A theurgist's divine spheres often but not always reflect his or her personality.
Theurgists' first spheres have more bearing on their personality and aptitudes than later acquired ones, but some theurgists will develop new spheres after a major life change or catharsis.
If a a theurgist progresses in a sphere not normally associated with their deity's favored sphere, the effect on his or her personality is often more noticeable than a theurgist that goes with the grain.
If a theurgist has been walking
the Dragons' Path for a while, sphere progression becomes more based on pragmatism than on personality growth. A theurgist thinks having a specific ability would be useful so she prays until she gets it.
Animal is a favored sphere of
Korus and
Maylar, but lots of theurgists pick up a couple dots in it even if they are powered by a different deity though it is relatively uncommon for theurgists not affiliated with Korus and Maylar to progress far in the sphere.
Since Scarterra is a preindustrial world, most Scarterrans are exposed to animals all the time. Any theurgist that grew up on a farm, or is an avid equestrian, or a hunter is likely to pick up some dots of Animal.
Theurgists who progress far in this sphere tend to fit into two very different personality molds. Some are anti-social loners who compensate for their lack of social skills by surrounding themselves with animals. Others are extremely social and have a sort of Disney Princess tendency to be a friend of all living things.
Augmentation theurgists tend to be courageous action-oriented doers rather than contemplative naval gazers. Augmentation is a favored sphere for
Zarthus and
Hallisan and both their respective priesthoods like to encourage their members to be courageous doers, but that doesn't mean the other priesthoods don't have their share of courageous doers.
Those that progress far in Augmentation tend to be natural leaders, normally lead from the front type leaders.
Crafts Spheres
Crafts theurgy is a natural extension of a theurgist's non-magical crafting ability. It doesn't matter if the theurgist's base skill is blacksmithing, bookbinding, carpentry, beer brewing, leather working, sewing, or anything else done working with their hands. What matters is that the theurgist is passionate about his or her craft.
Greymoria,
Zarthus,
Hallisan, and
Phidas all have Crafts as a favored sphere, but Crafts theurgy is quite common in almost every priesthood because
most Scarterrans have some kind of handicraft skill., and because Crafts theurgy is needed to make potions and scrolls, a lot of temple leaders push their new recruits to learn handicrafts to increase the odds of one of them developing divine Crafts and even if they don't, they can still
make "temple cheese"
Those that progress far in Craft theurgy usually have a intellectual curiosity towards picking up new crafts and skills as opposed to focusing entirely on perfecting one handicraft.
Divination theurgists tend to fall into one of two opposite camps. Many are open-minded and intellectually curious free-thinkers. On the other extreme, many theurgist diviners are highly judgmental and focused on singular truths which they pursue vigorously.
Divination is a favored sphere of
Korus,
Nami,
Greymoria,
Khemra. Korus and Nami affiliated diviners tend to be open-minded free thinkers and Greymoria and Khemra affiliated diviners tend to be harsh judges. Of course the search for knowledge is universally valued so theurgist diviners are relatively common in all priesthoods.
The most powerful diviners often have creativity, opened-mindedness,
and conviction in their values and beliefs.
Most healers are compassionate souls who develop healing powers as a manifestation of their desire to help others a few are morbidly curious about mortal bodies and have a fascination with death. More often than not, Healing is the secondary or tertiary sphere, not their primary. Many holy warriors develop healing ability after getting roughed up on several adventures. Those that develop healing quickly as a primary sphere are almost all of the compassionate mold.
Mera is the only one of
the Nine as a favored sphere, but healing is commonly seen in almost every priestly faction in Scarterra because it is so universally desireable. Many priesthoods try to recruit those who already have knowledge of medicine or they push their acolytes to study medicine in the hopes of producing more healer theurgists.
Most theurgists with hexing ability are individuals with pent up frustrations and anger. Theurgists skilled in hexing have a well-deserved reputation for being passive-aggressive and/or vengeful. Many are bullies that using hexing as a tool of social dominance. Once in a while you get a few light-hearted pranksters that develop some ability in Hexing. Some Hexers are also restrained sorts that use Hexing to defeat enemies via non-lethal means. The kinder and gentler hexers tend to develop as a secondary or tertiary focus and not as their go-to sphere.
Hexing is a favored sphere for
Maylar,
Nami,
Greymoria, and
Zarthus and the motivations and drives of their followers vary widely but Maylar's theurgists tend to seek dominance, Nami's hexers often have a wicked sense of humor, Greymoria's hexers often embody dominance and vengeance, and Zarthus' hexers often embody humor and vengeance (though they will tell you they seek "justice" not "vengeance"). Hexing is not particularly common outside of the followers of these four deities, but every priesthood has a few individuals with a retributive side.
A disproportionately high number of hexing theurgists were "self-taught"
anointed or
favored souls as opposed to monastically trained anointed. These sorts often come from harsh backgrounds where they often prayed for one or more of the Nine to give the power to fight back.
Necromancy is a favored sphere of
Greymoria and none of the rest of the
the Nine bestow this as a favored sphere on their theurgists. Even then, Greymoria's theurgists seldom pick up necromancy as their first sphere unless they have an extreme fascination with death and domination.
Divine necromancers are less common than
arcane Necromancers and arcane Necromancy is still less commonly than the other seven arcane schools. One thing arcane and divine necromancers have in common is that you don't see many dabblers. Most spell-casters either want to become masters of necromancy or they won't touch it at all, so necormancers tend to be strong willed, intense and focused.
