Lord of Blades, Faith and the Person

[Yogibear41]

So according to one of the Eberron books faith in the lord of blades is enough for clerics to receive their spells from, but the lord of blades the person is only stated out to be level 12, I don't understand how a level 12 person has enough power to grant spells let alone 9th level spells. If the faith in him was enough to be able to generate spells shouldn't he have ascended to god-hood already and be epic level at least?

[Dusk Eclipse]

You have to remember that faith and divine magic in general is different in Eberron, you can be a Chaotic Evil cleric of the Silver Flame (a lawful good "deity"). People aren't even sure if god's exist in Eberron.

[Red Fel]

So according to one of the Eberron books faith in the lord of blades is enough for clerics to receive their spells from, but the lord of blades the person is only stated out to be level 12, I don't understand how a level 12 person has enough power to grant spells let alone 9th level spells. If the faith in him was enough to be able to generate spells shouldn't he have ascended to god-hood already and be epic level at least?

It's not the Lord of Blades himself granting spells; it's the ideal that he represents. Remember, Clerics can be Clerics of an ideal, and receive spells that way.

[Psyren]

To answer that you need to understand how divine magic works in Eberron. Basically every cleric is more or less a cleric of an ideal - their belief is what gives them power, not so much the thing they believe in. It's not really the Lord of Blades himself granting the spells, so much as the faith of the warforged (and other folks) who believe he does. The gods are venerated but there is little to no objective proof that they actually exist, and they never intervene or communicate directly. Divinations that normally contact deities are answered by powerful outsiders like angels or inevitables instead.

Note also that level 12 is pretty high by Eberron standards. Granted there are some true epic (or near-epic) level players in the setting, like the dragons, but they're too busy with the Prophecy and such to bother with whatever the PCs might be up to for the most part. High-level NPCs are much more restricted in their movements and what they can do in order for the PCs to have the desired impact on the setting at large.

(Psyrogues, psyrogues everywhere)

[Ryuuk]

Gods in Eberron never felt like it did in other settings. They don't necessarily grant spells directly to their followers, you can't even use commune to speak with them, instead you end up speaking with an angel or other such outsider. According to Faiths of Eberron, "Clerics gain their spells from their own faith, not from divine intervention".

Followers of the Lord of Blades gain spells because of their faith in the cause and the cult of personality surrounding the level 12 NPC.