Flamepunk: The Church of the Holy Flame

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Fire is life.

It gives us light, that we might see through the darkness. It gives us heat, that we might survive a winter's chill. It cooks our food, it powers our forges, our industries. Fire is life.

Fire purifies, searing away all that is unclean, reducing our flawed corporeal form, in death, to ashes. Fire is truth, and hope.

The way is clear to us, a blazing path illuminated by the Most Holy Flame, leading us away from our impure nature, teaching us. Saving us.

Fire is transformation, freeing us, making us holy. When the bodies of the righteous burn, all that is impure in them is rendered into ash, and they become sacred. Beings of Heat and Light, transcending into perfection.

In death, all shall burn within the Holy Flame. The virtuous shall rise up to Paradise, and the wicked shall be consumed, transformed, sent back to redeem themselves in service to the living as Elementals.

All praises to the Holy Flame.

--From the Collected Sermons of the Transcendent Flame

(the above originally written by Brousseau, of rpg.net)

The Church

The Church of the Holy Flame is the primary religious force in (Name of World), and most people will - if only in secret - agree that it intends to remain that way by force, if necessary. The central tenet of Church doctrine is the worship of the Holy Flame, the spirit of the original flamebinder, the first person to ever call down fire from the heavens and bend it to her will. By this act, she transcended the crude ash of physical being and was purified to her essence.

So too is the destiny of all who embrace the light of the Holy Flame and believe.

Church Doctrines

Unto the Fourth Generation

The shadow of the parent is passed on to the child

--Path to Purity, verse I

The Church teaches that the sins of the parent are visited upon the child, and it is in the interest of every man and woman to live righteously, and seek to emulate the purity of the Holy Flame in all things, lest their children suffer for their selfish acts.

This can be seen in everyday life where the children of poor parents suffer the curse of being penniless themselves, and the children of rich parents have the blessings of wealth. Similarly, poor children are generally sicker, more likely to die young, dumber and uglier than rich kids.

The rich Guilds and powerful Hadar Families like pseudo-Divine Right because it provides a moral justification for their wealth, beauty, success, etc. The poor don't particularly like it, but the pseudo-logic evidence is hard to dispute.

Loyalty and Excellence

Obedience to those whose flame bears less shadow than your own is the key to purification

--Path to Purity, Verse II

Dogma further teaches that the only way to move up in life is to unquestioningly obey those with fewer shadows on their souls than you. The Church teaches constant loyalty, even to death, to those who are your betters. Finally, they teach Excellence in all you do, persevering against and overcoming the toughest challenges your masters place before you.

Often distilled down to the idea that "the Flame helps those who help themselves," this attitude can be seen in everyday life where those indendants who work very hard for a Guild can not only improve their lot in life, but also improve the lot of their children. With better education and medical care, their children are obviously prettier and smarter (on paper) than those born in the ash-slums.

The Guilds like the unquestioned obedience and working hard parts, but it's the Hadar Families that really like the unswerving loyalty and personal excellence; it's a bigger deal in a warring criminal organization than in a warring corporate environment. The poor don't particularly like this part either, but the pseudo-logic evidence is again hard to dispute.

Altruistic Tithing

He who provides fuel so that another's flame may burn brighter, shall be rewarded tenfold in the Realm of Purity

--Path to Purity, Verse III

Lastly, dogma teaches caring for those less fortunate than you, and it is here that the Church's true genius shows. Having their Missionary Hospices already in place, the Church argues that any other form of welfare are wasteful - only the Church, with their centuries of practice, can do it right.

This means that the Church is best placed as the sole source of handouts and medical care for the poorest people. This generates massive amounts of self-replicating gratitude on the part of the poor for the Church. Of course, hospices generally treat the symptoms, and not the problems. Similarly, they don't tolerate people who just want food doled out to them (the whole work hard attitude).

Generally they put those they're "helping" to work performing some Church or community service, like cleaning streets or caring for the sick and injured. If you prove yourself in these services, the opportunity exist to volunteer regularly as a hospice nurse, Church guard, Church "hostess" or one of dozens of other Missionary positions. These 'volunteers' are only paid in simple, bland food and a non-private spot on the floor in an unsafe and occasionally violent common room, but if you're down on your luck and starving to death...

The Guilds and Hadar Families don't particularly like this part of dogma, but they have very little choice in the matter, and realistically Tithing ten or even twenty percent isn't really all that much money to the richest. Over the years a type of blackmail system has sprung up where Church Paladins ferret out some of the less savory and shadowy secrets of the rich and powerful. Inquisitors then take the evidence of these actions and ask the individual implicated if he has any shadows on his soul he needs revealed to the Light. The Guild Sanctum Member or Hadar Mother/Father can then generally "buy forgiveness" for their sins by making a gift to the poor. The alternative is that the information leaks to where it can do the most damage: perhaps to a rival, or to your own employees, or even to the populace in general, inciting a riot. Time and experience has taught most not to screw with the Church of the Living Eternal Flame.

Of course, all is not bad, as especially generous or regular donations are noted by the Church: "This Eternal Flame Hospice opened with a generous contribution by Senior Sanctum Member Argus Pos'par of the Salamander Guild!"

