The Temple of the Four Stars:  This is a historical cult, popular in the Melitioran Plains prior to the Warlord's March.  In the current Era it is virtually unknown, though there are still adherents.  At its height there were five actual temple locations, in five major cities of the Melitioran Plains, four dedicated to one each of the Stars, and the fifth, central, temple in Podhotz, the eponymous Temple.  All five temples were destroyed by the Warlord early in his March, as the Four Stars had predicted his rise and the Temple was very active in attempting to prevent it.

The Four Stars are Gods, the Handmaidens of Fate in Temple Lore, and form a constellation in the night sky known by some as The Card or The Spindel. The Stars are 'Eleanea, the North Star, She Who Ushers in Endings', 'Halan, the South Star, She Who Remains, or occasionally She Who Endures', 'Gelei, The East Star, She Who Ushers in Beginnings' and 'Vutuz, The West Star, She Who Lights the Path'.  

(In Metaphysical Terms, the Four Stars are neither Old Gods (that would be 'Fate' in this sense), nor Gods of the World (elevated mortals))

Pilgrimmages are made starting from the Southern Temple, progressing East, then West, and officially ending at the North Temple, before a triumphant processional to the Temple of the Four Stars, though most pilgrims do not take that last step, being reserved for high ranking priests on official 'circuits'.   Note that on the East to West portion of the Pilgrimmage, it is forbidden to enter the city Podhotz, and it is unlucky to pass to the north of the city when going around. As a result a 'Southern Bypass' road is well developed and populated with shrines and permanent shops and inns far out of proportion to their proximaty to the city itself.  It is these south road Shrines that survived the Warlord's March into the modern era and are the heart of modern cult worship.

Devoted followers of the Four Stars have a lot of directional Taboos.  The dead are buried laying with their head to the north, their feet south and facing West.  Any long term project is always started from the South, the first wall of a building, for example is the southern wall, the last is always the north.  Luck is extremely directional.  Midwives always enter a room from the East, assassins always strike from the North (not that the Four Star approve of assassins per se), and to be a Northern General is to be a general who ends wars, a southern General is one who is never defeated, but a Western General is one who can not end wars.  East and West are 'Mystic' Directions, while North and South are 'Martial' Directions.  

THere are two Knightly Orders, with complex hierarchies, in the Old Temple. In both cases, young Knights are frequently given a simple task to oversee, independently, to see to their futures.  If the task proves beyond the Knight's abilities, he returns to training. If the task proves as simple as intended (delivery of a package to another city, for example, if the journey is uneventful and the recipeient is home), then the Knight is believed to be blessed with an easy life, if the task proves difficult, then the Knight is believed to be tested by the Stars, and to have great challenges difficulties ahead of them.

The Temple has a strange relationship with fortune telling, however.  While the Four Stars are related to Fate, they do not share men's fortunes directly.  This means that no member of the Temple may attempt to tell a fortune, not even their own. However, they are not forbidden from seeking out their fortunes by means of omens (such as the Knight's Quest) or by seeking out fortune tellers not affiliated with the Temple.   Many faithful will seek out fortune tellers and witches before beginning any major endeavor (Excepting the Knightly Quest, which is meant to 'force' an Omen from the Stars, seeking out one's fortune while on such a quest is disrespectful).

Knights of the Four Stars:  Melitioran Knights do not favor horses, nor do they reject them, they view them as primarily a form of transportation, this is particularly true of the Knights of the Four Stars, who lack a cavalry tradition.  KoFS favor heavy melitioran spears (long, wedge bladed spears with a heavy bronze ball used as a counterweight and, rarely, as a weapon in its own right), though knights are entitled to fight with any knightly weapon they wish.  Those melitioran cavalry use the same spear as a lance, tucking the flat end of the ball weight against the crook of their arm to brace it.
On foot the spear is used in great sweeps, to stab or cut, and it frequently is decorated with long streamers, used to distract opponents and, more importantly, to catch their blood for later use in religious rituals.  Some knights view using the weighted ball as a weapon is either dishonorable or insulting to their opponent, while other traditions (To include the KoFS) view it as a mark of distinction, a challenge and test of their skill.

