CENDARAN CULTIST

[The Hive Mind]

“Come, come, Cendara, accept another into the tribe of the First Dorns. We are your loyal followers, and with your guidance and power will the great Dorn houses once again rise to power.” —Cendaran induction prayer.

The cult of Cendara is a recently formed group dedicated to a spirit claiming to be one of the legendary First Dorns. The veracity of the spirit’s claims is unknown, but her power is already being felt across the Northlands as her worshippers use their newfound abil- ities to surprise and overwhelm unprepared foes. Legends of warriors who move on the wind and swallow orcs whole have traveled as far as the gnome and halfling settlements of the Ardune, where it is feared that Cendara might actually be an aspect of Izrador himself, corrupting the Dorns with false hope and evil pow- ers. This mistrust is not shared by the majority of Dorns, who have been waiting for their collective ancestral pride to manifest itself against their oppressors.


Cendaran Cultists as characters
The Cendarans look past the Great Houses’ failure to hold back the Shadow and into the past, remembering their history with pride. Thus, they do not shave their heads in shame as other Dorn warriors do, thinking that even that symbolic admittance of defeat is allowing Izrador to have too much impact on their culture. Most Cendaran cultists have short to shoulder-length hair, and will soon have the long braids of honor once worn by their ancestors. They are fiercely proud of their heritage, and extremely devout in their worship not only of Cendara but of the entire legacy of their race. When the cult was first formed, many died as their newfound devotion drove them to suicidal raids against targets deep within the Shadow’s northern domain. It is thought that a few of these early recruits are still tortured deep in the ice, perhaps even by the dark god himself. Rather than putting a stop to the cult, these early failures awoke a spark among many Dorns, who flocked to prove their worth to the leaders of the cult. Cendara does not accept all comers, however, and only those with the inherent pride, conviction, and a true lineage of the Great Houses of old are chosen to follow the mysterious spirit who gathers warriors to her. Nothing is known about her outside of her claims, but the Cendarans treat that mystery as secret knowledge rather than frustrating, and perhaps suspicious, obfuscation.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

Race: Dorn.
Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Skills: Knowledge(arcana) 2 ranks, Knowledge(history) 4 ranks, Knowledge (local: Northlands) 4 ranks.
Feats: Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Martial Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), and Weapon Focus (bastard sword).
Special: The character must be true to the old Dornish ways, and have a token of his ancestors' house with him at all times (this might be an ancestral blade, a kilt with the house's pattern, etc.). He must not shave his head in shame. A Dorn who shows this commitment to his race might be noticed by the cult of Cendara and must have no spell energy from any source (such as channeler levels or dragonblooded heroic path) before taking this class. Likewise, he may never learn spells from other sources than these class abilities. If he ever gains spell energy from another source or learns spells in another way, he loses all supernatural abilities of this class.

Class Level /Base Attack Bonus / Fort Save / Ref Save / Will Save /Special
1st --------------+1 --------------+2 ---------+0 -------+0 ------Cendara's spirit
2nd --------------+2 -------------+3 ----------+0 -------+0 ------Bonus feat
3rd --------------+3 --------------+3 ---------+1 -------+1 ------Ritual magic
4th --------------+4 --------------+4 ---------+1 -------+1 ------Cendara's protection
5th --------------+5 --------------+4 ---------+1 -------+1 ------Bonus feat
6th --------------+6 --------------+5 ---------+2 -------+2 -------Ritual magic
7th --------------+7 --------------+5 ---------+2 -------+2 -------Cendara's breath
8th --------------+8 --------------+6 ---------+2 -------+2 -------Bonus feat
9th --------------+9 --------------+6 ---------+3 -------+3 -------Ritual magic
10th -------------+10 -------------+7 ---------+3 -------+3 ------Cendara's fate

Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Speak Language (n/a), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Cendaran cultist gain no additional proficiencies with either weapons or armor.

Cendara's Spirit (Su): At 1st level, the Cendaran cultist gains an amount of spell energy equal to his Wisdom modifier. Additionally, he may choose one spell school from among abjuration, divination, lesser conjuration, or lesser evocation. After a week of fasting and praying at a sacred menhir, the Cendaran cultist is imbued with the knowledge of four 1st-level spells of his choice from his chosen school.

Bonus Feat: The Cendaran cultist gains a bonus feat at 2nd, 5th, and 8th levels. The feat chosen must be a fighter bonus feat.

Ritual Magic (Su): At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels, the Cendaran cultist gains one spell energy, supposedly as a gift from his ancestors. Additionally, at 3rd level, the cultist learns three new spells; at 6th level, he learns two new spells; and at 9th level, he learns one new spell.

At each such level, the Cendaran cultist may choose to either increase the level of spells he may learn (from 1st to 2nd, from 2nd to 3rd, and so on) or may choose one additional school from which he may learn new spells. The spell schools must be from among those available from the Cendara's spirit abilitiy.

So for instance, at 1st level, a Cendaran cultist might learn four abjuration spells of 1st level; at 3rd level, the cultist could either choose to learn three 2nd-level abjuration spells or choose to gain divination, lesser conjuration, or lesser evocation as a known spell school. If he chose lesser evocation, he would learn three 1st-level spells, choosing from abjuration and lesser evocation.

Cendara's Protection (Su): Starting at 4th level, a Cendaran cultist gains a +4 divine bonus on saving throws against enchantment magic. Their patron does not take kindly on others influencing her herd.

Cendara's Breath (Su): At 6th level, a Cendaran cultist can take the form of an icy wind once per day. This functions in all ways like the gaseous form spell except that it only lasts for up to one minute and the character gains fly speed 100 feet for the duration of the effect.

Cendara's Fate: At 10th level, the Cendaran cultist's soul joins Cendara in the afterlife though his body and mind remain in this world to do her bidding. He is now considered an outsider rather than a humanoid for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Addionally, the character becomes pale and faded, an echo of his previous self. Hereafter, mundane attacks pass through him as if he was not there, granting him damage reduction 10/magic.