The goddess of Light and Life, Amairya is usually depicted as as a tall beautiful human woman, with golden hair which shines like the sun. She is often shown dressed in green and gold, holding a cornucopia and accompanied by both domestic and wild animals. Sometimes, she is represented as a vast oak tree, the Tree of Life, whose branches reach up to the sky and hold the sun, moon and stars and whose roots sink deep into the earth, binding the World together. Her symbols are the Sun and a golden acorn.

• Beliefs
• Areas of Influence
• Church and Worshippers
• Ceremonies
• Priest Progression
• Special Blessings
• Obligations

Beliefs

Followers of Amairya believe that before the Undying Light shone, the World was a vast wasteland, cold, airless and without plants or animals. Then the Light shone and it's dawning warmth made the rivers rise though the barren rock and the clouds form in the previously empty skies. As the Light grew stronger, rain began to fall and Sun and rain together caused the trees and plants to sprout. Finally, as the Sun reached it's zenith, the animals and men awoke. Amiarya, as the giver of Life, is the mother of all plants and animals on land, as well as the creatures of air and water.

All life is important to followers of Amairya. They believe that the Eternal Light shines in all beings, except those who willingly embrace the Endless Night. It is fitting for men, to whom has been given greater understanding and wisdom, to treat other living creature with respect and care. If this is done, the Tree of Life which connects all living beings will flourish and be healthy. There will be sufficient land and food for all. Animals and plants should not be greedily exploited or treated cruelly. Land should be shared fairly and resources should not be hoarded. If they are, the Tree will sicken and wither and famine and plague will follow.

A great compliment from a follower of Amairya is to say that someone "gives more than they take". After death, followers of Amairya believe that their life essence will return to the Undying Light. People who have lead good lives will nourish Amairya, making her stronger. The essence of an evil life will weaken her however, causing the Tree of Life to sicken. Because of this, followers of Amairya believe that evil people should be reformed rather than killed. Eventually, every life essence will be returned to the World. However, it does not neccassarily return as a human being. It may be invested in a plant or animal, another reason for respecting these beings.

Followers of the Endless Night are abhorred by those who look to the Undying Light. The Endless Night is the antithesis of everything Amairya stands for. It is vital that people should be turned away from the worship of the Dark. Those who devote their lives to the active worship of the Endless Night do not return their life essence to Amairya on death. Instead, they are sucked into the hungry maw of the Dark and utterly destroyed.

Areas of Influence

Church and Worshippers

The Undying Light is worshipped by humans across the World. Although her worship has been replaced by that of the Eternal Empire in many cities of the Golden Empire, Amairya is still revered in some country areas of the Empire. She is the most commonly worshipped deity in the Vale and some Elves, especally in the Vale, also follow the Undying Light. Temples of Amairya, small and large, are found in every country and all are welcome within, whatever their faith, if the priesthood can oferr them help. Where there is not a temple, a travelling preist will visit several tiems a year.

Worship of Amairya is conducted in the open under sunlight whenever possible. Most of her churches have a large open area, paved with yellow stone or tiles, in which to hold services. When the weather prevents outdoor worship, services are held indoors in special churches. Churches of Amirya are typically large and airy, with many windows and are usually lit with a large number of magical lights. Yellow and green stained glass, with elaborate sun and tree motifs, is common in the richer churches, but even the poorest church will have at least one such window. From a distance, especially at night, the churches shine like golden beacons.

While many priests of Amairya are settled in churches, up to half of priests spend some or all of their time travelling, spreading the word of Amairya and combatting the Dark. Priests of Amairya do not use fixed titles to reflect their rank - they believe that all are equal before the love of Amairya. Priests, especially travelling priests, are often referred to as 'Lights'.

Ceremonies

Major festivals of Amairya are held at planting and harvest times and at midsummer. Services are also held daily at noon, with a larger service once a week and to commemorate births, marriages and deaths. People working in the fields or at home will often pause at midday to ask for Amairya's blessing in their endevours. Priests also hold special ceremonies to bless crops and animals and when communities are threatened by sickness or hunger.

Paradoxically, the most important date in the calander for the Church of Amairya is the Longest Night of the year. An all night vigil is held, attended by most people, to strengthen the World against the forces of the Dark. Many torches and lanterns are lit and hearth fires are kept alight all night. Evergreen trees are decorated with lanterns and reflective glass ornaments and animals byres are kept well lit. At dawn, the priests of Amairya lead services in her honour and the day is an enthusiastically celebrated holiday, with parties, fairs and feasts traditional.

Priest Progression

The church of Amairya attracts many people from diverse backgrounds. However, they are primarily of two kinds - those who wish to use their powers for healing and protection and those who wish to combat the Dark. From this division arises the two kinds of priests of Amairya, those who stay in one place and tend a flock ('Shepherds') and those (the 'Lights') who travel and spread the Light and Love of Amairya. These vocations are regarded as equal by the church, although there is naturally a slight tendancy for those of one sort to regard their way as 'best'.

The split is not absolute between the sedentary and travelling priests. In fact, a number of those who heal and protect rather than fight the Dark spend much of their time travelling, ministering to outlying communities and spreading the word. And some of the more combative priests are settled as trainers or are resident in border areas.

