Wardd

Wardd's High Woldian Symbol.

Ethos	"Live a lucky life and test your luck often."
Domains	Chaos, Liberation, Luck, Madness
Prestige Classes	Mendicant
Holy Days	Deliverance Day, Day of Wishes, Mask Day; days of gibbous (waxing) moons and crescent (waning) moons.
Sacrifices	Totems and portions of treasures won in a lucky manner should be donated to the church. Wardd prefers lucky tokens and items rather than coinage.
Favored Weapon	Hand crossbow: Wardd is revered by the rogues and thieves of the Wold, and is there a sneakier weapon than the concealable hand crossbow? Clerics of Wardd gain proficiency with this weapon that they may always have one up their sleeve.

Wardd is the patron of luck and chance. He helps both those who consider themselves lucky as well as those who wish they were. He aids those who are cursed. Rogues and thieves tend to follow him as an means to getting what they want and to protect them from the dangerous risks they take. Wardd is the sole ruler of Wardd, the erratic first moon of The Wold, which is named after him. He even aids other gods, helping them to achieve their divine aims. Those who patron him seek to attract the god's attention by getting lucky. Wardd is also the god of those who are unlucky enough to struggle with mental demons and illness. He is the patron of vagrants and lunatics -- those with abnormal minds and diseased souls are often said to be under the sway of the moons, the domain of Wardd.

The God of Thieves and Luck

Godly Powers

Wardd knows every time someone "tests their luck." Wardd can turn any situation to his advantage. Whenever Wardd rolls a dice, he chooses the resulting number. Wardd can also cause others to be lucky if he desires and considers the person or cause worthy of his attention. He will reward worshippers who regularly test their luck by granting them the luck they seek. Many times he does this by placing rings, gadgets, and needed knowledge in their pockets to be unexpectedly found.

Appearance

Mortal Form -- When in his natural form, Wardd appears as a healthy young man with blond hair and sleek form.

Avatar Form -- In pictures, in ritual, or appearing before a group of believers, Wardd appears as a beautiful tall young man with alarmingly large eyes and a wide smile.

Divine Form -- In dreams and legend, when his power and influence are shown as omens, Wardd appears as the waxing or waning moon, as a friendly stranger, or as a lucky or unlucky charm (a four-leaf clover, a black cat, a silver bell, etc.).

Worship

Small shrines and wayside temples to Wardd are common -- and those who need better luck often go there to pray or offer tokens they think lucky. But there are relatively few temples and places of worship dedicated to Wardd -- and those are usually occupied by a rotating staff whose numbers wax and wane. In these larger temples, services are held on holy days and whenever there seems to be enough people randomly present. These places are refuges for those who want curses lifted and fortunes reversed. They are also places to celebrate lucky streaks and victories.

Some Thieves’ Guilds have donated lavishly to Wardd, dedicating temples and shrines to him. Some of these are secret, and known only to his followers or Thieves’ Guilds in the area.

Wardd is also the god of those who are unlucky enough to struggle with mental demons and spiritual illness. He is the patron of vagrants and lunatics -- those with abnormal minds and diseased souls are often said to be under the sway of the moons, the domain of Wardd. Sometimes clerics of Wardd set up houses in which to care for these people.

But Wardd is not just the god of the lucky and mad. He is often subtle and his worshippers secret. But do not make the mistake of believing that he is a weak god. No divine being takes the power of luck lightly or wishes to be opposed to it.

Notes on Sacrifices

It is considered lucky to find a helpful magic item in a hole or other hiding place that provides protection from an enemy. It is considered unlucky to save a ring of invisibility for a rainy day. As a result, the basements near a Shrine or Temple of Wardd are filled with all sorts of magical items, gadgets and tokens that were donated due to this superstition. Those in need of luck will visit such places to find a helpful item. It is important to note that the Favoured of Wardd tend to donate lucky items that have only one charge left, gifting the item to Wardd who leaves it for another follower who is on an unlucky streak. Followers of Wardd, tend to visit these Lucky Basements when they are undertaking an important venture. Though these Lucky Basements are only known to local followers of Wardd, his priests can use divinations to always find their locations. It is common practice to leave a Lucky Basement item when you take one. If you don’t have a lucky item to leave, then leave an item you hope will be lucky for another. If you have no item, Wardd will bless you if you bring an item at a later time when you have been more lucky.

Holy Symbol

Clerics of Wardd tend to use a four-leaf clover as a symbol, but just as Wardd himself is unpredictable, his clerics do not obey rules. Some use the ancient High Woldian symbol shown above: two concentric circles with two horizontal lines within them. Some use other lucky icon as their symbol, or use an item that has proven to be "lucky" for them. For example, if a cleric of Wardd dodges a dragon's breath because he tripped on a gold goblet, that goblet might become the holy and lucky symbol of that cleric! Sometimes clerics of Wardd go on Luck Quests to test their luck and win their own holy symbol.

Priests' Appearance

Although they are not superstitious, exactly, clerics of Wardd (aka "Favoured of Wardd") do tend to favor clothes that they have worn when they were fortunate in the past. A cleric might have a "lucky" shirt or cloak, for example. On the other hand, some Favoured of Wardd may wear an outfit that has been unlucky, figuring that now is the time for that luck to turn. Some call behavior like this Playing Life Craps. But as to style, color, and cut, Favoured of the erratic god are not bound by any tradition or standard.

Clerics in Society

Known as the Favoured, the priests of Wardd are notorious "borrowers" -- but they are also welcomed in most places as harbingers of good fortune. They are thought to bring luck with them, and so folks often offer them good meals and beds in order to bring luck under their roofs.

