Memory Domain

 "Truth, whose mother is history: history, the simulacrum of time, depository of deeds, witness of the past, example and lesson to the present, and warning to the future." -Miguel Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Servants of the gods of memory are few and far between, as are the gods of memory themselves. The Raven Queen perhaps stands as the supreme example; rather than collecting to herself the real stuff of history, the platinum coins laid beneath the claws of Bahamut or the bloody eyes cast around the Throne of Gruumsh, she collects a collage of memories both true and fanciful, the scattered twigs and cast-off scraps of breakfasts eaten and conversations half-remembered. She collects the threads of desire and fear that are the echoing heirs of a life spent encased in flesh, the sputtering remnants of discarded, dying divinity. What she does with these strands, no one knows; perhaps she takes them and weaves them into a sublime nest where her devotees will gestate when their time approaches. 

Memory is intangible, untouchable except by its own slow, ponderous self-mutation; elves and orcs may recall different reasons for their long wars, and who is to say which memory is false and which memory true? Even if a historian claims proof in the present of some long-lost reason for an ancient conflict, proof is slow to overwrite the slow, grudging memories of the eons. Gods of memory occasionally send forth their messengers to whisper this wisdom; a voice in the ear of the listening heart, fragmentary pieces of recollection and thought. Whether or not the divine mind is more concerned with obsessive collection than with careful curation is, possibly, what determines whether such memories spark rebellion or bring an end to war.

Clerics of memory weave together these strands of time and help souls navigate that precious, tortuous journey to the afterlife. In their dying moments, does a life flash before their eyes? If they die too swiftly, what happens to those sudden dissolved strands of recollection and pleasure, pain and motivation, that together concresced to form the whirlpool of their brief, incarnate existence? Clerics of memory make every effort to capture and catalog the testaments of the dead, ensuring that souls that die in their vicinity get properly conveyed through to the life beyond, where the final strands of dying, dissolving echos of thought can be cataloged before they sputter out like one more weak candle. Perhaps, one day, from these disparate strands of things forgotten, things remembered, things misconstrued, and things long lost, the deities who guard the halls of time will be able to make something new.

Domain Spells

Cleric Level - Spells Gained

1st - bless, faerie fire
3rd - gentle repose, see invisibility
5th - revivify, speak with dead
7th - death ward, guardian of faith
9th- modify memory, raise dead

Shepherd of Time

At 1st level, you gain the ability to convey a soul safely to death free of interference from necromantic arts. Whenever a creature you can see dies within 60 feet of you, you may spend your reaction to psychically gather the creature's soul and commit it to the passage through to the next life. For the next minute, the creature is protected from being animated as an undead creature. This psychic gathering also grants you insight into the death rituals which would be most important to the dying creature. If these rites can be performed (even by proxy) at any point before the expiration of 24 hours during a ritual of no less than 1 hour, the creature's body will be protected from being animated as an undead creature and its soul will be unable to be unwillingly affected by magic that targets departed souls. This effect does not effect the decay of the corpse or the time limit of spells such as raise dead or revivify. You may use this feature a number of times equal to 1+ your wisdom modifier (minimum of 1), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a short or a long rest.

Bonus Cantrip

You learn the spare the dying cantrip, which doesn’t count against the number of cleric cantrips you know. For you, it has a range of 30 feet, and you can cast it as a bonus action.

Channel Divinity: Gatherer of Deeds

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to read the memories of another creature.

As an action, choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. For up to one minute you can sense and understand the surface-level memories of that creature (usually its activities within the past few hours). Questions verbally directed at the target creature naturally shape the course of what it remembers and recalls. As an additional action, you can shift your attention to another creature's memories within range. Questions verbally directed at the target creature naturally shape the course of what it remembers and recalls. These surface level memories can be probed without the target becoming aware of your intrusion on its mind.

You may also choose as an action to probe more deeply into the creature's memories, learning details of its memories it may have suppressed, or memories that would provide insight into its fears, motivations, desires, and any orders it might have given or received. If you probe deeper, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw. If it fails, you gain access to these memories. If it succeeds, the effect ends. Whether the save succeeds or fails, the target is aware of your attempt to probe its mind.

Fortress of the Past

As an adept collector of memories, you have learned to guard your own mind against the intrusions of others.

Starting at level 6, you gain resistance to psychic damage, and you are immune to magic that allows other creatures to read your thoughts, determine whether you are lying, know your alignment, or know your creature type.

Lash of the Present

At 8th level, you learn to imbue your weapon strikes with magic that summons the most painful memories of the creature struck and bring those memories painfully and psychically into the present. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 psychic damage to the target. When you reache 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Dynamo of Dissolving Futures

Starting at 17th level, you can siphon a small slice of the mystic energy generated by the memories of a creature suddenly dissipating at the moment of their death. You have access to a resource called Soul Dice. Whenever you use your Shepherd of Time feature, you obtain two Soul Dice equal in size to the size of the hit die of the shepherded creature. You may have a number of these dice equal to twice your wisdom modifier (minimum of 2). You may spend these dice to either to add damage to an attack you make or add hit points to any of your healing spells. You may spend up to 5 of these dice on the same damage or healing roll, but you must choose the number you will spend before rolling any of them and cannot use any feature to alter or re-roll the result of the roll.