Ceremony of Bhal

This Religious ceremony is practiced exclusively by The SkullBrood Clan located o the Southern Peninsula of the Glaion Region. The practice is an intensive multiday affair where one Priestess indoctrinates a new acolyte to be granted the Blessing of Bhal. This blessing is a tangible interaction of a god directly associating with a mortal. While this isn't a unique occurrence as this type of blessing is practiced in all pantheons of The Great Tree, all gods do to some degree interact with their mortal subjects.
This blessing itself is made manifest by the Priestess being able to pray directly to the god and having a useful reaction occur. For instance a prayer for silence would, in fact, silence an area. While this does not mean that the god is beholden to the mortal, the Priestess does have their prayers answered quite frequently. What makes this blessing unique in the Glaion region, is that the god in question has no accepted place in the pantheon.
Bhal is an ostracized deity within the region, and hence the goblin clan is the only one in which there is direct interaction with. However, Bhal is widely accepted in Zybtine and the Northern Wastes. He is known as The Destroyer, The Conqueror, The Endless Ambition, The Master, in many other parts of the continent.
The Ceremony itself is a seemingly simple one, though has quite a few nuances to it. The ceremony begins with the Priestess and the chosen acolyte joining together in a prayer from "Mother to Daughter". The acolyte is then given a highly hallucinogenic mushroom found in the old forests in the foothills of the mountains to the West that is meant to induce a deep trance like sleep in the acolyte.
The acolyte is then surrounded my a number of small candles in a supposed rebirth in the fires of Bhal, and a long drawn out prayer to Bhal is then recited repeatedly for days. The Prayer is meant to allow Bhal to pass his blessing from the current priestess to the new one and thus a new priestess to the clan is made.
The trance like state in the acolyte is also meant to allow them to  take a dream journey where they interact with Bhal in a number of ways. For example, many past priestesses dream of fighting by his side in a battle for the heavens. Or having Bhal come and defeat a great challenge and be inspired by this. It should be noted that many priestesses never having been battle hardened warriors find many of these dreams traumatic, and thus suffer from a brief spell of paranoia and PTSD, and nightmares.
Some also find the dream journey so difficult that it awakes latent magic abilities as a defense mechanism for the happenings in the dreams. It is unknown as to why some do this and others don't, some speculate that those with already powerful abilities are more susceptible to this as it is easier to tap into them when under duress.
The ceremony also allows the clan to participate as their new "Mother" is being created. Where the priestess will invite those around to paint the clan symbols for whatever the clan member wishes the new "Mother" to be, on the acolyte's body in warm wax.
The ceremony is meant to a relatively calm affair where leadership is passed from one to another.

"Though as a side note this seems to be a carryover from a much more ancient ritual that has been forgotten throughout history. Though this also does seem to hold a particular bit of significance to the goblins themselves as they are an extremely family oriented culture that seems to put a heavy amount of weight in a chosen matriarch." Observation made by a Courtier in the Chancellor Chambers of Glaion on the Mother/Daughter prayer.

"Though, according to the Goblin Priestesses of old, all the powerful ones are made in fire and hardship. Priestesses that undergo particularly difficult dreams and display great power, typically usher in a new age for the clan." Glaion Spy reporting back to the Baron. in the Year of Fear 1232, in the wake of the recent purge of the goblin raiders earlier in the year.

Commentary made by the High Priest of the Welkford Brotherhood Year of Remorse 1236. "Though many have seen this as a barbaric ritual, I disagree. This popular viewpoint is only made because of Ilgor's experience with it. I think this is meant to be something far more tame. As is the Ceremony we participate in, we ask for the same blessing. It seems to me a much more subtle magic is involved here with this ritual, I do not understand it, but I can feel it. It does not feel like something went right here, and that is why her ritual was much more... how do I put it? Emphatic than others. Something just seems off..."