Home to the former capital of the now-defunct empire of Lung Wa, Po Li is a nation that reveres divine magic. However, worship of the gods has long been forbidden here. Rather, Po Li carries forward faith in the so-called Eternal Emperor, master of the ancient Oracular Council, which uses all manner of divinations to make state decisions. In addition to general divination and soothsaying, the council’s practices include the divine Path of Numbers, a sacred system of numerology that describes eight basic energies. The interaction of these energies produces 64 possible combinations, and the council holds that these combinations are sufficient to describe the basis of every interaction in the cosmos. The Oracular Council uses the Path of Numbers along with the Dragon Empires zodiac, oneiromancy, extispicy, and other complex or esoteric methods to extract the wisdom that has sustained them since ancient times. To this day, though the emperor has long fallen, the members of the Oracular Council are the clerical and political rulers of Po Li, and their influence filters into the lives of all who live in the Tian nation. The fact that the previous emperor perished during the fall of Lung Wa has not affected the faith of the Eternal Emperor, which functions like a monotheistic religion. Rather, the oracles claim they are ruling in the place of a yet-to-be-identified living heir, holding the land and its people together only until their rightful ruler is reincarnated and ready to emerge and claim power. Skeptics suggest that the oracles have neglected to identify a living heir to the Eternal Emperor because they’re unwilling to relinquish their political control. The faithful, on the other hand, argue that the oracles await a sign from Heaven indicating that the true imperial heir has been reincarnated and is ready to unify the fractured empire. The faithful hold that the oracles’ failure to identify an heir is only proof of how committed they are to finally finding the exact individual fated to lead the land to further glory.
Initiation and Membership
Regardless of the council’s motivations, hopeful parents often present their children, claiming any host of divine signs that their youngster is the heir the council seeks. Most of these claims are summarily dismissed, and obvious lies risk bringing shame to entire family lines. Some of these children, though, show true promise or might even carry divine signs of a greater fate. The oracles often adopt and raise these youngsters to adulthood among their ranks, training them in their divinatory and political ways. Many such adoptees eventually become members of the Oracular Council. Some instead become wandering heroes who defend the needy in Po Li and beyond or work on the state’s behalf to further the oracles’ schemes. These heroes in turn often take on apprentices of their own, passing on the traditions of the Oracular Council to those worthy of their sacred practices.
Working for the Council
Besides producing adventurers and sages who pass along the ways of numerology and related practices to new generations, the council often interacts directly with heroes; specifically, council members often employ heroes to undertake tasks of divine importance to their order and to work on Po Li’s behalf. These tasks include tracking down rumors of children who carry divine portents or exhibit divine traits—after all, not all such children have parents who can journey to the council and present their offspring to the sages as possible heirs. Other times, the council involves adventurers in tracking down mysterious portents or the details of happenings that could shed light on the future threads in the divine cosmic tapestry. Further, the individual members of the council are also often clandestinely at odds with one another, and each pursues her or his own personal agendas, prejudices, and schemes. Individual council members often employ heroes for shadowy purposes or to covertly oppose one another, sometimes working through proxies or not revealing the true nature of the adventurers’ jobs until absolutely forced to do so.
Divine Numerologist (Oracle Archetype)
The Oracular Council of Po Li and those trained in their sacred methods often include divine numerologists, who use esoteric mathematics and numbers traditions to peer into the past and future and extract meaningful portents. The divine numerologist’s ultimate goal is to learn and understand the patterns in the equations and algorithms that underscore even the most chaotic forms of reality and use them to their personal advantage. Recommended Mysteries: Any. Bonus Spells: Prying eyes (10th), numerological evocation (12th; Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Mysteries 51), greater arcane sight (14th), moment of prescience (16th), foresight (18th). These bonus spells replace the oracle’s mystery bonus spells at these levels. Revelations: A divine numerologist must take the following revelations at the listed levels. Calculate the Odds (Su): At 1st level, as a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, the divine numerologist can quickly tabulate the variables affecting the current situation. This grants the divine numerologist a circumstance bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum +1) to her next d20 roll within 1 round. If the divine numerologist does not use this bonus within 1 round, the use of this ability is wasted. The divine numerologist can use this ability once per day at 1st level, plus one additional time per day at 7th and 15th levels. Program the Divine Algorithm (Su): At 7th level, the divine numerologist’s mastery of the divine mathematics allows her to set specific parameters in the divine equation to adjust the outcome of an event right as it is about to occur. As an immediate action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, the divine numerologist can take the average of a single roll of one or more dice, averaging each die separately (for example, the average of a d20 roll is 10, the average of 3d6 is 9, and so on). When using this ability, the divine numerologist can add any modifiers to the roll as normal. The divine numerologist must decide to use this ability immediately before the roll she chooses to affect, and the divine numerologist cannot reroll this roll, even if she has a feat or another ability that would normally allow her to do so. The divine numerologist can use this ability once per day at 7th level and twice per day at 11th level. At 15th level, the divine numerologist can use this ability three times per day, and instead of treating a roll as its average, she can instead treat the roll as its maximum result (for example, the divine numerologist can treat a d20 roll as if the result were 20). Final Revelation: At 20th level, a divine numerologist understands the math behind the entirety of existence well enough to significantly tweak her own personal fate. The divine numerologist ceases aging. She no longer suffers age-related penalties to ability scores and cannot be magically aged. Additionally, once per day when the divine numerologist or another allied creature within 30 feet of her threatens a critical hit, the critical hit is automatically confirmed.
Investigator Talents
Not all individuals associated with the Oracular Council are oracles. In fact, the council often makes use of noncasters who are devoted to Po Li and its faith in the Eternal Emperor. These individuals are often investigators who use numerology-inspired talents to further the concerns of Po Li and individual members of the council. Some of these talents are presented below. A talent marked with an asterisk (*) adds effects to an investigator’s studied combat or studied strike class feature. Only one of these talents can be applied to an individual attack, but the choice can be made when the damage is dealt. Numerical Alchemy (Su): The investigator’s skill with mental mathematics allows him to know exactly which muscle movements are necessary to mix an extract in the quickest, most efficient way. The investigator can expend one use of inspiration to mix an extract in 1 round (as opposed to 1 minute). Numerical Alchemy, Greater (Su): The investigator can calculate his movements and account for his reactions to danger or unexpected situations with lightning speed. He can expend a use of inspiration to mix an extract as a standard action. The investigator must have the numerical alchemy talent and be at least 11th level to select this talent. Numerical Strike* (Ex): Once per day when the investigator has confirmed a critical hit with a studied strike, he can deal average damage instead of rolling damage as normal. This includes the damage dealt by the successful attack as well as the additional damage from the studied strike. He can expend a use of inspiration to use this ability a second time per day. Using this ability doesn’t require an action. The investigator must be at least 5th level to select this talent. Numerical Strike, Greater* (Ex): Once per day, when the investigator has confirmed a critical hit with a studied strike, he can deal the strike’s maximum damage instead of rolling damage as normal. This includes the damage dealt by the successful attack as well as the additional damage from the studied strike. He can expend a use of inspiration to use this ability a second time per day. Using this ability doesn’t require an action. The investigator must have the numerical strike talent and be at least 13th level to select this talent. Numerical Strike, Masterful* (Ex): The investigator can use both numerical strike and greater numerical strike three times per day. The investigator doesn’t need to expend uses of inspiration to use either ability, but he can never use either more than three times per day each. The investigator must have the numerical strike and greater numerical strike talents and be at least 17th level to select this talent.