DM Nagging: It's pretty much my job

[Anastasia]

Hell's Bane feels kind of generic as a title. Dunno what if anything to swap it for, Risen Fiend? Risen Devil? Would she want to be called either even with the risen qualifier? Her worshipers list is pretty narrow which fits for a new demigod but she'll probably want to look at broadening that over time.

She doesn't want to be called risen fiend or devil, no. It's not quite the slant she wants to put onto it, even if factually true. If anything I expect the title may change in time or morph on its own.

Not like helmets actually do anything in D&D!

I know, right? Antenora's practical enough that it felt on target to mention. A few things in her writeup here loop back to a certain practicality in how she expects her worshipers to do things.

That makes me think of mass weddings like the Moonies did. As a practical consideration for the workload of priests/space in temples it's probably not workable even if I can see it appealing to the orderly mindset.

It may not work out in practice, or may be reserved for only a selection of weddings. It'll also depend on how her faith grows, but the idea's there at least. It appeals to her even if she agrees with the logistical challenges.

Could probably mention her part in Androlynne and the friendship it earns from Morwel, plus some of her feelings on the whole law/chaos spectrum when applied to Good.

First part is me divvying up the various mentions of B1 adventures between them all, but second part is on target. I'll add something about that.

Surprised the Adversary's in there considering she wanted to get his help when we went after Rosewater, unless she was that unhappy with the end result that he's now on her shit list.

She's a bit peeved with him over that. She may be willing to admit he's useful, but that doesn't mean she likes him.

[Anastasia]

Latha's first draft. This one feels a little rougher than Antenora's.

Latha
Diamond Angel of Radiance, Glorious Dawn
Demigoddess
Symbol: A sun decorated with gold rays
Home Plane: Sylica
Alignment: Lawful Exalted
Portfolio: Sun, ascetics, healing, duty, creators
Worshipers: Crafters, monks, healers, paladins
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, NG
Domains: Craft, Good, Glory, Healing, Law, Sun, Truth, Zeal
Favored Weapon: Glorious Duty (Heavy Mace)

Latha supports those who make the world better through creation and restoration. She draws those of vigor and energy of all ages, from a young healer to an old forgemaster, and all are united in one purpose: that like rays of the sun, that they will shine and brighten the world around them. They are great agents of the truth who forsake lies in favor of honesty, and no matter how grim that honesty is, they seek to improve it with their own two hands. A mere warrior is not hers, but the warrior who fights to improve the next day may be, while the builder who stays in a ruined town to help rebuild is likewise one of her servants.

Latha favors all of her Lathans equally, but she most often uses clerics and healers. Those with the ability to rebuild the body, mind and soul are a precious resource. While material possessions, homes and so forth are important, they pale compared to matters of the temporary body and the eternal mind and soul. They best represent her promise of better days, cloaked in the warmth of sunshine and with the clouds of pain banished.

To all of her Lathans, Latha aids them with truth and direct honesty. She is not one to speak in riddles nor in uncertain meanings. She expects this from her faithful in return, lies are something to be put aside as the soul-staining sin that they are. A Lathan should be quietly eager to tell good truths and firmly resolved to tell harsh ones, for the truth is the hammer that can temper souls away from sin and towards the glory of the Heavens above. The glory of the truth and its ability to bring a new dawn must never be forgotten, a lesson each Lathan is expected to reflect on as they continue their path towards Sylica.

A typical Lathan favors garb well suited to their profession. It may be the leather smock and sturdy clothes of a smith, the mud and blood stained armor of an adventurer or even noble finery for a prince. However, all of them wear the Sunmark, a minorly magical tattoo bestowed to any initiate into the faith, as well as the laity who are seriously devoted to the faith. This mark is routinely placed on the dominant hand of the Lathan and can shed candlelight on command. For ceremonial wears and services, Lathan clerics wear robes of white and gold, often similar to the robes of a Lathanderite.

Latha's newfound faith has a pair of holidays they observe. Lathans celebrate the Day of Ascension in mid-summer with Alicia's clergy, a general celebration of Sylica's rise and of the ascension of the goddesses of that realm. Lathans view it as a day to celebrate and set goals for the next year, as amid the celebrations many will declare goals. An adventurer may vow to return with enough money to fund the restoration of a burned down village, while a prince may decide to exempt a goodly project from taxes. Each vow is treated as a cause to celebrate, another ray of sunshine that will brighten the next year. Interfaith vows with the other faithful of Sylica happen during this time as well, as Lathans often volunteer to help them as well.

