Alemi

Alemi's High Woldian Symbol.

Ethos	"In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties." - Henri-Frederic Amiel
Domains	Artifice, Healing, Good, Nobility, Protection
Prestige Classes	Healer
Holy Days	Day of the Dead, Deliverance Day, Day of Wishes.
Sacrifices	Time, alms for the poor.
Favored Weapon	Hand or Sap: Even in combat, clerics of Alemi often wish no harm to befall their enemies. Clerics of Alemi gain proficiency with hand (IUS) or sap in order to deal non-lethal damage to their foes.

Alemi is the ruler of the Gods of the Wold. He is responsible for the health and well being of the Noble and Ignoble Races. He provides comfort and ease of pain for those who suffer. He extends life and teaches how to enjoy it by living a healthy lifestyle both physically, mentally, and spiritually. He also rules over the Gods of Wold and is responsible for leading these Gods in their struggles against the Cult Gods. He personally feels a responsibility to keep the Gods of either pantheon from ever physically entering The Mortal Realms of Wold again as was done during the Year of Ascension.

The Supreme God of Health

Godly Powers

Alemi can grant healing of body, mind, and soul to any creature. He can heal both natural and magical diseases. He retains his powers of justice, but refrains from using those abilities as the responsibilities of justice now belong to Kevintar, brother of Marteaus. Alemi can grant extended natural life to any creature if it is deserving, but never crosses Gargul's wishes in this department. He can heal any creature physically or mentally. He has the power to remove evil influences from the lands of The Wold and cure corrupted creatures and plants of the influence of Evil Outsiders. He knows when any evil entity strikes the Noble Races and Lands with disease. In godly combat, no god can die while looking at his glowing form.

Appearance

Mortal Form -- When in his natural form, Alemi appears as a grandfatherly type human with long white hair, soft face, sad smile, and eyes that constantly twinkle.

Avatar Form -- In pictures, in ritual, or appearing before a group of believers, Alemi appears as a tall figure in a white robe, emanating a soft white healing light. A sack of healing herbs is at his waist. His eyes are bright blue and pierce to the soul, understanding, comforting, and rebuking all at the same time.

Divine Form -- In dreams and legend, when his healing touch leads The Gods of Wold, Alemi appears as a golden dragon, powerful and wise, which flies to the rescue of the Noble Races of Wold. Symbolically he appears as a pair of white hot hands folded in prayer.

Worship

The worship of Shepherds is positive and restful. Many techniques of relaxation and inward seeking is incorporated into their services. Candles and incense with cheerful smells are used to create a positive experience for the troubled and weary. Services are held at daybreak when the sun rises over the horizon to spread it's warm healing glow over The Wold. Prayers for the sick occur around the clock as needed. All worshippers are welcome at the temples of Alemi, regardless of race or status.

Holy Symbol

Clerics of Alemi need no Holy Symbol. Instead, they simply hold their hands palms outward with fingers spread as if to heal. At higher levels, when extreme faith is exhibited, their hands may briefly glow with holy might! Worshippers wear a golden symbol of two hands folded in prayer. The High Woldian symbol for Alemi seen above is very rarely used these days, and seems largely lost to antiquity. It is made up of the four sacred circles, and is the most holy of the ancient High Woldian symbols.

Favored Weapon

Alemi's favored weapons are the hand and the sap, and clerics of Alemi gain Improved Unarmed Strike or Martial Weapon Proficiency (Sap) as a bonus feat.

Priests' Appearance

The Clerics of Alemi normally wear robes of white. Their hands are sometimes warm to the touch. Many carry candy for the children which is enchanted with needed nutrition.

Clerics in Society

Known as Shepherds of Alemi, these priests serve as physicians and educators to the Noble Races concerning health and fitness. They heal the sick, and comfort the dying. They fight the magical diseases and sickness that are inflicted upon The Wold.

Shepherds also act as counselors and psychologists, healing the soul and providing comfort for those who suffer. They believe that a sound mind is essential to a happy life. Much can be overcome if the Noble Being has a positive outlook on life. Some shepherds run sanitariums to help those who cannot be cured of their mental problems with spells and counseling. They work hard to see that such places are havens of healing and rest rather than prisons and places of experimentation.

Shepherds believe that one must be a good person by choice to be truly happy and live the contented life. This is a hard state to achieve in a life filled with hardship and trial. So they teach, and live by example, shepherding the Noble Races in the directions of goodness and contentment.

A small part of the previous tasks that Shepherds performed before the Year of Ascension remain within them. Most believe that a man must justify their existence by working hard and being fair to all. One cannot be content in life if they are not contributing something to the welfare of the community.

History and Relationships

Alemi, along with several others of the Gods of Wold, lived a mortal life during the First Age of The Wold. In that time, along with his manservant Domi, he served as a bastion of Goodness and fought against the evils of his age. They were born in a time of chaos, when The Noble Races were tiring of fighting great wars against Monsterkind. The Elves and Dwarves, who had been blessed with longer lives, had wearied of the fight and had withdrawn into their forests and delvings.

The balance upon The Wold had begun to waver. Great evil was done during this time and many of the Noble Races themselves were bent into just a reflection of their former glory. Great cataclysm was imminent.

