Lucinda's Wards

[AeonBlues]

Can clerics of Luciinda be titled to being in a ward at character creation, or must this be a CDQ?

// *bonks head* There's just not enough low and mid level clerics around.  These people need some healing dude.

AeonBlues

[Pibemanden]

Clerics start in the wards as initiates and moves up to potentiates and would probably be Strandbound when they are sent IG. Only exception is the trickery "ward" the guardians where you have to take a cdq to join up and use yor powers.
Edit now that I have time to write more: You should notice that the wards are linked to the domains so any cleric would be member of two wards. starting as strandbound in both and moving on from there in either of the wards.
Promotions are given either on the day of the rites of affirmation or handed out by high ranking clergy directly, this mostly goes for the smaller ranks since in the end you have to prove yourself worthy for the ranks and the higher ones aren't easy to attain without lots of work and skill in the chosen ward.

[AeonBlues]

Thanks for the input.  You helped clarify the rankings at character generation.

The Lucinda church is umm, complex.  The handbook pg. 284 reads, "Four Wards exist for the Clergy to gain title in, most choosing to specialize  in one, some rare individuals selecting two..."

There sure is a lot of ranks though.  I am guessing that a CDQ is needed for each rank advancement.  Starting at Strandbound makes a lot of sense.  So CDQs for Threadbound, Strandborn, Threadborn, Dawnwoven,  and then a WLDQ for Nightwoven.    Though Dawnwoven reaks of being an NPC, as they are basicly academic professors.  But I'm not going to wory about that.  I can't imagine subjecting the staff to more CDQs then say Threadborn.

AeonBlues

[Acacea]

There is no hard CDQ requirement for most of the ranks, as with good ingame roleplay and development thread one can attempt to illustrate in the Lucinda forum why a character should be noticed and moving up. Dawnwoven would require at least one, I imagine- it's the first level where one is endorsed to teach (at home or abroad), whereas levels below clerics teach but don't really have official backing. Nightwoven would be an epic, yeah.

I know it looks like a lot of 'ranks' (too many), but the majority of clerics only really even look at the first half. The Inner Mysteries are not even aspired to by many - the well known gossip of the Fallan Gis at Vairvand is only around Strandborn, I think. The top half of the ranks (it feels really lame to call them 'ranks' as that gives an inaccurate impression about what they are, but I'm not sure what else to call them) are not so much about power level as understanding and ability to peek behind the veil that is much of Lucinda's teachings. Many never aspire higher than mastery of what is in front of it, content with their surface knowledge and the passing on to others what they know.

As a note, I think the handbook section quoted is referring to that it is very rare to gain any sort of mastery in more than one ward. Most clerics will simply introduce themselves by what they have achieved in their primary ward, because the second is not much delved in. The exception is the Guardians who would only give their secondary one, as their primary one is not public information for most.

Edit- regarding it being complex, yeah, but to be fair, Aragen is the god of knowledge and enlightenment; Lucinda is the goddess of magic. One of the first things anyone anywhere understands about magic is that things are not always what they appear, and that in many ways should go for her clergy as well... maybe it does

[AeonBlues]

So ranks is more like belts in martial arts?

[Pibemanden]

Well the wards themselves state clearly that they are more about actually understanding the weave than about being powerfull. Storold was already quite capable when he joined the protectors but yet he knew little of the weave itself so he didn't get a higher rank compared to the protectors he was together with.
I don't know much about martial arts really, but if you want to compare it to that I would say: You might be really really strong when you start practicing martial arts but yet that doesn't mean you are more skilled than the people who has practiced the arts longer than you.

There is no hard CDQ requirement for most of the ranks, as with good ingame roleplay and development thread one can attempt to illustrate in the Lucinda forum why a character should be noticed and moving up. Dawnwoven would require at least one, I imagine- it's the first level where one is endorsed to teach (at home or abroad), whereas levels below clerics teach but don't really have official backing. Nightwoven would be an epic, yeah.

I just think that I should comment on this part too. This is how the ranks are intended to work, yet this is a new system so it isn't really happening like that right now. The current ranks and standing are almost still the same, except a few who got cdqs/ecdqs/wldqs after they were set up, where the highest ranking PC clergy is grandfathered in from before the system came into effect so they are the only ones about the Strandbound rank save the exception. However I hope that we will have the system working as intended soon and that you will be able to gain some of the ranks via RP and development and then take the major steps with cdqs/wldqs.