Last True Mouthpiece (GLOG Class: Ichabod)

When a person is put to death, after the verdict is read and the headsman’s sword falls, the body may stand again, full of the howling voice of God. This phenomenon is called the Mercy, and it is how the Church collects ichabods.

Ichabods bear none of the responsibility for their crimes prior to decapitation. This is because, during the Mercy, all the sin in their body rushes to their head (or perhaps sin always lived in the head, hiding between the teeth and above the soft palate. The Church is divided, as always.) They often go on to become high-ranking Church members.

The Mercy is the last of God’s miracles that the Rationalists consistently fail to explain. (No one buys the Mouveing Humours hypothesis.) It is irrefutable proof that God still has his eye on the Doggerlands.

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This is the fourth class for the Victorian setting collab I'm working on with Noblesse Goblige, the same setting as last week's Sleuth. It's mostly stolen from Skerples’ Paladin of the Word.

It's all a big WIP, I just gotta get it offa my brain for now ya dig

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ICHABOD
Start with: cult symbol; little red journal; equally headless horse
+1 MD per template
A - Beloved, Beheaded, The Voice
B - Speak with Dead
C - Speak with Everything
D - Ten Commandments

A: Beloved
Pious Doggerlanders respect and trust you, so long as you don’t (openly) harm people who don’t seem to deserve it. Everyone assumes you are good unless you give them a reason to believe otherwise.

A: Beheaded
You’ve been beheaded, and yet live. You are undead and mute. You are not blind or deaf.

For a princely sum you can be fitted with an array of brass horns, thru which you can “speak” in mournful honks.

Your head is out there, also undead, full of hate and sin and criminal intent. If you’re on good terms with the Church, they may let you keep it. Otherwise, it's in a Decapitorium somewhere. If your head is destroyed, you die.

A: The Voice
By His will, you walk; with His voice, you speak.

You can command others.

Command – You shout a [dice]-word command. Another person that can hear and understand you must Save or obey.

If you know their true, full name, they get -4 on their Save.

If you have gone at least a full day without using command, they get -2 on their Save. A full week, month, year, and decade each give an additional -2 to Save, up to -10.

A poorly phrased command can have unexpected effects. Commanding a dying man to LIVE!!! might cause more problems than it solves.

B: Speak with Dead
You can command corpses, briefly animating them with the same voice that moves your lungs.

C: Speak with Everything
You can command all things, even inanimate objects. You could command a tree to give you its fruit or a grave to exhume a corpse.

D: Ten Commandments
Your commands last forever, or until you lift them, with no additional Saves after the first. You may have up to ten commands active simultaneously. 

 

Names of God
Divided between and jealously guarded by the Houses as cultic secrets (the Church has tried, and failed, to unify the Cults of Man, to disastrous results).

You learn a cult’s name by being initiated in all of their mysteries. Learning more is politically awkward, but it can be done.

[these are extremely WIP]

1. The Cult of Eldon operates within the City of Eldon and worships the god Eldon. They’re city planners following convoluted infrastructural rituals. As the oldest cult, they jealously guard The First Name; if you know it, your commands are two words longer, and cannot be shorter than three words.
   Their Decapitorium is in Eldon.
2. The River Cults are dedicated to individual members of an interconnected pantheon. Educated persons are familiar with their myths in the forms of famous oratorios, which the cults begrudgingly accept. As the largest cult(s), they jealously guard The Family Name; if you know them, you can command crowds.
   Their Decapitorium is in Cândyf.
3. The Cult of the Armistice was born from the teachings of the wandering prophet Panin, who many believe to have been God in disguise. They preach peace and internationality. As a foreign cult, they jealously guard The Strange Name; if you know it, you can command creatures that don’t share a language with you.
   Their Decapitorium is in Basqoté.
4. The Red Cult worships the god Aber. They gather on thunderstorm nights. Lady Erin Sookholme is a member; she often arrives at functions painted in animal blood (the Lady considers herself a tastemaker). As a storm cult, they jealously guard The Shout; if you know it, you can command the wind. When you do, your MD always return.
   Their Decapitorium is somewhere in the Nirbarber Wood.
5. [wip] 

wikipedia says headless saints are called cephalophores; i didn't like the name because it sounded too much like some kind of octopus wizard

how do i sneak carved pumpkins into this class? scrolls? magic totems? stylish accessories?

a fashionable ichabod