Disciples refer to the mortals that have been appointed by the gods (during a numen ) to perform certain tasks in name of the divine realms that angels and daemons can't do.
Angels and Daemons are very competent and can perform almost any task better than mortals, so the tasks disciples do are rare, few and rather exotic. This usually makes disciples equally rare, few and exotic.
Some examples of things Angels and Daemons can't do because of their lack of free will are the following:
- Think creatively.
- Criticize the Deity it's actions.
- Give a second opinion about a situation (for example: judging fellow mortals).
- React to radically and quickly changing situations without the need to ask for further orders.
- Do both evil and good deeds (Angels can't do evil and deamons can't do good)
Some examples of things Angels and Deamons are not allowed to do because of treaties made with the other gods are the following:
- Create or horde things of value that other mortals are allowed to use.
- Go undetected where certain magical barriers would detect Angels or Deamons.
- Openly hold political office in the power structure of mortals.
- Directly assault worshippers of other gods without sparking divinely powered retribution.
Some other examples that require Disciples instead of Angels or Deamons:
- Speak with mortals that are intimidated by the sight of Angels and Deamons and wish to speak to a fellow mortal.
- Experience specific experiences that the Deity wishes to experience by fusing with the mortal after their death.
- Remaining at a certain place for a long time without the need to pay the relatively high energy upkeep of divine bodies.
The invitation
To become a disciple you must first receive an invitation to the Numen to prove your worth as an disciple. You will usually need to perform certain tasks within the confound of the Numen event to prove that you would make a worthy addition to the forces of the deity.
Without such an invitation you are still welcome at any Numen event as they are open to all. However nobody knows how to receive such an invitation and the invitations are rare as to make sure no Numen event is overrun by people wanting to take a shot at becoming a disciple.
If you want to begin a LARP event with a character that has received such an invitation you should sent an email to info@heimr.nl before the event so we can properly prepare the event for you.
The gods have frequently announced that visiting a Numen event without such an invitation actually lowers your chance of ever receiving one in your lifetime as to deter people from showing up at a Numen simply to "show of" in hopes of getting a shot at becoming disciple.
The testing at the Numen
Because a Deity only needs very few disciples (if any at all) and people are lining up to become one (both because of the high rewards in the afterlife and the power that comes with the job in this life) Deities are not at all careful with their Disciples. They will usually be tested to the limit at Numen events to make sure they are still strong and sharp tools.
Older disciples are sometimes used to judge the newer ones during such trails but usually simply "surviving" is enough of an achievement to remain Disciple for at least another year and no further judgements are necessary.
One of the rules amongst the gods states that disciples should be "announced" to the other gods at the Numen event. It is assumed that the disciple remains the agent of the god until his or her death or until the disciple shows up at another Numen and further service is not announced to the other gods. Such official announcements are made in private in the divine realms and although they are usually "mirrored" at the end of every Numen to announce new disciples, sometimes the gods don't want the other mortals to know who their disciples are, despite the fact that this limits their political power immensely.
Dark Disciples
Many people think dark disciples is a term to describe disciples that serve only the evil side of a certain Deity. This is not the case however. Dark disciples are "illegal" disciples. They are not announced as disciples at a numen to the other gods. They are effectively covert operation agents of the gods. No god has confessed to actually using dark disciples so far and proving such an arrangement would be difficult. Non-the-less accusations are often made.