[zot]

The next religion: I wanted a contrast to the very tribal feel of the Village Wise Ones and I think I have gone about as far as I can from them with this one (which I think might also fit well into Cidri and SJ Games in general)...

Mngineers

You are a Mngineer, which means you venerate the Mnoren, the creators of Cidri, and you seek to emulate them by learning secret knowledge and practicing secret techniques. You probably found out about Mngineering at one of the Mechanician’s Guild meetings, when a Mngineer approached you and sold you a device. Mngineering is expensive because, well obviously, there’s a direct correlation between how much money one spends on Mngineering and one’s dedication.

You are not actually a priest, because Mngineering is not a religion, it is a state of illumination. You have simply rid your body of vast numbers of spiritual parasites, the “psytites” that cloud the minds of normal people or “Draps” as they are called among the illuminated, and now you can tap into the collective unconsciousness. You are well on your way to achieving your fully self-actualized potential. On the way to full Illumination. When enough people on Cidri are fully illuminated, the Mnoren will make themselves known again. Which is important because the world will end very soon if they don’t. Which is why, obviously, you keep trying to persuade Draps to become Mngineers.

You are happy to aid other people by using your equipment to “defest” them and temporarily give them advantages or heal their ills, for a customary nominal fee. Unfortunately, Draps rapidly “fest” and gain new psytites because they do not have access to the secret teachings of Mngineering. But you are not allowed to impart this knowledge; they are not illuminated and even if they could understand it (which they could not), they would misuse it and bring the world nearer to destruction.

To aid you in your pursuits, you have a collection of artifacts that focus and amplify your mind, allow you to peer into the “world behind”, etc. In fact, you know secret techniques to construct them from surprisingly common items. You also know ceremonies to locate, operate, and destroy artifacts and even produce temporary artifacts.

Your talisman is a metal rod which you connect to your equipment during ceremonies. You can actually consecrate any metal rod but the more dedicated priests have very expensive, intricately carved rods.

Note: you must have the Mechanician talent to be a Mngineer.