Nolissian Faiths

Church of the Silver Flame

Remove evil from the universe...

At Flamekeep (in Maridur) there is
The Voice of the Silver Flame is the highest of the hierarchy. The bridge of the people to the divine.
The Keeper of the Silver Flame. The intermediary of the Voice of the Silver Flame to the people.

Notes:

• Resurrection is forbidden as the souls of the perished go to the Silver Flame for peace & bliss and to strengthen the Silver Flame.

• The religion is more of having a faith in goodness in the world than there is of a deity-centric religion.

• The Silver Flame is a calling, a principle to live by on. It is to cleanse the world from evil.

Hundreds of years ago, an overlord named Bel Shalor threatened to break his bonds. A Ridurian paladin, Tira Miron, sacrificed herself and joined her spirit to the Silver Flame to rebind him. A pillar of silver fire rose at the spot of her sacrifice, upon which the city of Maridur was founded. Today, templars of the Silver Flame defend the innocent against supernatural horrors, while its ministers and common faithful lead lives of compassion and goodness.

• The Pure Flame

  • In the wake of the Silver Crusade that purged most lycanthropes to save the world from the curse’s threat, some citizens took their reasonable fear too far. The Pure Flame sect of the Church of the Silver Flame emerged as a radicalized sect focused more on “justice” than mercy. The Servants of the Pure Flame have a following to this day, with a fanatical devotion to cleansing the world from evil, regardless of the cost. Their intolerant views are vastly different than the values of the traditionally accepting and merciful Church of the Silver Flame. Servants are most common in Orm, along with a notable stronghold of the sect in Maridur.

• The Shadow in the Flame

  • Tira Miron’s sacrifice bound the overlord Bel Shalor, but it could not end his influence. His whispers echo quietly in the Flame, ensnaring the minds of the corrupt and gullible. His followers, some unwitting, others more than willing, form cults that seek to corrupt the Church of the Silver Flame from within. 500 years ago, Bel Shalor empowered his own Keeper of the Flame, Melysse Miron, and she contested the claim of the current Keeper, channeling the same power only a true Keeper could. Horrified at the implications and worried about the Shadow in the Flame finding a new Keeper should Melysse be slain, the Church had her petrified and stored in the deepest vaults of Dreadhold.

• Shulassakar

  • Said to be descended from an ancient group of Pheonix humans that followed the will of the couatl, these feathered serpentfolk worshiped the Silver Flame for many thousands of years before the Church of the Silver Flame was founded. They consider themselves sacred guards of couatl ruins scattered around the world, and fiercely fight the forces of evil. The shulassakar do not concern themselves with the tenets of compassion and cooperation the Church of the Silver Flame holds central; their focus is on the fight against darkness, and though they will save innocents when possible, those lost in the battle are a cost worth paying. Shulassakar view the Church of the Silver Flame and its adherents as children in the matter of faith, but children on the right track, whereas they are disdainful of all others.

• Kalok Shash, The Binding Flame

  • The Ghaash’kala tribes—primarily orcs, but including half-orcs and humans—worship a force known to them as Kalok Shash, “the Binding Flame,” which they believe holds the souls of noble warriors from time immemorial who have died fighting the corruption of Akvala. Most theologians agree that Kalok Shash is in fact the same force as the Silver Flame, though the two faiths have many differences.

The Silver Flame acknowledges that it is post-creation, a divine presence whose origin places it apart from the Old Gods or Known Gods. Born of the couatl sacrificing themselves to bind demonic forces, the Flame was mysterious and unapproachable for thousands of years. Finally, the paladin Tira Miron joined with the Flame and became its voice and semi-divine representative.

The Tenet of Purity. ‘Burn the corruption and taint of evil from all of the world. Other gods have begun the creation, but it is the Silver Flame, by searing wickedness and darkness from their imperfect world, that must complete it.’ This is the core mantra of the Silver Flame, and summarizes much of their worldview. It is a belief of duty, one that acknowledges the Silver Flame is a relatively new divinity that nevertheless holds an essential place in the balance between good and evil.

Degrees of evil. All evil must one day be destroyed, but the church of the Silver Flame recognizes varying degrees of evil. As such, certain forms of evil take higher priority for the Purified: alien entities from outside the world; unnatural evils such as undead or monstrosities; creatures of innate evil, such as hags and fiends; creatures who choose to follow evil; and the ‘evil within,’ the soul’s innate temptation to perform evil acts.

A church of dedication. Unlike the Host, the Silver Flame’s primary concern is not polite offerings to the appropriate deity in the appropriate situation. To follow the Silver Flame is to fervently believe and participate in its goal of actively erasing evil from the world. This has diluted somewhat with time, as populations are raised in belief of the Silver Flame instead of coming from other faiths to dedicate themselves to the Flame’s cause.

Purified adventurers. Clerics and paladins of the Silver Flame focus little on scripture and rote; their faith is proven by the actions they take to combat evil and the stalwart, unshakeable nature of their faith. Adventurers of the Silver Flame destroy evil or expose its ugly nature to the world wherever they go, or wherever they feel they are called.

The Sovereign Host

As is the world so are the gods, as are the gods so is the world.

Notes:

• No hierarchy.

• Followers and believers are called Vassals.

• Gods are worshipped as a whole than being particular to one deity.

• You get clerical powers due to your faith to your religion.

Legend holds that eons ago, fifteen great champions fought back the titans that ruled the world in chaos. Today, they are worshiped as the Sovereign Host— but though they once numbered fifteen, one of its deities was cast out of the pantheon, and is now lost to time. Worship of the Sovereign Host is the predominant faith in Nolis. Its worship takes many forms and the faith is tolerant of others. Most followers—known as Vassals—worship the pantheon as a whole, making specific offerings to a relevant deity in times of need. Clerics devoted to one Sovereign still revere all the Host, though they dedicate their life to practical service in a particular domain. The Hosts are what other religions call the Old Gods.