As a general rule, melitioran knights of all sorts prefer to use great weapons or spears, thus shields are not highly valued by knights, and there is no heraldric tradition involving shields.  A few nobles might consider the shield a peasants armor, though their use by professional mercenary soldiers makes that less certain than it used to be. As a result, melitioran knights prefer to use their armor, something no peasant and few mercenaries can afford, as the basis for their heraldric devices.  The Melitiorans have, as a result, some of the finest decorative armor in the world. However, even here, the costs associated with engraving, etching, enamaling and so forth means that many knights can not afford a full suit, thus the amount of armor one actually wears is something of a status symbol. This is so ingrained that local orders, such as the Knights of the Four Stars, do not even allow actual armor to their trainees, keeping them in arming doublets, and subsidize armor with the Four Stars designs for full fledged knights of the order.

More affluent Squires will often invest in 'hidden' armor, plates under the doublet, rings inside the layers. Less affluent Knights will frequently invest in 'display' armor, with little protective steel and a lot of pretty designs.  In either case it is a faux pas to comment about the armor's worth, only its appearance matters.

Runes: Truth, Fate

Cult Skills: Pact, Persistence, Spears, Athletics, Perception, Insight, Meditation

Common Magic: Fate, Bearing Witness, Fanaticism, Spirit Bane

Divine Magic: Behold, Blessing, Gleam, Clear Skies, Extension

Myths:
The Sisters come Together (resonance 50%)
Behaviors:  Setting Aside Differences,

Witness the Ending of All (Resonance 70%)
Behaviors: Understanding and Accepting Inevitability,  Gaining Wisdom from Purpose

After the Warlord-
  Extinquishing the North Star (Resonance 35%)
Behaviors: Sacrifice of Self for Others, Fighting Against the Odds

Ranks:
Lay members - Worship at the Temples, undertake pilgrimmages

Initiates: Must dedicate at least 1 POW to pact. Members of the Knightly Orders may not lead the faithful in rituals and are called Squires (if they are in training) or Knights (if they have completed their first Quest)

Acolytes: Must have dedicated at least 3 POW to their pact.  Knights are referred to as Knights Militant and are expected to have slain at least one enemy chosen by fate (a divinely ordered duel, essentially). Occasionally, two candidates for Knight-Militant must face each other to determine which is favored by Fate. Yielding in this duel means excommunication from the Cult.

Runepriests: Must have a Pact of 80% and dedicated at least 10 POW and may not be a member of the Knightly Order... though many have once been knights.  Runepriests are forbidden from touching any iron with the exception of the ritual scrying bowls used under cloudless night skies to reflect the Four Stars.

RuneLords: Known as Lord-Knight Commander of the South (or North, there are two positions), and must have dedicated 5 POW to the Cult. To be chosen the Knight Militant must have successfully led a campaign against the Enemies of the Cult and must either fight to the death the previous Knight-Commander he wishes to replace OR must fight another candidate for the same position (who is posthumously granted the title of KC of the East or West, respectively. the pairing goes: South-East and North-West)


The Wise:

A witch-cult common throughout the north, particularly near the Hydenimois Forest, though the Wise may be found in the lands of the Reve and in the Tundrid Plateau.  In the modern era they are persecuted by the fire cults of the Melitior Plains, despite having no connection to the Warlord. In olden times they were feared by the superstitious for their power, but respected for their skills.  The cult is familial, however, and membership is through blood or marriage only and their greatest taboo is sharing their rituals with outsiders.  Males may only become Runelords and Females may only become Runepriests.  The Wise practice both Divine and Spirit Magic, though rarely together (that is, different adherents pick one or the other).  Many practice herbalism, alchemy and fortune-telling to make a living, and many Wise are midwives.

Runes: Moon, Plant

Common Magic:

Divine Magic:

Cult Skills: Lore: Fortune-telling, Bow, Insight, Healing, Survival, Common Magic

Myths:

The Three Faces of Woman in the Water

The Lord of the Forest Catches the Moon


The Cult of the Black Sands:  

