Revision as of 21:42, 21 February 2020

Wardd's High Woldian Symbol.

Ethos	"Live a lucky life and test your luck often."
Domains	Chaos, Liberation, Luck, Madness
Prestige Classes	Mendicant, Obsessed
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 ring of invisibility in a hole jumped into for protection from an enemy and use it to get away. It is considered unlucky to save a ring of invisibility for a rainy day. As a result, the temples of Wardd have basements filled with all sorts of magical items which they will use to help others attain good luck. It is important to note that the Favoured of Wardd seem to even be lucky with the items they store there, for it is not unusual for those lucky items to have only one charge left.

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 icons as symbols, or use an item that is "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 the time for that luck to turn is now. 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 improve matters 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.

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, Wardd fought with a long forgotten army of good, during the Second Age. 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 enchanted, but he 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 then banished 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 eventually 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. There, he had the good fortune to land in Alemi's lap, who sat on the throne in the middle of a conclave of the Gods.

Alemi knew a lucky thing when he saw one, and so 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 and become the God of dreams and prophesy. 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 - the War of Ascension. Wardd had wished for 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 weakness, 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 on seeing Wardd meet with the leader of the Cult Gods, Alemi made Wardd a mortal for a day as punishment. Jantierri now saw her moment to strike. However, Wardd did as he always did - relied on luck, unpredictability and instinct, and in a surprising move, did something she did not foretell - he joined Marteaus, reclaiming his divinity.

The Cult God's foul justice was swift, and Jantierri was destroyed. Ultimately, Wardd's luck did not hold, and he eventually fell in the War of Ascension, but - he was chosen to be a pantheon god by the Jericho during the recreation of The Wold while others, including Jantierri, were not so fortunate.

Wardd is now a member of the Gods of Testing - as unpredictable, erratic, and prone to the influence of luck under Marteaus, as he ever was under Alemi, and perhaps more so.