be saved through the saving grace of Christ, and the purpose of purgatory in popular imagination is to refine those souls not good enough for heaven, yet not bad enough for hell.

While some clergy adopt a somewhat jaundiced view of their flock's spiritual potential and ultimate destination, many members of the congregation are deeply concerned with the fate of their own souls. Many of the laity choose to enter a monastery or convent for their last years, and others make generous bequests to the Church in their wills.

Most people in Christendom accept the status of the Church, yet impiety is not uncommon. In some parishes where the priest struggles to hold his flock's attention, it may even be the norm. Impiety may take the form of gossiping, quarreling, gaming with dice, and flirting in church during divine service. One can imagine a parish priest with the Flaw: Difficult Underlings, who can never control his congregation.

Such indiscipline is not usual though — while most districts have a village or two renowned for impiety or rowdy behavior, generally throughout Western Mythic Europe a tone of reverence and quiet attention can be found while the service is in progress, with relatively few nodding off to sleep or whispering to their neighbors. A sense of the sacred, the real presence of God (as reflected in the Dominion aura), and the fact that sermons and the ritual provide entertainment and color hold most worshipers' attention fully. (Those who went on the ill-fated Fourth Crusade sixteen years ago were shocked by the chattering and clamor of the crowds in the Orthodox churches, in contrast). The Church tends to look on these problems as a personal failure by the priest, and (where they exist) the churchwardens. After all, congregations are, like all Christians, sinners.

Purgatory

Human life culminates in death, and after death with the eternal fate of the soul. Various possibilities exist for that soul, including heaven and hell. But what of the possibility that a soul is not good enough for heaven, but not corrupt enough to be claimed for eternal punishment by the devil? There therefore are other options, including the limbo to which unbaptized pagans are consigned, and purgatory.

Purgatory is a place of purification, but the experiences the soul endures there are not of the terrible nature of the punishment endured by souls consigned to hell. Purgatory exists outside of time, yet is somehow linked to the notion of passing earthly time; the period that souls spend in purgatory may be considered in chronological terms, usually visualized as many decades, centuries, or even millions of years, as the soul is cleansed before eventually being good enough to enter heaven.

There are four known ways that the time in Purgatory might be reduced: by intervention by the saints, by the prayers of the living, by Masses said for the benefit of the departed's soul, and possibly by the acquisition of indulgences (see later) though this is not their correct purpose.

The Church has not yet formulated a dogmatic pronouncement on the nature of purgatory. It is entirely possible the concept will change, but in practice the Church in Mythic Europe fully endorses a concept that is very widespread in the laity, and can be found in some of the early Church writings. Many feel the testimony of ghosts who appear from purgatory to warn others of their need for repentance and to appeal for prayer is a strong witness to the truth of the concept.

People generally accept the truth of the Christian system, and partake in the sacraments willingly (even heretics generally aim to reform the Church, not replace it entirely). At least once a year it is necessary to attend Mass and take communion, and this usually takes place on Easter Sunday, but most Sundays the congregation will gather if possible, and communion can be taken more often — even daily if so desired. Some laity go beyond this minimum, observing all the liturgical offices (see Chapter 4: The Rule, Liturgical Offices and the Hours) either in a monastery or church, or even at home, when they hear the bells ring out the hours.

Almost everyone generally accepts the value of worship and the truth of the Church's claims — but the degree of conscientiousness they exhibit in their religious duties varies greatly. The pious are observant, and act upon their beliefs; the majority go through the motions happily enough. The very impious few mock, or fail to participate at all. Outright atheism is extremely rare, and often a sign of subtle demonic intervention.

So long as an individual confesses and takes part in the sacrament of communion once a year, and was baptized with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, he remains a Christian and is entitled to a Christian burial, no matter how impious he was in life.

Often misunderstood, indulgences are important aspects of the faith. An indulgence is not a payment for remission of sins, for that is the role of confession and absolution and is granted by God with a priest following the correct sacraments. An indulgence simply mitigates the length of a penance that has been decreed by the priest.

If a character has sinned, confessed, and received absolution, he may well be given a penance of a year or more on bread and water, and exclusion from church for that period. This period may be reduced by the purchase of an indulgence — a monetary purchase accompanied by repentance, contrition, and good works — that asks the saints to intervene for mercy with God, and take on some of the penance themselves.

Many believe that indulgences might be purchased in life to reduce the length of suffering in purgatory after death, but that is not yet defined by Church dogma, and may or may not be the case. It does not stop many from purchasing them with that intent, rather than to reduce a penance, which is their proper role. Indulgences are also granted by the Church in return for certain types of good works that support the Church's aims, like going on crusade or building a church. Indulgences are used by the Church to raise money, to allow great building projects such as the construction of cathedrals, and to fund other good causes such as almshouses and hospitals. An indulgence is always sold for a specific purpose, and an attractive certificate is given to mark the transaction.

Indulgences are often sold by wandering preachers called questors. The purchase price is based on a sliding scale depending on what the buyer might be considered reasonably able to afford, and the length of the indulgence in remission of penance (in game mechanics best expressed in free seasons). The poor donate what they feel they can afford, in most cases six Mythic pennies per season, and the wealthy at least a pound per season.

As well as purchasing the indulgence, it is then necessary to spend a season in charitable works to demonstrate sincerity, perhaps resulting in experience points in a Reputation: Piety equivalent to the seasons of indulgence purchased, and a single temporary Faith Point. (See Realms of Power: The Divine page 58 for details*,* but effectively a Faith Point can be treated as an additional Confidence Point).

Story Seed: The Obedient Congregation

While traveling, the characters enter a village church to attend Mass, and are surprised to find the priest less than welcoming. In fact, he appears to be positively worried upon seeing them. It soon becomes clear that the bishop is in the area conducting a visitation, and the priest is concerned that everything should go well — if the characters make inquiries, they will learn he is in danger of losing his benefice after repeated complaints about his inability to maintain discipline, and near-rioting in church. However, his congregation appears perfectly behaved, if withdrawn and rather reticent. The churchgoers follow every part of his service attentively, though they do seem to be led by a well-dressed fellow at the front, copying his every move — when he sneezes, they all sneeze. What is going on?

Christian Death

The journey of the soul is always perilous, but rarely is the peril greater than as death approaches. A priest should absolve the sins of the dying with the last rites (see Chapter 3: Diocese, Sacraments), but it is also proper that the dying should meet death with the proper mix of resignation, piety, and faith in God's grace. Even when dead the peril is not over, for it is imperative that the body be buried according to the correct rites. If a soul is denied Christian burial, the spirit may rise as a ghost seeking to have the remains properly interred, and there is a strong folk belief that demons may arrive to try and carry the departed's soul straight to hell. A growing literature of manuals on how to die well are being written, in both Latin and the vernacular tongues. Characters should think carefully about making proper provision for their funerals, and perhaps also for prayers to be said and Masses to be sung to commemorate their lives and intercede for them if they face purgatory after death.

