Those Who Call to Hallowed Remnants
Those Who Call to Hallowed Remnants are a highly organized mystery cult. Persecuted across the Aerial Isle, they hide themselves well. Enclaves persist in the civilized world, while larger communities called Followings gather in distant wilds.
There is not a single place that the Hallowers come from; some have been highlanders for generations, while others come from Vulsha, Felmor, or other tribes in the faraway places of the Isle. What makes a Hallower is not their blood, but their faith. They believe in the Eternal Unity, found in an entity they call What Remains. What Remains seeks all existence, which they call What Was Lost, to be reunited with it as it was in primordial times. Hallowers believe that they are the tools to bring all living things back together in this Unity.
What Remains is also called the Broken God, unmade by a great calamity long ago. There are Remnants of his will that were locked away by the First Lord, his immortal enemy, but those are only pieces of him that were sent out into the world to bring about the Eternal Unity.
All Followings of the Hallower faith practice a great many mutilations and sacrifices to appease or appeal to the Remnants of What Remains; giving pieces of What Was Lost in exchange for insights and power. Some of these rites are particularly dark, though the rewards are quite real. Hallowers view these rites as necessary to bring about peace and unity, and to free themselves from a world of pain.
Structure
The Reverent Lost organize themselves into several different ranks, based not only on time spent within the cult, but also on the role they play. Each rank has a clear position in the organization's hierarchy, with members often referring to each other based on their rank's title. At the top of this hierarchy sits the Hallowed Three; a supposedly immortal family who are together possessed by a Remnant of What Remains.
Seekers are the lowest of the cults members. They are initiates, seeking to prove themselves and gain entry into the greater community. Regardless of their social standing beyond the cult, these members are expected to perform the commands of any other Hallower without question. While they serve, they are guided in the cult's doctrine by senior Hallowers. Both the services and lessons are often harsh, and test the Seeker's willingness to progress on their spiritual journey.
Acolytes are the people who make it through the many trials of a Seeker, or those who were born into a cult community. Most live in Followings, or communes, and do much of the work to sustain their communities; farming, making clothes, building houses and temples, forging weapons, and so on. Once an Acolyte, members are required to go to temple just before dawn, and just after sunset. They are also expected to assist senior Hallowers perform rituals.
Celebrants are ritual specialists of the cult, divided into several groups based on the roles they perform. Though rarely, some Celebrants will belong to multiple of these groups. Such individuals are considered particularly special by their Following. Hunters practice the ritual hunting of the Irreverent Lost. This includes the ritualized sacrifice of animals, and the capture of non-cult members. Predecessors are the only Hallowers allowed to have children. They are paired into sacred marriages, and are expected to raise families that exemplify the cult's doctrine. Listeners stay abroad for long periods, learning all they can of the latest news to bring back to their brethren. They preside over initiations, and often command Seekers in their trials to determine if they can be brought into a Following.
Advocates are the spiritual leaders of a Following. They are the ones who advocate for What Remains, and voice the Broken God's will to pass on to others. They lead the daily temple practices, conduct offerings, and study many esoteric arts. In their communities, Advocates often sit in judgement of others, settling disputes and determining the moral character of other Hallowers. They control the progression through the ranks below them.
Honored Ones preside over Advocates. They are those special few that can hear the whispers of the Remnants. They cling to whatever Remnant they find, forming a Following to protect and serve the fragment of God as best as they can. They stay with the Remnant for long periods, listening to its thoughts, guidance, and instructions as best they can before dispensing it all to the Advocates. In many cases an Honored One will also perform many of the same functions as an Advocate, though they often delegate those duties in favor of meditation on the Remnant's teachings.