Priest Heirarchy

Level	Powers
Sense Life	Locate a specific type of animal or plant life nearby. Diagnose illness or injury. Detect the presence of the Dark if it is powerful nearby. The priest may also sense how best to inspire a person to better deeds.
Shape Life	Heal injuries and illnesses. Temporarily change some of the characteristics of a creature (make a horse stronger or a plant bear fruit out of season.) Changes can be made permentant, but this requires a sacrifice of a permanent Quality pool point by the priest. Unnatural changes are frowned upon by the Church, except for purposes such as healing congential illness.
Talk to Living Beings	Talk to plants and animals, as well as sentients using an unknown language. Domestic animals are easier to communicate with than wild animals. It can be hard to understand plants until the priest is more powerful. Note that this allows the priest to understand the animal or plant but does not give it increased intellect. Simple creatures can only provide simple information. When communicating with other sentients, the priest may communicate simple needs and wishes, but not complex technical information.
Awaken Life	Gifts animals or plants with temporary sentience. The awakened creature will be friendly to the priest. A sacrifice of a permenant Essence pool point by the priest allows the creature to remain Awakened permenantly. Otherwise, the creature remains awake for a limited time. Note that some creatures (such as herd animals) do not enjoy being Awakened and should be returned to their natural condition as soon as possible. This power is most commonly employed to allow complicated conversations with plants and animals which would be otherwise unable to understand the priest's needs.
Travel to Plane of Life	Allows the Priest to travel to the plane of Life without going through a Gate. The Life plane is a lush and beautiful realm but also extremely dangerous. Priests often travel to the realm in search of rare herbs or to talk to the powerful and ancient plants and animals found there.

Special Blessings

Priests of Amairya may gain the following abilites as they gain greater understanding of and empathy with Amairya. If using the FUDGE character advancement rules these Blessings count as Gifts or supernormal abilities, at the GM's option. Remember that they are sign of the priest's closeness to Amairya and therefore require that their behavior have been exemplary. GMs may decide the character does not merit them, even though they are 'good enough' to gain the other benefits of advancement. It is unusual for priests to possess more than two or three of these powers, at the most:

1. The priest has difficulty levels reduced by one in all attempts to interact with animals. Unless frightened or provoked, normal animals will never attack the priest and will tend to be friendly. The priest will be able to calm even frightened or aggressive animals most of the time without a roll.
2. When able to feel the warmth of the sun (ie. in the open during daytime, the sun not obscured by cloud) the priest of Amairya has a reduced difficulty of one on all actions directly connected to their work as preists.
3. The priests has an especially strong connection to the vital forces of nature. Because of this, they regenerate at the rate of 1 Wound per level on the hierarchy per day, whether they have any medical attention or not. In cities, this is reduced to 1 Wound per level per week.
4. The priest may call forth a sphere of golden light, as bright as a powerful lantern. He may do this once per day, but the sphere will last until dismissed. Note, the Sphere is not normally portable. It may be cast on an object and moved around, but the Sphere will gradually consume the object (in an hour or two for items made of wood or leather, to up to a week for very strong materials such as gems or tempered steel.) The Sphere may not be cast on living creatures.
5. Merely by her presence, the priest is able to accelerate the healing of any creature. If an ill or injured creature is tended by a priest with this gift, all healing rates are doubled (excluding the results of magical healing.)
6. The light of Amairya shines brightly in the priest. It becomes difficult for people to commit selfish or evil acts around her (and yes, this does include the rest of the party!). The priest herself finds it almost impossible to work against the wishes of Amairya. Active followers of the Endless Night have their difficulty levels raised by one on all actions when near such a priest and must make a willpower roll to actively harm her. For obvious reasons, this gift is most often possessed by older priests of great power and purity. However, it may also be possessed by young but very devout priests.

Obligations

Priests of Amairya are obliged to avoid the tools of war. Even those priests of Amairya who accompany those fight the Endless Night are are restricted to weapons associated with farming and rural life such as knives, quarterstaffs, bows (not crossbows), flails, axes (not battleaxes) and can only wear armour made of natural substances such as leather. Priests should fight only in self-defence and should never take the life of a creature not of the Endless Night, or kill animals or harm plants unneccassarily. Some priests extend this by taking a vow of strict non-violence; the GM may wish to give player characters who take such a vow a free Blessing from the above table.
Note that Amairya is a goddess of farming and nature - killing animals for food and clothing or chopping wood for a fire or to build a house are not 'unneccassary', while hunting purely for sport or burning a whole wood to destroy the giant spiders within it would be.

Priests should never use their divinely granted powers to hurt or kill. If such an action is absolutely neccassary (for example, to prevent a greater loss of life) the minimum of violence should be used and if possible the magical injury must be dispelled as soon as possible. Penance may also be required.

Priests of Amirya must always protect and cherish Life, especially the weak or hurt. They must use their healing abilities for any creatures in need. Healing should be given to those most in need, without regard to rank or friendship. Healing must never be withheld simply because the person in need is not virtous. The only exception is the declared worshippers of the Endless Night, who should not be aided. Even then the priest may exercise their discretion and heal the person, if by doing so it may help them turn away from evil.

Finally, priests are expected to give a substantial tithe of any gifts or treasure to their church, keeping only enough to live on.