Example of Creating a Devout Character

A shoemaker called Thomas with Piety +2 might be Devoted to two saints. He chooses Devotion: Blessed Virgin and Devotion: Saint Bartholomew. His player may not assign normal Experience Points to these Devotions, however. Instead, at character generation his player assigns two Devotion Points to the Devotions (equal to the value of the Pious trait of Thomas). So Thomas' player takes Devotion: Blessed Virgin 0 (1 point) and Saint Bartholomew 0 (1 point). Thomas also possesses a relic of Saint Edmund, and this grants him additional Devotion Points for the saint the relic belonged to in mortal life (see later).

It is common practice for the devout to spend the night before an important event in prayer in a church, a practice called a vigil. A Fatigue level is lost, and will not be recovered until the character has made up a full night's sleep, but the character gains one Confidence Point that may be spent the next day on a specified virtuous task.

Fasting usually involves abstinence from all rich foods and alcohol, and subsisting on bread and water, and perhaps vegetables and beer, though local customs and practices vary. Some areas, especially Southern Europe, fast for daylight hours only, while other fasts may involve sexual abstinence as well as refraining from meat, dairy products, and poultry.

Fasting is usually a penance, though it can be undertaken as a sign of piety. A fast lasts for a season and grants a +1 noncumulative bonus to Petitioning a Saint (see Realms of Power: the Divine, page 87). But throughout the season in question, the character suffers from a single level of Fatigue at all times, owing to dietary restrictions.

Great piety is always exceptional. It goes beyond the norm of what is required by the Church, and is an active pursuit of holiness as a way of life. It is represented in the rules by the Personality Trait Pious, which can be taken by any character, but may also be represented by the Personality Flaw of that name. Many pious people choose to develop a particular reverence for a saint, or for an aspect of the life of Christ, or for some aspect of the Virgin Mary. They focus their veneration, love, and prayers through that entity, asking him or her (in the case of a saint or the Blessed Virgin) to intercede with God on the worshiper's behalf. This process is known as Devotion.

Devotions advance as an Ability, but do not use normal, generalized Experience Points, instead relying on a dedicated form of experience points called Devotion Points. The two are not transferable — Devotion Points may not be spent on learning Arts and Abilities, and Experience Points may not be used to raise Devotions. Devotions are not Abilities, and do not possess Specializations.

At character generation a Christian character with a positive Piety personality trait may spend Devotion Points equal to the positive score in that trait to establish Devotions. (So 3 points if he possesses the Minor Personality Flaw: Pious, and 6 for the Major Personality Flaw: Pious, otherwise as the assigned score in the Personality Trait Pious, if any. Negative scores in Pious are irrelevant here, as an impious character does not possess Devotions.)

Assign a Devotion Score of 0 to a number of saints (or the Virgin) equal to a character's positive score in the Personality Trait Pious (if any) — again treating the Minor Personality Flaw as a score of 3, and the Major Flaw as a score of 6 — and then distribute the Devotion Points among them. Further Devotions may be acquired in play, usually requiring a story or significant event related to the saint and character. Subsequent increases or decreases in the Personality Trait Pious after the game begins have no mechanical effect on Devotions, and Devotion Points are neither gained nor lost through these changes.

The character can invoke for intercession any saint he has at least one Devotion Point in a Devotion towards, regardless of whether or not the saint is the character's patron saint or an appropriate saint to the matter at hand. Pious characters are likely to call upon more saints with greater success, because of their established relationships with those saints.

Realms of Power: The Divine, page 87, introduced the notion of invoking a saint, and the Devotion scores are used as bonuses in that process.

Invoking a Saint: Communication + Charm + modifiers* + a simple die vs. 15 + a simple die

* In this case, including the Devotion Total — that is, the score in Devotion to that saint — and the bonus from any relics of that saint (see later).

If the roll is successful, the saint uses one of his or her Divine powers to help the character. If the roll fails, nothing happens, but you may attempt the roll again the next day.

In addition to the sacraments, Christianity in Mythic Europe possesses a plethora of minor folk rituals and prayers, known as sacramentals. These range from prayers designed to cure toothache, to ritual blessings of crops and animals, to prayers designed to win the affections of a good husband, find lost items, or ensure peace and prosperity in a house. Many of the rites appear almost pagan to some eyes, but are in fact part of the normal Christian practice. These rites are versions of invoking a saint using the normal rules, and may involve anything from a procession of the whole parish on the saint's day, to a simple prayer performed by a couple on moving into their new house. Dominion Lore may often provide a clue as to an appropriate saint to invoke, and even if the saint is not a patron, the specific situation of the rite means that saint counts as appropriate to the task in hand, and the –15 penalty for invoking an unknown saint is not applied (Realms of Power: The Divine, page 87). Storyguides should design appropriate Powers for saints to reflect local customs and hagiography. For example, if the village church is dedicated to Saint Jerome, the congregation may know of his Power that pacifies wild beasts. If a young woman wishes to be become pregnant, and leads a white bull on a halter through the streets of Bury Saint Edmunds with the monks in solemn possession, Saint Edmund's power to Bestow Fertility is appropriate. Many local saints possess the power to Bless Crops or Bless Livestock, and are invoked solemnly in annual festivities.

Possession of a relic associated with a specific saint gives a bonus of +2 to the Devotion Total per Faith Point in the relic for asking for that saint's intercession, but does so no more than once a day. Even if the character lacks a Devotion towards the saint whose relic is carried, he does not incur the –15 penalty for invoking an unfamiliar saint and does gain the bonus for the relic. Only one individual may use the bonus, and he must tend or carry the relic personally. However, a relic visited in a shrine can be employed for the bonus if the custodians agree, by intense veneration lasting a day.

Relic Bonus: (Faith Points in relic) x 2 bonus to Devotion Total

Devotion requires the observance the saint's day each year — so Thomas the shoemaker will be busy on the Feast of the Queen of Heaven (May 1st), and August 24th (Saint Bartholomew's Day), and most likely November 20th (Saint Edmund's Day). A character failing to celebrate the festival of his saint in some manner will lose at least three Devotion Points, and possibly more, as the troupe decides. The day is lost for the purposes of seasonal activities.

Patron Saints

In Realms of Power: The Divine, it is suggested that characters can invoke a patron saint for intercession or their Powers. The patron is often the saint of the local church, the saint of the character's home region, village, or profession, or any other saint the character finds personally inspiring. Everyone, even the impious, can have a patron saint if they wish, and no Piety score is required. Devoted characters may invoke any saint they have a Devotion towards, though one of the saints they are devoted to is technically their patron saint — which is the player's choice.

Also, anyone can ask Mary, Queen of Heaven, to intercede on his behalf with her Son, regardless of whether he is devoted to her or not. Her mercy and compassion for poor miserable sinners allows this. It is, of course, possible to be personally devoted to an aspect of Mary as well.

Finally, anyone can invoke any saint whose traditional area of interest is immediately relevant to the matter at hand. Any traveler, for example, can call upon Saint Christopher, and it is widely believed that those who have seen a likeness of Saint Christopher and called upon him for mercy will not die that day upon the road. Many travelers carry an image of Saint Christopher for this reason.