Some Favoured of Wardd see it as their mission to bring luck to the unlucky. They might go to communities and places which seem to be suffering a series of bad-luck events and work to improve things there. Some priests of Wardd adopt a "fairy godmother" attitude and try to improve peoples' lot through mischievous meddling.

Other clerics of Wardd look at the darker side of luck: high risk and high reward! These clerics specialize in taking chances and testing their luck, especially in dangerous occupations such as adventuring, thievery, con artistry, and gambling. Some of these believe that by risking madness -- boldly entering into the darker realms of Unluck -- they can find their true lucky selves. This type of follower seems to be diminishing; however, since Wardd has returned to the Gods of Wold

Although many Favoured of Wardd are thieves, some consider thievery a noble calling. They steal from those with plenty for the benefit of the needy. Or they steal from their enemies and rivals only. Or they use their thief skills to combat true evil.

Of course, other clerics of Wardd just use their divine talents to boost the weight of their money pouches! Whatever their philosophy, most Favoured of Ward enjoy tests of luck. They go on Luck Quests, on which they depend entirely on improvisation and chance, not on planning. They follow their hunches, not their heads, knowing that they will roll with whatever the Wold throws their way!

History and Relationships

In mortal life during the Second Age, Wardd fought with a long forgotten army of good. Things seemed to go very well for him, and some said he was one of the luckiest men alive. Luck however is unpredictable and has another face, and a bad stroke of luck found him captured by the enemy. Wardd was tortured and powerful magic was used trying to get him to share his knowledge, battleplans and weaknesses. However, Wardd resisted all efforts to make him talk. Finally, his enraged and frustrated captors declared that he should be -- "cast into the worst of all hells!!" and used powerful magic to banish him to the foul and hellish Estates of Unrest.

During his time in this damnable place, Wardd brought bad luck to many who tried to destroy him, until the Lords of Unrest, having had more than enough, banished him further - this time to the heavenly Realm of Haven Far, which of course suited Wardd just fine. When he appeared there, he had the good fortune to land in Alemi's lap, who sat on his throne in the middle of a conclave of the Gods. Alemi, in his wisdom, knew a lucky thing when he saw one, and instantly declared Wardd a God, and the guardian of the erratic first moon.

One day, Wardd noticed a female mortal - Jantierri, who appeared to him in his dreams. She had an overwhelming and uncanny power of prediction, and Wardd also discovered that only he was able to act on occasion against her prophesy and foreknowledge. Smitten, he helped her ascend to become the God of dreams and prophecy. It wasn't until later that he found out he had been tricked, and that she had used him to ascend to Godhood by purposefully appearing in and manipulating his dreams.

Secretly, he vowed revenge, and when the opportunity arose, as Gargul prepared a means to punish the noble races for their lack of faith, Wardd tricked Jantierri into helping Gargul create Marteaus and Kevintar - who would rise to deal out the punishments of the Gods.

Jantierri hated being tricked, and she in turn, aided by her sister Jancassis, plotted her own revenge on Wardd. She predicted that one day Wardd would be made mortal once more, and on that day - she would kill him.

Her chance came at the onset of the Godswar during the Year of Ascension. Wardd enjoyed friendship with all his fellow Gods, but he was closest to Karinthis, Donyra and Serenbeth. Imagine his horror when all three were slaughtered mercilessly by Marteaus. Sensing Wardd was vulnerable in his grief, Jantierri and Jancassis manipulated Wardd's dreams once more, so it seemed to him that Marteaus had appeared, and asked him for a meeting. Jantierri also appeared in the dreams of Marteaus, too - in the guise of Wardd, once again asking for a meeting.

And so, unwittingly the two Gods met. Alas for Wardd, Jantierri had informed Alemi of the meeting, and the Patriarch of the Gods was extremely disappointed in him. So Alemi punished him turning him mortal for a day. Jantierri now saw her moment to strike. However, Wardd did as he always did - relied on luck, unpredictability and instinct. In a surprising move, Wardd did something she did not foreseel - he joined Marteaus, and reclaimed his divinity.

Marteaus’ foul justice was swift, and Jantierri became his next victim. Ultimately, Wardd's luck did not hold, and he eventually fell in the War of Ascension. With the recreation of the Wold, he was chosen to be one of the Gods of Testing by the Jericho while others, including Jantierri, were not so fortunate.

With time, Wardd became aware that his nature was becoming darker due to the types of worshippers who were now patroning him. He grew hesitant to cooperate with the evil intentions of his new pantheon and secretly wanted to rejoin the Gods of Wold. He proved to be as unpredictable, erratic as ever. He affected the luck of gods around him under Marteaus, as he ever did under Alemi, and perhaps more purpose.

When the Iron Dragons Adventuring Troupe freed Kevintar and Marteaus was defeated in combat, Wardd “pressed his luck” further than he ever had before. He sneaked into Marteaus’ presence and stole the Air Ring of Ascension, which was one of the 4 Rings The Jericho used to create the Wold. He placed the ring with a fake one that dissolved a day later making Marteaus insane with anger. Marteaus has promised his vengeance towards Wardd, but how do you harm the God of Luck?

Shortly after, when the Gods of Testing disbanded, he felt free to Press His Luck and ask Alemi to return, showing his worth by showing him the Air Ring of Ascension as a reminder of his power and usefulness. Alemi did not hesitate and reinstated Wardd as a God of Wold.