Playing an Jergalite - Need some help!
-
Hello there fellas! :)
I'm playing an Jergalite cleric, but i need some advices here. Am i supposed to keep records of those who die ? and then what?
How i should play this char?
If poor english shows up please feel free to correct me! My english sucks.
Thank you.
-
That's a job for NPCs!
From my interpretation, Jergalites are just a very, very systematic nihilist cult. They know the world is going to end and they want to make sure they don't miss anyone. This could mean anything from undead hunters - set on making sure those who die, stay dead - to something more sinister - like scheming to spread a disease, spread crime, anarchy and leave identifying the bodies until after you're sure you've got as many as you can.
-
My last PC was a Jergalite so lets get started with a little History.
Jergal once was Lord of the Dead before Stepping off his Throne. He now works to Aid Kelemvor while Kelemvor holds the Portfolio. Like Kelemvor he believes all should be buried and what not.
The real large difference is Kelemvor hates all undead. Jergal hates undead to a point. He hates people trying to extend their life through it but he does agree some undead has a purpose. Jergalite Churches usually use minor Undead (Zombies, Skeletons, etc) to perform menial labor (Fight, Mine, chop wood, etc)
Almost all followers of Jergal double as Doomscribes. They categorize deaths and record them in this format: Who Died/How they died/ When they Died/ and where the hell are they going (Faithless go to Wall, Tymorans go to Tymora, Banites go to Baneshold, Etc). Their Prayer time is Dusk and they are constantly at work. Even when not seeming to be at work, they are.
The only Rituals they are required to perform is the Night of Another Year ritual. (Can read this on the Deity list on the Website)
The best way for Jergalites to travel and still work is to take along a "Tome of Death." This is where they do their Doomscribing. Most the time a Church Jergalite has the name and info of the fallen. A travelling Jergalite doesn't have that pleasure and must hunt down information on his own.
Here is the really confusing part for some people: Jergalites do not fear death. This is a chunck of their Dogma: Life is a process of seeking that place and eternal rest. Existence is but a brief aberation in an eternity of death. Power, Success, and joy are as transitory as weakness, failure, and misery. Only death is absolute, and then only at its appointed hour.Many people think Jergalites are fearless of dying, which is false. Most Jergalites do not fear death but fear dying only for the fact, they love their job. Jergalites who stay with a church aren't so afraid of this as travelling Jergalites are. Most Jergalites wish to die a very Very very very very old age and then have their bodies brought back to be used to further server Jergal. Body stays on Earth and Serves Jergal, Soul goes to Jergal to help in the afterlife.
Most Jergalites do not believe they will reach "Eternal Peace" until "The End of Everything." Their belief is their spirits will go on to serve Jergal as scribes or guards in the afterlife. To clear up confusion on the "Guards in Afterlife" they guard the City that is surrounded by the Wall of the Faithless.
The End of Everything is their belief that at one point in the Distant future, everything will just cease to exist. Gods, Mortals, everything.
Hope this helps if you have any questions just ask.
-
Hrm… I see. Thank you both for answering, this was most helpful but also difficult!!
It's kinda a hard faith to begin roleplaying...
Cheers guys! :)
-
It really is. Honestly both of our interpretations are pretty spot on. Personally I wouldn't agree with the "to something more sinister - like scheming to spread a disease, spread crime, anarchy and leave identifying the bodies until after you're sure you've got as many as you can." mostly because Jergal believes death shouldn't be forced. But of course all people see it differently so it could be. It's more of a what alignment of Jergalite you are. :) Hope this helps
-
then there is the undertaker side of things..someone who helps people die.
a goodly way of seeing the deity.
as for the scribe of the dead part..perhaps you adventure to record the deeds of those who die. with the lyss plot going on it may be you have been drawn to arabel to record what may well be..the end of days -
Ok that is interesting. So how does the jergal faith differ from the monk order of the long death. I am trying to role play one as a side character and am a bit confused how to go about it other than constantly talking about how we all eventually die.
-
dont quote me on this but i was under the impression the long death were an order dedicated to velsharoon.
therefor you would be seeking to bring -undeath- to most things..not just death.
as a monk perhaps yor're entire focus would be trying to witness the precise moment where life transitions to death. by pinpointing the precise moment you may be able to find a way to thwart it, or seek to dwell in that moment eternally.
-
As far as I know, the Long Death are dedicated to Death itself, and not to Gods.
-
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/M ... long_death
It's always been a bit of an odd order for me to wrap my head around - but then they're monks! There's nothing out there that's going to alienate a monk from the world around him more than telling people he studies death without necessarily seeking to become undead, to stop undeath, to stop death, or to become a killer. I've never understood what the real "purpose" of this order is, unlike, say, the Serpant Guard or the Iron Gauntlet; it is possibly the most monkly evil monk order I can think of however.
It does say elsewhere that they've "served" dieties of death ranging from Jergal to Myrkul, but the order bears no outright loyalty to any diety of death - though maybe some particular novice might hold some ambition to perhaps try and empower some diety or aspect of death... to what ends, who can say!
-
Correct. Long Death worships Death not the gods. This usually means they tend to fight to kill more then anything. This does mean they tend to get along with Jergalites though