A character can gain Devotion Points by various activities. It is possible to gain Devotion Points and Experience Points in the same season, and even for the same activity; Devotion Points must be spent on the appropriate Devotion, though, and may be used for no other purpose.

Seasons of personal devotion

Spending a season engaged in prayer and meditation at a shrine to a saint earns 5 Devotion Points. The only Experience Points gained are exposure in Church Lore or Dominion Lore or similar.

Endowing a church, chapel, or monastery dedicated to the saint

Depending on the size of the institution created, the number of seasons involved in setting it up, and whether a story is required, the number of Devotion Points gained varies from 5 to 50; the former represents a small chapel founded without a story, the latter the building of a cathedral at the center of a saga and many stories.

Participating in a guild dedicated to the saint

Many professional guilds are dedicated to a saint, and annually observe the festival of that saint. Characters receive 3 Devotion Points on joining the guild, and 2 each on becoming a journeyman and a master. Not all guild members are pious, of course, and even those who are are not necessarily devoted to their guild's saint. (See City & Guild page 41, for more on guild membership from a mundane perspective.)

Visiting a site associated with the saint

This may include the tomb, a major relic, or the martyrdom site of the saint, or a site associated with a great miracle of that saint. This is worth 1 to 10 Devotion Points. If the tomb or martyrdom site is in the character's home town, no more than 1 point may be gained. If it requires a journey that takes a season, is part of a pilgrimage (a seasonal activity explained later), or the character has to go out of his way to visit the shrine, then it is worth 5 points or more. If an entire story is based on the visit to the tomb, and it is hazardous and requires a full season's travel, 10 Devotion Points may be gained. This is usually a one-time benefit.

Sponsoring church artworks associated with the saint

This includes things like wall paintings, altars, or windows. It should usually be part of a story, and grants a number of Devotion Points equal to the Aesthetic Quality of the final artwork. (See Art & Academe, page 123, for details on Aesthetic Quality.) Such stories usually revolve around finding an artist, and getting the artwork completed. This may also result in a positive reputation as a patron of the arts or of the Church (see Lords of Men, pages 25 and 63, for details). Only the best artwork per saint counts; multiple frescoes in churches all over the region to the same saint do not continue to increase Devotion, unless each is of higher quality than the last.

Studying the hagiographies to meditate on the saint's life

A hagiography is a book on a specific saint's life. A season spent studying a hagiography that is entirely about the saint to whom the character is Devoted is worth Devotion Points equal to Quality/2. More general works on the saints that cover many saints' lives usually grant 1 Devotion Point for a season of study; but even if the book is a summa, it can grant only 1 Devotion Point per saint, no matter how many seasons are spent in study. A work by the saint counts as a hagiography for this purpose — reading Saint Augustine's City of God grants 5 Devotion Points per season in Devotion: Saint Augustine (as the work has a Quality of 10) to readers dedicated to the saint. The normal Experience Point gain for studying a text is also received.

Furthering the cultus of the saint

Having a candidate approved by Rome as an official saint on the Church calendar is an example of furthering the saint's cultus. The process for this kind of action is discussed later in this book (Chapter 3: The Diocese, Petitioning the Church). Having the saint recognized by the Church as an official saint, having one of his works formerly deemed heretical now accepted as doctrinally sound, or having a church dedicated to that saint consecrated earns Devotion Points equal to the Petitioning Ease Factor.

Witnessing a genuine miracle of the saint

This can be a miracle that the character personally invoked, or one for which the character just happened to be present. The miracle is worth 5 to 10 Devotion Points, though if a miracle of the saint is used to thwart the character no benefit is gained, and he may well lose an equivalent number of Devotion Points. A 10-point gain should be restricted to cases where the character's life was saved by the intervention. If the miracle was invoked trivially and without real need, the saint may well be angered and no Devotion Points may be gained.

Sponsoring or participating in the saint's feast day procession

If participation in the procession is part of a story or somehow inconveniences the character, such as requiring a long journey, 1 Devotion Point is gained. If the saint is somehow honored through a story, more than is usual, the character gains 1 to 5 additional Devotion Points depending on the cost and effort involved. For example, if the Guild of Saint Bartholomew manages to get a position ahead of the Guild of Saint Peter in the Easter Day procession, or has by far the finest decorations, an additional Devotion Point is gained. Sponsoring a procession and feast (see Lords of Men: Leisure, page 46, for more on feasting) grants the character 1 to 5 additional Devotion Points, depending on the cost and effort that goes in to the sponsorship.

Pilgrimage in honor of the saint, and acquiring the pilgrimage badge

Pilgrimages are outlined in detail later in this chapter.

Experiencing a dream or vision from a saint

A character with Visions or Premonitions who, during a story, experiences a dream or vision from a saint to whom he is devoted gains 1 Devotion Point.

Devotion can be directed at any saint popularly acclaimed as such, whether or not he is officially recognized and canonized by the Church. It is quite common for people to be devoted to saints not yet recognized by the Church because the process of canonization has not begun, or because they are only popularly venerated locally. Canonization is not a requirement for someone to be in heaven and able to intercede, after all. Such saints can still work miracles by their Powers.

It is unfortunately possible to be Devoted to, invoke, or just venerate someone who actually was a heretic, or aligned with a different realm — even the Infernal. However, this is not as dreadful a possibility as it first sounds. Dulia — proper respect granted to an entity, even a demon — is not worship, and neither is Devotion to a saint. The saint is merely asked to intercede on behalf of the character with God. So if a faerie, magical entity, or demon was mistakenly venerated, it might still choose to employ its own Powers or not, but no heresy would occur. If latria — that is worship reserved for God alone — was to occur, the results would be more serious. Even if offered to a saint or the Blessed Virgin, this kind of worship is a terrible sin. If worship is offered to a demon or faerie, or a magical creature, the repercussions may well be dire.

One possibility is that a character might after death be accepted as a saint by the Church; and more importantly, be admitted to the assembly of saints by God, hence becoming a focus for Devotion. Such a character must have lived a life of exemplary piety, and died with a Personality Trait Pious of 6 or higher, with a sum of two secondary personality traits (that must both be on the list of traits associated with the Tempers) also not less than 6. The character must not have any personality traits associated with the sins, and must die absolved of sin, having been faithful to the Church and a regular participant at Mass. Those martyred for the faith are the primary candidates, as are holy virgins and those renowned for their charity and good works. Note that it is entirely possible for a person to be a true saint, capable of interceding, yet not be recognized as such yet by the earthly Church.

The formal process of canonization, where the Church recognizes the person's sainthood, requires that in life he must have been associated with at least two genuine and impressive miracles (see Realms of Power: The Divine, pages 60–61).

If these conditions are met, and the potential saint is widely venerated — with at least one major shrine and a few hundred adherents in his cultus, plus at least handful of people Devoted to him as a saint — he may at the troupe's discretion be accepted as a genuine minor saint, and designed with appropriate powers using the rules in Realms of Power: The Divine, page 89.

Official recognition by the Church requires an extensive process of petitioning and the full investigative process of canonization (see Chapter 3: Diocese) and may still prove extremely difficult to obtain. It is worth noting that such a saint will be required to use his Power to intercede on behalf of the faithful, in the meantime to prove his saintly status; but such powers might occur to non-player characters, leaving some doubt as to whether they are genuine miracles of the saint.

