This week we’re covering two of the gods of Amrynth, their portfolios, combined church, and followers. As a bonus treat, we’re also going to throw in a few shadow-themed spells at the end!
Church of Two Brothers:
A fairly large and widespread church on Amrynth, the Church of Two Brothers owes its success in part to its unique nature. Rather than serving as the church of a single god, the Church of Two Brothers functions as a single organization that plays host to the followers of two separate gods, Chalcanth and Ghomrauth. The followers are united by these gods’ claim that they are in some way brothers, two beings formed from the same divine cloth. Within the church there are still two main divisions, Those that follow and champion Chalcanth, and those exclusively faithful to Ghomrauth. All priests, clerics, monks, etc. follow one of these gods specifically, but they all see one-another as brethren, and almost unilaterally present a unified front. Both sides of the church see followers of Orcus as one of the greatest evils that they could face. Many of those that simply come to worship at a church or temple of the Church of Two Brothers however likely pray to either or both depending on their needs at the time or personal preferences. Additionally, neither god makes use of angels or celestials amongst their divine host, preferring instead to employ a variety of spirits, shades, and specters. Both of these gods have strong ties to the Shadowfell, and they will each be individually described as follows:
Ghomrauth:
Ghomrauth is the Neutral Good god of the honored dead, trial and tribulation, defending those that cannot defend themselves, war against fiends, and rebirth through overcoming impossible challenges. His domains are War, Forge, Protection, Tempest, and Death. He believes that the greatest threat to the plane are Fiends of all kinds, particularly demons, and instructs his followers to train relentlessly at fighting them. He allows, and even encourages, the souls of his fallen followers to be summoned back to the world of the living as Ancestor Wraiths to continue their crusades and grow stronger. His most devoted followers are promised to continue their training in the afterlife, as Ghomrauth believes that one day the Abyss and other lower planes will spill over into the Material Plane, and then that he and all of the souls of his followers will appear to make one final stand against the tides of Fiends. To become a priest for Ghomrauth one must slay a Fiend, and to advance within the priesthood one must slay more and increasingly dangerous Fiends. Ghomrauth’s followers see every fight as an opportunity to test their strengths and better themselves, and friendly competition is not uncommon among even his priesthood, ranging from sparring matches to competitions over who can hunt larger or more dangerous Fiends within a set amount of time. Those that martyr themselves in battle are often memorialized in some way by their home church, with some of their bones being added to the local church reliquary. The most common classes among the followers of Ghomrauth are Fighters, Clerics, Paladins, and Monks. The followers of Ghomrauth tend to serve as the public-facing side of the two-brothers church, keeping their own divine armories in the back of every church and designing the pews and rooms of the churches to serve as cover, fortifications, and choke points for any potential invaders.
Chalcanth:
Chalcanth is the Neutral Good god of honored spirits, inscrutability, moving on after death, returning from death, uncovering the past, and the exchange of secrets and knowledge. his domains are Knowledge, Arcana, Twilight, Grave, and Death. Amongst the clergy of the Church of Two Brothers, there is roughly one Chalcanth member for every eleven Ghomrauth members. One of the fundamental tenets amongst his followers is that, while Chalcanth encourages learning of necromancy and is not fundamentally opposed to undeath, he loathes the irresponsible creation of undead driven to destroy life, such as zombies. Additionally he is personally strongly opposed to the creation of any undead by followers of Orcus, or any other evil-aligned entities. It is also considered a sin amongst his followers to resurrect or bind the soul of an individual against their will. Additionally it is strongly believed that secrets and knowledge must either be earned or traded for knowledge of equal value. However, aside from this he has very few restrictions on his followers and their actions, and at times is even very lax with his clerics, allowing both Grave and Death domain clerics to serve under him, and take what actions they will as long as they follow his tenets. That said, all of his Clerics follow an inflexible command: that they always keep their word (however, loopholes may be exploited). Almost all devout followers of Chalcanth are driven by an overpowering need to discover new things, or uncover long-lost knowledge. The most common classes amongst the devoted of Chalcanth are Clerics, Wizards, Warlocks, and Rogues. The followers of Chalcanth tend to make up the more secretive parts of the church, with their members being in charge of reliquaries, catacombs, and secret libraries tucked away in the architecture of a church or temple, carefully curating a vast collection of knowledge and secrets.
Shadow Spells:
Dread Splinter:
2nd-level Evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a small pouch of powdered obsidian)
Duration: Instantaneous
A spear of crystalline shadow forms in your hand and then shrieks towards your foes. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 2d10 cold damage and is slowed. On a miss, you regain the spell slot that you expended to cast this spell.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the cold damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 2nd.
Spell Lists: Warlock, Sorcerer.
Umbral Darts:
3rd-level Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, M (a jar of black oobleck)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You summon four wisp-like orbs of necrotic energy that jitter and trail around you for the spell’s duration. As a bonus action on your turn, you can fire an orb at a creature within 60 feet of you. When you do so, make a ranged spell attack. On a hit, the target takes 2d8 necrotic damage. A creature targeted by an orb does not gain the benefits of cover. Additionally, when you are hit with an effect that would deal fire or radiant damage, you can use your reaction to expend an orb, reducing the damage dealt to you by up to 12.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you summon an additional orb for each slot level above 3rd.
Spell Lists: Warlock, Wizard.
Gloom Razor:
4th-level Evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a jagged shard of a cast iron pot)
Duration: Instantaneous
You pull forth an immaterial razor full of volatile necrotic energy before sending it whistling towards an enemy. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 4d10 slashing damage, and at the end of its next turn both the target and any creatures within 5 feet of the target must make a Constitution saving throw or take an additional 3d8 necrotic damage, or half as much on a successful save.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the slashing damage increases by 1d10 and the necrotic damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th.
Spell Lists: Warlock, Sorcerer.
Seize Shadow:
5th-level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You target one creature that you can see within range, co-opting their shadow to serve your purposes. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 2d8 psychic damage at the start of each of its turns as it is attacked by its own shadow. If you choose to end concentration early, or fail a check to maintain concentration, the shadow detonates. If this happens, the target and any creatures within 15 feet of it must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d12 cold damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful save. This effect does not occur if the spell’s duration ends naturally, or the target dies.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the psychic damage increases by 1d8 and the cold damage increases by 1d12 for each slot level above 5th.
Spell Lists: Warlock.
And that about does it for the shadow-themed spells for this week. Some readers may notice this on their own, but Dread Splinter was my own attempt at remaking my beloved Shard of Darkness spell from fourth edition. And all four of these spells were designed to encourage positioning, planning, and tactics in their use. If you have any feedback regarding these spells I welcome it in the comments below! Additionally, if you’d like to see me do more spells like this, feel free to express this sentiment in the comments as well! If this gets enough support I may try my hand at making more spells.
End Note:
That about wraps it up for this week! I’m going to be dropping another subclass on Thursday, and then things should kind of calm down for a bit. Also! I’ve mentioned it before but my friend Quiver, who is a long time player of mine and has helped me go over most of these posts, has his own YouTube channel where he posts videos on the process of designing his own TTRPG system! Go give it a look! the first video is live already: https://tinyurl.com/QuiverProto
The Wyrm Scribe 