Church Influence

The Church is a massive institution, and its presence is felt at all levels of society. Health services, the courts, municipal maintenance, houses of comfort (brothels) -- these are just some of the services that are managed by or performed directly by Church affiliates. Media, likewise, are primarily Church-owned (although there are independent media outlets which have come into conflict - sometimes violent - with the Church), and due to the combination of extensive public works, beneficial and/or popular public services, and masterful propaganda, are generally well-liked by the general populace.

Church Organization

The Church of the Holy Flame, like any good bureaucracy, has a number of semi-independent arms, all reporting to the central Church leadership. Each branch of the church handles particular tasks.

Ecclesiarchy

The Ecclesiarchy is the executive branch of the Church, composed of clergy, and forms the central leadership of the Church. Ecclesiarchs run the gamut from the low ranking Acolytes to supremely powerful and influential Bishops and Archbishops. The head of the Church is known as the Beacon, or sometimes as the Flamebearer.

Templars of the Burning Light

Soldiers for the Church, the Templars promote themselves as being the light in the darkness. They pupportedly protect the people by fighting against demons and rogue elementals that harass the fringes of society, and are well loved by the media. At street level they're exactly what they appear to be - fearless defenders of the people. On the other hand the Inner Circle knows the truth: the threats which the Templars fight are actually summoned and released by the Church, in order to give society an external threat to war against.

Paladins of the Scarlet Realm

The Paladin's Creed:

There is only the Flame.

Shadow is but the lack of Light:

There is only the Flame.

May the Flame reveal the shadows of my heart.

Ash did the fire Purify not:

There is only the Flame.

May the Flame remove the Ash from my soul.

Smoke is but the sign of Burning:

There is only the Flame.

May others see the signs of the Flame in my life.

Cold is but the absence of Heat:

There is only the Flame.

May my anger burn against the enemies of the Flame.

This world is but cold smoke, ash and shadow:

There is only the Flame.

May it Burn forever.

Paladins are the Flamespace operatives of the Church. They're pegged as Templars for the "other place", and are almost as loved. As well as hunting rogue elementals they also work to knock down flamerunners who threaten the Church. They consider themselves the police force of Flamespace. Despite their name, Paladins are far from being paragons of virtue. Because their domain is out of sight, they act with greater license, happy that their indiscretions and brutal methods will never be known to anyone save for their flamerunner adversaries. They do a lot more black ops work than the Templars, and use Flamespace to manipulate the world.

Missionaries of the Sacred Flame

Church Missionaries are PR people, pure and simple. They set up hospices, run by mundane staff. They make speeches in the market square. They proselytise, and they sermon. Thanks to the missionaries, rebellious sorts are viewed by wider society as being nothing less than destructive anarchists. Missionaries also act as investigators hunting for subversion and heresy, most especially the Inquisitors of the Sacred Flame - specially trained missionaries who act as an investigative arm. Inquisitors are feared, yes, but not hated. Society respects them and believes in their righteousness. The players almost certainly know better.

Sisters of the Hearth

A.k.a Hearth Nun, Hearth Trained

Originally the Sisters of the Hearth where created by the Church Elders to train Wives in there wifely duties. Rumors that the Sisters of the Hearth where created to a pesky group bussbody Nuns some busy work to keep them out of the Elders hair are heresy. Sisters of the Hearth train young women both theology and the wifely arts. These include doctrine, childcare, cooking, housekeeping, midwifery, first aid, wound sewing, True flame cauterization, and most (in)famously the 7 Sacred Fertility Rites.

Proverbs of the Flame 6:1 " The best Wife is a Hearth Trained Wife: The Best husband is a Hearth Tamed Husband."

Life and Death (and Life after Death) in the Church

Benefits

• Power and Prestige: none are as universally respected and feared as Templars and Paladins, and you get to look good as altruistic benefactors, too. Plus you know you're better than everyone else.

Drawbacks

• Once you're ordained, you get this inhuman thing living behind your eyes. Its thought are really too alien to understand, but it does enjoy lighting things on fire. Also, sometimes your flame will go for a little jaunt in your body without your permission, generally when you're asleep or incapacitated during a fight. It sometimes gets a little "out or hand" during these jaunts. But all is not lost, for as you practice and gain experience using the powers of your internal flame, the better you get and understanding what its thinking; even if it gets harder to remember human concepts, like mercy and justice.

Powers

• No one else has the pure control you have over fire; tattoos and bindstones are static effects, but you actually house living flame. The better you understand it, the easier it is to put your thoughts, or prayers, into terms your living flame can understand. Your flame even can allow you to confuse or misdirect the smaller flames in their tools for a short time. There is nothing that a tattoo or bindstone can do that your flame can't copy without the need for tools, and a few things you can do they will never understand.

Termination

• There is nothing so evil as heresy, those ordained who do not strive to better understand the Eternal Flame; they must be found and their souls cleansed by Inquisition fire. Fortunately, heretics are easy to recognize - their internal flame has fled, taking its blessings with it.

Flamepunks

• Flamerunners learn to understand and speak to the flames around them, which is how they are able to beguile the flame into doing their bidding. The better they get at thinking like the flame, the better they get at "talking" it into doing what they ask. The Church generally views Flamerunners generally as talented, misguided, wrongheaded, stubborn children who despite their best efforts refuse to enter into full communion with the light. There are rumors of Inquisitors taking a firmer stance, though...