ADAMNAN-NA-BRIONHA

The Lord of the Dance

Description: Adamnan-na-Brionha was born in the mists before the dawn of time, of a union between the forces of Sound and Motion. The Wardancers hold that he is The First Being, whose dance structures the Universe. He is also known as The First and The Lord of the Dance.

Adamnan-na-Brionha reflects two seemingly contradictory aspects of life - the joy of dance and the fury of righteous slaying. He appears as a mighty Elf, whose left hand side is slender and graceful, and whose right side shows the massive muscles of a mighty warrior. His face is also split between an expression of transcendent bliss and one of eye-popping fury.

The Wardancers believe that it is their fusion of war and dance that provides the earthly interpretation of their deity's manifestation.

Alignment: Neutral.

Symbol: Adamnan is symbolised by a flute held in a clenched fist. Divotees of The Lord of the Dance usually adopt one of the flamboyant Wardancer hairstyles, and, in addition, they must wear their god's symbol, either as a pendant or a pair of earrings. Their left ear holds a tiny flute, often worked in silver, while the right is home to a clenched fist, usually worked in gold.

Area of Worship: Adamnan-na-Brionha is worshipped by Wood Elves across the Old World, including all Wardancers.

Temples: The organised trappings of most religions are alien to these free-living Elves, and formal temples are not used - Adamnan-na-Brionha is to be worshipped in the heart, not tied to any one place.

Friends and Enemies: Followers of Adamnan are on good terms with those who worship the rest of the Wood Elf pantheon, and have a generally positive (if condescending) attitude towards the Old Faith and the cults of Taal and Rhya. They also get on reasonbly well with followers of Ranald.

Other Human cults are generally ignored, and the Dwarven pantheon is regarded with a certain amount of amusements.

Traditional racial enemies - especially goblinoids - are regarded with contempt and hatred, as a kind of vermin to be destroyed at every opportunity.

Holy Days: Specific dates hold little meaning for the followers of Adamnan-na-Brionha, and his cult has no specific holy days. It is events and actions which are important, hence dancing, ritual killing, training and the acceptance of new Wardancers are all held to be sacred acts when performed with the correct attitude of mind. For those versed in the higher mysteries of Adamnan, each action, however trivial, forms part of the Dance of Life and every experience is deemed to be as significant as every other.

Cult Requirements: The cult is open to all Elves. An Elf must complete the Wardancer career before proceeding to become an Initiate of Adamnan.

Strictures: The cult of Adamnan places few strictures on its members, they must keep themselves fit and supple at all times, and never act in a manner that threatens the good of the Elven race. However, certain things may particularly please or displease Adamnan; these are mainly related to attitude rather than actions. Entering combat with joy and righteous anger and fighting with athletic elegance are considered pleasing to the Lord of the Dance. Killing in a mean-spirited, cowardly or inelegant fashion attracts his displeasure.

Spell Use: Mage-Priests of Adamnan may use all Petty Magic spells, and all Battle Magic spells except Fire Ball, Wind Blast, Lightning Bolt and Curse of Arrow Attraction. Instead, Mage-Priests of Adamnan may use level 1 Illusionist spell Bewilder Foe and the Elemental spells Cloud of Smoke, Resist Fire and Dust Storm.

Skills: Initiates and Mage-Priests of Adamnan may gain one of the following skills at each level: Dance, Musicianship, Sing, Street Fighter and Wrestling. These skills must be bought with experience points as usual.

Trials: A trial set by Adamnan will usually involve dealing with a creature or group of creatures that has failed to treat the Elven race with due respect - for example, goblinoids encroaching into the forest, Human woodcutters and charcoal-burners who have dared to invade the deeper parts of the forest and cut down the lornalim tree. The style in which a trial is undertaken is at least as important as its success.

Blessings: A blessing from Adamnan may take the form of the single use of an appropriate spell, a skill from the lists above, or the automatic success of one test from the following list: Fall, Jump, Leap, Reaction or any test on WS.

Edited from White Dwarf 112