Barnaby the Wanderer

Notes on the Land of Saints

Notes on the Land of Saints

Concerning Magic:

'Magic' in the Land of Saints is primarily the practice of theurgy. That is, an appeal to divinity to perform a supernatural action. This appeal is essentially a prayer; commonly referred to as an oration.

Style of orations vary between lands and their tutelary saints. Three ceremonial elements are commonly required.

First requirement: a relic. This shall be an item touched or at least associated with a saint. Relics are of lesser and greater sort. Lesser relics are objects conceptually associated to the domain over which the saint resides. Thus, a bone from a grave can serve for a lesser relic of St. Plutarch. A sheaf of wheat from St. Demetia, a bronze gear from Hefestia, a sword from St. Martia, shall aide the petitioner to cast their oration.

Greater relics have been touched by the saint themselves. These are rare and valuable; guarded for their direct connection to a saint.

Second requirement: the supplicant must have a spiritual or vocational affinity with the saint to whom they appeal. Farmers, shepherds, millers and those who live close to nature can feel St. Demetia's presence, when merchants and soldiers might not. Gravediggers, necromancers, executioners and all who mourn are most likely to be heard by St. Plutarch, Patron of Blessed Endings.

Third requirement: a proper casting requires a formulated oration. These have lesser or greater wording. The lesser are mere recitation of ad-hoc rhymes containing the concepts of a saint's domain. But greater orations require exact recitation in the original wording affirmed by the saint themselves. Greater orations are seldom shared among magic-workers.

Once an oration is performed successfully, it becomes bound to the relic used. Thereafter the petitioner no longer needs to recite the oration when using the relic. However, if the recitation of a new oration thrice fails, the relic will never afterwards function for that oration. For which reason magic-workers are cautious in what new spells they apply to relics.

Note: the casting of an oration places a cost upon body and mind of the petitioner. The cost of greater orations can be fatal.

The Saints 

Saints are assigned higher or lower honorifics in accord with their standing. Important female saints are often referred to as 'Mother'; the lesser as 'Sister' or 'Novice'. Male saints of lower status are generally given the honorific 'Brother' or 'Friar', instead of 'Saint'.

Often referred to as the Hosts of the House of Saints, they are equated with the stars. Some saints take kingdoms of the Middle House (the Earth itself) as their special domains. Each saint is said to have a message for all other beings in the House of Saints; this is referred to as their testament.

A sampling of saints, and their Dominions

Saint Demetia

Patroness of Birth, Growth, Healing

Sister Hecatatia

Patroness of night, of dark, of boundaries between the mortal and immortal world

Saint Plutarch

Patron of Holy Ending; rules over burials, the quieter realms of the afterlife (often called the 'Fields')

Friar February

Assistant to Plutarch; carries the scythe oft associated with death itself.

Saint Martia

Patroness of Worthy Battle. Her domain is any physical struggle for life, for honor, for acts of courage.

Saint Hefestia

Patron of Holy Artifice; presides over creation of machines, engineering, the physical sciences.

Sister Persephone

Patroness of travel between life and death, dream and waking; growth and decay, spirit and flesh.

Saint Lucif

Patron saint of Just Penance; ruling over the darker realms of the afterlife such as Infernum, Tartarus and Erebus. A feared personage, yet often the subject of comic curses.

Brother Silenus

Patron of wine, drunkenness, of mad dancing, of forest revels; testifying to the wisdom of life lived without care for the morrow.

Saint Apollonius

Patron of epic poetry, prophecy and the lyre. Also known to be a skank.

Sister Euterpe

Patroness of Music, of female bards, minstrels and troubadours. Very loyal to musicians who wander seeking song and glory.

Saint Bridget

To the reverent, she is the Patroness of Worthy Desire. To the irreverent, her dominion is copulation.

Kingdoms, Nations, Realms

The Kingdom of Saint Demetia

Monarchy. Capital is Pomona. Persephone, straddling the River Lethe, is the largest, oldest city. An agricultural land, populated with small woods and villages. Nominally at war with Plutarch and Hefestia.

The Dimarchy of St. Plutarch

Capital: Pleasance (formerly known as Necropolis).

A misty, swamp-filled land dark with black forests, fens and valleys of fog. Ruled by a shared council of dead and living known as The Deaconry. Nominally at war with Demetia and Martia.

Free State of St. Martia

Capital: Demos. A land of spartan lifestyle, ruled by a nobility of warriors constantly at war with the servant class. Nominally at war with Hefestia and Plutarach.

The Republic of St. Hefestia.

Capital: Daedalus. More mechanically advanced than other kingdoms. Roads are paved, steam-powered transportation is present but not omnipresent. Values learning and free-thinking; frequently suffers minor explosions. Nominally at war with Demetia and Martia.