> The temple is no longer to be devoted to Mingus, but rather the goddess > Laashi: Mistress of Secrets, mysteries, and magick. She is of the Ethos of > Shadowy Darkness. > Her symbol is the Raven. Hmmmmm..... [hope you don't mind a little speculation on Laashi's nature] Laashi, the Mistress of secrets, mysteries, and magick tends to encourage cowls and cloaks, and carefully guarded secrets, among her followers and priests. Most can be recognized by that slight smirk, indicating that 'I know something you don't'. Her priests are generally of the Secretive Order of Deepest Mysteries, and they are often careful to keep even their appearance and sex hidden within their dark robes, capes, and cloaks. Those of the Order have had a chance to study from the Unknown Grimoire of Laashi, said by some to contain many of the greatest magickal secrets to have ever been committed to parchment. The Grimoire is said to be locked away within a hidden temple, although speculation has ranged from central Afrik to Atlantl to the recessesses of Deepdark or even far under the sea or in a kingdom in the clouds. Wherever it is, it is *very* well hidden. However, some few scraps of knowledge have been circulated within the Order, often being the central part in rituals of initiation, ordination, and other indications of acceptance into and advancement within the Order. A small sampling follows: [Oh, I do hope I didn't step too far over the bounds of what you wanted -- I *do* so love playing with religions, especially interesting ones] GRADE I: HIDDENFACE CANTRIP Time: 1 hour Other Heka Costs: Area: Subject's face R&D: 0 Distance: Touch Other: 10:1 additional hour E/F/M: By means of this brief utterance to Laashi, the priest invokes a general blur over the willing subject's features, causing the face to be indistinct and not memorable. The effect is quite noticable, but every initiate into the Order has learned this cantrip and been importuned to keep it ready and, whenever there is contact with outsiders, upon themselves. Note that this can (in theory) prevent various enchantments and the like that rely upon the gaze, but the victim must be aware of what is being done *and* willing. The cantrip may be extended to last up to 1 hour per 10 STEEP possessed by the caster, at a cost of 10 Heka per additional hour. PORTALMASK FORMULA Time: 1 AT Other Heka Costs: Area: 1 door R&D: 0 Distance: Touch Other: 10:1 additional AT E/F/M: This formula is often invoked or Triggered (q.v.) by members of the Order when their bastions are overrun or when they need quick escape. It causes a door of reasonable size (i.e. not more than about 10-12' high and 6-8' wide) to be rendered undetectable by ordinary means. This does not mean that one can see through the portal, it means that it blends into the nearby wall. Think of the formula as causing the viewer to convince him or herself that the portal is, in fact, a wall, or a tapestry, or other appropriate item. The portal must be part of a structure consecrated to Laashi. The duration may be extended, at the cost of 10 Heka per AT, to a maximum of 1 AT per 10 STEEP possessed by the caster. GRADE II: SHADOWHIDING CANTRIP Time: 1 BT per 10 STEEP Other Heka Costs: Area: self R&D: 0 Distance: Touch Other: 0 E/F/M: By means of this casting and an area of shadows, the priest can make himself imperceptible. This is not actual invisibility, and anything that would cause the shadows to be banished would instantly reveal him. The cantrip does require that the priest has not yet been seen. Combined with the Secretsanctum Ritual, this can result in a tremendous advantage for the defenders. GRADE III: MASKINGROBES SPELL Time: 1 hour Other Heka Costs: Area: Raiment R&D: 0 Distance: Touch Other: 10:1 additional hour E/F/M: By means of this spell, the priest imbues his or her ceremonial robes with voluminous folds and a masking effect that hides all but the most obvious of characteristics. Tall and short appear to be the same height (although gargantuan or midget proportions would still show up as merely tall and short, respectively), husky and slender as the same build, and no difference between the sexes. Again, attributes to the point of exaggeration will appear as normal proportions. This spell is most often used in preparation for either going among those not of the Order or for ceremonies dedicated to Laashi. GRADE IV: MASK OF LAASHI RITUAL Time: 1 hour per 10 STEEP Other Heka Costs: Area: 1 consecrated building R&D: 0 Distance: Special Other: 0 Special Materia Cost: The room must be carefully consecrated to Laashi, using exotic and obscure mixtures that must be researched for each such room, at a cost of approximately 1,000 BUCs per 10'x10'x10' section E/F/M: By means of this ritual of one hour's time, the priest invoking Laashi's power can mask a consecrated room, making it appear as if it were bare, unfurnished, and desolate. In addition, moving about the room will not cause a collision with furniture. Creatures and the like within the room for the full duration of the ritual are likewise masked, and likewise intangible. Any attack by creatures within the room, or any being or thing hidden by the Mask that leaves shall break the Mask. GRADE V: HIDDENSANCTUM RITUAL Time: 1 day Other Heka Costs: Area: 1 holy building R&D: 0 Distance: 0 Other: 25:1 per additional day E/F/M: By means of this two hour ritual, the high priest of a temple to Laashi may cause knowledge of the temple to be well-hidden and its secrets hard to fathom. To reflect this, all magickal attempts to divine knowledge are at one DR harder to succeed, as are all perception checks and similar knowledge-based rolls. This penalty does not apply to the defenders of the temple, of course. An additional effect of this ritual is that a (secret) perception check (at a DR of moderate) must be made for each secret that is searched (for instance, a small niche or cranny) to perceive what is actually there, otherwise it is missed. > There is a group of 5 priests who reside in the temple: 2 initiates and 1 > High Priest > There are 2 sets of chapels. The first will be places of worship, and > include the statuette of a raven headed man that, when a particular ritual is > performed, answer a single mystery so long as it is within the sphere of > Laashi's influence. Heh. Imagine the defenses the above Castings might add to it ;-) I should think such a set of chapels would be almost Escher-esque, full of nooks and crannies and hidden alcoves/niches, with illusions and secrets and tricks and traps. In fact, I'd give most of them at least rudimentary capability in Dweomercraeft, Grey, just because. No need to make any of them FP's ;-) A couple Well-Tenebroused Blades ought to do the trick, though ;-) Plus a couple of Shadow-boxers..... And none of these are out of reach, all being within the first three Grades ;-) For a couple more Dweomercraeft(Grey) Castings, check out Dangerous Ideas #4, a persona of mine has left a smattering of his research behind :-) > There are plenty of minions to be dealt with. As all of Laashi's minions are > fiends, hags, maevals, and other nethercreatures, this should be rather > intresting. Most of them are connected to the Consecrations lain about the > place - desicrations draw them to the spot...and the offenders. Kewl. But they ought to be fantastic and grotesque and, perhaps, not even real..... > The priests have also lain alarm castings about to alert them of the arrival > of any beings who do not follow Laashi or are not of Shadowy Darkness. Guard > towers at various positions are filled with phantoms, who will alert the > priests and delay the HPs, though they will do no "real" damage. Good. Already thinking like a proper and secretive person ;-) > Finally, there will be a treasury. But I have no idea what will be within. > I suppose they will be largely be in the way of mysterious items with > effects that can benefit any or all the HPs (to answer a complaint by the > cavaliers). Just make sure they are mysterious, and that any appropriate uses are well-masked by outer disguises (for instance, a sword that is +10 to BAC and +5 to damage, and unbreakable, that is actually tarnished and appears to be a wooden practice sword, except when used in mortal combat). I'll see if anything else occurs to me, but my mysteries have been plumbed and I'm running out of ideas :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Castings by: Mike Phillips written for BluSponge (?) per his request to MYTHUS-L