The other holiday is Summerdawn, the first day of summer. This is a day of celebrations marked by tending to the poor, sick and elderly. Healers mend wounds and cure sicknesses of all kinds for free this day, often going to an area with no Lathan presence and doing so there. It is a day of deeds and celebrations, where those who know a craft will provide services for free that day, and where those with money will make large donations towards the poor.

History/Relationships

Before her rise to divinity, Latha's life is not well known. It is known that she was a servant of Lathander, but for reasons unclear, she changed her allegiance to Mount Celestia. There seems to be no bad blood over the matter, or that any grudge over it has been settled. From there, her story is one woven into Alicia's story, for Alicia liberated her from the Hall of the Vanquished in Stygia, and in turn Latha was later sent to guide and support Alicia. Her role in various battles such as the Crimson Guard against the Dark Six or the Crimson Guard's liberation of the eladrin children of Androlynne are also immortalized in legend, as is her role as the sun that shines down on Sylica itself.

Latha's alliances reflect her life rather than any new initiatives as of yet, as befitting a newly risen deity. She is of course an integral part of Sylica and can count on all the deities there for aid. She has a strong relationship with Lathander, as Lathander is more than happy to aid his former servant. He teaches Latha secrets of the divine and offers her council when matters are difficult, and would likely rouse himself to defend Latha should a serious attempt to destroy her be made. Latha also has good relations with the Hebdomad of Mount Celestia, who she formerly served. Indeed, some of her holy writings reference Chronias with the reverential awe one would expect from an archon. While she does not go so far as to advocate for it, it is clear that she views the greatest mystery of Mount Celestia in the highest regard.

Latha's enemies are many and varied, for she is a crusader against evil. Hell is certainly one Latha's enemies, for she remembers her captivity well, as well as the battles against Hell's assassins at Alicia's side. She has a particular enmity with Lixer, the newly risen Lord of the First. She finds his methods offensive, the undead a blasphemy against life and his deeds worthy of a moment of endless sunshine then oblivion for all time. As Lord of the First, Lixer has many enemies and is occupied with them, another enemy hardly matters to his toil in the defense of Avernus.

Shar is also a force Latha wishes to check and destroy. Creation is the anathema of Shar, something not lost on either deity. Both have clashed before and will clash again, though as of yet the two deities have not yet met face to face. Latha knows well she is not ready to face Shar in battle yet, so she seeks to work against Shar without going so far as to provoke an avatar or Shar herself. As of now she has succeeded in this task, but it may only be a matter of time before they come to blows.

Dogma

To aid others is a laudable goal, because it makes tomorrow better. Look towards those who have not and give them what they  need, be it material, bodily, mental or spiritual. Shine today so that tomorrow is brighter. When you are given aid, always give aid to another so that more good deeds are spread. We are stronger together than apart, so build a church with many faithful united as one. Beware the darkness, for it is often as subtle as your own shadow.

Clergy and Temples

There are still few clerics and favored souls of Latha, but those who are tend to be devoted to her path. They are often Lathanderites who did not quite fit that faith or who were directed to Latha from Lathander. The remainder are often those who were already tied to Sylica and found Latha to be the best fit for them. Lathans are directed to build and restore, to craft a better tomorrow with whatever talents and resources they have. This includes temples and churches, though for now these are only begun and not yet finished.

The Lathan faith revolves around the Solar Tome, a book of stories and fables. Each story draws from Latha's adventures and heroism, and in turn uses those to teach lessons with essays after that explain and illustrate what is to be learned. This book is not finished, as on occasion a new chapter (called a Solar Ray) is distributed to the faith. Often these new chapters involve the faithful rather than Latha, and use the deeds of her own to teach the lessons of her doctrine. To be included in a chapter is seen as a high honor in the faith.

Preferred Classes

Healers, monks, clerics and paladins are the most common classes for Latha's faithful. There's a lesser contingent of other classes, particularly arcane spellcasters, who are drawn to Latha's creation aspects. Many of these are heroes who already have ties to Sylica, something that Latha encourages to further build the Sylican pantheon.

Prestige classes amid Lathans include wonderworker, anointed knight, combat medics and angelic champions.