Doctrine of Universal Sovereignty. ‘As is the world, so are the gods. As are the gods, so is the world.’ This doctrine is the founding principle for worshippers of the Sovereign Host. It indicates that the gods of the Host are omnipresent, existing in all things. While deities might manifest through spells or followers, the deities of the Host do not speak directly to followers or present themselves in physical forms. The lowliest of the faithful is as surrounded by the Sovereign Host’s power as the most devout clergy. To worshippers of the Host, every detail of the world is proof of their deities’ manifestation.

Doctrine of the Divine Host. ‘The Sovereign Host is one name, and speaks with one voice. The gods are letters of that name, and the sounds of that voice.’ Vassals of the Host know that if the Host is in all things, no one deity of the Host should be raised above the others. Faith in the Host is polytheistic in practice, with Vassals asking the appropriate deity for aid as it applies to that deity’s purview.

Loose Hierarchy. The Sovereign Host does not have a rigid church structure at almost any level. Even the term ‘priest’ can be applied by general community agreement and can refer to a number of roles within the faith. Any general guidance for Vassals of the host tends to come from councils whose membership and selection process varies by region. These councils are the local authority for resolving disputes or disciplining wayward faithful, and as a result have a measure of political power.

Vassal Adventurers. Even adventurers who do not draw divine power from the Sovereign Host might pray to its various deities in appropriate situations. Clerics and other divinely inspired adventurers in Nolis keep the faith’s core tenets, chief among these being to spread the faith and protect the faithful. Vassals often have a friendly and accepting view of other faiths, believing them to simply be worship of specific aspects that fall under the Host’s broad purview.

The Blood of Vol

Look not to the skies, nor the depths below, nor even to the distant past or future. Seek the divine within, for the blood is the life, and in its call can be heard the promise of eternal life. One has but to listen.

Notes:

• No gods worshipped. Only the divinity within every creature.

• Some believe that there is no god.

• But all believe in the faith in one's self and their own capability.

• Your blood is your soul. So no blood, no soul.

• Your blood is the key to a good afterlife.

• Came to be from a war of elves and dragons.

• Long ago, a dragonmark appeared on an elf, the Mark of Death. This started House Vol that wanted to end the war. They sought to combine the blood of a green dragon, the Emerald Claw and a House Vol elf, Menara to form a child from the two. This child was known as Erandis, the half-dragon. This consummation and birth of what the sides of the war called to be an abomination united them. Both dragons and elves hunted down House Vol and Erandis. The Dragonmark of Death was lost after this. But, Menara was ready to protect her child. She used life and death magic to make Erandis a lich due to the fact that Erandis has not yet mastered the Mark of Death. With this, Erandis became a lich but Menara passed after hiding away Erandis's phylactery.

• Survivors of House Vol fled to the southern part of the continent to hide and start the Blood of Vol.

The Blood of Vol teaches that mortality is a curse, and that true divine power comes from within. The faithful, known as Seekers, believe that if other gods exist, they are cruel. Instead of worshiping a deity, Seekers seek to master the secrets of blood and life itself. This is a grim, practical faith that places high emphasis on unity, community, and making the most of one’s life in hopes of seizing the immortality the gods deny. Life is in the blood, and thus, once a person dies, their body is simply a tool to be used. Seekers have no objection to reanimating the dead, as they’re merely objects that can be put to good use. Some Seekers become sentient undead, such as vampires; outsiders think this means the faith worships undeath, but this is a fundamental misunderstanding. Rather, any Seeker that chooses undeath does so as a martyr, sacrificing their own divinity to preserve their knowledge and protect their communities—and thus, enabling those who still live to continue their pursuit of the Divinity Within.

Unlike theological differences of opinion between other pantheons, such as disagreements on the importance of particular deities or a deity’s relationship with the nature of the world, those who ascribe to the doctrine of the Blood of Vol do not believe in other pantheons at all. They literally refuse to believe in the concept of outside divine beings, seeking only to unlock the divine potential within themselves.

The Divinity Within. Seekers pray to themselves, believing that each being holds divine potential and must be bold enough to embrace it. Perhaps there is some truth to this concept, as Seekers praying to their own potential certainly wield magic just as effectively as clerics of other faiths. The goal of Seekers is to tap into their potential to achieve living (not undead) immortality, to create a personal afterlife instead of the grim fate that would normally await all souls.

Rituals of blood. Seekers believe that the key to divinity is in the blood, and therefore only the living can discover the truth of the Divinity Within. This means that undead, constructs, and similar creatures can never attain divinity in the eyes of the Seekers. Rituals often involve bloodletting and even blood consumption, and magical barrels have been created to preserve blood for future rituals or for magical purposes.

The unfortunate undead. Many Seekers use undead to their own ends, and many respected members of the Blood of Vol are intelligent undead of considerable power (mummies, liches, and the like). This gives some the impression that the Blood of Vol is an inherently evil religion when it is not. Seekers see the use of animated corpses as a thing of pragmatism, not of good or evil. Intelligent undead are pitied, not censured; nor is becoming undead a Seeker’s aspiration. Intelligent undead have sacrificed their chance to ever fully embrace the Divinity Within in order to provide leadership and guidance to others.

Seeker adventurers. No one kind of adventurer is more or less likely to be a Seeker than any of the others. The Blood of Vol is widespread throughout Nolis. Depending on one’s upbringing, an adventurer might be born into the faith or discover it later on. The only unifying factor is that each ascribes to the concept of the Divinity Within. As such, intelligent undead and warforged are unlikely to be Seekers or be accepted by them.