The Cult Of Polaris

I.Mythos and History

Polaris is Dayzatar's son, born of his courage and duty. He was given duties to perform shortly before he dissappeared. These duties are known as Pole Star's Doctrine, and are mainly unknown to any except the god himself.
When the World Pillar exploded Polaris built Pole Star, a wall named after himself, to guard from the chaos outside, and guarded it from the hideousness that tried to escape through from the Void beyond. When people came to look at that hole, he would only allow those strong enough to bear the pain of knowledge, and later appointed them as Star Captains when more holes appeared. He sent his own sons, the Star Captains, the aid the innocent people of the world against all Others whilst Yelm was dead. They were easily reached by the correct sacrifices and would appear in bolts of fire and magic. Polaris was made the temporary leader during those hard times, before Ourania came and he gave his alliegance to her. But he always retained his command of the Firmament. Polaris himself fought against the evil Tyram who invaded the Sky, and lost his enchanted spear, Kelofolin the Shining Point, when it was dissolved by the Sky Gorp. He also lost against Lorian the Titan, who washed his army back, and Polaris with it. Lorian later redirected a river to run it's course across the sky.
One of his noted children was Lightfore, who created the first planet, and forged a path others could follow to lay forth their own planets. His wife is the goddess of Dance, who taught him the value of agility, dexterity and planning.
In the Time of Vanyoramet even Pole Star was obscured by the Black Sky. When Yelm summoned all the gods of the Cosmos, Polaris answered and fell off the edge of the world. He supported his Emperor's decision without question. He then went forth and was the first to break the darkness of Kazkurtum. He took the Post Throne when Arraz abdicated, and the world revolved around him once again.
Polaris' cult enemies are Darkness deities and chaos gods, notably Tyram and Zorak Zoran. His cult had faded somwhat since Time began, especially with the Lunar intrusion upon Dara Happa, but his Rune Lords still head armies in lands that worship the Sun Gods.
Upon death his followers are burnt on the highest hill in the region, to join Polaris in his home in the sky, fighting against chaos for eternity. Very honoured priests are destroyed in a barrage of holy sunspears, destroying all traces of their bodies.
His Runes are Sky and Mastery, with minor associations to Truth.

II. Cult Ecology

Polaris is worshipped as a combined god of dance and war, whose choreographed battle plans are renowned throughout the land, and whose weapon dances are one of the most beautiful sights upon Glorantha. His position is mainly to advise Yelmic armies on battle plans. All worshippers are officers in the army.
Holy Days are hled on Fireday of Truthweek, with a High Holy Day in Fire Season.

III. The Cult In The World

Polaris is a small, but notable, cult. He is found mainly in the mainstream armies of Yelm and Yelmalio. He is worshipped in certain parts of the Lunar Empire, Sun County, and the Eastern world. Temples to Polaris usually only ever reach minor size, though larger temples exist in both Chi Ting and Sha Ming in Kralorela, and temples exist in Vormain. Temples communicate with hawk messengers.
Shrines teach Captain Souls.

IV. Initiate

All those who wish to try to join the cult of Polaris must first be an officer in the army, and have held that rank without blemish for at least two years. An initiate must be recommended to the Heaven Lord, either by a fellow worshipper or a Yelm Imperator/LightServant. No other requirements are needed.
The worshipper retains their ranks, and therefore already devote time to Polaris by working for the army. They must devote 10% of their income to the cult and sacrifice 1 POW. They gain access to one-use Divine Magic and Divine Intervention.

Spirit Magic: Bladesharp, Demoralize(2), Detect Enemy, Disrupt, Endurance, Fireblade(4), Heal, Ignite, Light, Lightwall(4), Mobility, Protection, Repair, Strength, Vigour.

V. Heaven Lords (Rune Lords)

A canidate for Heaven Lord-shp must already be in full control of a battalion of men. They must have 90% in the following skills; Battle, Scan, Orate, Weapon Attack, Weapon Parry and pass a Test of Holiness. They both have a chance to gain an allied spirit (which is normally bound into a piece of weaponary or armour, and is sometimes bound into a hawk) and access to 1d10 Divine Intervention. A Heaven Lord is also a priest, and therefore gains re-usuable Divine Magic. They are expected to have 30% dance, but this is not a cult requirement. The Heaven Lord is normally gifted with a suit of enchanted armour and an enchanted weapon, made either of iron or gold.
A Heaven Lord is expected to take the head of all armies, and are respnsible for the design of battle plans. They also commonly advise the ruler of the country the army works for about war plans, and delarations of war. It is common for a Heaven Lord to bless a particular declaration of war, especially against Darkness and chaos. It is considered dishonourable for a Polaris Heaven Lord to become a mercenary, unlike the Yelmalio cult.

Common Divine Magic: All.
Special Divine Magic: Bless Worshippers, Captain Souls, Enchant Gold, Enchant Iron, Face Chaos, Precision Battle Skill, Shield, Truespear.

VI. Special Polaris Rune Spells

Captain Souls
See ToTRM #14 p.47.

VII. Sub-cults

Spirit of Reprisal
Those who go against this god are attacked by the spirit of one of the Star Captains, this particular one is called Galiath, and materailizes as a glowing figure shrouded in spiritual mist. It has INT 16 POW 19; it bypasses all magical protection, and every blow it inflicts in spirit combat causes 1d3 MP's and 1d6 hit points. It remains for a number of rounds proportional to the traitorous action, from one for a minor infraction to ten for full blown treachery.

VIII. Associated Cults

Goddess of Dance
Polaris' wife grants, to any cult member, a free 100 hours a year training in dance to whomever desires it.

Ourania
The Queen of Heaven takes her seat next to Polaris, King of the Firmament. She grants her spell, Sky Cage, to High Priests of Polaris.

Phalanxes
All gods of the Lunarian Phalanxes are originally fallen Star Captains. They give Morale.

Telask
In Vormain the Great Temple to Seven Fires has a shrine to Telask which grants Reflection to worshippers. In Vormain he is known as Admiral Deva

Yelm
Heaven Lords are granted Sunspear by the Emperor.

IX. Notes

Polaris Weapon Dance
The Polaris Weapon Dance is a ritual wherein a Heaven Lord and his accompanying initiates do a complicated dance, involving very real and very sharp weaponary. The weapons are swung, twisted and thrown in a deadly, but extradonarily beautiful pattern.
Learning the weapon dance requires forty hours of training, and the person must possess a Dance skill of at least 40%. It is used on holy days, and can be split into three distinctive parts. First is his marriage and courtship of his wife, a slow and often suggestive (for Dara Happans that is) dance. Second, comes his responsibility of taking control of the Pole Star. This involves the initiates taking the position of the chaos that invaded the sky. The last is the return to Yelm and Polaris return to the sky.
Those involved in the ritual each make a roll, if everyone suceeds then each member of the ritual gains a special ability. At any point in the next season (before the next dance) they may receive an automatic Heal spell with pointage equal to the number of participants. If someone fails, this does not occur. If someone fumbles then the dangerous nature of the ritual is reflected, the person who fumbles immediatley makes an attack roll, and applies the result to a random part of their body. If they fail their attack roll, or fumble, then they immediatley hit another participant of the ritual. Those who critical sometimes receive visions.