Church of the Messenger

We have always been here, dealing with the forgotten, the unwanted, and the never-known. You've always needed us, though you wished to deny it. It is alright. Our realm is the twilight, and the dead have much to say.

Lord Vedrin pulled his furs tighter round his neck. Winter had been unseasonably long and Spring was yet to fly from its grasp. A glance to the wall above reassured him that his payments to the watch had worked, no guard looked out to possibly spy his business this night.
The courser and rider seemed to melt from the shadows on the road before him and when memories of the night ran through Vedrin's head years from now he found it odd that he hadn't heard the hoof-beats before they appeared. The rider pulled alongside the lord, pulled back the hood of his gray cloak revealing a head shaved at the sides, the top hair pulled back in a braid, and raven feather tattoos adorning his temples.
"You're late." He wasn't, but Vedrin said it anyway. The rider ignored the statement, waiting. Vedrin grunted and took a small pouch from his bag. Something shifted within. "You have your instructions?"
The rider nodded, taking the pouch carefully and depositing it in a saddlebag. "It will arrive undisturbed two morns hence, an Waymein wish it."
"Aye, it better. It will not be my soul that suffers should you open it."
"No," the messenger turned his horse calling back from the shadows, "that will not be why your soul suffers."

A soul is not measured by earthly largess. All you take could pass through the eye of a needle.

Dedicated to the worship of Waymein, the Church of the Messenger has taken on the sacred duty of caring for the dead throughout Anvimar. They handle burials, maintain cemeteries, and provide mourners when needed. They also operate the most trusted courier service on the continent. For a time their knightly order was well respected, but disgrace caught them and the order is a shadow of what it once was.

History

After Empire

The Ursian Empire fell. The gods disappeared behind the doors of the Empyrean Temple. The lands of Anvimar fell to isolationism and warfare as petty warlords tried to claim kingship through one means or other. And the dead were quickly growing.
The messengers remembered the way of their deity and held faith that one day Waymein would find passage to carry word to the mortal realm again. They knew it was their sacred duty to prepare the dead for their journey to the afterworld, that their shadow-guide might find their soul and carry it forth. So it was in the fall of the empire and abandonment of the gods, they found their calling. The messengers would carry on their duties and remain steadfast in their faith, waiting for the coming sign.

Rise of the Church

It was nearly a century and a half later the sign came. While many other organized faiths still floundered, the messengers claimed their first miracle in Central Anvimar when Clodagh the Blessed was able to commune with Waymein and banish the soul of the Lich Jarlerus the Corruptor from the mortal plane. The divine magics required for such a feat had not been seen in several decades. The machinations of the lich had devastated the lands around its tower for centuries, and the local populace had been enslaved to its will. With its defeat the lands flourished and the people quickly spread the tale of their salvation.
The messengers seized the lich's tower and cleaned the place of its influence and renamed it the Needle. Clodagh gathered other messengers to her, reciting her visions and teaching them new ways to commune with their god. From the needle the spread forth, finding other messengers and teaching them the new ways, encouraging pilgrimages back to the needle.
It was during this heightened period of pilgrimage and centralizing the religion that the messengers secondary service truly began to take hold. Waymein's blessings had often been sought by those making difficult journeys and deliveries, but the enterprising half-elf Daenumer Shadesmith saw this as an opportunity to formalize the business. The Needle would act as a receiving hub and those to and from pilgrimages would be able to deliver packages as part of their sacred duty in Waymein's honour, reflecting his original mission as messenger to the other gods. The service to begin with was not fast, but quickly grew a name for security, guarantee, and reach. It was also highly profitable for the fledgling organization.
As the organization centralized itself, edicts were issued for the proper building and running of temples in other areas. As had always been the case, these temples occupied the paupers' grave, graveyards not otherwise associated with a church, and old battlegrounds that attracted restless spirits. Previously these had tended to operate independently. The resources of the centralized church, however, tended to give the local temples political power. Although as a point of principle the church refrained from official allegiances—the dead for whom they speak are beyond mortal politics—on more local levels contracts could be negotiated. Under this philosophy the church was ready to setup guilds and delivery posts throughout the emerging kingdoms. And if a particular ruler or politician needs convincing, it's not usually too difficult to find a package whose delivery or loss could vastly influence their fortunes in one way or another.

