Diamabel's Law

Overview

"Diamabel's Law", for lack of a better name for this thus far unnamed faith, is the state religion of Pharazia. However, it is perhaps more a harshly enforced and oppressive code of morality rather than a religion in and of itself. Although Diamabel is seen as having a spark of the divine, behaving with purity is seen as extremely holy for its own sake. Pharazians try their best to follow Diamabel's decrees, but this adherence comes from a point of fear and oppression rather than sincere faith.

The act of confession holds a central role in Diamabel's theology. Diamabel's enforcers are his confessors (They are also referred to in 2nd Edition sources as law-givers, but they are not to be confused with the unrelated deity Bane, whom is referred to as the Lawgiver in 3rd Edition). Diamabel's confessors employ horrid scourges to force sinners to repent and submit. They are given a great deal of leeway on what constitutes breaking the law and how to enforce it.

Conflicting Sources

2nd Edition and 3rd Edition sources provide contradicting details on Diamabel's religion. Ravenloft Third Edition states that, although Diamabel is venerated as a divine protector, there is no deity central to Diamabel's law. Instead, there is only moral purity for its own sake, almost as a philosophical force. However, the Pharazians are described in Islands of Terror as a "godsfearing" people, and Diamabel is described as worshiping an unnamed deity in Domains of Dread.

Sources also disagree on whether Diamabel's confessors are divine spellcasters. Ravenloft Third Edition describes Diamabel has lacking any clerics. However, Domains of Dread describes Diamabel's servants as priests with the ability to draw upon the Sun, Combat, and Necromantic spheres.

Netbook Sources

"The Domain of the Endless Word", an article by NeoTiamat in Quoth the Raven Issue 21, posits that the faith of Pharazia is the faith of the Lawgiver. However, the same article describes other cults as well.