The Temple Caste

The priesthood breeds its own members. Very few, if any children, from outside the priesthood are accepted within its ranks. The only difference between young magi and young acolytes seem to be that the children raised in the temple have an eerie sensitivity to the forces of divine power, totally lacking in their magi counterparts.

Dhe'nar priestesses lay with young magi during the course of the magi training. From these insidious liaisons, the priestess' give birth to children who have not only an inborn grasp of the flows of essence, but also an innate ability to feel the flows of divine power.

The children of the priestess are born in public, before the assembled females of the temple. It is said there are dark rituals involved at the birth involving baptism in blood and devotion of the child to the dark ways of the Dhe'nar.

In the case of some of these infants, for whatever reasons, not born sound of limb or if the magic in their blood has resulted in a less than perfect Dhe'nar, the child is sacrificed to preserve the bloodlines. Of the children who survive the birth, few are deemed acceptable to study for the priesthood.

The remaining children, if blessed with magi potential are fostered out on families in the Dhe'nar society. When the child is old enough, and if the spark for magi potential has grown to a flame, the child is then reclaimed by the mages guild.

The children that meet the standards of the priesthood’s breeding programs are raised in a community nursery for the first eight years. They are taught the rudiments of Dhe'nar society: speech, dress, and proper respect towards elders. The priestesses spend very little time with these youngsters at this stage since so very few survive the entire training regime. Their rearing is left to specially trained midwives and nannies from the worker caste, supplemented by a Temple Caste overseer.

During the Years of Culling, in the case of the priesthood, the children face trials, which are carefully meted out by the Temple Caste, to gauge each child’s tenacity, resolve, fledgling magical abilities, and ferocity. These tests ensure that no Dhe'nar priestess or priest is weak.

The would-be priest children are divided at this point in their training by their weaknesses.