Mythology & Lore
The Breaking
There was a time in ages past when there was peace and unity within the universe. The souls of the One existed in harmony with one another, each piece of it acting in their roles. Uri was the name and mind of the One, forever dreaming and spinning stories for the others to listen to. Chaldm was the will and spirit of the One, guiding the others in all their actions. Ibka was the heart and body of the One, who felt, saw, and acted for the others. Shukm was the breath and power of the One, the shadow which gave all the others the ability to perform their roles. In this peace, Uri dreamed up a story which broke the heart of the One. It was a tale of pain and suffering so great that Ibka could not bear the thought of it. Chaldm could not console Ibka, nor stop Uri from weaving ever darkening stories. Shukm could not lend the One's spirit the power it needed to reign the others in, for it had spread itself to thin between the distraught Ibka and wildly thinking Uri. And so Ibka, unchecked by Chaldm and urged on by Uri, tore itself apart, sundering the One in a violent upheaval that shook the universe. Pain and sorrow grew in frenzied Ibka, who ripped at itself in agonized frustration and regret. The souls fragmented along with the One, shattering and shattering as the echos of Uri's stories and Ibka's death throws reverberated in the growing cosmos. Great stars and worlds were born of the One's flesh, hanging suspended in the spilling darkness of Shukm. It was only after that great sundering stilled, and the One was truly dead, that the fragments of Uri and Chaldm began to stir amid the scattered remains. These inhabited pieces of Ibka, and became the things which lived and grew amid the worlds. But for every thing that rose from the corpse of the One, life was devoid of peace. The stories of Uri took to life, and every pain and discomfort it had conceived of were truly born into the universe.That Which Remained
Some pieces of the souls were whole enough to remember what was; the glorious peaceful, painless unity of the One. These tattered remains wallowed in their memories, which made their new existence all the more painful. Many took the path of Ibka, tearing at themselves in self-destructive rage and sorrow, fragmenting themselves further until the memories unraveled too. Others mourned the loss of the One, hiding in the depths of Shukm, far away from the ravaged carcass that was its body. But a few had the Chaldm to come to grips with their pain, and resolved to rebuild. Together these Remnants came, desiring to reunite with What Was Lost.What Was Lost
The Remnants descended upon the stars and worlds, seeking reconciliation with those tiniest fragments of the Breaking. Many of these were reconstituted with ease, but others proved more difficult. Many of those living fragments had become vessels of Shukm, holding the power of the One for themselves. Imbalanced by the vastness of their power, these fragments were corrupt and selfish, pushing back the open arms of the Remnants, and rejecting a reunion. Twisted by the fractured, imperfect universe, they did not see themselves as a piece of the Broken God, but as a One of their own. Such it was that the these Irreverent Lost and the Remnants began a grueling battle across creation. Of these many enemies of What Remained, there was the First Lord. He shattered Remnants with his boundless power, and jealously safeguarded a great shard of What Was Lost from the Remnants. When the whole of the Remnants finally united and came down to meet him, the cunning lost one managed to slip away into Shukm. In a distant place, the Irreverent Lost cast down what few Remnants could follow. He cleaved them from their Ibka, imprisoned them in stone, and took from them their Shukm. Hidden away, the First Lord glutted upon his shard of the One. With avarice and conceit he ruled over the shard, enforcing his will without opposition.Divine Origins
Those Who Call to Hallowed Remnants descend from the Shard of Humanity, the world that was stolen away from What Remains by the First Lord in ages past. They are the oldest human organization in all of Isyra, founded by those who sided with the Remnants for a chance at an eternal unity free of pain and suffering. Cut off from the things they worship, the cult prays to and calls for Remnants to come save them from their existence.
In the early times they practiced their faith openly, but were crushed by the descendants of the First Lord and eventually forced into hiding. During the reign of the Lordlings, the Hallowers learned the arts of secrecy, remaining unseen and unheard while they formed a network of communities. Publicly they faded into legend and myth.
The oldest traditions of the cult centered around astrology, attempting to determine where Isyra was so it could be passed on to the Remnants. The Advocates of those ancient times looked for signs from their masters in the stars as well. Prayers and sacrifices were conducted in attempts to call out to the Hallowed Remnants, but there was no answers. Still, attempts to reach out never ceased.
