Testi estratti  dal compendio:" Damm, God of Death" di Brian Potter



Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 13:53:37 -0500 From: Brian Potter To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Damm, Balaanese god of death/pain/suffering
Here are my notes on Damm. He's the non-evil god of death in Balaan. (If you read Nomads of the Nine Nations from ShadowWorld, you may recognize Balaan as the country west of the Jan.) Brian P.

PS - here's a short glossary of some of the terms not defined below.

kare shaar= a weapon, similar to the long, curved weapon Worf used to kill Kelar's murderer. The kare shaar is a blade mounted along a quarter-staff sized rod.

Uodrei= the original land of the Balaanese, and the place of resting for dead souls. Sort of a combination of the Garden of Eden and Heaven.

Shadaem and Huodrei = 2 of the first humans, given the job of guarding the gate to the world of demons by Damm. They failed and became the rulers of demons in Uodrei until Damm whupped them.

********

The Church of Damm

Damm is primarily the Balaanese god of death, but he also has some influence over the spheres of sleep and pain or suffering. He appears as a giant man with white skin and burning white eyes, and he never wears anything but a black Balaanese kilt with a white disk on the front; beneath the disk is a kare shaar. Damm is associated with the full phase of the moon, and his powers are greatest during the night of the full moon. He has two powerful items which he can conjure into his hands at will. One is his kare shaar, made of white metal with a silver rod along the back. The other item is a chalice made of bone and shaped like two lily blossoms, connected at their bases. Drinking from one end causes sleep and relief from suffering, while drinking from the other brings instant death to anyone but Damm.

The church of Damm is quite powerful in Balaan, with many followers among the soldiers. All clergy and church officials are women. Clerics are known as Kamaaho, holy fighters are known as Raajae (singular) or Raraajae (plural). Many soldiers and warriors offer prayers to Damm before battle, asking for victory or a painless death. The Kamaaho often bless weapons or help the injured slip painlessly into Damm's keeping. Worshippers of Damm often refer to death as "entering Damm's Fire."

According to Balaanese scripture, Damm rewards those who come to him bravely. It is towards this end that worshippers attend services and support the church; they wish to learn how to face death as Damm expects them to, so that when they die they will be rewarded. After defeating Shadaem and Huoshe and sending them Beyond the White Wall, Damm remained in Uodrei to guard the Wall himself. He gathers to himself there all who worship him diligently, and those who die bravely. Kamaaho and Raraajae, and those who die in battle earn a special place with him, helping to guard the White Wall. Others simply dwell in Uodrei safely, where they may seek whatever their pleasure is.

The dead in Uodrei are capable of taking on physical form within the valley, but cannot manifest physically on the plane of mortals. Their physical form in the valley is that of their young self in life. Strength, sense and beauty are increased over their human forms. They may become noncorporeal also, in which case they are not limited by space or time; they may go anywhere in the valley and to any time, so that they may meet loved ones who will not die in Balaan for many years. The unfaithful and those fearful of death also dwell in Uodrei, but they are trapped in the bodies of animals and beasts, and must stay in the forests of the land. The souls of truly evil or heretical persons go first to Damm, and then they pass beyond the White Wall where they are at the mercy of Shadaem, Huoshe, and the Jietu.

Souls in Uodrei can be summoned to Balaan by a cleric of Damm, who may then speak with the soul. The soul will know what it knew in life, and perhaps more about the future. What a soul knows of the future is what it learns from those it contacts in the future. For most souls, this will be information of a family or local nature. Few souls will know the location of artifacts, who killed someone, etc. unless it directly influenced them or someone whose soul they contact.

Kamaaho

All Kamaaho are female, born on a full moon. The church actively seeks out such women to recruit into its ranks. The church of Ahroa often assists in this, as they have extensive knowledge of births in Balaan. Most Kamaaho remain in service in a particular temple or office, but some are assigned to villages or regions to preach Damm's teachings and help the dying as missionaries. Others get permission to roam freely. About 75% of the aisavaru in Balaan have a kamaaho in their keep to work with the soldiers and help with the dying in battles.

Raraajae

The Raraajae are holy fighters of the church of Damm. They serve the aisavaru Dammu (rulers of church-held lands) as generals and regular soldiers, and on rare occassions are found wandering the land. A Raajae is always a woman, and unlike a cleric of Damm she may be born in any phase of the moon except the new. A Raajae wears little armor, and is often found where the battle is thickest. Few people cross them, as the Raraajae are often considered suicidal and relish the opportunity to enter battle. They are not foolish, however; they use their spells, combat skills, and cunning equally in Damm's service.

While the Raraajae fight other humans frequently, they are trained and sworn to seek out and combat creatures they consider evil. This includes demons, elementals, and any other beings that come from another dimension. They also abhor undead, on the grounds that the latter are rightfully Damm's. Undead are beings that are not brave enough to fully accept death, or have been magically prevented from entering Damm's Fire.