Some 500 years before the modern era, a Heshite Battle-Sorcerer, scarred from bearing witness to another pointless war, began to preach in the Streets of Bantusa, that the God-King was not the Son of the Sun, as had been claimed for generations, but just a man.  This and other blasphemes led to his imprisonment, and a very public trial and castration. His tongue and eyes were burned out with molten gold, and he was released to die by exposure, all traditional punishments for his blaspheming the God-Kings of Hesh, but this Sorcerer did not die, but wandered blindly into the desert.  He returned a year later, riding the back of a great Salamander, and despite his lack of tongue he foretold the death of the God-King. Every day he returned to Bantusa, every day he repeated his claim, that by nightfall the King would be dead, and every night the King still lived. For six months he preached, until the God-King tripped upon a stone as he mounted his throne, and so died.  None saw the return of the Sorcerer, and none can claim his fate, but those adherents to the mantle of the Black Sands, those Battle-Sorcerers who turn their faces from the God-Kings and walk out into the Desert speak of a great book, as tall as a man, made of black bronze, with pages of beaten lead, chained to the back of a great lizard, and of its author, an old blind and tongueless sorcerer who carved its words with his own bones for a stylus.

The masters of the Book will teach any Battle-Sorcerer who renounces the divinity of the God-King, they demand nothing else. For those who are not of Hesh, the tests are sterner, harsher, for it is the Salamanders who must be pleased with the adherent... the same test awaits any who seek to further themselves with the Cult.

The Cult is deemed heretical within Hesh, and suspect among the tributaries of the Desert Kingdom.  Outside the region, those who follow its teachings are still viewed with suspicion, for many renounce all Gods, and they are reputed to be a selfish and cruel bunch.

Runes: Fire, Man

Common Magic: All

Divine Magic: None

Sorcery: The Grimoire of the Black Sands, Animate (Earth) (sand, using on non-sand is at a -20% penalty), Dominate Reptiles, Hinder, Intuition

Spirit Magic: Cultists gain a bonus (10%) to negotiate with fire elementals

Cult Skills:

Myths:



Lay Members: Must renounce the divinity of the God King (only for Battle-Sorcerers), must study the Grimoire of Black Sands.  For non-heshites (or non-Sorcerers) to be a lay member one must survive possession by a Salamander for 24 hours.

Initiates: May not have a Pact with any God. Must have at least one favor from a fire elemental

Acolytes:

Runepriests: Depending on the political climate must preach against the God-Kings in Bantusa and either be captured and punished for Blaspheme OR must escape then allow the cult to conduct the punishment (currently the God-King merely executes those who preach the Black Sand message, knowing this 'weakens' the Cult. Lay Members are frequently exiled unless they turn on the Cult)

Runelords: Must have slain at least five members of the God-Kings Cult (Pre-Warlord this was the Sun cult, modern era it is the Cult of Goddess Erd (river cult)) and recruited at least five battle-sorcerers to the Black Sand.


Fake Edit: I'm goingto return to this later. I'm typing it on a netbook, and the  god damn mouse-pad is driving me fucking nuts with the constant moving the cursor around. I just lost two paragaphs on heraldry that I can't get back.

Further cults for this thread include the Wise, the Sorcerous Cult of the Black Sands (a Heshite Cult), the Heshite Sun Cult, the Heshite River cult and moon cult, the Reve Sea Cult, the Maxcai Spirit Cult, a Heshite 'Necromantic' Cult, Heshite Death Cults (very distinct).

I will probably do a decent post on Heshite Civilization as well.

Actual Edit 1:  'finished' the Temple of the Four Stars, Added the start of the Wise and the Black Sands, both need refinement.  The Grimoire of the Black Sand may be adjusted from the working spell list given (used in character creation) to one more in keeping with the write up. Also, the 'Cult' of the Battle-Sorcerer's of Hesh will need a write-up.

Good stuff. :cool:

It's always inspiring to read what people have been doing with the Runequest cult subsystem. I particularly liked the Four Stars.

The Wise seem to be missing some info.

And the Black Sands teach both Sorcery and Spirit Magic. Is that "legal" per RAW, or a houserule? (it doesn't strike me as unbalanced because it is a smallish grimoire, and only one type of spirit)

I think its legal to teach two type of magic, I certainly don't remember seeing any rules against it! Besides: Sorcerers who learn some of their tricks from fire elemental is just too cool to pass up!

But all the cults, in MRQ, all the grimoires and divine cults seems (officially) limited to about four spells, thereabouts, which is painfully limiting. I could put four spells into the Black Sand grimoire and only cover 'moving sand around', and I've got three thematic elements to hit with the spell list!  Also: I am cheating by letting 'Move Sand' also move 'earth'... the sample sorcery cult has 'move sand' that is ONLY Sand, but that seems abnormally limited given the small lists and the fact that I'm not actually having the players tromp through the desert...

