Anshar

The Horizon of Heaven. Gave birth to Anu and the Iggiggi (all the other Gods save Tiamat & Kishar). Will promote the worship of his children but does not take preference. Will occasionally advise the highest level clerics of other religions how best to serve their god. Embodied in and manifested as the Astral Plane, control connections between all outer planes. Anshar assesses a toll on his children for the traffic of souls that pass to the outer planes. Clerics will help navigate lost souls to their proper plane. The Astral plane contains a strong connection to the world of dreams and Anshar allows gods to influence the dreams of man. 

Child of Laamu and Lahamia, and one of the Annunaki, Anshar is the creator of heaven. Anshar controls angels and the operation of the upper planes, guards the astral plane and planar machinery, controls the entrance to the astral plane. The church of Anshar also assigns and facilitates spiritual quests, gives out astral projection spells, and serves as spiritual guides for clerics and worshippers of all faiths. Saint Anda of Anshar, patron of quests, led the way to the Pale Mountains of the Theocracy originally.

Ansharians can cast call upon faith at any distance on the same plane for any person of religion.
Ansharians can also affect others with Draw Upon Holy Might provided that character worships a god--the range for such miracles is touch.

God Granted Abilities

1st lvl ---choose one---
Know alignment 1/day/level (at 9th lvl gives align status)
Call Upon Faith 1/day/level (at 9th lvl adds 50% range, -2 saves to other's miracles)
Dream Reading 1 person/day/lvl (at 9th lvl, can determine who sent dream if its sent)

5th lvl ---choose one---
Banshisment 1/day (affects outer planar creatures only)
Persuasion 1/day (change alignment of target creature for 1 rnd/lvl, save negates)
Dream walk 1/night (1 creature within 1 mile, save negates, observe their dream only).

9th lvl ---choose one---
Astral projection 1/week
Dreamscape 1/week
Commune Other 1/week (can affect person touched!!!)

13th lvl ---choose one---
choose from 9th lvl abilities list, may pick same twice which allows 3/week

Ansharian Spheres:

Astral/Outer planes, Dreams, Conversion/Persuasion(Charm), Wisdom, Guardian

Specialty Spells, Items and Rituals:

Gold Star of Anshar, can protect your soul once

Lien on Your Soul, can ensure that soul goes to heaven

Dream Reading, can interpret spiritual significance of dreams

History of the Church

In Year 0, Ansharians lose all their cities in wars with Ket and the barbarians (Littleberg, Nevrond Nevrond, and one other)

In Year 1, Food sacrifice returns to Nevrond Nevrond due to a deal between the High Church of Ishtar and the barbarian conquerers.

In Year 4 Anshar may aquire the city of Balik, size = 2 divine levels, Nevrond Nevrond = 3 (Capital of Tehn)

by Year 16, Balik assumed an Ansharian City.

The High Church of Anshar

      The High Church of Anshar is one of the oldest churches in the Theocracy. In fact, those that founded the church were instrumental in negotiating the spilt between Aerdianism and Nyrundianism, hence their prominent role. Clerics of Anshar, because Anshar is a god of wisdom and outer planes (spiritual connection), often serve as spiritual counselors to other clerics of Nyrundic faith and have gained much influence doing so. They rarely preach their own religion, preferring instead to increase the faith and alignment status of others. Exceptions are made however, when a person seems unfit for their own deity, has little faith in that deity, and have qualities which make them ideal for service to Anshar.  Anshar IS the horizon of Heaven (the outer planes, most specifically the Astral). He is the gate keeper and only his clerics are allowed the Astral Projection miracle (although scrolls of such can be requested through clerics of Nabu the scribe god) and at very high levels they are even granted miracles that can specify to which plane a person will go to in the afterlife (The Archcleric and Council of Cardinals have, on occasion, made this request for certain criminals and heroes). Church doctrine specifically forbids the granting of such miracles for money and such power is to be used ‘wisely’.

Cardinal Anshaba Imgur (Priest 40^th lvl) is the head of the High Church of Anshar and he also sits on the Council of Cardinals. He operates from the Church of Anshar located in the Theocracy (Pale Mountains). Due to his incredibly high wisdom and his abilities to increase the wisdom of others (and his appointment on the Council of Six), he is highly regarded and influential throughout the Theocracy. He is the reigning expert on faith, divine power, and the mechanics of divinity.  It is rumored that representatives of the upper, lower, and middle planes serve and advise him. He rules the church with a steady if not iron hand that maintains its neutrality and advising role to clerics of other faiths throughout the Nyrundic religion.

Cardinal Anja-Kisu is the reigning clerical expert on the outer planes and their connections and openings to the prime material plane. She monitors these connections constantly through the use of miracles, magical items, and powerful summoned creatures as well as through her connections to the Church of Sin and some wizard schools. Her primary responsibility is to protect the material plane from out planar aggressors. She reports to both Cardinal Anshaba Imgur and gives a weekly report to the Council of Cardinals and the Archcleric Siuane Sanche as to the current state of outer planar incursions. Her right hand is Archbishop Ben-Gur.

Cardinal Archbishop Lugalindia’s role is to provide spiritual guidance for King Gilgamesh. He is the King’s personal advisor.

