The God that Failed

Pride you took
Pride you feel
Pride that you felt when you'd kneel
Not the word
Not the love
Not what you thought from above

It feeds
It grows
It clouds all that you know
Deceit
Deceive
Decide just what you believe

I see faith in your eyes
Never you hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail
Follow the god that failed

Find your peace
Find your say
Find the smooth road on your way
Trust you gave
A child to save
Left you cold and him in grave

It feeds
It grows
It clouds all that you know
Deceit
Deceive
Decide just what you believe

I see faith in your eyes
Never you hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail
Follow the god that failed
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail
Follow the god that failed

Pride you took
Pride you feel
Pride that you felt when you'd kneel
Trust you gave
A child to save
Left you cold and him in grave

I see faith in your eyes
Never you hear the discouraging lies
I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail
Follow the god that failed

Image by Larry Elmore

Julia Vinetree

Val	Char	Base	Cost	Pts.	Roll	Notes
13	STR	10	×1	3	12-	150 kg; 2½d6
13	DEX	10	×3	9	12-	OCV: 4/ DCV: 4
13	CON	10	×2	6	12-
13	BODY	10	×2	6	12-
18	INT	10	×1	8	13-	PER Roll: 13-
18	EGO	10	×2	16	13-	ECV: 6
18	PRE	10	×1	8	13-	PRE Attack: 4d6
14	COM	10	×½	2	12-
3	PD (STR/5)	3	×1	0		Total: 3 PD / 0 rPD
3	ED (CON/5)	3	×1	0		Total: 3 ED / 0 rED
3	SPD (1+DEX/10)	2.3	×10	7		Phases: 4, 8, 12
6	REC (STR/5+CON/5)	6	×2	0
26	END (CON×2)	26	×½	0
27	STUN (BODY+STR/2+CON/2)	27	×1	0
	Total			65

Pts.	Power/Talent/Skill/Perk	Roll
	Rainbringer's Staff
6	Elemental Control - 25 points of Weather Powers, OAF - Rainbringer's Staff (-1), independent (-2)
3	Rains of Blessing, Draught of Wrath - Change Environment (amount of rain), long lasting - 1 day, variable environment (+¼), megascale - 1 city (+¼), concentrate ½ DCV throughout activation (-½), extra time - 6 hours (-3½), two hand gestures throughout activation (-1), incantations throughout activation (-½), OAF - sacrifice (-1¼)	[5]
6	Whispering Winds - Normal Hearing Clairsentience, 24" per phase mobile perception point, 800" Range, concentrate ½ DCV throughout listening (-½)	[5]
4	Fogs of War - 5" Darkness vs. Sight Group, concentrate ½ DCV throughout activation (-½), two hand gestures throughout activation (-1), incantations throughout activation (-½)	[5]

	Priestess Skills
3	Acting	13-
1	Conversation	8-
1	Disguise	8-
1	Mimicry	8-
3	Oratory	13-
3	Persuasion	13-
1	KS: Rites and Rituals	8-
1	KS: Religious Holidays	8-
1	KS: Tales and Folklore	8-

	Combat Skills
1	FAM w/Quarterstaff
2	FAM w/Common Missile Weapons

	Background Skills
2	Animal Handler - horses	11
3	Climbing	12-
3	Riding	12-
3	Stealth	11-
3	Shadowing	13-
3	Trading	13-
2	PS: Hunter	11-
2	KS: Local Flora	11-
2	KS: Local Fauna	11-
60	Skill Total
65	Char Cost
125	Grand Total

Disadvantage	Pts.
Psychological limitation: Obeys Ragner (common, strong)	15
Psychological Limitation: Hates Ragner (common, strong)	15
Social Limitation - Public Identity (11-, major, only in Ragnork)	10
Watched by Ragner (more powerful, NCI, limited geographical area, 11-)	10
Total	50

Campaign: Quintara (Fantasy HERO)

Background:
Julia was born in the village of Ragnork almost thirty years ago, and has never left it for more than a hunting spree in the nearby woods. She was brought up by her father to be a hunter like himself, and wasn't half bad at it. However, fate had planned out a different course for her. When her aunt, the priestess of Ragner died without leaving a heir to her position, she unwillingly took up her duties as the messenger of his words to the villagers, as his long hand that delivers fertility and as the bearer of the sacred Rainbringer's staff. But also as Ragner's ears among the villagers, as the hand that strikes down the sacrificial knife on the throat of an unfortunate virgin and as a dark angel of vengeance for those who have strayed from his path.
Eventually, she learned to accept this position. Slowly, she adapted to a life as a spiritual guide, a mother figure to the village and a position of power in the village. She learnt to perform the rites and the rituals. She learnt to ignore her own sense of morality screaming inside every time she imbedded her knife in the chest of another innocent child to please her god.
She married a local merchant, and bore him a healthy male child. For a while, it seemed as though her life had finally got on track. And then, tragedy struck. Her husband's convoy was attacked by bandits. They managed to escape, but he was severely injured. For hours she stayed next to his bed, praying to Ragner to revive his devoted follower. By nightfall, he returned his soul to The Great Maker. Shocked with pain and disbelief, Julia set off to the peek of Firetop Mountain, where legend has it that Ragner dwelled. After a long and hazardous quest, she found him.
In fact, she found more than she had bargained for. His dwelling was no more than a common hut. Ragner was no more than a mere mortal. Julia confronted him, but could not overcome the omnipotent wizard. As a punishment for her insolence and as a demonstration of power, he sent her only child a terrible disease. She sat by his sickbed for days, nursing him as he spat blood and ran a fever, until he finally died.
Julia is now a trapped woman. She cannot leave her village or her position as priestess for fear of Ragner's revenge. Yet she is the only one who knows his secret. She is these people's best hope of ever being truly free, yet she cannot even free herself.

Personality:
To most people, Julia seems to be a hardy woman. She has suffered terrible losses in her life, yet she keeps fulfilling her duties. However, it seems as if something had died inside of her. She performs her religious duties without joy and, like it might almost seem, whiteout belief or devotion.

Appearance:
Julia used to be a beautiful woman, although now she just seems tired, tired with life itself. Although she appears to be no more than thirty, her eyes look as though they have already seems everything.
She is a short and slender woman, with pale skin as though she isn't really alive in the full sense of the word. Her pitch-black hair stands out in contrast to her skin, only making it look paler. She usually dresses in the priestess' traditional robes, which she almost seems to disappear in.

Powers/Tactics:
Julia has no powers per se, but she is the bearer of The Rainbringer's Staff which was handed by Ranger to his first priestess generations ago. Although not crafted by a god, the staff is still a potent magical item and gives Julia some power over the weather.
She can use the staff to summon rains to water the village's fields or can stop it as a sign of Ragner's Wrath. She can command the wind to bring the words of people to her ears and then report them back to Ragner. And in times of war she can command a fog to blind the enemy's vision, making him easy pray for the villagers' arrows.

Notes:
One of the basic ideas of the Quintara campaign world was to create a fantasy campaign world without gods or deities. However, people always need something to believe in, and there will always be someone to exploit that need. Julia's character was created to demonstrate what could happen in such a situation.

Campaign Use:
The player characters could be villagers form Ragnork who Julia learnt to trust and let in on her secret. Or they could be adventurers passing through the village just to witness a sacrifice and try to stop it (or even more interesting - to be a sacrifice). In roleplaying, as in real life, when dealing with people's beliefs, the options are endless.

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Image by Joseph Barnhard