To Arms

As the years passed, Clodagh the Blessed removed herself from the operations of the church, and eventually Daenumer guided the majority of policy. He would be remembered more as a politician than a holy man. To begin with he generally echoed the words of Clodagh, later he would identify rising voices within the church and strategically provide them platforms to guide the spiritual body. In spite of this, Daenumer solidified the role of Archpriest, a previously unofficial title given to Clodagh. He provided a long sense of stability and codified what had come before.
His most controversial move came shortly after Clodagh's death. With the organization's wealth and influence having expanded substantially, Daenumer determined it was time to fortify. He formed the Knights of the Needle, an order of armed temple guards, messenger escorts, and warriors against those who would interfere with the natural passage of the soul. Many in the church were against this militaristic expansion, the most vocal protests coming from the halfling priestess Kaira Tidybrooke. Daenumer succeeded mostly by building the knightly order as debate waged and allowing them to prove their own value, but it created a fracture that would not be forgotten.
Outside of the church, the knights grew as a symbol against the darkness left behind by the collapse of the empire. Not bound to simply strengthening their leige's borders like most knights, the Needles re-opened lost travelroutes, beat back hordes from the Crown of the World and the realms below, and sought out the adversaries of civilization.

Shadows Over Volshka

On the Eastern edge of Anvimar the Volshkan people tend the land between the Titan's Claw range and the Vestren Sea. In 337 A.E. Nicholae I ended his mostly peaceful reign at the age of 58, Making way for his eldest son, Gheorghe II, to take the throne. Shortly after Gheorghe's coronation, plague enveloped the land. Before long it slipped the borders of Volshka and threatened to spread throughout Anvimar.
The wasting disease robbed its victims of their sense and will. It hollowed out their faces and gave them a mask of death long before it stole the life from their bodies. While priests prayed for miracles, alchemists researched curatives, and surgeons readied their leeches, the messengers went searching for the origin. Ten knights and two priests rode out from the Needle in hopes of re-establishing contact with Volshka and their fellow messengers living there.
They found Volshka was a land transformed. Poplar, oak, and ash twisted and bent, their growth unnaturally stunted. The woods were quiet and what animals they came across appeared either sickly or starving. When the delegation reached town the once vibrant people, those who had been spared from the disease, were haunted and hushed, wary of strangers among them and eager to urge them onward. After the third village treating them in a similar fashion, one knight was sent back to report.
Eventually they drew to the city of Brachau, at the edge of the Emberwoods. Brachau had been celebrated for its beauty and arts. A place where humans and elves had grown together over centuries, intermingling to a degree rarely found throughout Anvimar or the wider world beyond. Yet as the delegation approached the city was hushed, no guards manning the walls and the once colorful flags in tatters. With the sun hanging low they rode into town seeing few signs of life; the odd hen or cockerel and an abundance of rats. But arriving at the market square they were astonished to see their former compatriot, the knight who had been sent back, impaled on a wooden spike and left for display.
They were more astonished when he raised his head and moaned in a lifeless voice that they should not be there. As the sun dipped behind the Titan's Claw, the former residents of the town poured forth. Transformed in rotted monstrosities, the townsfolk were driven by one thing: hunger.
If not for their holy powers the priests and knights would have been immediately overwhelmed. With their faith in Waymein, skill at arms, and pure will, the retinue were able to make a stand and hold off the undead hordes. The remains of a guard tower became their safe haven until dawn when the attacks abated. It was then that the priestess Cardossa drew on his gifts to send word back to the Needle and call for aid. Three of their number had been lost in the night. Of the twelve who rode out, Cardossa and seven knights remained.
When reinforcements did arrive, they found Casimir's corpse adorning the gate. Brachau was burned and the lands around salted. No trace of the remaining knights was found.