Most secular rulers in Scarterra have laws restricting or outright banning the creation of undead minions, so most necromancer theurgists are on the fringes of polite society. It just so happens that most of Greymoria's core followers are often on the fringes of polite society already regardless of whether they practice necromancy or not.
Maylar's and
Phidas' theurgists are the number two wielders of necromancy behind Greymoria.
That said, EVERY one of the Nine has fringe groups that have practices considered heretical by their more mainstream ecclisastical peers and necromancers pop up in some unlikely places. When you see an oddball heretic wielding divine necromancy, it nearly always on a veteran of
the Dragons' Path who already has developed a fair bit of mystic power before turning to necromancy, so these individuals are hard to stereotype personality wise because they have diverse backgrounds and motivations.
Whether affiliated with Greymoria or not, a lot of the most powerful and single-minded divine necromancers fear their own impeding mortality greatly and are at least partially motivated by a desire to become a lich and therefore cheat death. It takes a lot of mental gymnastics for a non-Greymoria affiliated theurgist to justify this, but fear of death is a very powerful thing.
Korus is the only one of
the Nine with Plant as a favored sphere, but since
a majority of Scarterrans have some background in farming, many theurgists develop at least a few dots of Plant theurgy.
Much like with Animal theurgists, many plant theurgists tend towards social extremes, either they are very social and feel a kinship with all living things (even plants) or they are very shy and withdrawn and take solace among plants who make few demands and have simple easy to understand needs.
Another tendency towards extremes with Plant theurgists is that many skilled Plant theurgists are either very nomadic or very territorial. Plant theurgy is very useful for traveling through wild places but it's also useful for building up an enviable farm or garden and defending it fiercely.
Protection
A few Protection theurgists are pacifist minded but most are martially oriented, but with a guardian or protector focus. The theurgists that progress the farthest in this sphere are usually martially oriented. Some Protection theurgists are aggressively minded and pick up Protection so they can be masters of offense and defense, but in this case Protection is usually picked up as a secondary or tertiary sphere.
Mera,
Hallisan, and
Phidas all have Protection as a favored sphere. All three associated priesthoods have more than their fair share of militant defenders that use Protection to aid their combat prowess or those who use Protection theurgy to try to avoid or at least survive combat without directly fighting. The other religious factions all have a few holy warriors and a few non-combatants that want to survive dangerous situations without fighting so Protection theurgists are fairly well-known throughout Scarterra.
Purification is a favored sphere for
Mera,
Khemra,
Phidas but it is commonly seen in every faction because its so utilitarian being useful in times of peace and times of war. Aptitude for Purification often goes hand-in-hand with knowledge of herbs and
reagents and since many priesthoods recruit and train a lot of people with skills in herbalism, they end up with a lot of Purificationists. Holy warriors who end up fighting hostile spell-casters often eventually opt to pick up Purification after being hit by one too many hexes or enchantments.
Purification is rarely seen by itself. Many Purificationists are compassionate souls who care about all living things and these sorts often pair it with
Healing theurgy. Others are green thumbs and these sorts often pair Purification with
Plant theurgy. Those that view Purification as a physical manifestion of their ideology often view this sphere as making things better or purer. These sorts often have an aptitude for
Divination. Some of the most feared and respected Purificationists are skilled in
Hexing, embodying duality of healing and harming, protection and punishment.
None of
the Nine have Spirit as a favored sphere, but all the priesthoods value and respect those who can summon spirits. Other than the fact that almost all spirit theurgists are adventurers or retired adventurers, they are difficult to pigeonhole. Very few theurgists develop Spirit as their very first sphere, most theurgists with the Spirit sphere are adventurers who develop spirit summoning powers only after honing other abilities first.
Those who develop Spirit theurgy relatively quickly usually study up on the oral and written lore of spirits and planar cosmology. They tend to be socially oriented leaders, more apt to carefully delegate than to lead from the front.
Nami is the only Scarterran deity who has Weather as a favored sphere. Some nomadic nature loving types outside of Nami's tent pick up a couple dots of the sphere but powerful Weather witches who are not affiliated with Nami are practically unheard of.
Even among
Nami's Rovers, not many theurgists develop Weather as their first sphere. Usually another aptitude develops into theurgy and they only pick up Weather powers only after getting their feet dusty from miles of roving. Unsurprisingly, a commonality among weather witches is spending a lot of time outdoors. Weather witches tend to be stoic sorts who weather through whatever life throws at them good and bad.
One thing that compounds the rarity of weather witches is that while the Rovers are not particularly well known for their restraint or subtlety, they have a cultural norm that Weather theurgy should not be used casually or frivolously. Many Rovers dabble in the Weather sphere but those that master the sphere tend to be the most stoic and controlled among them.
Despite the name, Wrath theurgists are not necessarily wrathful people. If anything, perpetually angry therugists are more likely to develop
Hexing. Some Wrath theurgists are aggressive individuals that lash out at people at lot but at least half of them are surprisingly stoic and self-controlled viewing their theurgy as a tool of last resort.
Wrath theurgists are equally likely to be hot-headed bullies or cool steely guardians. Wrath is a favored sphere for
Maylar,
Khemra, and
Hallisan but every religious faction has a least a few holy warriors and holy warriors often find Wrath useful.
Wrath attracts a lot of dabblers. The first and second level powers are good for non-lethal takedowns, so its popular among bounty hunters, law enforcement, and military trainers. The most powerful Wrath theurgists are usually also archers since the most powerful wrath abilities allow smiting foes at range though there are no shortage of holy warriors who are skilled at close combat and ranged combat.
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