Editing Ezra (section)

==Tenets==
The tenets of the Ezra faith are... confusing, to put it mildly. Each of the four sects interprets Ezra's doctrines in its own way, and this, aided by the fact that, in a stunning display of incompetence, the 3e books can't even be bothered to overtly lay out just what Ezra's core doctrines are!

The only official Dogma write-ups that exist for the faith are those belonging to the Erudites and the Zealots, both of whom are... quite unique in their interpretation. Those wanting to stick closer to the purer interpretations of the Home Faith & Pure Hearts have to read between the lines or look back to the fan-written "Anchors of Faith" for any guidance. Even the Church of Ezra writeup in the 3rd Ravenloft Gazetter is barely any more informative than the brief paragraph-sized blurb given in the Ravenloft corebooks when it comes to informing a player what their Ezra-worshipping PC should actually ''believe''.

At its core, the Church of Ezra is a henotheistic faith; it worships the protector-goddess Ezra as the only deity interested in the fates, comforts and protection of mortal beings. Her faithful are charged with emulating her protective role, serving as healers and guardians to the faithful and opposing the Legions of the Night (aka, the various forces of evil that stalk the [[Demiplane of Dread]]). Whether anchorite or layperson, a follower of Ezra should protect the weak, care for the sick, and seek the betterment of the human condition.

At the same time, Ezra herself is part of "The Grand Scheme", a great cosmic plan that will eventually unfold itself and reveal the true purpose of all reality. This gives the Ezra faith as a whole a strong belief in fate and predestination, although their interpretation of these beliefs is, again, based on the general slant of the sect.

By extension, and understandably given the faith's history, Ezra's faithful believe strongly in divination, with great credence placed on the phenomena of omens, prophetic dreams, and holy visions.

Another key aspect of Ezra's faith is the concept of "salvation", which covers both physical and spiritual protection. Again, this is shaped by the greater beliefs of the sect, but the general viewpoint that anchorites take is that only Ezra can provide salvation.

Mechanically, this diffuse relationship has been reflected through the ''Shield of Ezra'', a protective aura of divine magic that all anchorites can call upon, which is why anchorites were their own unique class in AD&D.

In AD&D, this was an ability that an anchorite could use 3/day, taking 1 round to activate and lasting for a number of rounds equal to half the anchorite's experience level. The precise effect of the Shield of Ezra depended on the anchorite's sect - and, because of Domains of Dread's insistence that PCs in Ravenloft could '''not''' be evil, mechanics for Zealot anchorites were presented only in "Anchors of Faith".

In 3rd edition, the Shield of Ezra is instead the Domain Power of the Mists [[Cleric Domain]]. It can be used 1/day for 1 round per cleric level and, again, the precise powers of the Shield depend on which sect your cleric belongs to.

The sect's beliefs also influence what spells the anchorite can cast. In AD&D, all sects shared the Spheres of All, Charm, Divination, Guardian, Healing, Law, Protection, and Wards. However, which Spheres were Major and which were Minor depended on your sect. Additionally, they also had a sect-unique Minor Sphere. In 3rd edition, sect merely influences which secondary domain from the list that an anchorite chooses to take.