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RELIGION IN NORRATH

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Some of the gods of Norrath returned with the launch of the "Echoes of Faydwer" expansion. It is now possible for a character to become a follower of a specific god, gaining favor through quests and tithes which can then be used to purchase blessings and miracles.

** HOW TO BECOME A FOLLOWER **

Should you choose to worship a god, you can show your devotion by performing quests in his (or her) name. Speak with the Deity Historian, Philospher Rhimes, on the docks in the Butcherblock Mountains for directions to the various prophets. The prophet of your chosen god will then guide you through a series of progressive quests designed to test your devotion. 

** THE BENEFITS OF FOLLOWING A GOD **
 
When you pick a deity and complete the first of the progressive quests that prove your devotion, you will receive an altar you can place in your home. Praying at your altar gives you the option to receive a blessing (typically a short duration buff) or a miracle (typically either an instant effect or a very short duration buff). As you quest with the prophets you will gain access to more blessings and miracles, as well as gain favor (similar to faction, and included on your faction list), which is spent to purchase the blessings and miracles. You can also tithe items at your altar to gain favor with your god. Completing the final progressive devotion quest rewards you with a cloak specific to your deity. (The five quests for each deity are roughly level 25, 35, 55, 65 and 70, respectively.) Completion of the third deity quest also rewards you with a spell to summon a pet which provides you with stat bonuses.

** ALTARS **

Each god has it own altar. Altars can be obtained through quests, purchased from NPC vendors, or created by PC carpenters. You can have up to five altars in your home (you cannot have altars to both good- and evil-aligned gods in your home), but you can only pray and tithe using the altar of your current deity. Better quality altars reduce the cost of blessings and miracles. 

Each deity offers a total of five blessings and five miracles. Each quest completed for a given deity will unlock one of each. Any blessings and miracles you've unlocked can be purchased so long as you worship the deity in question. However, blessings and miracles can only be used twice each; after the second use, a blessing or miracle is removed from your knowledge book, and has to be purchased again.

   First Quested Altar -- blessing and miracle cost: 100%
   NPC-Sold Altar -- blessing and miracle cost: 94%
   Common Crafted Altar -- blessing and miracle cost: 88%
   Second Quested Altar -- blessing and miracle cost: 82%
   Rare Crafted Altar -- blessing and miracle cost: 76% 

Note that the rare crafted altars are no-trade items. Unless you're a carpenter yourself, the only way to obtain one is to have a carpenter make it for you using the new (GU29) secure commission system.

** THE AVATARS OF THE GODS **
 
Each of the gods has an avatar (a level 75x4 contested raid mob) that will descend to Norrath if enough favor has been collected by his or her worshippers. The avatar will remain in Norrath for 3-5 days or until he (or she) is killed. Only one god's avatar can exist in Norrath at a time. If the avatar represents your god, you can approach him (or her) to receive a small, long-duration buff. 

Avatars are not aggressive, even to followers of opposing deities.

Avatars can be killed by raid groups, but should probably not be attacked on their first day in Norrath. Avatars are at their strongest early in their stay, and get weaker as their time in Norrath continues. 

If you attack your chosen god's avatar as part of a raid group, you will be briefly stunned and will lose all blessings and miracles currently active on your person. If you kill your god's avatar, you will lose 5000 faction points with your deity and will receive divine censure, which remains on your character for 24 hours game time. During divine censure, you cannot pledge devotion to a new deity, cannot sacrifice items to your original deity, cannot do deity-related quests, and cannot buy or use miracles or blessings. 