The decision as to whether to allow this option and the creating of a new cultus in your saga is a troupe one, and should be handled sensitively.

Pilgrimages form a very important part of lay spirituality in Mythic Europe. A pilgrim sets out on a journey to a distant destination to visit a holy site or shrine. On the road he faces many ordeals and problems, and on arriving he offers praise to God and requests certain blessings in return for his onerous display of piety in making the journey. A pilgrimage may not be sullied by other business, for the pilgrimage is its own goal and reward; pilgrimage stories must be about just that — the pilgrimage.

Pilgrims band together on the road, walking armed with little more than a stout pilgrim's staff. Many die of disease or accident, or never arrive at their destination for a host of other reasons; some pilgrims are even robbed, murdered, or sold in to slavery along the way. After all, pilgrims must carry sufficient wealth to reach their goal, or beg for alms on the way. That makes them a tempting target for any unscrupulous types, some of whom even join pilgrims on the road, then waylay and rob them in some lonely spot.

Robbers are not the only dangers faced, for demons also do what they can to prevent them achieving their pious goal. Temptation in the form of all kinds of pleasures, pains, and distractions will beset the pilgrims throughout their journey.

Local authorities sometimes make some effort to protect pilgrim routes with patrols, and these routes have hostelries where pilgrims are common guests. Monasteries and churches often provide hospitality, as well, and pious locals may well do all they can to assist, but pilgrimage remains a dangerous venture.

The character must have a clear aim in undertaking the pilgrimage. There are two types of pilgrimage, major and minor. A minor pilgrimage is a single-session story that centers on events on the road or at the destination. A major pilgrimage (usually to the Holy Land or perhaps Rome or Santiago) takes multiple stories and more than one season to complete and return, and involves some significant risk to the characters. The desired outcome of the pilgrimage often determines whether a major or minor pilgrimage is required. Grogs may elect to fully participate in pilgrimages (and can gain Major Virtues this way), or may just be along as useful servants.

Having established the aim of the pilgrimage, a Pilgrimage Target Level is determined, based upon the desired outcome.

Target Level: 18
Outcome: To gain a Minor Virtue, including Minor Supernatural Abilities associated with the Divine*; To lose a Minor Flaw (or Virtue, if desired); To remove a negative Personality Trait; To meet a requirement of Penance (18 or 30 depending on the decree of the Ecclesiastical authorities)

Target Level: 30
Outcome: To gain a Major Virtue, including Major Supernatural Abilities or Methods and Powers Virtues associated with the Divine*; To lose a Major Flaw (or Virtue, if desired); To ask for a miracle**; To self-initiate in Holy Magic (requires True Faith); To meet a requirement of Penance (18 or 30 depending on the decree of the Ecclesiastical authorities)

* A Supernatural Ability associated with the Divine gained in this manner is gained at a score of 1, and is not penalized by existing Supernatural Abilities or Arts as if it were a Magical Ability being learned by someone with The Gift. ** A miracle should be adjudicated by a troupe decision, in line with the miracles described in Realms of Power: The Divine, page 60.

Once the Pilgrimage Target Level is known, the storyguide selects elements with certain Opposition Values, which feature in the story of the pilgrimage and are known as Oppositional Elements. Each of these Oppositional Elements must be overcome in order for the pilgrimage to be successfully completed, and the destination reached.

A minor pilgrimage is one that requires a Target Level of 18 and that occurs in a single season, requiring a story.

A major pilgrimage is one that requires a Target Level of 30 and that takes multiple seasons, and possibly multiple stories, to play out.

A character may attempt to lose a Story, General, Social Status, Supernatural, or Personality Flaw by a pilgrimage if the troupe agrees it is appropriate. This could include Infernal Flaws or Infernally aligned Supernatural Abilities if the character's story is one of repentance and contrition. General and Supernatural Virtues might be gained by pilgrimage, again if the troupe feels it is appropriate, but would usually be aligned with the Divine realm. Some Virtues and Flaws, such as Privileged Upbringing and Educated, for example, are background Virtues not suitable for learning from a pilgrimage, nor does pilgrimage grant or remove Hermetic Virtues and Flaws. Common sense and troupe discretion should apply to whether the aim of a pilgrimage is suitable.

The storyguide should design a story that includes elements each pilgrim must personally overcome to complete his pilgrimage. Failure to overcome any element results in the failure of the pilgrimage's aim, even if the physical destination is reached. In a group consisting of several characters all attempting to complete a pilgrimage, all may reach the destination but only a few demonstrate the necessary spiritual perseverance to gain the benefits sought.

In designing the story, the storyguide should remember that a pilgrimage is an allegorical journey and a test of dedication set by the Divine as much as it is a physical journey, so the specifics of story Oppositional Elements should be tailored to the character's goals. If a character fails to overcome an Oppositional Element important to his personal goal because of another character taking action to resolve it first, then a similar Oppositional Element should arise later in the story. Of course, some Oppositional Elements involve the whole group of pilgrims, for example if a ship they travel in founders in a storm. They will all face the danger together, but only characters who participate in some manner to resolve the issue can claim to have succeeded in overcoming the Oppositional Element.

If, for example, the magus Janus simply flies the ship to shore by a mighty spell, and none of the other characters participate in any way, only Janus benefits. The others should have a later chance to defeat a similar peril, however, if their inaction was only caused by lack of opportunity to participate.

The Oppositional Elements for the pilgrimage should have total value at least equal to the Target Level of the Pilgrimage.

Total of Oppositional Elements Values = Pilgrimage Target Level

Some Oppositional Elements will be shared by all the pilgrims in the group, while others will be personal to one character.

Examples are below:

Value: +3
Oppositional Elements: Per season spent on pilgrimage; Face natural hazards such as virulent disease (see Art & Academe, pages 45–51); Pilgrimage involves travel in a Christian land outside the character's current homeland and native land*; Per temptation faced of a sort to which the character is prone to succumb; Face another trial of faith and perseverance, as designed by the storyguide.

Value: +6
Oppositional Elements: Face dangerous mundane foes such as bandits or other robbers; Face dangerous mundane foes who are religious or political enemies; Face dangerous natural hazards such as storms, avalanches, or blizzards; Pilgrimage involves travel in non-Christian or heretic-controlled lands*; Face another trial of faith and perseverance, as designed by the storyguide.

Value: +9
Oppositional Elements: Face a dangerous encounter with a supernatural entity on the road; Be involved in a shipwreck; Face distractions that make abandoning the pilgrimage a desirable option; Face another trial of faith and perseverance, as designed by the storyguide.

Value: +12
Oppositional Elements: Face direct demonic opposition from an Infernal entity that has decided to prevent the character from completing the pilgrimage, probably by deceit and manipulating others.

* If both of these bonuses are applicable, only the higher applies, and they only apply once for the whole pilgrimage, not per season of travel.

In addition, it is important that the characters completely avoid mortal sin on pilgrimage, and confess and receive absolution for venial sins on arrival at their destination.

