Church of the Nameless

The Church of the Nameless, also called the Cult of the Nameless, is a subversive religious sect in the Anrel Isles. Their God is referred to as 'The Nameless One', because Anrelians believe that saying his true name attracts his evil attention.

Cultists call themselves the Shakrain, after the true name of their god, “Shakra”, an ancient Thalsic word meaning “one who is feared”. The inner mysteries declare that even this is merely descriptive, for a god who truly has no name in mortal speech.

The Anrelian Pantheon has always had gods which represent positive and negative forces for mankind, with the belief that these are the basis of order and balance in the world. However, the Nameless One is seen as the antithesis of order and the natural world, since he cares nothing for balance, only for destruction, chaos, suffering, pain and death.

This nihilistic cult appeared less than a thousand years ago and has grown immensely in the public imagination. His worship is not outlawed, but anyone believed to be a follower of the Nameless is shunned.

Outsiders know almost nothing about the Church, except for its evil reputation. In fact, this secret society was established in Anrelplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnrel Isles

Anrel [ANN-rel], or the Anrel Isles, is the most northerly island group in the Natorn Archipelago. It consists of three major islands and numerous smaller ones. The largest, colloquially if infrequently called Mainland, is divided between the kingdoms of Trésard and Narette. The island over eleven hundred years ago by disciples of the renegade magician Belikast, who was exiled and expurgated by the Magisters of Rasia.

The society is dedicated to preparing the way for Belikast's return, building up secret influence in society in order to eventually overthrow the magical stranglehold of Rasia, and establish a new progressive order, overthrowing the ignorance and stupidity of the past.

Rasia lost influence long ago (the Long War was consider a victory for the Church, though it is unknown how much influence they had over it), but over the centuries the church has become an underground religion, seeking to build political and ethereal power for itself. Their belief is that Belikast will return soon, and on that day, the Church must be ready to overthrow weak dictators and unite the world under an order of peace and enlightenment - brutally administered by the church.

Only the bound and initiated members of the Church know about Belikast, and they secretly search for signs of his past and his coming. The day of his return is estimated to be in the year 1660 of the Hornum Calendar - or very soon.

(In fact the Church is much older than this. Belikast infiltrated and modified an ancient nihilistic cult and twisting it to his purposes.)

- Traditional formal greeting: “I come in the name of He who has none”

The Church is led by a council, the Hegemony, versed in both occult lore and politics, with some members specialising more in one than the other. The Hegemony is headed by a Patriarch, the most powerful and influential of all the hierarchs.

Several hierarchs have extensive knowledge of pure sorcery, having their own elemental sources following Belikast's handed-down teaching, though their skills in no way match the training provided at Rasia. Their Sources are all enslaved to their God, and the even these powerful hierarchs practise only theosophical magic.

The precise number of members is unknown as they are scattered across the world. Currently the community at Larford, in the forests of northern Trésard, is the secret stronghold and safe haven for members of the faith. In the past the community has been forced to flee several times, being attacked by persecutors, often tipped off by the Rasian Academy who are its bitterest enemies.

The majority of Church members are organised in a cellular structure, to prevent infiltration and betrayal. No infiltration has ever succeeded - it is impossible to fool a god. Each network of worshippers is headed by a Decan. Decans are leaders of a city cell network, but only the leader of each cell knows who the Decan is. The Decan him or herself has only one other contact with the wider organisation.

Most Shakrain indulge in solitary worship, although Officiants are called in for special rituals. Breaching the code of secrecy, undertaking rites not sanctioned by the hierarchy, particularly unofficial blood-curses, or acts threatening the Church, require investigation by an Inquisitor. Inquisitors have absolute powers of jurisdiction, and the guilty are always punished with death.

Only the Nameless One can place the Curse of Bloodlust upon individuals, whereby a curse elemental is bound to the victim's flesh. The curse creates an agonising craving for the taste of blood, drunk hot from the flesh of a living creature. Victims develop a morbid self-loathing and shame, often becoming severely agoraphobic and fearful of the exposing daylight. The curse-elemental feeds on the life essence of the killer's victims. If the cursed one refuses to kill, the elemental inflicts unbearable agony and suffering. If the sacristan kills and drinks more often than the curse requires, they take advantage of the additional life essence in their body through improved strength and vitality.

