The Clerics

Brief Description

Beliefs
The God of Fire is their one true god. He is the one who brings forth light into the world and the one who ignites passion in our hearts. The Dawnbreaker is the one who will lead us away from the darkness. In older texts, there is mention of the Divine Mother, but all those have referred to her as a great evil.

The Moon Mother is a symbol of the spooks in the night and is the origin for the monsters that make up old children's tales. Magic is a plague to society, something to be used against humans. As humankind aren't inherently born with magic, it is something do not understand as well. A foreign enemy. It has been like this since magic has existed, but there are those who still try to study it.

It is one of the most popular religions in the Region of Norcrest and if is believed by most humans who live in the kingdom. Many schools have religion incorporated into the teachings and it's often that, especially for lower born members who do have an education, those religious texts were used as historical texts.

Origin of the one True God
They believe that the Dawn Breaker was once a man, like any of them, with a heart of gold. He was a commander of the forces that led ancient Viloris before it's corruption and that he protected the deserts with sun-touched skin and burning eyes. He was a loyal man, loyal to his word and to his actions.

It had been a suicide mission to take himself and his platoon to fight a great ancient dragon of Burning Peaks, but that had not stopped his spirit. It was the tallest mountain peak and closest to the sun, for the dragon was a fabled protector of the sun and its mystical fire. The dragon laughed when the group of human soldiers came to their lair, smoke billowing past them. "''You cannot kill me," he said, "For I have been blessed by the sun's fire. No mortal man can kill me." ''

The dragon's words did not sway them, for they had seen too many burnt down villages and charred corpses to back down from the vile beast. The men fought the dragon and perhaps it was their sheer willpower, but they managed to vanquish the beast. In his victory, the leader drank the dragon's sun fire.

It was then that the Moon Goddess came down from the heavens with a shriek of despair, he loyal pet, and protector of her other half. Filled with a righteous rage the Moon Goddess almost struck this man and his companions down, but she withheld. He begged, begged for a chance to be free of her wrath.

The goddess thought for a moment and decided to offer the man one single chance to prove himself to her... It was a fun game for her. She made him a deal. If he fulfilled her request then she would grant him the sun's fire that he had so eagerly drank, but if not then she would burn his country to the ground for his insolence.

The dragon he had vanquished was a mother dragon, but without their mother, the egg she had been sitting on was doomed to turn to stone with the time. He was given a single year to hatch this egg.

He tried everything in that year. He put the egg in the fire, he put them in water. He threw them in an attempt to crack them open by force. He gave them to midwives and children. The days flew by and soon the end of the year approached. He was out of options and when the Moon Goddess came down to see his progress he had nothing to show her. Her expression smug, the Moon Goddess laughed for it had been an impossible task. Only sun fire could hatch a dragon's egg and no man had even harnessed the sun, nor will they ever.

It was not known of men to cry, but for the first time he did. Tears spilled for the kingdom that was soon to be turned to rubble, for he had failed his challenge. Those same tears gleamed gold with the sun fire that he had drank all those many months ago. The egg split before him and the Moon Goddess and out came a dragon dark as night with eyes that shown with a glowing gold.

The Great Goddess was furious, but she kept true to her word and granted him something he was not expecting. She named the dragon Sun's Fire and gifted her to him, an easy loophole. The man before her felt cheated, but he was grateful his kingdom would live another day.

This angered the sun and out of spite, or perhaps doing what was right, the Sun itself granted the Dawn Breaker his name and his power. He became a protector of the sun and all the world it shone down upon, with his dragon Sun's Fire. It is also said that fire was gifted to mankind by the God's dragon, for on accident she burned half of the country side and turned it into a hot desert.

It is also said that the Moon Goddess, or better known as the Moon Mother, awaits the day she can trip the Dawn Breaker from his rightful place in the heavens.

Views on Other Species
Every other species except humans are viewed as creations of Moon Mother, who is an untrustworthy and cheating Goddess. All creatures, aside from humans, were created to foul the plans of humans and make their existence much harder. It is the job of the clerics to make sure that humans are protected.

Rituals
Cleansing Fire: It is common practice to bath one's weapons and armor in a sacrificial flame before a battle, or even just a hunt. It supposedly brings you good fortune and ensures that you will strike with the righteousness of the Dawn Breaker. Those who go without often find mishappenings along their travels.

Coals of Commitment: When being anointed to the full status of Cleric there is a night long vigil you must complete. You are set outside of the keep, where ever the head Priest sees fit, and you are meant to keep the coals burning till the sun comes up again. It is the duty of cleric to keep the fire burning even in the darkest times when there is no sun to give us light. Sometimes Clerics will get it easy, but sometimes clerics must keep their fire lit during the rain and while outside. If you fail then you must wait a year to do it again and you remain a trainee or a squire until then.

Recruitment
They take all willing participants who are willing to train with the other Knights of Fire. Of course, that's if you can complete the training courses and prove yourself a warrior.

Most of the time the clerics are raised from very young to be who they are, as the Church of Eternal Fire works very closely with most orphanages. If you have any capabilities then most likely they will try and rope you into agreeing to train with them. To a child who has no family and no future, it's an easy choice for them to make.