The storyguide can prepare the story in advance, but must be willing to change it to reflect choices made by the players. If a character fails an Oppositional Element it is worth mentioning this to the player, and allowing a later opportunity to remedy this by a different Oppositional Element later in the pilgrimage story. Pilgrimage stories should always be dramatic, and run a very real risk of character death or loss, but the rewards are commensurately great.

An Example of a Pilgrimage Story

Boniface wants to gain the Minor Virtue Unaging. The troupe decides this Virtue does not really represent anything that is likely to be bestowed by God for a pilgrimage, so after some thought Luke, Boniface's player, decides he would like the Major Flaw Lycanthrope removed. This seems acceptable, and requires a Target Level of 30 — a major pilgrimage. Kevin's character, the faithful shield grog Siderius, travels with him, and decides to make the pilgrimage in the hope of gaining the Major Virtue Guardian Angel (while Siderius is currently a grog, Kevin intends to make him a companion through this story). His Pilgrimage Target Level is also 30.

Finally, they ask Lloyd's character, the much-traveled monk Chrétien the Roamer, to join them, as he has relevant Area Lore knowledge. Chrétien hopes to lose his Major Story Flaw of Difficult Underlings, as he rarely manages to persuade any of his hirelings to help him carry out his schemes.

The troupe having agreed that these seem acceptable aims, the pilgrimage is clearly a major one. As the characters are based in England, they decide to travel to the Holy Land by taking a ship to France, traveling south across the Alps to Italy, then taking another ship to Antioch and south to Jerusalem. The journey there and back will take a minimum of three seasons.

Andrew (the storyguide for this story) now calculates the Oppositional Elements. He knows the journey will take three seasons, so that is a value of +9. The fact the characters must travel through Muslim-controlled lands to Jerusalem gives them +6 more, for a Total Oppositional Elements Value of 15. 15 more points of Oppositional Elements need to be allocated for each character to overcome before he can succeed in his pilgrimage.

That Boniface must somehow overcome his inner Lycanthrope seems thematically appropriate. Boniface has confided in Chrétien, and asked him to secure him on nights of the full moon, but there will be nine of them in the course of the journey. One night, perhaps while the characters are in Rome, Chrétien will face the chance to succumb to his vice of Laziness when a servant offers to bolt the door to Boniface's room for him. This is an Oppositional Element of +3 for Chrétien — it is the kind of thing he usually succumbs to, and if he does his failure serves to remind him that Difficult Underlings is something he is supposed to be overcoming, for the servant of course forgets. If Boniface escapes, and he probably will anyway if only because someone else opens the door, Chrétien and Siderius face a dangerous Supernatural Predator (the werewolf Boniface) for +9. Siderius is a True Friend to Boniface — who should have trusted him more rather than relying on Chrétien — and so by discovering the nature of the werewolf also faces a personal crisis (worth +3) that in a sense reflects the Guardian Angel motif of his story as he tries to save his friend.

In the morning, Boniface faces dangerous mundane foes — the town guard (+6) — when he comes round bloodied in an alleyway at dawn. After this matter is successfully resolved, and Boniface has sought atonement for his inadvertent sin, Chrétien and Siderius have faced 12 points of Oppositional Elements, and Boniface 6 points worth. Chrétien has only overcome 9 points, however. Several minor elements of the story now happen, including some threatening hazards, before the characters face another Oppositional Element.

While crossing the Alps on a dangerous track alongside a precipitous drop, the weather turns foul and the characters are all in danger of falling off to their deaths. This is worth +6 points of Oppositional Elements for a dangerous natural hazard. While Chrétien hides in the cart, Boniface and Siderius manage to pull it to safety, using much cleverness to get across the track to safety in a pilgrims' hostel high in the mountains. Siderius and Boniface have now have faced 33 points of Oppositional Elements, including those for the journey itself, and on arriving in Jerusalem have successfully completed the pilgrimage. But Chrétien is still only at 9 points, far short of his needed Total Oppositional Elements Value, as he did not participate in the successful resolution of the danger.

Even worse befalls Chrétien, though, after arriving in an Italian port. On the morning of the ship's departure, Chrétien employs some porters to load his luggage. When it does not arrive, he sets off to find it suspecting he has been robbed (robbers are an Oppositional Element worth +6). He fails to discover his errant employees, and the ship departs without him. At this point, he meets a sea captain who explains he is sailing directly to England. Because he has taken a liking to Chrétien, the captain offers him free passage home (a +9 Oppositional Element, being a serious temptation to give up the pilgrimage). Chrétien chooses to give in to temptation rather than continue alone now all his money has been stolen, and he sets off on the ship deciding God has sent the captain his way as a sign ...

While on pilgrimage, characters take every opportunity to visit shrines and see the relics and sights of the places they pass through. This is an excellent opportunity to gain Devotion Points for characters who possess Devotions; even a minor pilgrimage specifically to the saint's shrine, tomb, place of martyrdom, or similar grants 10 Devotion Points, plus 5 per additional site visited that is relevant to that saint's life, and up to 5 more for witnessing relics. So visiting the tomb of Saint James of Compostela will gain the character 10 Devotion Points in Devotion: Saint James if they possess it, and an additional 5 for viewing the relics of the saint there.

There are several well-established pilgrimage routes that cross Mythic Europe, and books, guides, and pilgrim hostels make these desirable routes for travelers on a pilgrimage. There are many variations on each route, however, and some pilgrims prefer to follow a path of their own choosing. Among the well-known pilgrimage routes is the Via Francigena, which runs from Canterbury in England through France, across the Alps near Aosta, and down through Parma to Tuscany before reaching Rome. Also well traveled is the Via Carolingia, which goes from Aachen in northwest Germany, through Strasbourg, Basle, Como, Mantua, Ravenna, and Assisi to Rome.

Most major pilgrimages are to the shrine of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela, to Rome, or to Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

Crusades are still preached by the Church across Mythic Europe, and popular preachers still persuade many to "take the cross" and receive a free indulgence of all outstanding penance, in exchange for promising to serve the armies of the faith. While historically crusades aimed at the recovery of Jerusalem from the infidel, other crusades are currently being preached, and characters may choose to commit to any of them.

In 1220, crusades preached include the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars of Southern France (until 1229), the Fifth Crusade that set off in 1217 and is currently at Damietta in Egypt (ends in 1221), the Northern Crusade against the Estonians (ends in 1228), and the ongoing campaigns against the Muslims of Iberia. Someone committing to a crusade needs to find financial support for his travel and upkeep. He receives a single temporary Faith Point for the commitment, and may at the troupe's discretion remove any Social Status Flaw as he becomes a crusader. Bandits, outlaws, and similar often find this a useful escape from their troubles.

There are those in Mythic Europe who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of the love of God — the mystics. Mystics do not have to be spooky introverts contemplating the dim recesses of the soul, reclusive hermits, or cloistered religious such as monks and nuns. Some mystics are ordinary laity who have achieved mystical states by dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to the quest, yet who still live within the world and are keen to share their insights with those around them.

