Sworn in the Fire

Today, I'll be talking a little about the Flame Keepers, one of two traditions of faith arising from a single island in the Venian Archipelago. A pair of ancient cities, Caetei and Ishli, separated by a great mountain, survived through the long dark night through devotion to their faith. By following and venerating the servitors of their old gods--refugees from a war in the heavens that fled to the mortal realm.

Though even among the angels, there was little agreement on what path to take forward. The two cities came to be of two minds, shaped by their own unique traditions and the wills of the divine.

In Caetei to the North, there were the Keepers of the Flame.

The great fire god, Neshnan, who ruled in Anoris, sired many blessed children. A number of these ascended to power in the eight courts, serving their father, and the other gods as well. Known for their aggression and love for competition, the scions of Neshnan fought their way into places of influence within the courts, respected by all but the ancient Rhanna, who saw them as reckless and ill-tempered.

The few of Neshnan's children who survived the war, and the fewer still who fled from heaven, congregated in the city of Caetei, which they saw as their ancestral home. When they arrived, they found a frightened, starving people, desperate for their aid and leadership. The children of Neshnan used their power to provide for the people, and seeing that this crisis would not soon be over, they set themselves to teaching the people how to be strong enough to provide for their own needs.

The sacred Flame, as described by the scions, is a metaphor describing the driving force behind one being, a combination of the soul, the anima, and the will, given shelter and sustenance by the body. Over centuries of their existence, Neshnan's children found ways to make this metaphor very real through the practice of pyromancy, and they could stoke the flames in a man as easily as the flames in an oven. It was this strength, the strength of the individual, that the scions saw as a necessity for the survival of Caetei.

Acolytes of the Flame were trained by the scions to tend to the masses. They went forth extolling virtues of asceticism, bodily purity, and an endless struggle toward self knowledge and improvement. All of this was planned so that the scions themselves could one day return to the heavens, knowing that their people would remain strong without them.

Food, of course, was the greatest of concerns in these early days. So the people were ordered to construct special kilns, within which the earth itself could be baked into a simple bread, charred and bitter, but enough to sustain life. In more prosperous times, this "Bread of the Land" would become a sacrament and a charity to the poor.

Eager to return to the heavens and rebuild from the ruins, the children of Neshnan did in time leave Caetei, promising to continue speaking to the priesthood and offering their guidance. But over time, their revelations became less frequent. They spoke of wars that continued in the outer realms, between the servitors, and with other, stranger adversaries. By the time the light of the sun had returned to its full strength, the scions of Neshnan had gone silent.

But the tradition of the Flame Keepers continued, and the people thrived, in time spreading their influence to Zsafi and Innapi. Keepers of the Flame expanded into many other territories as well, with varying levels of acceptance. Within the Solis Imperium, they are forbidden from open worship, but a number of monks in the Radiant Temple secretly follow a minor heresy that seeks to add tenets of the Flame to their own scriptures.

It is said today that Flame Keepers await the arrival of a new god, one they expect to arise from the faithful, who have cultivated an inner fire so pure and so intense that they rise above the limitations of a mere mortal. Above even the scions. To date, no one has risen to the challenge.

And that's all for today, folks. Next month we'll discuss the other faith from that island, the Moonlight Vigil. Until then, stay safe. Stay healthy. And take care of each other.