Ethoist Class

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Ethosists are moderate imams, those who demand obedience to the Law and the ethics therein, but can be flexible and adjust to the requirements of the situation. Unlike pragmatists, who let the world take precedence over the teachings of the faith, ethoists try to reconciliate religion and mundane life into a whole, preserving the spirit and core beliefs of the faith unsullied through the changing times.

Most Imams of the Faith Ethical disapprove of those who worship sects which they do not - even if the "misguided" happen to be ethoists, too. The ethoist world view can be summed up as follows: "Other faiths are all very nice, but they are quite wrong, you know. Only our faith is the one true way. Not that we're pushing, mind you."

Equipment: In Zakhara, Imams of the Faith Ethical are more easily identified than their pragmatic brethren. All ethoists wear a turban adorned with the holy symbol of their particular sect, rendered in a precious metal. In addition, they always have shoulder vestments, also marked with the symbol of their particular faith. Beyond these requirements, ethoists dress as they see fit. Most wear black robes while in the city, however, and loose tan or white robes while in the wilderness.

Ethoists are allowed to wear any type of armor. However, if they choose to don heavy armor in the shimmering heat of Zakhara, they suffer just like anyone else.

Special Benefits: Ethoists tend to receive greater assistance from their temples than pragmatists. Assuming a local temple of the appropriate faith is available, an ethical priest can request and expect the following aid (and perhaps more):

• Safe haven, food, and board within the temple (or mosque or monastery). In exchange, the ethical priest is expected to help the other clergy present. This hospitality is automatically extended to as many companions as the priest has levels. (A generous and gracious temple may extend it to anyone.)
• A loan. Moneys borrowed may equal up to twice the ethoist's level times a hundred (in gold). The loan must be repaid within 30 days.
• Muscle. An ethoist may request the services of number of 1:st-level fighters (either askars or farisan) equalling twice the priest's level. All fighters will be equipped with chain mail and scimitars. The time of service cannot exceed the ethoist's level in days, and the purpose of the mission should somehow advance the cause of the priest's faith.
• An ethoist assistant of the same faith. The helper's experience level equals half that of the priest served, rounded down, up to a maximum of 4:th level. The assistant may be kept for up to one week per level of the priest before having the option to leave. First and second level Ethoists cannot request an assistant.

Special Hindrances: Compared to pragmatists, ethoists are more tightly tied to their church organizations Whether they're PCs or NPCs, Imams the Faith Ethical are expected to follow the direction of higher-level ethoist priests within their personal faiths. Of course, some ethoists may choose not to follow such orders, but they'll be held accountable for their actions by the church.

Ethical priests who fail to follow the directives of their faith lose the special benefits outlined above and are "demoted" to pragmatist status.

Restrictions: Members of any non-genie race may be Imams of the Faith Ethical. Under the tenets of the path Ethical, each deity has a manifestation that is pleasing to its worshipers. This manifestation is a physical being. Most worshipers believe that god's true appearance is that of their own race; another's perception of God is an altered manifestation, which the God creates purely to aid their comprehension of his or her greatness. Ethoists take a strong ethical stance, and must be of good alignment, though they can be lawful, neutral or chaotic good as they prefer.

Rules: Ethoists function exactly as clerics. See PH, p 30. Like all Zakharan priests, ethoists select one domain based on the deity they worship, and one domain for the type of creed they represent. As ethoists, this is the Good domain.