Auras of Prosperity

We did not build an Empire so that citizens might make it rich, but rather that it might bring them wealth.

Emperor Giovanni the Peacemaker

Overview

An aura is a persistent spiritual effect on a person, location or item. The auras listed here are created by priests dedicated to the virtue of Prosperity who use the relevant ceremonial skill. A character who is dedicated to Prosperity must pick one of the following auras when they perform the relevant ceremony. A priest of the Way may also use the Dreams of Prosperity when they use the dedication ceremony to provide a pilgrim with a visionary dream.

The names used for each aura are simply the most common ones used in the Empire. For example, the Worth of Prosperity is sometimes called The Yeoman's Due by Marcher farmers. This is especially true with those auras that are named after paragons and exemplars; all these auras would have had different names before the exceptional individual they are named for was recognised by the Synod. The Hallowing of Good Walder for example was commonly called the Hallowing of the Sheriff before his recognition as a paragon of Prosperity.

Study of these auras helped the founders of the Way to create the Path of Prosperity. Some lay persons assume that the Imperial Synod created these auras in some fashion to encourage adherence to orthodoxy, but according to theological scholars the situation is the other way around. The auras came first, then the tenets of the Path of Prosperity.

Anointing

Anointing involves a short ceremony to create a personal aura on a mortal being. Anointing always requires the consent of the subject.

The Path of Prosperity

You feel driven to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. You sense that this is the right time to celebrate your endeavours.

Description: A cold beer or hot meal at the end of the day is much more satisfying if you have spent the day working. The path of Prosperity is arduous, but priests encourage pilgrims to celebrate hard earned achievements without delay. There are always those who try to delay celebration in the belief that wealth must be hoarded for the challenges to come, but the path of Prosperity reminds pilgrims that nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. The virtuous do not postpone their festivities because of war or famine - for doing so undermines the value of hard work.

The Worth of Prosperity

You feel a desire to ensure you receive the reward your efforts merit. Attempts to persuade you to work for free feel like theft.

Description: A crucial element of Prosperity is the entitlement that derives from honest labour, the right of the prosperous individual to be rewarded for their efforts. While most pilgrims are strong enough to demand what they deserve in good times, when times are hard there are always calls for people to give up their rewards for the greater good. This aura helps pilgrims remember that their Prosperity is virtuous. Appeals to altruism or patriotism are often attempts to persuade a pilgrim to share what they have worked to achieve with those who do not deserve it.

The Benevolence of Prosperity

You feel an urge to reward those who have contributed to your achievements. It feels just to share your success with those whose efforts deserve it.

Description: This existence of this aura is often used to rebut criticism that Prosperity is selfish. Priests emphasize that the Path of Prosperity is not just about ensuring that you are rightly rewarded for your hard work - but also about ensuring that those who help you are also treated fairly. The aura is also used to refute assertions that prosperity is about giving your money away, pointing out that the aura only encourages the pilgrim to share their success with the deserving, not with everyone.

The anointing is sometimes used to stir those who lack virtue into action, whether they are lazy or miserly, but it is also common for those who have achieved great success to request it, hoping to ensure that triumphs do not cause them to forget those who aided them along the way.

The Means of Prosperity

You feel an urge to work with others to achieve the goal you named when anointed. You experience a deep satisfaction from committing yourself to this endeavour.

Description: Pilgrims on the path of Prosperity are encouraged to work with others to achieve shared goals. Cooperating with other people to produce rewards everyone can share is virtuous and should bring a deep sense of fulfillment to all involved. Sometimes the pilgrim may commit themselves to an endeavour that will not benefit them immediately, in the knowledge that the virtuous will reciprocate in the future. This aura can help a pilgrim find the motivation to work hard in such circumstances.

Although this aura requires the consent of the recipient, some priests still worry that it could be abused to try to make a pilgrim feel work towards a goal which is not their own.

Easy come, worth less.

Marcher Proverb

Consecration

Consecration is the ceremony used to create an aura on a clearly defined location. There is only one aura for each virtue, and all priests create the same one when they use this skill.

Neither Beg Nor Fear

You feel a profound sense of fulfillment from all your hard work has achieved. You feel no reward is beyond your reach if you strive for it.

Description: This powerful aura of Prosperity grants a compelling sense of satisfaction at all they have accomplished to those who become aware of it. Even those who feel despondent that recent actions have not been successful will usually find that the aura reminds them of the victories they have gained. Whatever the case, it also brings an uplifting sense of what can be achieved through hard work.

Dedication

Dedication is the ceremony used to link a pilgrim's soul to the virtue. It can also be used to create vivid oracular dreams.

Dreams of Prosperity

The next time you sleep you experience a vivid dream concerning the rewards you have been working towards. The dream will often show you toiling and succeeding through hard work. Sometimes the vision will show you something new, a challenge that would appear to offer great rewards if successful, though it may not be something you have considered before. The dream will often include people you know, usually working with you to help you achieve your goals, but in some less pleasant visions you may see strangers taking what you have earned from you.

Hallow

Hallow is used to create an aura on an item, such as a weapon, implement, shield or suit of armour. It is not possible to use hallow to create an aura on large immobile objects. Hallows do not provide a source of supernatural strength, but are durable and can last for a year (or potentially forever in the case of an artefact hallowed with true liao).

Hallowing of the Little Mother

You feel an urge to encourage others to work hard and to help them earn their just rewards.

Hallowing of the Overflowing Cup

You feel a desire to enjoy the fruits of your labour and celebrate as hard as you have worked.

Hallowing of the Shepherd

You feel an urge to protect what has been justly earned from the undeserving who would seek to take it.

The Hallowing of Good Walder

You feel an urge to confront and expose the undeserving who steal from and exploit others.

Hallowing of the Prudent Seneschal

You feel an urge to secure thrifty deals and to avoid profligacy and waste.

Hallowing of the Lazy Orphan

You feel driven to expose and punish the lazy, especially those who take without giving.

Hallowing of the Grateful Debtor

You feel driven to reward others with fair recompense for what they have done for you.

Hallowing of Damakan

You feel driven to pursue the work at hand. Other matters increasingly feel like distractions you should ignore.

Hallowing of Zemress

You are driven to rebuke the envious; those who condemn the deserving for their prosperity demonstrate their unworthiness.

Hallowing of Giovanni's Retort

You are driven to defend prosperity and expose the self interest of those who take the just rewards of others.

Commentary: The idea that hard work should be its own reward, or that people should be denied their just rewards in the name of some spurious "greater good", deny Prosperity. The Prosperous may choose to share the rewards of their hard work with the deserving, but they should never be coerced into doing so. Altruism - the idea that someone should do something without expectation or reward, or give away their skills or possessions - can be seen as little more than theft.