[A Raajae is a paladin, with the following base spell lists: Holy Warrior, Spell Breaker, Hand of Healing, Communion, Hand of Damm, and Damm's Fire. The first four lists are standard paladin lists from Rolemaster Compainon I and Spell Law. Hand of Damm is a special list, and Damm's Fire is the same as the astrologer base list, Starlights.]

Damm's Teaching (Cleric base list)

Level	Spell Name	Area of Effect	Duration	Range

1	Pain	1 target	1 min/level	100'

2	Unpain 25%*	-	1 min/level	self

3				

4	Golden Slumbers*	1 target	1 rnd/10% failure	50'

5	Fire Nerves	1 target	1 min/level	100'

6	Peaceful Death	1 target	24 hours	touch

7	Unpain 50%*	-	1 min/level	self

8	Detect Death  c	5' rad/rnd	1 min/level (C)	100'

9				

10	Soul Release	1 target	-	touch

11	Death's Vision	self	-	touch

12	Agony	1 target	1 min/level	100'

13	Death Stroke*	1 target	1 rnd/level	touch

14	Unpain 75%*	-	1 min/level	self

15	Damm's Eyes	1 target	-	50'

16	Death Watch			

17	Torment	1 target	1 min/level	100'

18				

19				

20	Kiss of Death	1 target	-	touch

25	Spirit Companion	1 spirit	Permanent	10'

30				

50				



Descriptions

1 - Pain (F) - Target feels wracked with pain and takes 20% of his remaining

hits.

2 - Unpain 25% (S*) - Caster is capable of sustaining an additional

25% of their concussion hits before going unconscious.  Hits are still

taken and remain after the spell lapses.

4 - Golden Slumbers (F*) - Caster points open hand at target, palm upward, and 

channels raw power at target.  Target falls into a deep sleep.

5 - Fire Nerves (F) - As Pain except target takes 40% of remaining hits.

6 - Peaceful Death (M) - Caster place an individual who is dying in a

state of restful slumber.  The target must have a terminal disease, be

bleeding to death, or have a mortal critical.

7 - Unpain 50% (S*) - As Unpain 25% except caster is capable of sustaining an 

additional 50% of their concussion hits before going unconscious.

8 - Detect Death (P) - Caster can detect any dead bodies in the area of

effect, as well as whether anything died in the area during the last

24 hours.  Caster can concentrate on a 5' radius each round.

10 - Soul Release (M) - As Peaceful Death, but caster may cause immediate

sould departure for an already dying target.

11 - Death Vision (I) - Caster sees an image of how someone died.  The

caster must touch the body of the deceased, and the death must have

occurred since the last full moon set.

12- Agony (F) - As Pain except target takes 60% of remaining hits.

13- Death Stroke (F) - The next C, D, or E critical inflicted by the

caster during the spell duration is rolled on the slaying column of

the table for large creatures.

14- Unpain 75% (S*) - As Unpain 25% except caster is capable of sustaining an 

additional 75% of their concussion hits before going unconscious.

15- Damm's Eyes (F) - Caster's eyes send forth a flash of white light.

The target of the spell must make a successful RR or take damage as if

falling.  The amount of RR failure is used as the distance fallen.

Adrenal Moves Landing skill and magical landing spells do not apply.

16 - Death Watch (F) - Target must make RR or they will die when the

next full moon rises.  At sunrise the day of death the target will

develop a fever that will worsen as the day progresses.  Prior to the

onset of fever, the spell may be cancelled by Remove Curse, but once

the fever starts neither curse removal or disease cure will work.

17 - Torment (F) - As Pain except target takes 90% of remaining hits.

20 - Kiss of Death (F) - Caster must physically kiss the target, who then dies 

immediately if they fail their RR.

25 - Spirit Companion (FM) - Summons the spirit of a dead sentient

(usually of caster's race) who will serve as a companion and aid to

the caster.  The spirit will normally be between 1st and 10th level

(GM discretion).  It is noncorporeal and invisible.  The spirit

communicates with the caster and can read emotions of those within 5'

R.  It can detect traps in a 5' radius with 70% reliability, and can

 within 5' radius.  The spirit can

detect the presence of illusory or invisible beings within a 5'

radius.  The caster can have only one companion at a time.  The GM may

decide that there is a specific spirit with a reason for guarding the

individual.

 

Commune (Cleric base list)



Level	Spell Name	Area of Effect	Duration	Range

1	Anchoring	self	1 min/level	self

2	Converse*	1 spirit	1 min/level	10'

3	Summon Dead I	1 spirit	1 rd/level	10'

4	Inquire I	1 spirit	1 question	10'

5	Summon Dead III	var.	1 rd/level	10'

6				

7	Inquire V	1 spirit	1 question	10'

8	Summon Dead V	var.	1 rd/level	10'

9				

10				

11	Summon Dead VII	var.	1 rd/level	10'

12				

13	Inquire VII	1 spirit	1 question	10'

14	Summon Dead X	var.	1 rd/level	10'

15	Converse True*	1 spirit	Permanent	10'

16				

17	Inquire X	1 spirit	1 question	10'

18	Summon Dead True	var.	1 rd/level	10'

19				

20				

25	Inquire True	1 spirit	1 question	10'

30				

50				



Descriptions

1 - Anchoring (U) - Grounds the caster's spirit in their body and allows the

safe casting of any higher level spells on this list.  A summon, converse, or

inquire spell cast without first anchoring will operate as described, but

at the end of the spell there is a 1%/spell level chance that the caster's

soul will follow the contacted spirit into the 

realm of the dead - the caster dies, in other words.

