=== Altars ===

This is an altar on a stone platform. ='s are steps. Let's imagine the 0 is
blood red -- an altar of obsession.

     =
    ###
   =#0#=
    ###
     =

You may sacrifice any ego item (except arrows) on an altar to gain a deity's
temporary blessing. The blessing will last at least for this dungeon level and
for the next dungeon level you visit. After that every time you take the stairs
down there's a 50 % chance that the goddess withdraws her blessing.

Here's a gameplay example. Our hero takes the steps to the platform (no Jumping
check needed) and drops an ego item on the altar.

"A brilliant light consumes a Short Bow of Accuracy (+8, x2, 7) -more-"
"Beleth, the Queen of Hell, blesses you. -more-" "You have no more Short Bows
of Accuracy (+8, x2, 7)."

You may sacrifice any ego item (except arrows) on an altar to gain a deity's
temporary blessing. The blessing will last at least for this dungeon level and
for the next dungeon level you visit. After that every time you take the stairs
down there's a 50 % chance that the goddess withdraws her blessing.

Here's what Beleth's blessing looks like on the character sheet:

   Beleth
   PRE+++

As you can see, Beleth grants the character "PRE+++" which translates to +3 to
Presence. (The bonus also shows in your racial bonuses.)





=== The Goddesses are different in every game ===

Deities grant either +3 to one ability, or +2 to one ability and +1 to second
one. For example, Beleth could have granted "PRE++ STR+" instead.

The blessings of the goddesses are generated procedurally and are different in
every game. Each goddess has a "style guide" of thematic abilities, and one or
two of them are picked randomly for their blessing.

Here's a list of all possible deity bonuses that may show on your character
sheet:

   STR = Strength
   MEM = Memory
   WIS = Wisdom
   DEX = Dexterity
   CON = Constitution
   PRE = Presence
   Ber = Berserk. You gain extra Reserves points which may be used for the
         (b)erserk proficiency, but you can no longer use the (r)ecover
         proficiency.
   Esc = Escapes. You gain Escapes points which may be spent for the (e)scape
         proficiency.
   Arm = Armor. +4 to your armour class per +.
   Rng = Range. Extra range with bows, thrown weapons, spells, and devices. In
         addition, you gain the bonus to your throwing and archery skills.
   Ste = Stealth. Bonus to Stealth skill.

This is a polytheistic world, and goddesses don't usually mind if you worship
other goddesses. You may have at most three blessings at the same time.

Priests and Templars are experts at religious practices. If they drop any kind
of torch on an altar, the goddess treats it as an ego item. If they offer an
ego item, it is treated as an artifact.

High-level characters of non-faery races that are blessed by at least one
goddess gain access to Escapes points at levels 15 and 25. This is how the
goddesses protect their favorites.


=== Becoming a permanent follower ===

If you sacrifice an artifact to a deity, you become her permanent follower.

You gain her normal blessing permanently. Whenever you offer a new ego item or
an artifact for her, you gain a doubly powerful temporary bonus. Note that you
can first offer an artifact to become a follower, and then right away offer an
ego item to gain the temporary double bonus.

For example, Beleth's (from our previous example) double bonus would be
"PRE++++++" or +6 to Presence.

If a deity grants bonuses to two abilities, like PRE++ STR+, the double bonus
is always +3 to both abilities, "PRE+++ STR+++".

Please not that deities don't want their follower to make offerings to their
enemies! Making offerings to friendly goddesses is good practise.



Here's a pentagon of the deities. Each goddess has two friends next to her, and
two enemies on the opposite side.

*------------------------------------------------------------------* 
|                                                                  |
|                 Beleth, the Queen of Hell (obsession)            |
|                                                                  |
|  Laverna, the Mistress                  Discordia, the Warrior   |
|  of the Underworld                      (conflict)               |
|  (secrets)                                                       |
|                                                                  |
|            Cyrridven, the Crone    Eostre, the Maiden of Spring  |
|            (transformation)          (purity)                    |
|                                                                  |
*------------------------------------------------------------------*


=== Good religious practices ===

In the beginning of the game you have no knowledge of the abilities each deity
boosts. It's a good idea to sacrifice ego items to find gain knowledge about at
least a couple of deities before you commit to a goddess permanently.

Even if you are a follower, It is possible to change your deity by offering an
artifact to another goddess. Be aware, though, that both goddesses will hate
you for some time if you switch to an enemy goddess!

If a goddess gets angry at you, her bonuses turn into penalties.

Unfortunately at the moment the game doesn't keep the information you know
about the goddesses for you. You may want to write a note about the goddesses'
bonuses for yourself.


=== The design thinking behind the deity system ===

I got the inspiration for the deity system from an ancient Angband variant
Kamband. I think you can still find lots of similarities, especially in the
flavour. Kamband has a mysterious flavour all its own, and I want to instill
a similar feeling of mystery in my own variant.

The deity system tries to accomplish several things.

First of all, this is how I think religion would work in a polytheistic world.
I dislike how in most roguelikes you need to pick a god early and then stick
with him.

The flavour is that the player meets these new goddesses for the first time.
His old gods don't have power here in the Halls of Mist.

The goddesses are a bit alien for a purpose. It's a pantheon with goddesses for
obsession, conflict, purity, transformation and secrets. It's a bit different
from your typical fantasy pantheon.

Like any good polytheist, even a Priest or a Templar has an open mind when he
meets new deities. How powerful is this deity? Let's check it out by giving her
a gift...

For the first part of the game, the player is supposed to find out lots of
information about the goddesses. Later, when he finally finds an artifact he is
ready to part with, he knows how powerful most of the deities are from his
point of view. (A warrior would want different kinds of blessings than a mage.)
If you want to insert some roleplaying into the decision, you may also think
how compatible your character's ethics is with the deities'. This would
definitely be a part of the choosing process. After all, you are about to
become a follower of this goddess for the rest of your life.

Oh, and the allies and enemies of each deity may affect your decision too!
After you have become a follower of a goddess, it's usually (but not always)
wise to only offer sacrifices to her friends. You are not choosing a single
goddess, you are choosing a trinity.

Unlike most characters, priests and templars complete their testing and
choosing process in the early stages of the game.