As for the Wise, they sort of got short shrift. First, they share a lot of 'local culture' elements with the Temple of the Four Stars, being that they are in the same region. Second, Its a small, family based 'witch' cult, so a lot of mystery and 'I do woodsy stuff and talk mysteries'... not a lot of formal, detailed stuff there. I still have some work to do on them and the Grimoire, with their myths and such which may fill them in a bit.

This is unfinished, but I've been working for two days on it, and it's easier to work on it in edits for whatever reason...

Cult of the Heshite Battle-Sorcerer AND  Hesh Cult of the Sun
Prior to the Reign of God-King Hurammadulji, Divine Child of Erd, the Heshite Battle Sorcerers were exclusively members of the Sun Cult.  Battle-Sorcerers are the strong heart of the Heshite Armies, and the loyalty of this cult was, for a time, the heart of the Sun Cult's power. Even today, a thousand years after  Hurammadulji dynasty, the Grimoire of the Battle-Sorcerers can still be found in the center of the Great Pyramid-Temple to the Sun in Bantusa.   Many Sorcerers still follow the Sun, predominantly, and it is from Him that they draw their power, His light that uncovered the mysteries of their magics.
The Grimoire of the Battle-Sorcerers is  upon great dolmens of obsidian, arranged in a ring in the center of the Pyramid, the light of the Sun shining down  upon them from the open peak at the height of the day.  Depending upon one's mastery of the secrets, the runes carved upon the stone should be read only from the outside of the ring, or only from the inside.  Depending upon which spells one is attempting learn dictates the time of day that the spell can be studied.   Regardless of which cult of Hesh sorcerer aligns himself, it is impolitic to show less than total reverence to the Sun while studying the Grimoire, and while a Sorcerer may give his allegiance to any Heshite God, the Runepriests and Runelords of the Cult all dedicate their souls to the Sun, and the high priests of the Sun Cult are all powerful battle-sorcerers in their own right.
Battle-Sorcerers all serve in the Armies of Hesh, and all are, or were, officers.  They are not expected to fight directly, and personal glory is found in victory of the troops commanded, not in enemies personally slain, and so a good portion of their magic is used to support.  The uniform of a Battle-Sorcerer is a heavy linen kilt and a wide leather belt, and a staff or a bronze, crooked greatsword, enchanted to have the weight and hardness of fine steel.  A battle sorcerer who stays with the army, or comes from a wealthy family, may invest in armor enchantment tattoos, just as the soldiers and mercenaries of Hesh, but those serving only a short time rarely bother.
The Sorcerous and Divine Cults are so intwined that they are listed once.

Runes: Sun,
Common Magic:  All (Sorcerous Only)
Grimoire:  Wrack (Sun),
Divine Magic: Sunspear,
Cult Skills: Sorcerous:  Grimoire, Manipulation, Lore: Tactics, Staff, 2h Sword,
Cult Skills: Divine: Pact, Lore:Theology, Lore: Tactics, Staff,

Myths:
The Sun forces the Secrets from the Earth (Resonance 70%)
Ranks: Note that members of the Battle Sorcery Cult and the Sun cult may hold high ranks in both cults without prejudice. However, to rise in either cult requires that both magic skills be among the 'selected' cult skills.
Lay Members: Sorcerous: Must serve an officer in the Heshite Army
Lay Members: Divine: None
Initiates: Both: 30% skills. Sorcerers: Must swear oaths of loyalty to the God King. Divine: Must reveal a personal, secret shame publicly at the height of the day.
Acolytes:  50% skills,  Must endure an ordeal of exposure.  Traditionally this is two days without food or water in the public square before the temple.  To accept any offer of food or water is to fail, and the Temple faithful are sure to tempt the would be Acolyte.   It is very common for a would be acolyte to have to try several times before succeeding. The most devout will hire guards to keep them from sleeping during the ordeal, though it is forbidden for such guards to interfere in the temptations, frequently they will offer advice to their clients during the process.
Runepriests:  Magic Skills at 80%, others at 75%.   To become a runepriest one must have uncovered a secret that has been buried or hidden away and brought it to light.  The Cult will reject trivial secrets, of course.
Runelords: Skills at 85%. A candidate for Runelord in either cult must have overcome a dangerous enemy to the Cult, proven themselves in battle.  They must also voluntarily take a magically enforced oath to never let a lie pass their lips.  

