Church of the Silver Flame

Divine Origins

In 299 YK, a pillar of crimson fire erupted on the shore of Scions Sound as dark and vile creatures crawled from the ground. The Year of Blood and Fire was filled with terrible loss of life - but it was also filled with hope, as a paladin of Dol Arrah, Tira Miron, lead a band of heroes to defeat the fiends. In her final confrontation, Tira's celestial guide - a couatl - materialized to help her confront the nearly-free Bel Shalor. Tira watched the two epic beings struggle, but Bel Shalor prevailed. In one last act the couatl gifted Tira with its dying power, and the paladin lept into the flaming chasm, plunging her sword into the fiend's body. A massive explosion rippled out, and the dark, crimson flame was transformed into a cool silver fire. While Tira's body perished, her soul persisted and she became the Voice of the Flame.

Cosmological Views

The Silver Flame is a force created during the Age of Demons to bind the overlords. It has a concrete purpose: it is the cage that keeps apocalyptic evil at bay. The Sovereigns and Six are deities, believed to influence every facet of daily life. The Silver Flame is different. It’s not seen as an anthropomorphic entity; rather, followers recognize it as a pure force of celestial energy. It doesn’t influence the world on its own, and can only empower champions who will use that gift to protect the innocent. The Flame itself doesn’t speak to people; instead, it is the Voice of the Flame that guides the faithful. Ultimately, the Silver Flame is a resource; if you seek to protect the innocent from supernatural evil, you may be able to draw on the power of the Flame to aid you in your fight

Tenets of Faith

Entities of alien and unnatural evil must be fought with steel and spell. This is the purpose of the Silver Flame: to protect the innocent against these threats. When such forces arise, followers of the Silver Flame are expected to set aside any differences until the evil is defeated; this was seen in the Last War, where templars might serve different nations but would unite to deal with a supernatural threat. If it’s possible to eradicate a threat without violence—such as curing a lycanthrope rather than killing it—that’s acceptable, even laudable. But protection of the innocent should always be the primary concern.
The Silver Flame empowers mortals to fight against evil. But not all evils are equal, and different threats call for different approaches. The Church of the Silver Flame defines the hierarchy of evil as follows:

1. Entities of alien evil. These are the children of Khyber, encompassing all manner of fiends and aberrations. These beings are fundamentally unnatural and innately malevolent; even their presence is seen as harmful to the world.
2. Entities of unnatural evil. These are beings once native to Eberron that have been corrupted by alien forces. Undead and lycanthropes are the most obvious examples of this category—innocent people transformed into monsters. Like the followers of the Undying Court, the Church of the Silver Flame maintains that undead are inherently unnatural and harm the living simply through their existence.
3. Entities of innate evil. This is the most contentious category on the list, and it is the idea of monsters—that there are creatures native to Eberron who are evil by nature. In the past, the church has placed medusas, harpies, trolls, and similar creatures into this category, asserting that through no fault of their own, these creatures are vessels for supernatural evil and pose a threat to the innocent.
4. Those who choose evil. This encompasses all humanoids who are born innocent but choose to follow an evil path. Because such beings aren’t evil by nature, the goal of the faithful should always be to lead them back to the light.
5. The evil within. Every follower of the Flame must recognize their own capacity for evil action; only through awareness can they guard against it. The Shadow in the Flame is always whispering, and it is arrogant and foolish to ignore that threat.

Priesthood

Agents of the church can be ordained by three distinct orders—the Society of Ministers, the Order of Knights Templar, and the Fellowship of Friars. Ministers include priests, who lead local temples, act as community leaders, and serve as chaplains in the military and other institutions. Templars are the warriors of the church, including temple guards, crusaders against evil creatures, wandering adventurers in search of wrongs to right, and soldiers in the armies of Thrane. Members of the Order of Friars are missionary priests, traveling agents of the church who tend to the spiritual needs of the faithful and bring the light of the Flame to dark places.
The spiritual leader of the Church of the Silver Flame, and the political ruler of Thrane, is the Keeper of the Flame. That post is held at present by Jaela Daran, an eleven-year-old girl. In practice, a Council of Cardinals oversees most affairs of both church and state.
Most members of the Council of Cardinals are drawn from the Order of Ministers, with a notable few coming from the Order of Templars. The council exerts its authority through archbishops, who are members of the Order of Ministers. Archbishops are regional authorities who in turn oversee bishops (also ministers) and prefects, the highest rank among the templars. These leaders hold spiritual authority over priests within a single large city or cluster of smaller towns and villages, and in Thrane they are local governors as well.

Founding Date

299

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Location

Flamekeep

Notable Members

• Cleric Fluke
• Paladin Danse