The Cult of Silus
The Cult of Silus, the Unconquerable Sun is the most recent addition to the tapestry of traditional Cyrenic cults and religious sects that make up its religious life. It is a mystery cult, meaning that practices of the worship of Silus, and especially some of the more esoteric traditions are kept hidden from those unitiated into the cult. They do possess some public facing traditions and rites however, and have only gained more as the Cult of Silus rose to prominence with the rise of the Aurelian Dynasty.
The Cult of Silus is assumed to have been founded shortly after the Brother's War at the end of the Forging Era. Having arisen from frustrations with the apparent stagnation of Cyrenica, it gradually grew throughout the Aeillan Period, and in the early Reforging Period. After the loss of the Province of Nabiu to the Aarumites, pressure to change the face of the Cyrenic Faith led the establishment of the Cult of Silus as the dominant religious faith in Cyrenica.
The practicioners of the Cult of Silus practice Monolatry, recognizing the existence, and in some instances religious worth of other Cyrenic deities, and to a lesser extent even select "foreign" gods, but initiated members of the Cult are expect to spare their offerings and prayers for Silus primarily, or indeed Silus alone.
Mythology & Lore
The Cult of Silus largely builds upon ancient, traditional Cyrenic faiths, and as a result has relatively few unique myths, and only one major one. That of the Usurpation, a story of how Silus took overall control of the Cyrenic faiths. It reads roughly, that the previous Goddess Omestra had become weakened and sickened, as a result of frequent attack by evil spirits. The heroic Silus decided then to act, casting out the spirits, and preventing the death of Omestra. However, she had already become too weak to rule the Cyrenic people, and so he took charge becoming the new beacon of faith for the Cyrenic peoples.
Tenets of Faith
Practitioners of the Cult of Silus are expected to embody the will of an entity as unconquerable as the sun. As all followers, even lay followers, must follow the four Virtues:
Strength: Just as the sun is itself unconquerable, so to are its followers expected to be strong in the face of opposition. Followers of Silus are expected to be capable of standing on their own, and ready and able to protect other, weaker members of their society should invaders come.
Industry: Just as the sun itself shines on the whole of the world, brining forth life, so to is a follower of Silus required to create. Followers of Silus are expected to be a font of creation and artifice.
Reliability: Just as the sun itself wheel in the sky predictably, so too must a follower be reliable. A Follower of Silus is expected to follow through with promises, and is usually expected to speak only in unadorned truth.
Illumination: Just as the sun is a beacon of light to the whole world, so too is a follower expected to be a beacon. A Follower of Silus is expected to spread amongst the people, and demonstrate the glories of Silus to the masses.
Industry: Just as the sun itself shines on the whole of the world, brining forth life, so to is a follower of Silus required to create. Followers of Silus are expected to be a font of creation and artifice.
Reliability: Just as the sun itself wheel in the sky predictably, so too must a follower be reliable. A Follower of Silus is expected to follow through with promises, and is usually expected to speak only in unadorned truth.
Illumination: Just as the sun is a beacon of light to the whole world, so too is a follower expected to be a beacon. A Follower of Silus is expected to spread amongst the people, and demonstrate the glories of Silus to the masses.
Ethics
The Cult of Silus like most other Cyrenic cults and religious sects is built around communitarian values. Where it does not share universality is in specifics. While Silusian ethical guidelines require the same basic behaviors expected of any other fully participatory member of the Cyrenic community, the four tenets of Silus are relative unique. Ethical behaviors specific to worship of Silus include those concerning lying, and the emphasis on strength and industry.
In general Cyrenic society, while not expclitly one that favors deception does allow for trickery and has a number of "heroic" tricksters in its history. Followers of Silus conversely, are held to much stricter standards. They are expected not to lie, and to engage in no deception that is not based on very strict military or diplomatic necessity.
Similarly, the ethnical code of Silusian worship places a much stronger focus on strength, self-reliance, and productivity. Though most Silusians acknolwedge that nobody is truly an island, it is deemed unethical to lean too hard on the beneficence of others, and ethical to foster in oneself a skillset that enables a significant amount of independence.
Worship
As it is a mystery cult, most worship of Silus occurs behind closed doors and little is known about the religious ceremonies that are performed by fully fledged initiates of the order. The Cult of Silus does have a public facing order however, and Silus was worshipped as a lesser deity in ages past, and so lay followers can expect a number of public festivals, holidays, and ceremonies exulting the deity. These are mostly focused on sporting competition, craft festivals, and war memorials, however, the Cult of Silus does perform other ceremonies such as weddings, if necessary.
Priesthood
Little is known on the outside of the overarching structure of the Cult of Silus, however, it is assumed that practice of the faith is broadly broken into four groups of people. The first of these of course, are lay followers, those who pray and make offerings to Silus, and participate in religious ceremonies, but are not initiated into the cult. Initiates have committed themselves to the path of Silus, and are formally initiated into the cult proper. As a fully fledged cult of the Cyrenic tradition, Silus' Cult is assumed to have Pontifices and Pontificies Maximae who represent the divinely empowered priesthood of the faith. Lastly, it is known that martial orders favoring Silus have been integrated somewhat into the priesthood being examplars of Silus' Glory.
Granted Divine Powers
The Cult of Silus has an unusually high number of fully empowered clerics relative to the number of lay priests in service of the cult. Similarly, practicioners of the Cult of Silus that are magically empowered do possess, on average stronger powers than is the norm for religious oders. Most empowered priests can expect to cast at the orisinal level, and many can reasonably expect to be able to cast up to the fifth order of magics. The Pontifices Maximae of the Cult are all capable of at least the seventh order, with some able to attain the highest levels of magical achievement that mortals are capable of achieving. There are several martial orders also granted powers by Silus himself, chief among them being members of the Cyrenic Mithral Guard.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Cult of Silus is the dominant religious order in the Regnum Cyrenica, and has, nominally at least, the official backing of the regnant Cyrus Rex. This great measure of political influene has been used at least in part to encourage holy war against the Aarumites. Indeed Silusian cultists have actively been responsible for the start of a number of "punitive expeditions" into the Nabari Plateau, and it is believed this was done to whet once again Cyrenic apetites for war.
Type
Religious, Cult
Alternative Names
Silusianism
Permeated Organizations
Location
Related Traditions
Related Ethnicities
