Meditations and Revelations
Amvirak Twin-Souls, born as Amvirak Doleres, spent much of his life as an outspoken critic of all things divine, and frequently went to extreme lengths in his crusade to enforce his views upon the devout. Lord of a minor province in northern Taldor and an accomplished wizard, Amvirak would seek out clerics, monks, oracles, and other devout or outspoken worshipers. He imprisoned those he could capture in cells below his manor and subjected them to a series of grisly secular inquisitions wherein the faithful were submitted to grim tortures, taunts that their deity had forsaken them, and claims that their faith was worthless. Those who eventually renounced their religion Amvirak released, but those who persevered he kept imprisoned in his dungeons for years, or even decades.
Late in his life, though, the cruel Lord Amvirak experienced a powerful spiritual awakening when one of his prisoners, a priest of Sarenrae, managed what the others had not. He turned Amvirak's arguments back against him, forgave him, and redeemed him. The nature of what this nameless priest said to Amvirak is unknown—but the effects were swift. Amvirak released his prisoners and sold everything he owned, splitting the proceeds of the sale among his surviving victims. He then accompanied the priest of Sarenrae back to Qadira, where he spent the rest of his days in seclusion in a remote monastery. He took the name “Twin-Souls” at this time, claiming that his old, tainted soul had been stripped from him and a fresh new one had been granted in its place.
Amvirak lived the rest of his days in that monastery, where he worked off the spiritual debt he'd incurred in his persecution of the divine. He penned many lengthy works about his experiences, and while the earlier ones wallowed in self-pity and remorse, Amvirak's observations on faith grew more astute as his own devotion grew. He never accepted Sarenrae as his patron deity (although he certainly admired her), instead spending his time seeking a way to help others learn that faith was not a crutch or a f law but a great source of strength worthy of pursuing. His f inal treatise was the lengthy tome for which he is most well-known: Meditations and Revelations.
The pages of this tome outline Amvirak's spiritual awakening, but not a trace of his earlier self-pity and shame is apparent in the text. He records nine revelations that he received from the divine, as well as a number of essays on meditation techniques and the power and importance of prayer and worship. The book is not specif ic to any one god, and while the religions of many different deities f ind it to be useful, it is generally considered secondary reading material. Those that value it most generally do so for its meditative techniques, rather than its philosophy.
FAITH TRAITS
Meditations and Revelations enjoys widespread distribution, though not necessarily popularity, in the Inner Sea, Vudra, Tian Xia, and beyond. The methods and techniques detailed within are highly subjective, and two different readers can easily come away with two entirely distinct but equally effective interpretation. In certain regions where the book has gained traction among the faithful, their careful study and exegesis of the book's contents have resulted in the development of unique traits that can guide one's mind. A character need not hail from any one of these source regions to select one of the following faith traits, but should have an opportunity in her background to have studied the wisdom of Meditations and Revelations, either directly or through the guidance of a learned mentor.
Jalmeray
The meditative techniques described in the book are particularly valued by the monasteries on the isle of Jalmeray, and many of the isle's devout have incorporated these techniques into their training. While many of these techniques were f irst developed ages ago in the distant land of Vudra, they are not constrained to Jalmeray, and the methods are spreading quickly throughout the Inner Sea region, particularly through the nearby lands of Qadira, Osirion, and Katapesh.
Heedful Readiness (Faith): Your years of meditation and mindfulness allow you to act correctly on a moment's notice. Once per day, you can add your Wisdom modif ier to an initiative check.
Kyonin
Many elves appreciate the meditative techniques found in Meditations and Revelations, though those who pursue them generally do so less for self-improvement and more to f ind peace, tranquility, and mindfulness. A handful of very devoted readers from Kyonin have even discovered a way to augment sleep with meditation so as to make the daily ritual of spell preparation f low even more smoothly.
Meditative Rest (Faith): When you rest, you ignore the f irst time you are interrupted during that rest for the purposes of determining how long you need to rest in full to regain the capacity to regain spells, provided the interruption lasts no more than 15 minutes. If you cast spells during this interruption, you don't count these against your daily limit of spells when you wake and prepare spells.
