Prayer beads

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Prayer beads are a faith item. There are "standard" sets for each worshippable deity, which look different but work the same. Reconsecrating one of these standard sets of prayer beads will cause it to change its appearance (as well as removing any charge). For example, if a Hattian set, looking like this:

This is a string of prayer beads; twenty-seven perfect sandstone spheres threaded onto a strand taken from a fraying welcome mat.  The surface of each bead is etched with an intricate runic character, representing prayers and meditations dedicated to Hat.
The set of prayer beads sheds an irritating orange glow that makes you feel that someone is creeping up on you.

...is reconsecrated to Sandelfon, it will change into this:

This is a string of prayer beads; twenty-seven perfect polished granite marbles threaded onto a string cut from a plumb line.  The surface of each bead is etched with an intricate runic character, representing prayers and meditations dedicated to Sandelfon.
The set of prayer beads indifferently radiates a harsh grey light.

Aquisition

Regular sets of prayer beads can be bought in most priest shops, although in shops with rotating stock, they may be randomly unavailable. They cost &&&&&&&&&&+20000 $50 or the local equivalent.

Also, custom prayer beads can be ordered from Gemma on the south part of the upstairs gallery in the Temple of Small Gods. It is believed that all sets of custom prayer beads are the same weight, regardless of materials, ornamentation, number of beads, or other customisations  research If this has been marked on a page, it's because there was something that probably isn't known, that the person who edited the page thinks could be found out. Perhaps you could figure this thing out, and be famous evermore. . They come pre-consecrated to the deity of the person who ordered them, and can cost anywhere from &&&&&&&&&&+20000 $50 for a fairly plain set, to hundreds of dollars for a little more pizzazz, to tens of thousands of dollars for a ridiculously fancy set. They work the same way as the regular sets--although they can be ordered with more or fewer beads, a potential bonus if you like to move the beads around.

Charging

Prayer beads can be "charged" by holding them and praying, performing rituals, consecrating, or performing ritual burial commands. This has two uses. As the beads become more charged, they start to count as other faith items. First, they count as a holy amulet and can take the place of one in rituals requiring a holy amulet. After a bit more charging, they also count as a holy symbol. Finally, they will count as a holy relic. If you meditate over a set of prayer beads, a success will tell you--among the usual things--what items it counts as, like so:

In meditating over the set of polished moonstone prayer beads, you manage to gain some insight about it.  It is consecrated to Pishe, Goddess of Slight Showers.  It is a holy relic of Pishe, a holy symbol, a holy amulet and a set of prayer beads.

Also, when prayer beads have been charged a certain amount, they become a stat item, giving a bonus to wisdom--first +1, then, after more charging, +2. Unlike some other stat items, there are no ill effects that come with this, but the beads must be held to get the bonus. Interestingly, the MUD only seems to check for the bonus upon the actual act of holding the beads: if you are charging a set of prayer beads and go past the threshold of +1 or +2 wisdom, you won't actually get the wisdom bonus (or the increased bonus, if you were charging it from +1 to +2) until you unhold and then rehold them.

As a cosmetic effect, charged prayer beads have a description line--visible only to priests--that changes based on how much charge they have. While a completely uncharged set of beads looks something like this:

This is a string of prayer beads; twenty-seven perfect sandstone spheres threaded onto a strand taken from a fraying welcome mat.  The surface of each bead is etched with an intricate runic character, representing prayers and meditations dedicated to Hat.
The set of prayer beads sheds an irritating orange glow that makes you feel that someone is creeping up on you.

The same set, after being very slightly charged, looks like this instead:

This is a string of prayer beads; twenty-seven perfect sandstone spheres threaded onto a strand taken from a fraying welcome mat.  The surface of each bead is etched with an intricate runic character, representing prayers and meditations dedicated to Hat.
The set of prayer beads sheds an irritating orange glow that makes you feel that someone is creeping up on you.
It is surrounded by a pale, flickering holy aura instilled by the occasional invocation it has been involved in.

Both priests and followers can hold, charge, and otherwise use prayer beads.

Moving beads

While holding prayer beads, you can "click", or "move" one or more beads around the string. This is thought to use faith.rituals.special in some fashion, and the exact message you get when you do it does vary, but it's not clear whether it's possible to tm from it.  research If this has been marked on a page, it's because there was something that probably isn't known, that the person who edited the page thinks could be found out. Perhaps you could figure this thing out, and be famous evermore. 

click <positive number> beads on <prayer beads>
click [a] bead on <prayer beads>
move <positive number> beads on <prayer beads>
move [a] bead on <prayer beads>

By looking at a set of beads, you can see how many beads have been moved. If you're holding it, it will have a line that says either this:

None of the beads have been moved around the circle.

Or something like this:

<Number> beads have been moved around the circle, leaving a gap before the other <number>.

Unholding the beads resets them, and beads that aren't being held don't have that line at all.

External links