User:AndrewTall/Birthright Prayers

Great Haelyn, may I honor your teachings this day;

Lord Erik, may my feet find clear, solid ground;

Great Haelyn, grant me strength to stand ?gainst my foes;

Lady Sera, may your luck walk with me;

Great Haelyn, grant me courage to dare this battle;

Lady Nesirie, may your mercy be with me in battle;

Great Haelyn, grant me the wisdom to see friend from foe;

Lady Avani, may your light shine on me;

Great Haelyn, grant me the honour to strike true;

Lord Ruornil, may you keep the Shadow from me;

Great Haelyn, grant me victory this day

I wrote this one to demonstrate a pantheistic approach - the knight calls upon each of the holy gods almost as he might appeal to the courtiers of his king, for their aid in his carrying out Haelyn's duty.

Haelyn! I thank you for your grace gift of life! I ask for Your continued grace blessings and Divine protection for my Nation, my Army, my Family, my Soldiers, and myself.

I ask for Your Divine Wisdom to guide my Nation, my Army, and myself in the coming battle. Guide my superiors so that they can think clearly, plan tirelessly, and act decisively. Shield our Soldiers from the weapons and intentions of the enemy. And help me to remember my training, and to apply those lessons to the swift defeat of our enemy.

I appeal to Your Divine Justice to grant us the Victory!

I ask this in the name of the Lord of the Armies, my Savior, and in the name of the First Emperor Roele in whose teachings we trust.

This is a modification of a prayer I found on a US website aimed at soldiers.

May great Haelyn, whom I worship, grant to my Country and for the benefit of Cerilia in general, a great and glorious victory: and may no misconduct, in any one, tarnish it: and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the Boeruine fleet.

For myself individually, I commit my life to Him who made me and may His blessing light upon my endeavors for serving my Country faithfully.

To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to Defend.

Duty, Honor, and Grace be with me

This is Nelson's prayer with some slight adjustments.

Great Haelyn, accept my heart this day

And make it always Thine,

That I from Thee never shall stray,

Nor from thy laws decline.

Anoint me with Thy heavenly grace,

Adopt me for Thine own,

That I may see Thy glorious face

And worship at Thy throne.

Let every thought and work and word

To Thee be ever given;

Then life shall be Thy service, Lord,

And death the gate of heaven.

This one is another web prayer that I tweaked here and there to fit a god of law.

A mighty fortress is our Lord, a trusty shield and weapon;

He helps us free from every need that hath us now overtaken.

The old evil foe now means deadly woe; deep guile and great might

Are his dread arms in fight; no equal here on Aebrynis.

With might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected;

But with us fights the Valorous One, whom Anduiras elected.

Ask ye, who is this? The Lawgiver it is.

Lord Haelyn, His Name, from age to age the same,

He holds the field forever.

Though dark servants all the world should fill, all eager to devour us.

We tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us.

The Dark Prince may still scowl fierce as he will,

He can harm us none, he?s judged; the deed is done;

One little word can fell him.

The Word they still shall let remain nor any thanks have for it;

He?s by our side upon the plain with His good gifts and spirit.

And take they our life, goods, fame, child and wife,

Let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won;

The Empire ours remaineth.

This is a prayer by Martin Luther modified by the Swordgaunt.

Great Roele, Prince of the Hosts of Light, defend us in battle.

Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Shadow.

May Haelyn rebuke it, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Host of Light - by the Divine Power of Haelyn - cast into ruins all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the harvest of souls.

This is a prayer to St Michael that I turned into a prayer to Roele - who I presume has some similar religious function being general, first emperor, and brother to Haelyn. I considered using Roele/ Haelyn/ Nesirie as a holy trinity but decided that such a concept might hit a little close to home for some people. In this prayer the various agents of Haelyn, spirits, saints, angels, whatever are termed 'Hosts of Light' - there is no canon reference to the 'good' gods as the Lords of Light, Gods of Light, etc, but as Azrai is frequently termed the Shadow, it is a reasonable name for them so I kept it in the modified prayer.

Glorious Prince of the Hosts of Light and victor over rebellious spirits,

be mindful of me who am so weak and sinful and yet so prone to pride and ambition.

Lend me, I pray, thy powerful aid in every temptation and difficulty,

and do not forsake me in my last struggle with the powers of evil.

Another prayer to St Michael, albeit a gloomier one.

Almighty Erik, Thy Word is cast

Like seed into the ground;

Now let the dew of heaven descend

And righteous fruits abound.

The big problem with Christian prayers from a BR perspective, is that they appear to be, in general, directed to a god seen as a benevolent shepherd - someone peaceful. But every now and then though, one of those types of prayers fits Erik...

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields.

May green be the grass you walk on,

May blue be the skies above you,

May pure be the joys that surround you,

May true be the hearts that love you.

And until we meet again,

May Erik hold you in the palm of his hand.

This prayer off the net fitted Erik with just one word needing to be changed and turned up after a fruitless hour of searching for convertible spells, I'd say 'providence' but given the subject area should probably steer well clear of such terms. I wondered about changing it to Laerme but left it as Erik in the end...

Nesirie, be Thou my constant Guide,

Lead me all the way,

Till I reach Thy home at last,

Nevermore to stray.

This one sounded very Nesirien to me, mournful, humble, and all about getting safely. It would work even better for a halfling deity.

Bright Lady, I have passed another day

And come to thank Thee for Thy care.

Forgive my faults in work or play

And listen to my evening prayer.

Thy favor gives me daily bread

And friends, who all my wants supply:

And safely now I rest my head,

Preserved and guarded by Thine eye.

If Erik often translates from prayers easily, Avani is even easier - pagan sun-worship underlies much religious imagery and even though I was only looking for Haelynite prayers I couldn't pass this one by.

Lady Nesirie, I know you see your child here.
You feel the love his family has for him.
Protect him in all that comes Lady.
And guide him home when done.
Mirviriam provided me with the base for this one.

Accept the imperial crown which is placed on your head by unworthy hands, yet hands of a bishop,

Know that it expressly represents the glory of sanctification and the work of bravery, and by this you may partake of our holy office,

So that just as we in inward matters are the shepherds and rulers of souls, so you in outward matters should be a true servant of Haelyn,

And in the face of all adversity a courageous defender of His church and the kingdom given to you by Him; and also through the office of our blessing,

For we act in place of the saints with the agreement of all the Gods of Light, remain at all times ready for the profitable management of the authority entrusted to you and for useful ruling;

so that you may be considered among the ranks of the greatest of heroes and decorated with precious stones of virtue,

be crowned with the reward of eternal happiness with the saviour and beautifier Holy Roele, whose name and place you represent and may glorify without ending.

For with him Haelyn lives and reigns with the Host of Light for ever and ever.