Nidal
The Umbral Court takes a dim view of Meditations and Revelations, whose hopeful message and spiritual aff irmations lend strength and comfort to the Desnans who defy the government's oppressive regime. Ownership of the book has been outlawed, with the penalties for being caught with a copy ranging from torture to death, yet those who would f ight against the Umbral Court f ind much within the pages to bolster their cause.
Darkest Before Dawn (Faith): Your devotion sustains you when others would fall to despair. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against spells with the emotionUM, fear, or painUM descriptor. Once per day, you can increase this bonus to +4 for a single save, but you must make this decision before you attempt the saving throw.
Razmiran
Unsurprisingly, the priests of Razmir have little love for Meditations and Revelations, as its message lies in the power of faith itself (and otherwise blends poorly with their doctrines). The church of Razmir distributes a heavily edited and altered version of the book that lacks most of the meditative techniques. What remains has been reworked to focus on Razmir as the only god worthy of worship, but these new techniques have inspired a certain strength in the faithful of Razmir who take the revised book to heart.
Strength of Submission (Faith): Your faith in the church of Razmir and willingness to surrender yourself to him lend you strength and clarity. Whenever you are under the effects of a compulsion effect, you gain a +1 trait bonus on attack and damage rolls.
FEATS
Meditations and Revelations contains extensive instruction on the importance of opening the mind and soul to one's deity, and in so doing achieving spiritual communion and harmony. The following feats are commonly taken by those who follow the book's teachings.
DIVERSE OBEDIENCE
Your intense faith in your deity allows you to gain boons not granted to most followers.
Prerequisites: Deif ic ObedienceISG, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, alignment must match that of your worshiped deity.
Benefit: You are treated as though you had 2 more Hit Dice than you actually do for the purposes of determining what divine boons you gain as a result of performing your deity's obedience. Diverse Obedience doesn't allow access to divine boons granted through prestige classes early, as those boons are tied to prestige class levels gained, not overall Hit Dice. If you take levels in a prestige class or archetype that offers accelerated access to a boon, this benef it may be superf luous.
Additionally, whenever you would gain a boon as a result of your Deific Obedience feat (and not through a prestige class), you can choose among the options available for evangelist, exalted, or sentinel boons. Once you make the selection, it is permanent, but you can choose from a different category each time you gain a new boon as you increase your Hit Dice.
DIVEINE COMMUNION
Your close, personal connection with your deity grants you insight into his or her wishes.
Prerequisites: Wisdom 13, alignment must match that of your worshiped deity.
Benefit: Once per day as a swift action, you can ponder whether or not your deity would approve or disapprove of a particular course of action, and whether that action would impact your alignment. The GM decides if the action is one your deity would approve of, and if it is, you gain an insight bonus equal to your Wisdom modif ier (minimum of +1) on any d20 roll made in association with that action during this round. For every 3 ranks you have in Knowledge (religion), you can use this ability an additional time per day, to a maximum of 6 times a day.
MINOR MIRACLE
You can call upon your deity for a minor miracle.
Prerequisites: Wis 12, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, alignment must match that of your worshiped deity.
Benefit: Choose two domains associated with your deity (if you have access to one or more domains already, the chosen domains can be the same ones you already have access to, or different ones). Once per day, by presenting a holy symbol of your deity and calling out in supplication, you can cast the 1st-level spell associated with either of the two chosen domains as a spell-like ability. You choose which domain's spell you cast at the time you use the ability. Your caster level for this effect is equal to your total Hit Dice, and the saving throw DC, if any, is Charisma-based.
REWARD OF THE FAITHFUL
Your intense belief in your deity allows you to benef it more from divine magic he or she provides.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (religion) 1 rank, alignment must match that of your worshiped deity.
Benefit: Whenever you are the only target of a divine spell cast by a follower of your chosen deity other than you, the spell's caster level is treated as though it were 2 higher than it actually is. Additionally, whenever you regain hit points as a result of a worshiper of your deity other than you channeling energy or casting a cure spell, you regain 1 additional hit point per die rolled for the healing gained.