War

The gauntlet had been thrown and answered. An undead force now ruled Volshka. The Church of the Messenger led the battle against it, seeking survivors where it may, and calling all good people to lend aid. Their actions at Brachau are not repeated, and the truth is not uncovered until generations after the war.
The undead army seems nearly unending and as living foot soldiers fall they join the enemy ranks. The war ran for years with the undead general only being revealed as the Messenger army finally closed in on the Volshkan royal stronghold: the king's uncle, Prince Vasile, presumed dead for over 30 years now a vampire preying on his people, not just for sustenance but for amusement.
But as the Messenger's closed in on Vasile, he had one last surprise. Behind the lines, where the lands were beginning to be restored and resettled, appeared nine knights. Their armour was blackened, their swords broken, and their eyes flame. They cut a swath of destruction to the base of the Needle. Overdrawn and over-committed to the war, the Needle was ill prepared. Though the messengers remaining managed to hold off the assault, it was at great loss and they were unable to destroy the newly created death knights.

Fall Out

Although the Messengers were responsible for leading the charge to free Volshka, following the war the razing of Brachau could not remain hidden. Before long tales of the death knights spread and the name of the Needle Knights was tarnished. Their reputation diminished and their ranks depleted, the Needle Knights found they had lost much of their cachet in the world. Where people had regarded them with a sense of wonder and respect, they now carried mistrust and fear.
A new High Priest came to power following the siege of the Needle. Windroon Tidybrooke was the grandson of Kaira Tidybrooke and redirected the church away from military matters. The knights were scaled back further, such that their presence became a myth in many parts of Anvimar. The church was re-tasked on it's base mission of aiding the dead with their passage and aiding all forms of communication.
Before long a new order of knights spread through Anvirmar, one which spread a message of light. Although the Church of the Messenger remains, it's influence has returned to the shadows.

Founding Date

137 AE

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Demonym

Messengers

Deities

• Waymein

Divines

• Waymein

Controlled Territories

• The Needle

Guider of Souls

Waymein guides souls to the afterworld, ruled over by Lord Aunvyn. Waymein's domain is the passage between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead, whereas Aunvyn is the final caretaker. While cosmically Aunvyn is viewed as the more powerful being, this does not mean Waymein is beholden or owes him fealty, and in spite of that cosmic balance the Church of the Messenger has a much larger political influence than any cult of Aunvyn.
Nevertheless they are connected, so many rituals and services performed by the messengers tend to have references to Aunvyn. This is simply a practicality for how the journey of the soul progresses and not a matter of much debate or concern within the church.

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Preparing the Dead

Messengers provide services for both cremation and burial, although burial is by far the more common. The body is first wrapped in a burial shroud, so that it is protected for it's journey to the afterworld. Those of higher classes will have the shrouds decorated with images of their life's accomplishments, although some believe this a gauche practice. In burial, it will then be placed in a casket with the Breaking of the Sword performed before burial is completed. At cremation the wrapped body will be placed on a pyre, the Breaking ceremony performed and the objects also placed on the pyre. Any remains are given to the family.
Messengers handle burials for a large portion of the Anvimarian common folk, especially those in more civilized centers. Unless a person is particular tied to a faith, such as a priest or holy knight, or of royal birth, their death rights are likely to be overseen by a messenger. Royal funerals are handled by the priests of Oun, although the messengers may still fill out the mourners. Small villages tend to have a single place of worship and the rights will be more in line with their preferred figure, whether that is Mayander, Bodaiya, or Haepheron.

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Breaking the sword

Messengers provide services for both burial and cremation, with burial being by far the most common. In Korinthia it is normal for a person to be buried in good dress with their sword, or weapon of choice, if a soldier, or tools of their trade. These items are broken before being placed with the body, a duty which can be handled either by the messenger overseeing the service or someone close to the deceased during the prayer of breaking.

And though your journey has ended in this land
It has just begun in the next.

So we break your sword
And send it with you. May it serve you well.

We bless your journey to the afterworld.
May Aunvyn receive you,
As receives us all at the end of days.