Cardinal Archbishop Vitor Sugregarin is responsible for the diocese in the Duchy of Tenh. He guides from Nevrond Nevrend, and he is a vampire, infected long ago while on a holy quest. Anshar offers salvation and redemption to all, including vampires. Vitor Sugregarin has collections, private galleries of armor and weapons of the original armies of Nyrond. Relative of the Patron Saint Gregarin, he is 470 years old. When Lord Soothra and the Archbishop Al'vere visited him to arrange a trade deal with the barbarians to keep his city sacrificing to Anshar, he greeted them at dinner (8:00 pm) in a large mansion, behind heavy doors, locked and barred. On the way to his mansion, the party noticed barbaric totems, packs of herbs (garlic, fennel) and hairlocks (karma). He discussed issues with the party over wine. He worried because of the archbishop's sword sight from Woundhealer (the sword that kills undead) and would not let them leave. He used lots of spiritual incense as a smoke screen and wards against outer planar beings (symbol of banishment), many mask undead spells, appearing vibrantly healthy. Nonetheless, the parties were able to come to an agreement, and Sugregarin made a sacrifice of a dozen great swords from the original conquest of the Pale Mountains during the reign of the Great Kingdom in order to mark their new partnership. Under 2nd ed, his stats were as follows: D16, S 19, I 17, W 22, C 18, Chr 20. Captain Baran Einhold Blue Moon attends him.

Archbishop Brandon Carin, a convert from Greyhawk City, sees to the day to day working of the High Church of Anshar in the Theocracy. With Archbishop Hemogin Shamashabba, he coordinates tradining schedules for services. He coordinates and officiates special services (important ones) such as festival services and many of the special Holy Day ceremonies. Brandon Carin also sees to the timeliness of meals for Anshar. Special passes, dispensations, writes, and etc that are part of the day to day operation of the High Church and its dealings with and out of the theocracy will have gone through this Archbishop.

Archbishop Hemogin Shamashabba is responsible for training clerics in the ways of and duties to Anshar. He operates chiefly from the church of Anshar in the theocracy. He has complete control and autonomy within the church to teach Acolytes any way he likes. He determines the manner and style in which acolytes are taught as well as the penalties and punishments within the school. He maintains a high level of discipline and commands much power through the theocracy. (Most clerics of Anshar have been strongly influenced by this man). All promotions to 1^st level and High Priest (but not necessarily in between) must pass through him before they are considered.

Archbishop Iberia is the internal affairs officer of the High Church of Anshar. She looks into all sorts of things from missed payments for training to clerical transgressions against god, alignment deviations, church rule transgressions, and clerical improprieties. Iberia and her staff carry out the investigations as well as institute penalties. Penalties within the church given by Iberia can only be countered by Cardinal Anshaba Imgur.

Archbishop Ansurbaninipal, a.k.a The Scout, is a scout in Anshar’s army. He does the spiritual reconnaissance into the hearts, minds, and souls of the people to find out their spiritual status and warn the church when problems are approaching. He is a master at dream traveling and will often travel the dreams of commoners throughout the Nyrundic cities to gauge their level of spiritual connection. He also looks for signs that may appear in several different people’s dreams which might portent of things to come or current happenings. Ansubaninipal is also responsible for proposing candidates for Bishopsy, Archbishopsy, and Cardinalship. He is often the front man in clerical investigations when a saint is proposed and is one of the few Neutral Good members in the church. This Archbishop is a regular guest speaker at Anshar’s clerical schools. He is responsible for writing the treatise that identified the intense connection between the lands surrounding the Pale Mountains and their strong connection with the Astral plane. Ansurbaninipal is one of the true loves of Rahasia Al’vere of Babylon.

Archbishop Ben-Gur is the attack arm of the church against outer planar creatures. He is also the right arm of Cardinal Anja Kisu. He has powers that warn him and transport him to sites where egressions by powerful outer planar beings onto the prime material plane are happening. He has kicked the ass of many an outer planar creature including several demon lords, Slaadi Lords from Limbo, and Githyanki or Githzerai that have come to involve Oerdians in there eternal war against each other. 

Bishop Amean-Lotna SuLittleberg is researching protections against the soulmagic of the Illithid clergy in the Horned Society. She is an expert on soul magic and spiritual protection.

Ansharian Church Rules:

Cardinal Archbishop title is used only by the clerics of Anshar. To them it denotes a step in between Cardinal and Archbishop. To the rest of the theocracy they are recognized only as Archbishops. 

All those who train to become a cleric of Anshar must first make a pilgrimage to the Theocracy in the Pale Mountains. 1^st level training takes place there.

The Cardinals of the church meet once a year to confer over dogma, doctrine, and other major policies. Cardinal Anshaba Imgur has the final say. 

The Archbishops are also known to meet on certain occasions with cardinals of other faiths to help them come up with new insights and wisdoms into the religion, life, the Gods, and purpose.

In affairs dealing with transgressions within the church, internal affairs, Archbishop Iberia appoints a “Guidance Council” of peers to act as a tribunal. She also will select adventuring parties of various talents to investigate allegations.