Heshite Cult of the Moon,  
The Heshites generally only recognize the First Gods, though their interpretation of the Moon is distinct, even unique, in Haven.  Some suggest that the Hesh Cults have had more personal contact with the Gods than many other cults, and the Heshite Cult of the Moon is a victim of vanity.  The Hesh depict the Moon as a beautiful woman, powerful and sexual.  Moon priestesses invert the Sun Cults tendency to polygamy with polyandry, and when this cult is dominant, so too are women in Hesh.  Many of the Inititates of the Cult are prostituites and concubines to powerful men, and the Cult leverages this power to influence the politics of the Kingdom, retaining power even when the Cult of the Sun is dominant, for tradition holds that the Moon is the wife of the Sun, and so too she is the wife of the God-King.  
Times when the Moon Cult is dominant are periods of great instability in Hesh, however, for in many ways this Cult is reactive to the often restrictive culture of Hesh.  Debauchery and crime are prevalent, civil wars among the nobility of Hesh are more common.  However, historically, when the Sun Cult wanes in power, the Moon cult tends to fill in the void until the Sun cult recovers its political clout.  Many, especially adherents to the Erd cult, hold that this is a deliberate ploy of the Sun Cult, to provide a period of anarchistic mayhem so that the people of Hesh welcome the stern, harsh laws of the Sun Cult.
However, adherents of the Moon Cult like to point out that periods where they have run the Kingdom have also been periods of great prosperity and growth.  They like to point out that the Morning Period God-King Baknajureb, a Child of the Moon, and his dynasty, held colonies in what is now the Pepper Savannahs, his armies demanded tribute from the Spada, that, in fact this period is the time when the Hesh had a navy, and fought the Reve for dominance of the eastern coast...  and that the loss of this great empire coincided with the return of the Sun Cult.  
Notably, battle sorcerers who are adherents to the Moon Cult tend to be more powerful, this joining of the two cults is viewed as synergistic, where the sun-sun cults are viewed as complimentary.  It was this synergy that allowed the Moon Cult to break the dominance of the divine Sun cult over the Battle-Sorcerers, though this was initially caused by infiltration and secret conversions.
Note:  Due to the unusual focus of Heshite Moon Worship, they replace the Moon rune common to almost all moon cults with the Disorder rune.

Runes: Disorder, Magic
Common Magic:
Divine Magic:    
Cult Skills:  Lore:Theology,  
Myths:
The Moon Steals the Light of the Sun - Resonance 90%

Membership: Requirements vary by gender. The moon cult is officially dominated by women, and men who raise to the ranks of Runepriest and Runelord are called 'Consorts'. However, traditionally the Male Runelord (consort) is considered a 'Child of the Moon', and eligible for the title of God-King, should the Moon Cult take power... if the moon cult is already in power, then only the children of the current God-King are eligible due to dynastic concerns.  There have been female God-Kings in Hesh history, but few know of them as they are recorded as males.

Heshite Cults: Erdites
According to Heshite myth, the Sun and his Consort, the Moon, founded the Kingdom of Hesh long ago. A dozen lesser gods and goddesses, many swearing allegiance to these two ancient Gods, attended them and are worshipped even today by small, generally impotent cults.   However, the early Hesh were poor and starving, for the Sun is a harsh master and the Moon is capricious and uncaring. It was the Goddess Erd, the Great River, who saw the plight of the early Heshites and though she had not been invited, provided food and water to the people of the Desert, and guarded their southern border with her fierce children, the River Gods.   The earliest recorded King of Hesh, Munab-ka, is said to have wedded her, making his dynasty the first God-King, though it was not long before the Sun rose and the Morning Period of Hesh history began, but the power of the Erdites has never disappeared.

Runes:  Beast, Water
Common Magic:  Beast Call, Becalm, Endurance, Extinguish, Heal, Strength, Vigor, Water Breath
Divine Magic: Beast Form (River God), Bless Crops, Ebb and Flow, Rain, Resurrect
Cult Skills: Lore (Theology), Lore (History), Insight, Swim, Boating, Shiphandling, Unarmed
Myths:
Erd saves the Heshites (Resonance 60%)

Quote from: Spike;457030I think its legal to teach two type of magic, I certainly don't remember seeing any rules against it! Besides: Sorcerers who learn some of their tricks from fire elemental is just too cool to pass up!

