Flamespeaker Cults [Organization/Religion]

[Endless_Helix]

This is a new pseudo-benevolent/slightly disturbing religion  for my homebrew  Daerderak, The Infernal Sands, to basically contrast the Giver Cults mentioned in the Religion post, and provide a bit more conflict in Trael, Skal, and Vedim.

Flamespeaker Cults

[ic=Daralan, Ratling Flamespeaker]
Look to the skies, for that is where salvation shall be wrought! This land is bound in chains, and skyfire will melt these bindings and reveal our true selves! This world is merely a trial, a bed of coals to walk over! The Firebringers will cleanse the land of the impure dross, and bring true paradise to this world! Repent, repent for your souls, for the time has come to be consumed by flame and be remade!
[/ic]

The Flamespeakers are a group of cults that appeal to the lower classes of society, and most notably appeal to the slaves, spreading through the plantations like wildfire. Most slave owners don't really care about their slave's religion, as long as it doesn't affect their work. This is particularly true on the larger planations around Skal and Trael. When you've got a few thousand slaves, picking out individuals can be somewhat challenging. If a couple get too loud, just whip them into shape. This sort of environment is the ideal environment for small mystery cults, particularly based around physical and spiritual transformation.  It also leads to black magic cults. A slave with a modicum of divine talent, or a minor ammount of sorcerer's blood can easily pass himself off as a power curse-slinger.

This particular mystery cults has no known origins. It appeared suddenly and took root gradually.  What's even more perplexing is how it seemed to have no epicenter. It (most-likely) popped in to existence first around Skal, Shad-Iaiarach, and Ursaiden, and then seemed to jump randomly from there. However this is up for quite a bit of debate.

The tennets are simple. There are five immutable laws, The Law of Sympathy, The Law of Redemption, and the Law of Salvation, The Law of Comprehension, and the Law of Finality. The First Law declares that all actions effect the future, everything influences everything else, and any action shall be repeated five-fold on the originator. The Second Law says that this circle can be broken, by breaking this circle we find redemption. The Third Law states that when you have found redemtion, and understand your redemption , you may find Salvation. Your body will be as dross before the purifying flame of enlightenment. The Fourth Law states that Death does not remove all illusions, and  if you do not  you will wait in this world, as one of the Gray Ones, a ghost, until you find your Salvation. The Fifth Law states that all shall eventually find Salvation  This doctrine appeals to slaves for a number of reasons. They don't have to confront their master to get revenge, and risk physcial harm. It also provides a moral order to the universe, it makes everything seem slightly more bearable. The Law of Sympathy keeps much of the rowdier and nastier behavior in check; no-one wants to know what it feels like to die five times, and it really does help keep the slaves quieter so no-one objects.

There are a number of prophecies, but the primary one involves the death of the world. It suggests that in a five of five gnereations, the kingdom of Wind and and the Kingdom of Ice will send emisaries, heralding the coming war of their great nations. They shall crack the world in half. The salvation of the races must be achieved before that, or the lives lost in that conflict will be forever trapped in the Kingdome of the Gray Ones. A herald, from an unnamed force, shall be named the Firebringer and call to cities and the far reaches for salvation, freedom, and peace amongst all of the races and all of the Spheres.

The Church of Four calls it a Firbride cult and leaves it alone. It doesn't seem to do much harm.  However, a historical researcher from Vedim came accross some very odd facts about the cults. There is a curious uniformity of tenets and prophecies, which normally would be at least somewhat varied from cult to cult. A doctrine this unified is unheard of in a sampling of slave mystery cults. The only written record of these prophecies and codes is sitting in Xazier University's library, courtesy of the researcher. He believed that there was a "shadow monastery" that was hidden deep in the wastes controlling all of this. He also noticed that the number "five" figured prominantly into the symbolism (Five extraplanar Kingdoms, Wind, Ice, Earth, Fire, and the Grey Realm; Five Laws, a five of five generations, The list goes on.) However, he also noted that this is a popular motif in many religions of this era, which suggests that this religion isn't grown naturally. There's just too many references to five! Someone went a little overboard with that motif when they made up this religion. He believed that something was running the whole religion ( it was no longer a series of cults; it was definately religion, in his mind) for a secular reason; the cults were a means to an unknown end.

I'm trying to come up with some ideas for who's running the show, or  if someone is running the show, and where the logical conlicts are (Trael would be the least hospitable place for a Flamespeaker Cult, as the religion in that area is flat out hostile to anything which denies the Spiritual Castes of Traeli Druidism, but I'd imagine that others would be a least a little displeased.)

Comments, Crits, and Slander are completely welcome!

[Cantus]

Well, you said it yourself, as long as it's just the slaves that believe it, no one really cares...

If you really want a Power behind it, I might think that it could be some immortal, who's been enslaved for a rather long time, but manages to get sold almost as soon as his/her new owner's bought him, which would explain the uniformity of the religions.  Or it could be something a little less weird that a slave that got sold constantly, and instead be immortal and constantly traveling, staying with the slaves so as to remain unseen by the masters, and teaching them this "religion."  This Power then plan to, in 25 generations time, create a massive rebellion of some sorts.

Those feel like real bad ideas, but I'm tired and I'm gonna stick to that excuse.

[Raelifin]

Two things:

1) 25 generations at roughly 20 years/generation = 500 years. This makes for a pretty bad "prophesy" as it has no immediate impact on the lives of anyone on the world (any mortal, anyway.) I'd suggest shortening it, making it a prophesy from hundreds of years ago and/or making it more vague.

2) If there is some sort of mastermind, the cult needs a "request of service" from the believers. What this means is that the cult needs to get something back, even if that something is loyalty. At this point it seems more like Buddhism, all enlightenment and no tithe.

[Endless_Helix]

Two things:

1) 25 generations at roughly 20 years/generation = 500 years. This makes for a pretty bad "prophesy" as it has no immediate impact on the lives of anyone on the world (any mortal, anyway.) I'd suggest shortening it, making it a prophesy from hundreds of years ago and/or making it more vague.

Emphasis mine. Daekderak is teeming with creatures that have absurdly long lifespans that toy with the various humanoid races. I'll just have to get my dartboard out and give it a throw.

[spoiler=SPOILER ALERT]
I was thinking about bringing in the celestials and demons who opposed the dragons back in the dawn of time. A rogue angel or demon, trying to counter the dragons or scout out the world, or something along those lines.
[/spoiler]

2) If there is some sort of mastermind, the cult needs a "request of service" from the believers. What this means is that the cult needs to get something back, even if that something is loyalty. At this point it seems more like Buddhism, all enlightenment and no tithe.

That's a point I had entirely forgotten about that point. :eek: Perhaps a kind of  mixture of an intitation ritual to bring you higher up in the faith and a duty to convert or destroy those who reject the faith? I'm trying to use them to counter the Givers and provide some competition on the grass-roots level.