2 - Converse (M*) - Allows free conversation between the caster and a dead

spirit or aware undead.  Communication is subject to the spirit or undead's

intelligence, and to the caster and spirit/undead having a common language.

3 - Summon Dead I (FM) - Summons the spirit of a 1st level being who has

died and who is not undead.  The summoning can be done anywhere.

4 - Inquire I (M) - Caster may ask a 1st level undead or spirit to answer

one yes/no question.  The spirit will be predisposed to answer truthfully,

unless the cleric is out of Damm's favor.  In the latter case the spirit

will not answer at all.

5 - Summon Dead III (FM) - as Summon Dead I except up to 3 levels of spirits

may 

be summoned.

7 - Inquire V (M) - As Inquire I except the spirit or undead may be up to

5th level.

8 - Summon Dead V (FM) - as Summon Dead I except up to 5 levels of spirits may 

be summoned.

11 - Summon Dead VII (FM) - as Summon Dead I except up to 7 levels of spirits 

may be summoned.

13 - Inquire VII (M) - As Inquire I except the spirit or undead may be up to

7th level.

14 - 	Summon Dead X (FM) - as Summon Dead I except up to 10 levels of spirits 

may be summoned.

15 - Converse True* (M) - As Converse but the duration is permanent.

17 - Inquire X (M) - As Inquire I except the spirit or undead may be up to

10th level.

18 - Summon Dead True (FM) - as Summon Dead I except as many levels of spirits 

may be summoned as the caster has levels.

25 - Inquire True (M) - As Inquire I except the spirit or undead may be of

a level equal to or less than the caster's level.

 

Hand of Damm (Paladin base list)



Level	Spell Name	Area of Effect	Duration	Range

1	Pain	1 target	1 min/level	100'

2				

3	Peaceful Death	1 target	-	touch

4	Fire Nerves	1 target	1 min/level	100'

5	Death Aura	10' radius	1 min/level	self

6	Fearlessness*	self	1 min/level	-

7	Minor Death Stroke	1 target	1 rnd/level	touch

8	Detect Death	5' rad/rnd	1 min/level (C)	100'

9				

10	Soul Release	1 target	-	touch

11	Agony	1 target	1 min/level	100'

12	Damm's Eyes	1 target	-	50'

13	Damm's Light	self	-	-

14				

15	Major Death Stroke	1 target	1 rnd/level	touch

16				

17	Torment	1 target	1 min/level	100'

18				

19				

20	Aura of Torment	20' radius	1 rnd/level	self

25				

30				

50				



Descriptions

1 - Pain (F) - Target feels wracked with pain and takes 20% of his remaining

hits.

3 - Peaceful Death (M) - Caster place an individual who is dying in a state

of restful slumber.  The target must have a terminal disease, be bleeding

to death, or have a mortal critical.

4 - Fire Nerves (F) - As Pain except target takes 40% of remaining hits.

5 - Death Aura (F) - Caster emanates a sense of dread and pending death.

All within 10' who fail their RR by ...50 are at a -10 attacking the caster;

failure by 51-100 means target flees; failure 101... target stunned

as long as they remain in the area of effect.

6 - Fearlessness (S*) - Caster is immune to all magical and nonmagical fear,

panic, etc.  Caster also receives a +10 bonus on OB and a -10 penalty on DB.

7 - Minor Death Stroke (F) - The next C, D, or E critical inflicted by the

caster during the spell duration is rolled on the slaying column of

the table for large creatures.

8 - Detect Death (P) - Caster can detect any dead bodies in the area of

effect, as well as whether anything died in the area during the

last 24 hours.  Caster can concentrate on a 5' radius each round.

10 - Soul Release (M) - As Peaceful Death, but caster may cause

immediate sould departure for an already dying target.

11 - Agony (F) - As Pain except target takes 60% of remaining hits.

12- Damm's Eyes (F) - Caster's eyes send forth a flash of white light.  The

target of the spell must make a successful RR or take damage as

if falling.  The amount of RR failure is used as the distance

fallen.  Adrenal Moves Landing skill and magical landing 

spells do not apply.

13 - Damm's Light (I) - Caster gains a sense of whether or not they are

likely to survive a battle that will occur in the next hour.

15- Major Death Stroke (F) - The next C, D, or E critical inflicted by the

caster during the spell duration is rolled on the slaying column of the

table for super-large creatures.

17 - Torment (F) - As Pain except target takes 90% of remaining hits.

20 - Aura of Torment (F) - As Torment except all beings in the area of

     effect (except the caster) are affected.