Category:Church of Hala

This section contains canon info from officially published sources

The Church of Hala worships Hala. It is a mystical faith shrouded in secrecy]^[1][2][3] loosely based on modern, real-world paganism and witchcraft practices.

Centers

The Church of Hala keeps its many secrets from the general public and does not actively recruit]^[1][2][3] (though it does indulge curious newcomers if specifically questioned about their goddess]^[1]). Therefore, Hala's church holds the majority of power over matters of faith and religion in no domain. However, it has hospices for the needy and sick sprinkled throughout the Core^[2][3] , though Hala's worship is most focused in the Southern Core.^[4][5]

Beliefs

Creation Myth

The exact stories and mythic traditions told within Hala's churches are varied and diversed. The most elementary version is given in the Tales of Ages^[6] the Church's sacred text.^[2][3] According to this book, it was a collective of nine deities that brought the world into existence from Chaos' mists. However, the other gods then stood back and left mortal kind to make their own decisions. Hala alone of the Nine Gods saw how mortals lacked insight to make the right decisions, so she came back to alleviate the world's burdens. To a cadre of 13 men and women^[7], she instructed the secrets of the Weave.^[2][3][8] This myth strange resembles a benign version of the Tepestani story of the witch Hallah, whom malevolently usurped the power of magic from the gods; the resemblance of these tales and names is a contributor to the demonization of Hala by the Tepestani Inquisition.^[9]

The Weave

The Church of Hala describes magic in a different way, a sort of universal weave. It is not clear if witchcraft or the Weave is something separate from magic powers elsewhere in the multiverse.

Duties and Activities

Hala doctrine holds that the greatest good exists in tending to the needs of the sick and injured and bringing strength to the oppressed and the weak.^[1] To this end, they operate a multitude of hospices across the Core^[2][3] and beyond.^[1] to offer respite and healing to those in need or suffering.

In addition, some within the Church take a more proactive approach to assisting the weak by fighting evil and helping the oppressed fight evil, something that has on occasion earned enmity by tyrannical regimes such as Falkovnia for certain groups within Hala's church. In addition, the Church keeps a wary eye on solitary and rogue witches and warlocks whom, without a coven top properly guide them, may be led into corruption by their powers. However, the true enemy of Hala's witches and warlocks are the hags and the Sorcerous Witches that may ally with them.^[10] The Church of Hala's hag hunting is similar in dedication (if not misunderstanding) to the Tepestani Inquisition's fey hunting, though the Halan Church's dedication lies in how hags corrupt the power source Halan's faithful uses.^[11]

Reason for Secrecy

Given that secrecy may contribute to the faith's undesirable reputation, one may ask why the Halan church clings to such a doctrine. According to Sister Marena, Hala's witches wish to operate within society but to avoid the corruption of it. Public knowledge may bring adulation, and this adulation may invite desire for further power. Hala's followers seek to avoid such temptation. Moreover, secrecy allows them to assist the sick and the needy with less distraction from people whom would seek to exploit their power. In any case, regardless of their secrecy, if they operated in the open they might be beset upon by those who thought them evil^[12] Azalin speculates there might be greater, hidden forces at work that might see witch covens who operate too overtly may be punished or stamped out.^[13]

Members

There is some imprecision across sources on the difference between clergy of the Church of Hala and Halan witches. Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium III, a 2nd Edition source, specifies they are often viewed as one and the same, but but draws a line between the two, although many duties within Hala's churches and hospices are tended to by witches. In 2nd Edition, Halan witches and warlocks were represented by character kits that could only be taken by fighter or thief classes without any other sort of spellcasting abilities beyond those granted by their kits. Priests of Hala, on the other hand, were generally clerics. In 3rd Edition, Hala's clerics in general are called witches^[2][3], with the Hallowed Witch prestige class representing a tradition special to Hala's Church.^[14] Also in 3rd Edition, Clerics of Hala may chose the Weave Domain, another piece of magic unique to Hala's faith.^[15]

A witch is usually a magic user with hereditary or innate power.

Gender and Witchcraft

As depicted in VRMHC III above, there is a level of biological essentialism between males and females in how they relate to the Weave, and this is reflected in the mechanics of the separate witch and warlock kits. Warlocks operate with flashier and more destructive powers, whereas witches are more subtle in how they relate to the Weave. Moreover in VRMHC, covens operate with only members of a single sex, though this does not prevent witches and warlocks from otherwise associating and working with each other. Halan doctrine acknowledges that inter-gender differences in relation to the Weave has provoked inter-gender strife and jealousy, so their covens grant witches and warlocks capabilities that make the two types of Halan followers more akin to each other. Moreover, church dogma recognizes that each gender has qualities representative of the opposite one inside of it.^[16]

3rd Edition sources seem not to have carried over as much gender differentiation. In the third edition campaign setting books, clerics of Hala in general are called witches,^[2][3] though "S" does refer to them as witches and warlocks in the in-character narrative of Gazetteer V^[17] Van Richten's Arsenal also specifies members of the Hallowed Witch Prestige Class are called "hallowed witches" or "hallowed warlocks" depending upon gender, but there are no mechanical differences. In addition, no gender restrictions are given for coven membership.^[14]

Clerical Vestments

The clergy of Hala prefer robes for clerical vestments, with veils for women and long hoods for men. Local church or order tradition dictates the colors of such garb, but white and blue are the most common colors.^[1]

Persecution

The Weave is also known as witchcraft and provokes widespread, superstitious fear. Hags, witchcraft's most notorious users, are are the major party responsible for ruining witchcraft’s reputation. Although witchcraft holds no inherent evils, but it is believed to lead down a path festered with occult peril. Exposure to witchcraft is thought to create calibans. folklore posits that transformation into a hag is the fate that awaits a witch that loses control over her magic. People Outside their faith treat Hala's witches with animosity, fear, and wariness. For example, encounters with the Tepestani Inquisition are likely to end quite direly, even fatally, for any recognized witches.^[2][3]

References

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Ravenloft Third Edition
		Ravenloft Third Edition - p52
		Ravenloft Third Edition - p54
		Ravenloft Third Edition - p52