While mystics are clearly valued by the Church, claims to direct spiritual revelation of the Divine can also be a source of error, and all too often heresy, as some mystics find themselves moved to critique the Church itself. The Church therefore regards mystics with suspicion, and sometimes attempts are made to persuade lay mystics to join a monastery or convent where they can be more carefully supervised, or to prevent them from teaching and preaching their opinions. Conflict, while frequent, is not inevitable, and many mystics are deeply committed to the Church. But even Francis of Assisi faced difficulties before his Order was accepted (see Chapter 8: Franciscans).

All mystical understandings are personal and difficult for non-mystics to comprehend. The mystical experience itself is ineffable and noetic, an inner experience that can not readily be explained, but must be personally experienced. Mystics often have True Faith, though not necessarily. Many mystics also have access to Methods and Powers, though they are only sometimes members of a Holy Tradition (see Realms of Power: The Divine), as the mystical path is a personal process of development rather than a corporate belief structure. Some Holy Traditions include many mystics; yet not all mystics, or even the majority, are members of Holy Traditions.

Individual mystical paths are varied and personal, and there is no set order of experiences that will be encountered in the process. (Many of the classics of systematic mysticism that players may be familiar with, such as the works of Saint John of the Cross and Ignatius Loyola, are not to be written for centuries, if ever in Mythic Europe). Mysticism is in a sense an experimental practice, and the rules offered here reflect this. Furthermore, while Methods and Powers and other Supernatural Abilities associated with the Divine are often increased by the practice of mysticism, these are in fact side-effects of the path, not the primary goal. That lies outside of game mechanic concerns — union with, and love of, God.

While individual mystical paths in Mythic Europe vary widely, there are two major strands of mystical thought. The first we can call contemplative mysticism, for it deals with the mystic's personal relationship with and identification with Christ, and her realization of her frailty and weakness compared with the glory of the Godhead. The mystic passionately strives to imaginatively identify with Christ — perhaps meditating on the Passion, imagining herself as a witness at the foot of the Cross, and experiencing God's love directly and through the ministering of angels. Slowly, in a process called theosis, the emulation of the example of Christ allows the mystic to become more and more a participant in the Divine. Yet at all times while her soul yearns for union with God, the mystic accepts she is the lesser party, not identical with the Godhead, and that the road to God is mediated by the incarnation and sacrifice of God in Jesus Christ.

The dangers of extreme contemplative mysticism manifest if the mystic loses sight of the difference between herself and God, and believes she is not just approaching the Godhead, but is actually now in some sense God herself. By rejecting the notion that she is a sinner and a mortal creature, believing that by her acceptance of Divine grace she no longer can sin, she begins to believe anything she does is lawful. Such mystics, corrupted by the Infernal to the ultimate in false pride — misidentification of the self with the Divine — are extremely dangerous.

The second type of mysticism is often called monistic mysticism, in that central to the experience is the loss of a sense of self and a discovery of a feeling of the utter oneness of everything. Just as all creation emanates from the mind of God, so identification with the mind of God completely breaks down the apparent differences between objects and persons, as all are seen as just aspects of a greater Divine reality. This tradition can readily become panentheistic (that is, the belief that God permeates every aspect of Creation, from the lowliest worm to every fiber of our bodies, identifying God with nature). The visionary experiences of the monistic tradition often refer to the light of the Divine in nature, seen as a glowing nimbus around and suffusing everything.

The danger for extreme mystics on this path can be to find God even in that blighted by the Infernal, and reject the notion of the fall and corruption of this broken world. Some monistic mystics entirely reject the division of the cosmos into the four realms, claiming Divine, Faerie, Infernal, and Magic are all aspects of the ultimate reality of God misperceived by humans, angels, and demons.

Mysticism is inherently dangerous, as personal spiritual insights outside of the authority of the Church can lead one to radically false (in the eyes of the Church) conclusions, and indeed can cause one to reject all spiritual authority in favor of personal experience. Such individuals can become overwhelmingly egotistical, but also intensely charismatic, and often form heretical groups that are unable to understand the errors in their thinking and lead others into further error and heresy. Such cults can be extremely dangerous, and soon attract demonic support and encouragement if the leader gives in to pride, refusing every chance to repent and be brought back under legitimate spiritual authority.

The two paths involve totally different ways of understanding, and are usually mutually incompatible. Contemplative mysticism refines the self in the imitation of Christ, while monistic mysticism negates it in the experience of ultimate oneness; perhaps only Saint Francis of Assisi reconciles the paradox and embraces both.

Both forms of mysticism require the character to be aligned with the Divine realm. Any Warping experience she undergoes will take the form of Divine Ascent, but the results will be Divine Gloom (for Monistics) or Divine Form (for Contemplatives), both of which are explained in the relevant section, later.

Experiencing Divine Ascent

The rules for Divine Ascent are in Realms of Power: The Divine, page 63, but the sections relevant to monistic and contemplative mystics are briefly summarized here for convenience. When a character aligned to the Divine realm gains 2 or more (or 1 or more for monistics who have already experienced Divine Ascent) Warping Points from a single event, she experiences Divine Ascent, in much the same way Hermetic magi experience Wizard's Twilight. Add the Warping Points to the character's Warping Score, and then roll:

Divine Ascent: Presence + Concentration (or Meditation) + Stress die vs. Warping Score + Warping Points gained + True Faith Score local aura + stress die (no botch)

If the character succeeds, she is too tied to the mundane world to temporarily ascend to the Divine. If she fails, she experiences Divine Ascent, which takes the form of Divine Form for Contemplatives and Divine Gloom for Monistics (see later). She receives a number of additional Warping Points equal to the margin by which the test was failed.

Personality Traits, Sins, and Tempers

Personality traits can be assigned to two categories, Sins and Tempers, to help understand a character's overall orientation. This table first appeared in Realms of Power: The Divine, page 40.

Proud, including Arrogant, Haughty, Rebellious, Suspicious, Vain, Hubris, and similar traits opposed to …

Loyal, including Dedicated, Faithful, Humble, Reliable, Trusting and similar traits.

Wrathful, including Angry, Desperate, Spiteful, Vengeful, Violent and similar traits opposed to …

Calm, including Cheerful, Hopeful, Optimistic, Patient, Peaceful and similar traits.

Envious, including Cruel, Gossipy, Gruff, Jealous, Meddlesome and similar traits opposed to …

Kind, including Charitable, Compassionate, Forgiving, Generous, Merciful and similar traits.

Slothful, including Cowardly, Cynical, Indecisive, Lazy and Shy and similar traits opposed to …

Brave, including Bold, Courageous, Determined, Ready, Zealous and similar traits.

Lustful, including Fanatical, Lecherous, Naïve, Overconfident, Reckless and similar traits opposed to …

Strong, including Healthy, Pious, Selfless, Temperate, Vigilant and similar traits.

Greedy, including Gluttonous, Indulgent, Selfish, Sickly, Weak and similar traits opposed to …

Wise, including Careful, Cautious, Chaste, Practical, Prudent and similar traits.

Avaricious, including Ambitious, Corrupt, Cunning, Deceitful, Devious and Manipulative and similar traits opposed to …

Just including Even-handed, Fair, Honest, Honorable, Straightforward and similar traits.