Chief amongst these threats was the evil mastermind, Gargul. Unable to curb the growing evil that Gargul spread, Alemi traveled to the villages of The Wold and took the best of the young of the Noble Races to teach and train. Brazenly, he placed his school within the House of Creation, or Oshirr in the elven tongue, where The Jericho had resided when he created The Wold. These young folk learned well and soon were aiding Alemi in his opposition of evil.

The Greatest challenge of this First Age occurred when Gargul discovered the means to change and adapt dragonkind to his purposes. During the first age, all dragons were noble beasts and though their form varied in color or metal, they were all of the same type. By some unknown means, Gargul was able to change all that. He began a twisted breeding program, turning the colored dragons into Evil perversions of themselves.

These dragons attacked the Oshirr house, stole Alemi, and return him to their master who imprisoned him. The Children of Oshirr quested for years to rescue their master and stop the evil breeding of the dragons by Gargul.

During his imprisonment, Alemi prayed to the Gods of Yore for help. They did not answer. Afterwards, when he saw the continuing devastation of the Dragon Wars, he inquired of various priests as to why the Gods of Yore were continuing to allow the people to suffer at the hands of the dragons and monsterkind. Through these priests he confronted The Gods asking his questions again and again. Why were they not protecting their charges? Why would they not intervene? Why were they allowing Monsterkind to bring about the destruction of The Wold? The Gods of Yore answered his query.

"Do not question us or bring us to task! We are Gods!"

A great wrath grew within Alemi. He began searching for a way to contact The Jericho and voice his pleas to The Creator. Surely The Creator did not wish his creation to be destroyed and meet this type of end. The only means of doing this was to use the Rings of Ascension to activate The Soul Forge and thus get the attention of The Jericho.

However, the Rings of Ascension were powerful indeed and had the ability to twist the desires of the wearer into other goals and actions and thus prevent them from being used to activate The Soul Forge. Alemi tried however, and the Rings did twist his desires to strike back at the Gods of Yore by changing him into the one creature with enough inherent magic to survive a confrontation with a God: a metallic good dragon. Alemi, forgetting his desire to contact The Jericho, flew off, his mind that of a dragon bent upon a holy war against the Gods of Yore.

Domi, watching from a distance, grieved for his master and friend. His whole mind was and had been focused upon his duties for Alemi. Without hesitation, followed his master, took the rings, and donned them. Being totally focused upon the task of helping his master, he succeeded. The Soul Forge was activated and The Jericho noticed.

What happened after is not well known. Alemi was given power by The Jericho to oppose The Gods of Yore. Joined by a great army of Metallic Dragons, they attacked the Gods of Yore and slaughtered them. The Second Age began. The Jericho declared Alemi the new Supreme God of a new pantheon, which became known as The Gods of Wold. To him, he gave different instructions than had been given to The Gods of Yore. No more would the gods only protect The Wold from outside influences, ignoring the prayers of the Noble Races. Now they were tasked to guide the Noble Races in all things and be responsive to their cries for help.

Alemi recruited Gargul to be the God of the Dead. If he was to have a God of the Dead, which in his opinion was an inherently evil thing, he could think of no one better to do the job. His newfound power as the Supreme God would be enough to keep him under control. He selected Domi, to be the God of Courage. He also selected Caeroldra, the love of his life, as the Goddess of Love.

Time passed, things changed, and Alemi became complacent. All was well and had been for millennia. Evils would rise and he would observe the balance. Justice would be administered along with Mercy and the balance restored. Many times, The Noble Races restored the balance again, with only slight nudges from him and the other Gods of Wold. Cult Gods, as they were then called, would rise up from time to time and the Heroes of The Wold would strip them of their followers and the balance would be maintained.

Then came the Year of Ascension and the rise of Marteaus to power. In the beginning, Alemi was interested only in restoring the balance. If one looked at the God situation upon The Wold and how the worshipping of Gods was distributed upon The Wold, the cause of good had held sway for many millennia. If they were to maintain the balance, then he had to allow Marteaus to rise to power. He did know that Marteaus would not be content to balance the power of the Gods of Wold and thus would have to be defeated, but did not feel that the Gods of Wold should act until that balance had been reached and threatened.

Some of the other Gods of Wold disagreed with this. They believed that since Marteaus would not simply stop once he had achieved equality, that they should attack now. Still others of the Gods of Wold felt that there was not any need to achieve equality amongst the gods and that the Gods of Wold should be the only gods. All others should be opposed. Therefore the Conclave of the Gods ended as a stalemate. After the death of Domi, Alemi called a Council of War and declared Godly war upon the Cult God Consortium. During this battle many gods died from both Pantheons. In the end, three gods remained: Alemi, Marteaus, and Gargul. With the help of the Adventurers of the Wold, Marteaus was defeated and the Wold recreated by The Jericho.

After the Year of Ascension, Alemi changed his focus. He left the onerous task of Judgment to another and took up a new task given by The Jericho. He became actively involved in the happiness and well-being of the Noble Races of Wold. It is thus that Alemi, the Supreme God of the gods of Wold, took up the responsibility of the health of the people of Wold.