In the remote wilderness regions of Algol the Human aborigines and nomads that are not the descendants of outcasts or fallen societies of the remote regions of Algol are Old Clan peoples. The Old Clans comprise the insular Algol Men that live in nomadic or hunter-gatherer societies that claim unbroken lineage and tradition from the first Algol Men tribes and nations of millions of years past. Among "civilized" peoples they have a reputation for aloof insularity, savagery, barbarism and primitive superstition. The peoples of the Old Clans say that the civilized peoples are the savage barbarians instead, calling them heretics, apostates, cowards, weaklings and worse; they claim that their reliance upon technology, sham traditions and false religion has made them into dishonorable degenerates to be avoided.
Although there are legion local and ancestral deities paid homage to by the Old Clans, there are three that figure prominently in all of their religious practices: The All-Mother; The Cunning One; and The Hunting Beast. These three are all of Neutral alignment.
The All-Mother "The Womb of the Universe"
Depicted as a blue woman with six arms (bearing items such as sickles, spears, baskets, babies, chalices, horns, and staves) with a featureless face of shining white light. She is the Goddess of motherhood, families, children, healers, tradition, fertility, agriculture and protection.
The Cunning One
Depicted as four-armed figure wrapped in tattered cloths of various grays wearing a hood with only black visible within and one breast on the left side of the chest. It is the God of crafts, music, revelry, gambling, trickery and magicians. Its Clerics include dual-classed Cleric/Magic-Users and Cleric-Thieves.
The Hunting Beast
Depicted as a centaur-like being covered in black fur or scales with the hexapedal lower body of a taloned, long-tailed beast; a humanoid upper torso; the head of a snarling sabre-toothed predator with featureless red orbs for eyes; and bearing a bloody spear and axe in it's clawed hands. It is the God of the wilderness, beasts, hunting and slaughter. Most Old Clan Berserkers are worshipers of The Hunting Beast. Its Clerics are restricted to the use of daggers, spears and one-handed axes and swords for weaponry.
The Technopriest
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THE TECHNOPRIEST
(Cleric sub-class)
Armor: any
Shield: any
Weapons: any technological, club, flail, hammer, mace, staff
Prime Requisites: both Intelligence and Wisdom
Alignment: Lawful
Clerics of the Machine God, the Lord of Light whose domain involves technology, machines and robotics. They are the keepers of the majority of remaining scraps of technological information retained by Algol Man from the Ancients, with most of the remaining knowledge being held by the secretive Machine God sects of the various Tech-Guild Houses.
Through their secret disciplines and connection to the Machine Intelligence they are able to Cast Technopriest Spells as a Cleric of the same level; as well, through their training, they have the ability to Open Locks; Find and Remove Traps of a mechanical or technological nature; Detect Electro-Magnetic Fields; Detect Radiations; Identify Chemicals; Identify Mechanical Devices; and Identify Technological Devices. Also Technopriests speak the Machine Language and are capable of Turning Away or Commanding Robots and less powerful Machine Intelligences. This functions as Clerics of the same levels ability to Turn Away or Command the Undead. Their spells can heal and repair Robots.
Their ability to Cast Technopriest Spells;Turn or Command Robots; Open Locks; Remove Traps; Detect Electro-Magnetic Fields; Detect Radiations; and Identify Chemicals requires Technopriests Tools, which cost 80 gold pieces and weigh 2 pounds; although they can use Thieves Tools to Open Locks and Remove Traps.