To indicate which temper or sin a trait is associated with, you can simply note it afterward (e.g. Dedicated +3 (Loyal) or Cruel +3 (Envious)). When dealing with opposing tempers or sins, treat the trait's value as negative. For example, Dedicated +3 (Loyal) means a character is Proud –3, and Cruel +3 (Envious) is the same as Kind –3. Not all personality traits have to fit into this model. It is perfectly possible to have morally neutral traits, like Whimsical +3, or Scruffy +1.

Pursuing contemplative-style mysticism involves an intense form of personal imaginative meditation on the life and sufferings of Christ; regular, often daily, attendance at Mass (and especially participation in the communion); and genuine personal repentance and abhorrence of sin. The aim is to lead an exemplary, Christlike life, and to mold the rough clay of the personality in imitation of him.

Mystics on this path seek to mirror God's love, and in the process may gain new Virtues and Flaws, or learn Supernatural Abilities. The mystic character is not concerned with these side effects of her pursuit of personal holiness, but from a player's perspective they are very important, so mechanics are described here for the process.

At the root of the contemplative path is the quest for personal holiness, and the mystic must possess a positive Pious Personality Trait score. The character must not have any of the Sinful Personality Traits described in Realms of Power: The Divine page 40, but you should remember that Personality Traits can be changed freely by the player to represent changes in her character between stories (ArM5, page 18).

The character must also be associated with the Divine realm. Association with the Divine realm can come from several sources: True Faith, possession of any Divine-associated Supernatural Ability, or even the possession of Warping Points from a Divine source. It would be expected that a character pursuing contemplative mysticism would develop Personality Traits in line with the ones associated with the Virtuous Tempers, and would strive to act in an appropriate manner, given that imitation of Christ central to the path. Of course, being mortal and sinners, such behavior will not be constant and unchanging; the character still sins, and needs to repent through the Sacraments (see Chapter 3: Diocese).

Divine Warping and the Contemplative Mystic

Characters engaged on the path of contemplative mysticism always experience Divine Form as their Divine Ascent Warping experience.

If a character who is engaged in contemplative mysticism suffers a Warping event and gains 2 or more Warping Points, regardless of the cause she enters an ecstatic condition called Divine Ascent. If the roll to avoid Ascending fails, she immediately undergoes the dramatic changes of Divine Form, as theosis overcomes her and she comes to embody more of the purity and light of the Divine.

The full rules for Divine Form can be found in Realms of Power: The Divine, page 64, but are summarized here for convenience.

Once a Divine Form Warping experience occurs, several changes follow:

• The character's Warping Score to now always added to Magic Resistance granted by True Faith if the character possesses that Virtue.
• The character gains a bonus to physical Soak totals equal to the Magic Resistance Total divided by 5, or Warping divided by 5 if the character does not have Magic Resistance granted by the Virtue: True Faith.>
• The character gains a Penetration Bonus equal to her Warping Score, with an additional bonus equal to her (True Faith Score multiplied by 5).
• God's holiness will not be profaned, and those who do so are punished. The die roll for any impious (as decided by the troupe) action on the part of the character must use a stress die with a number of additional botch dice equal to the character's (Warping Score multiplied by 3). Abilities or Powers that reduce the number of botch dice are applied before any botch dice gained from Divine Form.
• If the character commits a venial sin she automatically suffers a Light wound, while a mortal sin immediately inflicts a Medium wound. These wounds cannot be Soaked and must be healed naturally; no other power — Magic, Faerie, or Infernal — may repair them.
• The character also becomes intensely charismatic, developing a Commanding Aura. This is equivalent to a Penetration 0, Range: Voice Aura of Rightful Authority, and is continuously active.

Spiritual Paths and Revelations

Contemplative mysticism involves a wholehearted devotion to a way of life that expresses Christian love and charity, maintaining hope and strengthening the faith of others. It is not just part of a character's life, but the major focus of such, and should be reflected in almost every action the character takes.

The character performs actions called a Spiritual Path to learn new Revelations. Virtues, Methods, Powers, and Supernatural Abilities associated with the Divine are usually appropriate Revelations to pursue, but other possibilities exist; the troupe should decide if the goal makes sense in the context of the character's spiritual development.

To develop a new Spiritual Path, decide what form the resulting Revelation will take. The required Path Total to gain the Revelation is as follows:

Path Total: 15
Revelation: To discover a path to a Minor Holy Method, Power or Supernatural Ability.

Path Total: 18
Revelation: To discover a path to a Minor Virtue, other than the above.

Path Total: 27
Revelation: To discover a path to a Major Holy Method, Power or Supernatural Ability.

Path Total: 30
Revelation: To discover a path to a Major Virtue, other than the above.

Subtract the character's current score in the Personality Trait Pious from the Path Total to calculate the Path Target.

Path Target = Path Total – score in Personality Trait Pious

A Supernatural Ability associated with the Divine gained in this manner is gained at a score of 1, and is not penalized by existing Supernatural Abilities or Arts. Perhaps surprisingly, the Virtue True Faith can never be gained by a Spiritual Path.

Developing the Spiritual Path requires a series of Quest Components with a total value at least equal to the Path Total for the desired Revelation.

Total Quest Component Values = Path Total

Example Quest Components include, but are not limited to:

Value: +1
Quest Components: The mystic sacrifices a Season serving the poor or the Church in some capacity, such as by tending the sick;
The mystic spends a season in personal devotion, gaining one Devotion Point towards a saint or the Virgin, but no experience points except exposure in Dominion Lore.

Value: +3
Quest Components: The character dedicates at least one Season to preaching and spreading the Gospel (one bonus only).

Value: +6
Quest Components: The mystic undertakes a minor pilgrimage to an appropriate shrine or holy site, requiring a story, and gains no other benefit from the pilgrimage (see Pilgrimages, earlier);
The mystic undertakes a Vow, resulting in a new Minor Flaw Vow;
The mystic completes a specified Quest that requires a story, often involving defeating a dangerous supernatural adversary, protecting innocents, or healing the sick.

Value: +9
Quest Components: The character spends a season risking her life preaching to heretics, pagans, or infidels, running the risk of martyrdom and requiring a story;
The character reveals serious error, heresy, or corruption in the local church and gets the Ecclesiastical authorities to act to resolve it, requiring a story;
The mystic sacrifices personal wealth or items of value, distributing their value as alms to the poor (the character either loses the Wealthy Virtue, or if she does not possess that Virtue, gains the Poor Flaw to represent her new-found holy poverty);
The character takes the cross and participates for at least a year in a Church -sanctioned Crusade, not necessarily in a fighting capacity, but risking her life in the process.

Having devised a Spiritual Path to the required Revelation, the character pursues the Path by completing enough Quest Components to equal or exceed the Path Total required. Success in this process grants the Revelation to the contemplative mystic.

