The Brothers of Halaglaz, sometimes just referred to as the Halaglaz, are a mystic fighting order borne out of the disaster of Jormunsteinn. Roughly a thousand years before the first human foot touched the soil of Faerie, the dwarves had a thriving metropolis built into the base of Jormunsteinn, where it lay along a beautiful river valley. Their tunnels stretched up into the heart of the Jormunsteinn, and deep below its surface.

At that time, what is now the straits of Iconium formed a huge natural dam, but some force weakened that wall and sea came rushing into the valley, wiping out the dwarven city at the time of the new king’s coronation – killing most of their leaders and trapping thousands of dwarves inside the spire of Jormunsteinn in a vast, but diminishing pocket of air. Worse yet, dark things swam in those waters and began picking off the survivors. With the king, druids and high priests now dead, many dwarves gave up, some committed suicide. Hope faded in the gloom and gathering waters.

A few of the novice priests survived and they rallied in face of this doom. They convinced the others to take matters into their own hands. They gathered the best miners and engineers left and set them to tunnel their way above the surface of the new sea, now hundreds of feet above them -- up through the solid granite heart of the Jormunsteinn. The new brotherhood of priests took upon the job of protecting the miners by battling the waters and the creatures it hid. By the time the miners tunneled above the level of the newly born sea, only three of the twenty were left, but the gods themselves marked them with the Halaglaz rune on each of their hands. The Brotherhood of Halaglaz, The Brotherhood of Ordeal was born.

Basically, the bothers teach that each dwarf should have the courage to fight against what fate has seemingly dealt him. These priests (and their particular dwarven culture) take a dim view of the fatalism that grips most dwarven society, and try to make their own destiny. One of the purposes of the trials of initiation is to prove that the "Fate-tossed" acolyte is strong enough to protect his people from the meddling and capricious Norns.

The test of induction involves being "cast on the wheel of fate", an embodiment of which is the sea. The sea stands in this culture as an embodiment of chaos, disorder and the whim of fortune. During the test of endurance, the acolyte leaves the Jormunsteinn rock with a brand of a wave magically placed on his forehead, removable only by powerful magic.

So long as he bears this brand, dwarves of Skia Thalassa will treat him as an outsider. No hatred or anything, but should he need their assistance he will have to make arrangements as if he were any other non-dwarf. Further, he may not return to the rock or any other dwarven dwelling, without the explicit command of a king or druid. During this time, the acolyte is expected to journey from place to place, testing his strength and cunning, fighting against fate's whim, and bringing order out of chaos. Order is the word here, not "good", for while it there is a good mix of Seelie and Unseelie, it does tend towards unseelie adherents.

When the ordeal is finished the wave mark is removed and replaced by a brand of the Halaglaz rune on the top of each hand, symbolizing their dedication to work against chaos in this life.

A Halaglaz must follow a strict code of behavior. They must keep their word, and strive to bring or restore order to the world. Direct confrontation is not their only tactic, but their most common. Action is their byword. They are defenders of dwarven society and will take up arms to defend it from all comers.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements:

To qualify to become a Halaglaz, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

• Character is a dwarf
• Base Attack Bonus +5
• Ability to cast 1^st level divine spells
• Must possess the Iron Will and Endurance feats
• Must endure the ordeal of Halaglaz
• Halaglaz are always Lawful

Class Skills: The Halaglaz’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (int), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill points: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Brother of Halaglaz gains no additional proficiencies with weapons or armor.

Halaglaz’s Blessing: At first level and higher these stoic warriors gain a +2 divine bonus vs. enchantments and fear effects.

Spells: Beginning at 1^st level, a Halaglaz gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells. To cast a spell, the Halaglaz must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level. Halaglaz bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a Difficulty Class of 10 + spell level + Wisdom modifier. When the Brother of Halaglaz gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 2^nd-level spells at 2^nd level, the Halaglaz gets only bonus spells. A Halaglaz has access to any spell on the Brother of Halaglaz spell list and can freely choose which to prepare, just as a cleric can.

A Halaglaz prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does (though the Halaglaz cannot use spontaneous casting to substitute a cure spell in place of a prepared spell).

A Brother of Halaglaz’s caster level is equal to his class level.

1^st Level Spells: Buoyancy Net^*, Calm Animals, Cure Light Wounds, Detect Chaos, Expeditions Retreat, Hold Portal, Protection from Chaos, Remove Fear, Resistance, Shockwave Strike^* and Virtue

2^nd Level Spells: Calm Emotion, Endurance, Lesser Restoration, Make Whole, Remove Paralysis, Resist Elements, Silence, and Undetectable Alignment

3^rd Level Spells: Dispel Magic, Neutralize Poison, Magic Circle Against Chaos, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, and Water Walk

4^th Level Spells: Brothers in Arms^*, Discern Lies, Dispel Chaos, Freedom of Movement, Order’s Wrath, Restoration, and Stoneskin

Smite Chaos (Su): Once per day, a Halaglaz of 1st level or higher may attempt to smite chaos with one normal melee attack. She adds her Wisdom modifier (if positive) to the Brother of Halaglaz 's attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per level. If the Halaglaz accidentally smites a creature that is not chaotic, the smite has no effect but it is still used up for that day. This goes up to 2/day at 4^th and 3/day at 8^th level.

Bonus Feats: Ambidexterity, Blind-Fight, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Power Attack (Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Great Cleave), Quick Draw, Toughness, Two-Weapon Fighting (Improved Two-Weapon Fighting), and Weapon Focus

Halaglaz’s Second Blessing: The Halaglaz has learned to focus their will to deny all chaotic effect.  At 5^th level, he receives a +2 divine bonus to all save against any spell with the chaotic descriptor and any effects that cause confusion.

Halaglaz’s Law: The belief of a Brother of Halaglaz in the inevitability of order’s triumph strengthens their magical power and focus, when casting a spell with the Law descriptor he casts the spell as if one level higher and gains a +1 divine bonus to the spell’s DC and spell penetration checks (the spell penetration bonus is raised to +2 against chaotic creatures).

Halaglaz’s Third Blessing: The Halaglaz’s focus is immense and their will to succeed is amazing.  At 9^th level, he receives a +2 divine bonus to all concentration checks and saves against pain, exhaustion, hunger or thirst.

Ex-Halaglaz: A Brother of Halaglaz who loses his lawful alignment loses access to all powers and abilities of his Halaglaz levels (except for base attack and saves) until he both regains his lawful alignment and atones.

Palaestra GM Notes

Always chaotic creatures: bodak, celestial (ghaele), chaos beast, demons (all), dragons (black, brass, copper, white), drider, dryad, gargoyle, djinni, ghoul, ghast, girallon, hags (annis, green, sea), howler, lillend, magmin, mohrg, nightshades (all), nymph, pegasus, shadow, slaadi (all), sphinxes (androsphinx, hieracosphinx), titan, troglodyte, troll, umber hulk, unicorn, vampires, vampire spawn, werewolf, and will-o’-wisp

^* These spells are OGC from Relics and Rituals by Sword and Sorcery Studios

— the sacred rune of halaglaz

Special thanks to Sean Holland who helped me with this class and to Steve McDonald who suggested it.