Find Sacred Place (sage ability)
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Seek Shrines is an amateur-status ability allowing the character to locate sacred places in the wild. These are places that have been consecrated by religious entities, including shrines, glades, crypts, sanctuaries and other hallowed places, depending on the part of the world where they're found. Only shrines of the character's religion may be found.
The ability will also reveal the absence of a sacred place within a 6-mile hex after a day's search. This is understood through hard to read markings that would be found upon trees and stones, as well as vegetation patterns and the lay of the land. If there is a shrine to be found, the character will know it by the end of the day; but it will take a total of 5-20 hours (including time spent on the first day) to actually find it. No roll is made. It is not known to the player how many such places exist, but where the religion is commonest, it's estimated that 1 in 20 six-mile hexes will contain a sacred place.
Nature & Location
The exact nature of the sacred place will vary; shrines are by far the most common, thus the name of the sage ability. Roll a d20 to learn which place is found: shrine (1-15), glade (16-17), sanctuary (18-19), holy crypt (20). The benefit of each is as follows:
- Shrines that are located in natural surroundings enable a cleric to cast spells at +2 experience levels, so that a 7th level would cast as a 9th level, when standing within 60 ft. of the shrine.
- Glades are places of great beauty and peace; those of the cleric's religion who rest in a glade will heal more quickly, their rest aided by a higher power. Glades are typically an acre in area, with a supply of fresh water and a natural fruit patch.
- Sanctuaries are secure, naturally fortified places, including a naturally growing area that conforms to arboriculture, providing food. Threatening animals or beasts will not enter a sanctuary.
- Holy crypts are the resting places of divinely inspired, pious believers, containing their remains, relics and often inscriptions. Discovering a holy crypt and entering therein for the first time will increase a believing cleric's experience points by 2%. For example, a cleric with 2000 x.p. before entering the crypt would receive 40 x.p. from the experience. This reflects the wisdom and insight gained from gazing upon the scene. If the cleric prays on the site for 3 hours, then for the next three days, the cleric will add an addition 2% to any experience gained in that time. The cleric may gain this advantage from a crypt one time per month.
The benefits of these sacred places may be advantaged perpetually, so long as they are respected and carefully preserved.