The monistic mystic perceives the whole of nature as suffused with the Divine, from the mystic themselves to every drop of rain, every tiny flower, every mighty mountain. This radical process of identification with the Godhead is a feature of some strands of Christian mysticism, where rather than defining and rarefying the self as in contemplative mysticism, the individual mystic seeks to lose the self in the eternal and endless reality of the Divine. Monism is at heart the sense that "all is ultimately One," and that One is God.

Gaining Methods, Powers, and Supernatural Abilities are at best side effects of the actual mystical tradition. Monistic mysticism is based around the development of Concentration as a way to focus intensely, and requires the mystic to possess either the Flaw Visions or the Major Virtue True Faith. If a character decides to follow this path, she must also possess a positive Pious Personality trait, and will be subject to unusual spiritual experiences that come unbidden. Strangely, many mystics of this sort appear to possess The Gift, for reasons not fully understood. The character must also be associated with the Divine realm, for example by having at least one Supernatural Ability associated with that realm. The path is usually entered following a Warping experience from a source associated with the Divine realm.

The character now suffers from a similar effect to that of the Hermetic Flaw Twilight Prone — she must test for Divine Ascent when only a single Warping Point from any source is gained. Given the dramatic effects of the Divine Gloom Warping experience on the mystic, this can rapidly result in a very otherworldly and yet spiritually potent character. Such characters learn not by pursuing Spiritual Paths as with Contemplatives, but from their Warping experiences.

Advantages of Pursuing Monistic Mysticism

The risks of monistic mysticism are extreme, but there are benefits as well. Firstly, the character, when practicing a Holy Ability — including Methods, Powers, and Supernatural Abilities — gains experience points equal to her Concentration Ability score rather than 4 experience points, the usual amount granted by a season's practice. So a character with Concentration 8 who spends a season practicing the Supernatural Ability Sense Holy/Unholy would gain 8 experience points, not the usual 4.

On experiencing Divine Ascent, the character may attempt to understand the experience and integrate a Revelation in a manner similar to the way Hermetic magi attempt to understand Wizard's Twilight.

Monistic Revelation Integration: Intelligence + Concentration + stress die vs. Warping Score + stress die (no botch)

If the test is failed, Divine Gloom occurs as normal. If the roll succeeds, the character still experiences Divine Gloom but the player may also select one of the following:

• She may choose not to lose experience from mundane Abilities, though the character still gains the Warping Points and the experience points in her Holy Abilities; OR,
• The character may take a new appropriate Minor Virtue if 3 or more Warping Points were gained, or Major Virtue if 5 or more Warping Points were gained — one that reflects the nature of the Revelation. The first Revelation gained is always the Virtue Second Sight; OR,
• If the character gains 7 or more Warping Points from the experience, and succeeds in the Spiritual Integration test, this option may be selected. The character may choose either the Magic or Faerie Realm, and may subsequently substitute her Dominion Lore Ability for that (Realm) Lore Ability in any total or test. She has come to recognize the Divine within that Realm. She may choose this option again on another occasion, so that she becomes able to substitute Dominion Lore for both Faerie Lore and Magic Lore; OR,
• Finally, having integrated both the the Magic and Faerie Realms into her cosmological understanding, the character may choose to do the same with the Infernal, seeing the Infernal as simply an agent of the Divine that is subservient to the Divine Will.

Divine Warping and the Monistic Mystic

Characters engaged on the path of monistic mysticism always experience Divine Gloom as their Divine Ascent Warping experience.

If a character who is engaged in monistic mysticism suffers a Divine Ascent event and fails the roll to avoid Ascent, she immediately undergoes Divine Gloom. She slowly loses her knowledge and understanding of the mundane, but excels in her comprehension of all things Divine.

The full rules for Divine Gloom can be found in Realms of Power: The Divine, page 63, but are summarized here for convenience.

Once a Divine Gloom Warping experience occurs, several changes follow:

• Each time the character gains Warping Points from any source, she gains the same number of experience points to divide between Dominion Lore and any Holy Power, Method, or Holy Supernatural Abilities she possesses.
• The Divine Gloom also results in the loss of the character's mundane knowledge. The character must lose the same number of experience points from Abilities with a mundane focus, of the player's choosing, as she gained for Dominion Lore et. al. This process, however, may never reduce the Concentration Ability.
• Monistic mystics are not affected by Celestial Disorientation (see Realms of Power: The Divine, page 14) as easily as other characters. They may add their Personality Trait Pious as an additional bonus to any Overcome Celestial Disorientation test they are required to make.
• The character is now a beacon to all manner of beings from the supernatural world: angels, demons, elementals, and faeries. To these beings the holy character shines like a torch in the night, and draws them like bees to nectar. Their reaction to the character depends on the circumstances, the character, and the being in question's nature.

Improving True Faith

Gaining or raising a score in True Faith always requires a particularly arduous search for spiritual insights. It may be a result of a major pilgrimage, or it may arise from many other situations, but the gaining of the Virtue True Faith is always the result of a story and a troupe decision that it is appropriate to the character, not just a game mechanic. It may well occur in the context of a pilgrimage or as a result of an encounter with an angel, but True Faith reflects how the character is played and dramatic changes in her life.

Raising True Faith also has profound effects upon the mystic.

At True Faith 2 the character gains the Premonitions Virtue, and may dispel any supernatural (Magical and Infernal) illusion or Faerie glamour, no matter what its level, by spending a Faith Point.

At True Faith 3, the character gains double Magic Resistance against Mentem spells and similar supernatural powers, and adds +6 instead of +3 to a die roll for each Faith Point spent.

At True Faith 5, the character radiates an Empyreal Aura (see Realms of Power: The Divine, page 12) to Voice range, and may Temper the Aura. It interacts with other auras according to the normal rules for Aura interaction.

Full details and much on playing characters with True Faith can be found in Realms of Power: The Divine, pages 56–63.

A hermit is someone who chooses to renounce the world, and live alone observing the liturgical hours as a monk would. Some are mystics, most are not. The tradition is in decline, and many hermits now choose to join monasteries, or are at least associated with a monastery; but hermits remain a common feature of the landscape of Mythic Europe. A hermit need not settle down in one place, for some are wanderers who travel begging for alms or doing casual work such as repairing roads and bridges, and hermits are not necessarily completely reclusive. Many hermits attend the local church, for example.

What marks a hermit is his choice to live alone, adopt celibacy, and keep the liturgical hours outside of any formal monastic context. Hermits as an unregulated and unsupervised spiritual force are potentially dangerous, especially when they decide to engage in preaching, and sometimes lead others into error through their own ignorance. Popularly believed to be especially holy and even capable of working miracles, people seek out hermits to gain knowledge, miraculous cures, or spiritual edification. It can actually be fashionable to ask advice from some hermits, and these unfortunates are constantly pestered by visitors seeking assistance.

The most extreme hermits are the anchorites, who are sealed alone into a small cell called an anchorhold that is built against the outside wall of a church. The entrance to the cell is bricked up, and food and waste is passed through a small window facing away from the church, through which visitors can also receive spiritual counsel of the hermit. A second window on the wall shared by the church allows the anchorite to hear Mass and receive communion.

There is also an obvious connection between hermits and the Beguines, their male equivalents Beghards, and holy widows (see Chapter 5: Women).