Cult of Gitriw

The Cult of Gitriw the Truth Speaker is dedicated to the goddess of truth. They are few in number, but are given great respect, for their life is a difficult one. On joining, they must take a vow to always speak the truth, and to never lie, either by omission or comission.

Most members of the cult are women, with men being but about a fifth of the membership. Members are normally indoctrinated into the cult at an early age - the most common being 7 to 10 years. To tell a lie is considered the ultimate sin. Acolytes who do so are severely punished (normally by solitary confinement, such as being locked into a small box), and Priests suffer removal of the tongue and being cast from the Cult.

Membership

Cultists are taught the following skills and techniques.

Characters

Rituals

Binding of truth (Cost 6): Religion (Rornic).
Prerequisites: Truth sense.

A ceremony to Gitriw is performed, and all those who swear on the priest's holy staff are less geased to tell the truth.

Any who so swears to tell the truth, for the duration of the ceremony, suffers a penalty to all attempts to mislead equal to the religion score of the priest. Further, if they attempt to tell a direct lie, then they gain a trait of Cursed +1 (or loose a level of Luck, if they have that trait).

Ceremonies of Estror (Cost 2): Religion (Rornic).

A blessing which may be asked for by a woman in order to increase or reduce the chance of conception during intercourse. The blessing is bestowed during the new moon, and lasts until the next new moon.

Oath of truth (Cost 2): Religion (Rornic).
Prerequisites: Ceremonies of Gitriw.

This ritual is a two edged sword, for it both gives power to those who invoke it and has power over them as well. When used, prayers are said in honour of Gitriw, and all involved wash their hands and faces in pure rain water.

All who take part in the ritual must know it, so it only works on Priests of Gitriw. Once bound by the ritual, all participants know whether they each speak the truth. All members suffer a penalty when trying to deceive, and a bonus to detect the same. This bonus is equal to the total religion score of all members of the ritual.

Sight of Gitriw (Cost 8): Religion (Rornic).
Prerequisites: Binding of truth.

As Binding of truth, but the priest also has a vision which points towards the truth, and gives some indication of how, and why, the target is lying.

Trial of Combat (Cost 4): Religion (Rornic).
Prerequisites: Oath of Truth.

Trial by combat is reserved for the nobility, others must find a different path. The ritual is performed on two warriors who fight to the death, the winner was in the right.

Both warriors must accept the performance of ritual. The one which is seen to be in the right according to the Laws of Haltan gains a bonus to initiative, attack, defence and damage equal to the religion score of the priest presiding over the combat.

Truth sense (Cost 4): Religion (Rornic).
Prerequisites: Oath of truth.

A Priest of Gitriw is trained to recognise the unconscious actions of someone who is lying. They get a bonus to all attempts to detect lies equal to their religion score.