It was not long before their calls were answered, but not from above. In their prisons, the broken Remnants that had lost to the First Lord were stirred by their worshippers. Their muffled whispers went unnoticed by most, save a select few. Those that could hear the imprisoned Remnants were thought to be gifted with a great amount of Chaldm, and founded the first Followings where their fallen masters lay buried. They were the first Honored Ones.
The Honored Ones conducted ceremonies which fed shards of Ibka, Chaldm, Shukm, and Uri to the trapped Remnants. They worked tirelessly to organize the cult into a united front, rather than a scattering of isolated sects. And they carried out several failed covert rebellions against the First Lord and his progeny.
Hallower teachings, customs, and beliefs are passed down verbally by the Advocates. They are subject to change much like any other culture. Official changes in doctrine come from the Honored Ones, who interpret the will of the Remnants through listening to those that were trapped in stone, and reading signs in the stars from those beyond Isyra. Vast sweeping shifts are rare, and the bulk of their culture remains unchanged from their ancestors. Some of Hallower culture is written by Celebrants and Advocates, especially the myths and history of the cult. Details on rituals, custom, and locations remain obscure to prevent the Irreverent Lost from gleaning too much of the cult's secrets.
Cosmological Views
The universe was created from the Breaking of the One, and is a collection of fragmentary pieces. These pieces are made up of the One's four souls; Uri the mind, Ibka the body, Chaldm the spirit, and Shukm the breath. They categorize fragments into two groups; What was Lost, and What Remains. The Lost are all the fragments which are so damaged that they no longer remember the original unity of the One. The Remnants are those who remember, and seek to reunite with the Lost in order to bring about the Eternal Unity.
Among the Lost, there are the Reverent and Irreverent. Those who respect and worship the Remnants are the Reverent. They toil so that they can be united with the Broken God in the Eternal Unity, and end the suffering that was begat by the Breaking. The Irreverent are those who resist the Eternal Unity. They selfishly cling to their flawed existence, prolonging not only their pain, but the suffering of others.
Tenets of Faith
i. What Remains of the Broken God are its Remnants.
ii. All else is What Was Lost in the Breaking.
iii. Pain and suffering resulted from the Breaking, and will exist until one can enter the Eternal Unity with What Remains.
iv. Salvation from suffering requires service and reverence of What Remains.
Worship
The Reverent Lost rise and go to temple before the rising of the sun each day to be guided in prayer to imprisoned Remnants below. They go again after the sun has set each night to call to the Hallowed Remnants above. These periods of worship are also times for rituals and offerings to be conducted, and for news and instruction to be disseminated by the community leaders.
Priesthood
All Hallowers wear dark robes when they worship, preferably black. The Advocates and Honored Ones stand out from the rest by their robes; shadow-black and thin, their regalia is said to be woven not of cloth but of Shukm itself. These garments are passed down through generations, and never fade or fray. Chains of Silver are given to the Advocates, bearing medallions denoting their Following. Electrum is given to Honored Ones, whose medallions are emblazoned with the sigil of the Remnant they commune with.
Advocates are selected from the acolytes and celebrants who show strength of will and absolute adherence to the faith in the face of personal suffering. Most come from those that were born into the cult, and almost all are from Followings. The smaller enclaves are generally viewed as too close to the secular, shortsighted Irreverent to produce resolute Advocates. Selections are made by a council of Advocates and the Honored One within a community, who are offered a robe in exchange for a sacrifice.
To become an Advocate, an Offering of Ibka must be made. The Advocate must sacrifice a piece of their body, most commonly a hand, and give their oath of obedience to What Remains. Honored Ones consult both the stars and their Remnant to determine if the sacrifice was accepted, and if it is the candidate becomes an Advocate.
Honored Ones may come from anywhere, including beyond the cult. The only requirements are that they can hear an imprisoned Remnant, and that they are reverent to its will. It is rare that outsiders become Honored Ones, but if they do, they are guided by Advocates in the ways of the Reverent Lost.
Type
Religious, Cult
Alternative Names
Hallowers, the Reverent Lost, Masked Ones
Leader
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Government System
Theocracy
Deities
Divines
Location
Neighboring Nations
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