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al-Kalim

by Aleksei Andrievski

(Suleiman al-Kalim)
Demipower of Arcadia, LN/Initiate, L
PORTFOLIO: Dream of the Desert Garden, scholarship, tolerance
ALIASES: Kalman (Sind)
DOMAIN: Arcadia/Buxenus/Paradise
DATE OF ASCENSION: 970 AC
SPONSOR: Protius
ALLIES: Farath (Protius), 'Udnan (Odin)
FOES: al-Fakish (Alphaks), Quranah (Ranivorus), Rushtam (Rathanos), Thanath (Thanatos)
SYMBOL: Silhouette of a palm tree in a desert with a moon rising behind.
WAL: Any

The Church
CLERGY: Priests, dervishes (see GAZ2), paladins
CAL: LG, LN, NG, N
WEAPONS: Standard, plus scimitar
ARMOUR: Standard
MAJOR SPHERES: All, Combat, Creation, Divination, Healing, Law, Protection, Time, War, Wards
MINOR SPHERES: Animal, Elemental (all except fire), Plant, Weather
GRANTED POWERS: Turn Undead, Create Food and Water 1/day
BONUS PROFS: Bureaucracy
DOGMA: al-Kalim's most important goal is to transform the Alasiyan desert into a lush forest; his Ylari followers are working towards that end. al-Kalim approves of both warriors and scholars, and his priests strive to master both professions. The faithful are required to follow several guiding principles: reverencing the Immortals, reverencing one's fellow man, reverencing wisdom and scholarship, pilgrimage, the dream of justice and honour, and the dream of the garden in the desert. These principles are listed at length in the Nahmeh, the holy book written by al-Kalim describing his quest for Immortality.
DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES: Priests of al-Kalim have different activities depending on where they are located. In Ylaruam, they of course act as the guiding force for the people, providing education and military leadership. They lead the faithful in daily prayers and act in many government functions. However, priests are not subject to any additional requirements beyond what is required of lay followers. Standard priests can be either Prayer Leaders (those who guide the faithful) or Itinerants (adventuring priests who spread the faith). There are also Dervishes, hermits who live alone in the desert to observe the natural world and learn from it. Followers of al-Kalim in Ylaruam are divided into two factions. The Preceptors are more open to outside ideas and interaction with foreigners. The Kin faction is more conservative and hostile to outsiders, and considers city-dwellers inferior to desert nomads.
IMPORTANT CEREMONIES/HOLY DAYS: There are few holy days, the only one being the 24th of Jumada'l Awwal (Yarthmont), which is the Day of Ascension (marking al-Kalim's ascension to the rank of Immortal). On the other hand, there are several ceremonies and rituals, as prescribed in the guiding principles; the most important are daily prayer at sunrise and sunset and a fast from sunrise to sunset on days of the full moon.
MAJOR CENTRES OF WORSHIP: Ylaruam is the most important worshipper base for al-Kalim, since all Ylari people follow his teachings. With the help of Itinerants, his faith has spread to other lands such as Ierendi and Saragón on the Savage Coast. In Sind, al-Kalim has a small following as Kalman, patron of vegetation and Asanda river.
AFFILIATED ORDERS: The Military Orders of the Eternal Way are open to all True Believers. The Orders act as defenders of Ylaruam and the Eternal Truth. These include Order of the Pike (for heavy infantry), Order of the Arrow (for mounted archers), Order of the Spell (for mounted skirmisher mages), Order of the Mace (for war priests), and Order of the Lance (consisting of the finest members of the other orders). Khinjar al-Sahraa, the Desert Dagger, is a secret society of religious assassins who slay those who commit blasphemy against al-Kalim's name. The members are LN and LE warriors and thieves, with a few more radical priests, but no mages (the Desert Dagger hates mages and slays them on sight). The society is secret and nominally illegal, but is quietly supported by the Kin faction.
PRIESTLY VESTMENTS: For the most part, priests of al-Kalim do not dress differently from other faithful, with the exception of displaying their holy symbols somewhere on their person.
ADVENTURING GARB: Likewise, adventuring priests tend to dress in a practical manner, but display their symbols, even in areas where is might be dangerous to do so.

Special Spells
Detect Water (1st-level)
Poetic Inspiration (2nd-level)
Truthtelling (3rd-level)
Know Destiny (3rd-level)
All of the above spells are described in GAZ2. In addition, dervishes receive their own special selection of spells, which includes both priest and druid spells, as well as some new ones.