But all the cults, in MRQ, all the grimoires and divine cults seems (officially) limited to about four spells, thereabouts, which is painfully limiting. I could put four spells into the Black Sand grimoire and only cover 'moving sand around', and I've got three thematic elements to hit with the spell list!  Also: I am cheating by letting 'Move Sand' also move 'earth'... the sample sorcery cult has 'move sand' that is ONLY Sand, but that seems abnormally limited given the small lists and the fact that I'm not actually having the players tromp through the desert...

As for the Wise, they sort of got short shrift. First, they share a lot of 'local culture' elements with the Temple of the Four Stars, being that they are in the same region. Second, Its a small, family based 'witch' cult, so a lot of mystery and 'I do woodsy stuff and talk mysteries'... not a lot of formal, detailed stuff there. I still have some work to do on them and the Grimoire, with their myths and such which may fill them in a bit.

It's 100% legit to teach any kinds of magic you want, and the only actual restriction is that a starting PC who's a member of a cult has a grimoire that has four spells, not that a cult can only teach four. I break that rule all the time.

I'm writing up all my Moragne cults and sects right now. I'm giving 10 cult skills, 12 cult common magic spells, and 12 divine magic spells per cult and two myths. Each sect of a cult has 10 sect skills, 10 sect common magic spells and 10 sect divine spells. I've attached a partial draft of the Church of the Hidden God, two monastic orders and a militant order to this post, with some rules at the beginning for how I use sects.

Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;457625I'm writing up all my Moragne cults and sects right now. I'm giving 10 cult skills, 12 cult common magic spells, and 12 divine magic spells per cult and two myths. Each sect of a cult has 10 sect skills, 10 sect common magic spells and 10 sect divine spells. I've attached a partial draft of the Church of the Hidden God, two monastic orders and a militant order to this post, with some rules at the beginning for how I use sects.

I like your sect rules.

I also like the High Medieval, Roman Catholic Church feel to your cults.

They do stand head and shoulders, in terms of power, above the core book examples (which I recall you specifically mentioning as weak).

How do you two handle cult members' access to magic? RAW or any houserules?

Quote from: The Butcher;457652I like your sect rules.

I also like the High Medieval, Roman Catholic Church feel to your cults.

They do stand head and shoulders, in terms of power, above the core book examples (which I recall you specifically mentioning as weak).

Thanks mate.

Yeah, my goal as part of creating fantasy Catholicism was to avoid having PCs joining a bunch of religions - I wanted it to feel like the real choices people had were within it; which faction to support or which order to join. The magic is kept under control by the economic factor - magic isn't cheap to learn. Even the Dombatians, who learn it for free, have to swear a vow of poverty.

QuoteHow do you two handle cult members' access to magic? RAW or any houserules?

I use RAW, nothing crazy, though I b/c it's possible to buy your way up the ranks in most of my cults, it's possible to get access to magic before you can properly make use of it.

Sorry Spike-Oh, didn't mean to steal your thunder. I'm liking your stuff so far, esp. since you and I are like the only two guys on the internets writing up our cults and posting them.

No problems. I sort of have to do this sort of thing, its as close to campaign notes as I get, and for some things (like... world building stuff) pulling shit out of your ass just doesn't cut it.

So, rather obviously, I have players in my setting once more, and EVERYONE is involved with magic and cults, rather than all ignoring them.

Here is a list of Cults that I should probably work up soon:

The Fire Cults (pre and post Warlord Era)
The Cult of the Wei Shakti
a Death Cult for Melitior and another for Hesh
Necromantic 'cults' (as my Heshite Battle-Sorcerer is interested in necromancy, and the Knight of the Four Stars is interested in undead hunting... again)
At least one Sorcerous Cult for Melitior and one or two for Hesh.
The primary Spadan Cult

I need to include the Sybil's Path pilgrimage/myth for the Wise, as the campaign is headed that direction at least for the time.

Since this is set an unspecified number of years before the Warlord's March, I can wait on the Cult of the Wei Shakti, but given the weight he carries with the players I can't leave it off indefinitely