The Blood of Vol

The faithful of the Blood of Vol are captivated by the literal and figurative meaning of blood and of heredity, seeing blood as a source of power and divinity. They focus their energy on self-improvement, shunning higher forces. Worshipers believe in the power of what is physical and present and focus on the affairs of day-to-day life, not on an illusory otherworldly power. Blood is the divinity within, the source of life, and if one’s faith is strong and one’s abilities mastered, the only true path to immortality. Because of its association with necromancy and the undead, many people believe that the Blood of Vol embraces death and that its followers wish to become undead. Neither of these things are true. The Seekers of the Divinity Within (as the faithful call themselves) don’t revere the undead; they believe that once someone has died you might as well put the corpse to use. But the spark of divinity is tied to both blood and soul, and the Seekers believe that the undead can never fully harness its power. The vampires and mummies of the Blood of Vol have sacrificed their chance at divinity in order to guide and protect the living. They’re martyrs, not something to envy. Public opinion of the Blood of Vol is often coloured by the actions of the Order of the Emerald Claw. This extremist sect serves a lich known as the Queen of Death, and employs undead and necromancy in acts of terror. Most Seekers have no love for the Emerald Claw and don’t support its actions. The Blood of Vol’s exhortations are simple:

Each one of us has a spark of divinity within our blood and our spirit. Find that power within.
Death is the end, Dolurrh is oblivion, and if the gods exist they are cruel. Stand with those you care for; all we have is this life and each other.
Believe in yourself. A common recitation when faced with a challenge or event: “As the blood is the power, and the blood flows through me, the power is mine.
Work to improve yourself and your capacities. A complete understanding of the divinity within opens the door to immortality.
Meet with other members of the Blood of Vol to share in the power of each other’s blood.

Worship

Followers of the Blood of Vol call themselves Seekers. They believe in no divine beings but instead seek to harness the “divinity within,” the life and godliness that flows through the blood itself. Because of its focus on inner strength, the Blood of Vol appeals to people who are particularly driven or interested in personal improvement, and those who are disillusioned with the gods of other faiths. The faith also holds an obvious attraction for necromancers, death fetishists, and seekers of immortality.

Look not to the skies, nor to the depths below, nor even to the distant past or future. Seek the divine within, for the blood is the life, and in its call can be heard the promise of life eternal. One has but to listen.
Only the divine is eternal.

Seekers rarely pray in a literal sense. The closest they come is a mantra intended to invoke the Divinity Within, as a means of granting themselves strength or fortitude for trials to come. Priests of Vol oversee a number of major rites, held before gatherings of Seekers. These rites do not commemorate most life events or social occasions (such as weddings), but they do commemorate birth and death—not only of Seekers, but of important figures in the local culture or in the hierarchy of the faith.

Divine Symbols

Symbols of the Blood: Although the Blood of Vol frequently makes use of its traditional symbol—a dragon skull surrounding a blood-red gem—individual priests are allowed to choose their own symbols. This practice is encouraged partly to hide the religion in areas where Seekers are persecuted, but primarily to highlight the fact that the Seekers are praying, not to any higher power, but to the divinity within themselves.