Although it is a curse, some followers of the Nameless choose to become bloodsacristans because the death-energy provides additional power to black rituals. Many afflicted by the curse choose to join the church, if they are not members already, as it provides a haven where they are understood and can be part of a community. As such the curse has been used to gain otherwise impossible converts.

Severe illnesses may sometimes be cured by the Rite of Blood Sanctity. This must be performed by a bloodsacristan and by a Shakrain theosophist. It requires the individual to be partially drained of blood. This will cure many serious infections, but places the individual in the power of the Officiant and sacristan by weakening their will to resist. It can in fact be broken, but victims of this rite are made to believe that they are completely without hope, which further weakens their will. This is sometimes deemed the 'Curse of Servitude', and can also be accomplished with rituals and drugs.

There are eight solar festivals, at which the Nameless God may give special dispensations and boons to supplicants. All disciples must take partake in a feast, consisting of a minimum of three supplicants, at which all must make an offering. The great Feasts at Larford can include the most barbaric acts of torture, blasphemy, murder and the eating of human flesh.

This is one of the greatest forms of punishment for acts against the Church. It is called by an Officiant, challenged in appeal only before a Hierophant, and can be called against any member of the Church or a former ally, or rarely, an outsider. It calls for all disciples of the Nameless One to harry, torment and persecute the victim, constantly driving them into exile or suicide. The Malediction can only be relented if it is overturned by a Hierophant, or more usually when the order is given to finally put the victim to death.

The dread state of perpetual torment which may be declared upon a victim by a Hierophant - a living tortured nightmare far worse than Malediction, which is not even relieved by death. It is a curse and more, causing everlasting pain and physical torment, from deformity and an agonising hypersensitivity to all the senses. There is no release in Death as the victim is not permitted to die. Should his body be so ravaged that life is no longer possible - and with the arts at the disposal of a God this is extreme - the spirit remains bound to the body for all eternity, or until it is so desicated and fragmented nothing remains. Burning and scattering the remains is the only real release, although the victim will feel ever moment of the burning flames. The horror of Malicho is held as a dreaded threat to all who have dealings with the Church, and its threat is so terrible that three people in the past two hundred years have been sentenced to Malicho. It is not known whether these have yet been released.

Initiation is carried out on those born into the Church before the age of fifteen, most often at the Winter Festival. Outsiders who are not thoroughly educated in the ways of the Church have a greater initiation, it being more in the form of a test in four stages:

1. To be chosen for initiation, they must have demonstrated dedication to the Path of Negative Existence, as described in the Negrarcanum. There are various tests, such as completing tasks for the Church, and, for those born outside the tradition, severing ties with their former existence. This may be in a spiritual sense, as the Initiant may have been chosen for the importance of their position.) Those born outside the Church are often required to murder a former close friends or family member.
2. The candidate must be brought forth as a candidate to a Hierarch, who will present the initiant before the Nameless Lord at a Festival. The subject must renounce his former life and be Purged, a mind-rending ritual which causes bleeding from every orifice.
3. This is followed by a day and a night of fasting, prayer, meditation and contemplation of the Lord.
4. The Initiation ceremony itself is performed by the sponsor, who offers the candidate up as a sacrifice to the Lord. A minimum of 12 aliment points must be generated from degradation of the candidate. If he or she survives, they must then renounce their former life, and all loyalties to nations, gods, family and friends, and eternal devotion to the One True Lord.

( NB : When the renegade magician Belikast was excommunicated and banished from Rasia in 3050 HMplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHirèrk Moonscale

The Hirèrk Moonscale [Hee-Rerrk] (HM) is a luni-solar calendar used at least since the time of Miyarris, which measures cycles based on the moons, solar years as well as the millennia-long cycles of global climate change. Today years HM are only seen in historic works and not considered accurate in historical accounts.HMHMepochsepochepochepochepochepochHMepochsME, the masters set a curse-elemental upon him. It was intended to stop him communicating with elementals, thus for ever depriving him of power. It also stopped him harming others. Through long years, Belikast eventually broke this hold, and twisted the entity to his service. As part of his revenge upon the weak fools at Rasia, he twisted it into a god-elemental, accumulating power from his followers. He laid the foundations for what was to become the Church of the Nameless , with Shakra as its god-entity, instructing his followers to undermine Anrelian society and secretly accumulate power, in preparation for his return to Anrel. Shakra is one of the most self-aware of the deitals, and can appear in various self-selected manifestations through a ritual called the Shakrain Mind Call.)