Preferred Symbols

Latha prefers white and yellow diamonds, sunstones, hammers and marigolds. Oftentimes Latha will gift Lathan acolytes with a talent for the forge with a hammer that grants a +5 competence bonus to one to three Craft checks. These are always found outside, often as the sun shines after a storm. Diamonds are seen as a gift and a sign of Latha's highest favor, and a Lathan who comes on a white or yellow diamond unexpectedly is seen as blessed. The expectation is that this diamond will either be donated to pay temple expenses or incorporated into a new piece of equipment for the Lathan. To sell this diamond is seen as blasphemous and will result in formal censure if it is found out.

Supplementary Material

Alternate Class Feature: Sun Fist

Monks who revere Latha learn to bring the sun with their fists.

Class: Monk

Deity: Latha

Level: 2nd

Replaces: If you select this alternate class feature, you do not gain a bonus feat at 2nd level.

Benefit: At 2nd level, you gain the ability to concentrate a burst of sunlight into an unarmed attack. Whenever you make a stunning fist attempt and stun your target, they are also blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. If you do not possess the stunning fist feat, this ability does nothing. However, if you acquire stunning fist later, you gain the benefit of this ability then.

Alternate Class Feature: Diamond Blessing

Master monks of Latha forever brim with the life energy of the sun.

Class: Monk

Deity: Latha

Level: 15th

Replaces: If you select this alternate class feature, you do not gain quivering palm.

Benefit: You gain fast healing 2.

[Iron Dragoon]

This is my bad, I forgot to go back and revise this when I did this last night, Iddy.

Initiate of Alyssa
Prerequisite: Paladin or cleric level 5th, patron deity Alyssa
Benefit: You gain the Knowledge Devotion feat as a bonus feat. In addition, you add the following spells to your spell list.

1st: Locate City
3rd: Arcane Sight
4th: Dimension Door
7th: Legend Lore

A few points here.

1. Why paladins? It's not a faith that's going to really attract them, unless you have variant paladins in mind.

2. Legend Lore should be noted to be cleric only if you keep paladins.

To be honest, I meant to delete it and missed it.

[Anastasia]

Cool. Just post a revised version then.

[Anastasia]

There's a new PrC up in homebrew. It's one for Jessica's followers and focuses on sneak attack and shadow spell-like abilities.

It purposely avoids shadow walk, as it's one thing to use shadow powers and it's another to risk going into the Plane of Shadow. Shar's not the type to ignore easy kills that way.

[Iron Dragoon]

Cool. Just post a revised version then.

Any ideas on how to make that first title better? Was meant to be something alluding to being a teacher/mentor.

[Anastasia]

Cool. Just post a revised version then.

Any ideas on how to make that first title better? Was meant to be something alluding to being a teacher/mentor.

Title? I meant the Initiate feat you posted and said it shouldn't have paladin in it.

[Iron Dragoon]

Cool. Just post a revised version then.

Any ideas on how to make that first title better? Was meant to be something alluding to being a teacher/mentor.

Title? I meant the Initiate feat you posted and said it shouldn't have paladin in it.

I know, but we also talked about improving the first title. I'd rather get both fixed in one go instead of posting it multiple times.

[Anastasia]

Crossed wires then, okay.

Maybe something with wisdom in it or insight. Something like that since you've covered the rest well. A 'brainy' title, if you will.

[Nephrite]

I'm going to work on revising those two spells this week, along with seeing if I can help come up with some decent domain spells.

Scary!!

[Anastasia]

Good luck, Neph.

[Anastasia]

Ideally, my agenda looks like this:

Today: Finish up Jessica, do some background groundwork on the DvR0s in Moore's node.
Tuesday: Finish Sylvie, do background work on Alyssa's DvR0s.
Wednesday: Work on and update Amaryl, work on Sanzha.
Thursday: Finish Sanzha, work on Elle.
Friday: Finish Elle, work on and finish Kascha.
Saturday-Sunday: Rest and other DM work.

[Nephrite]

Good luck, Neph.

I have a question on domain spells - I am guessing they need to lean into the actual domain - so to use Fire as an example, it needs to be something that is neither "good" or "evil," and just "is fire" in some way, right? Is there any particular requirement beyond that?

[Anastasia]

Good luck, Neph.

I have a question on domain spells - I am guessing they need to lean into the actual domain - so to use Fire as an example, it needs to be something that is neither "good" or "evil," and just "is fire" in some way, right? Is there any particular requirement beyond that?

Generally, for epic domain spells, check what sort of spells the base domain provides for 1-9. Work from there.

[Anastasia]

Ended up being below the weather today, tomorrow should be better.