Confession
He stood firm on his feet as the nightmarish creature laid it's tendrils around him. The endless abyss of a mouth opened to reveal thousands of daggers for teeth, while the whispers of his crimes echoed through his skull. Then a smile formed on his lips. The tendrils burned and the abyssal horror fell to it's knees with a shriek. It wasn't him who looked at the monster with fear, but the monster which looked through the veil of tragedy and saw nothing but beauty. "As breath yet draws from my lips, it is never too late to take a step towards the beacon of light."
History
From the dawn of life, sin has always been a plague which runs rampant. Men and women losing their ways to rage, lust, fear, sorrow and more. Events and actions which tear at the soul and risk to destroy us from the inside.
Most cultures have birthed different outlets for these negative emotions. Some through drinking, others through cleansing the spirit in spars, but most prominent and efficent has always been talking to the compassionate ear. One which carefully listens.
The first records of confessions came from Peregon and is considered a holy and sacred rite. Though considering how old the tradition really is, nobody can say where the idea of talking things through beggan and it's considered an innate ability within most sapient life. To clear the clouds of weight by confessing to sin, misdeeds or just internal turmoil isn't frowned at as a weakness but a strength that there is a choice to stand against it. A first step towards the path of honor. Redemption through bravery to aknowledge mistakes and wisdom to seek the advice of those learned in matters of heart and mind.
Execution
The confession is conducted by the individual in question, within specialised stalls with shutterscreens. The individual may speak through the screen to remain unseen and only heard by the person manning the other booth of the stall. Though a confession does not require complete secrecy and sometimes happen face to face with other people. Common types of everyday confessions can be anything from admitting to have caused an issue or a crime, with a will to make up for it.
Confessing a crime to the authority can be done with or without a priest, but the result is usually a warmer reception than if the guard were to capture the person. Confessing crimes with truth and cooporation to the authorities may also lower the punishments, or have smaller crimes like petty theft or code breaks forgiven with a warning. As long as it doesn't repeat several times.
Components and tools
The stall used within confessions is generally a so called confessional, but it's not necessarely the only thing which can be used for confessing. Other examples may be paper walls, empty rooms or even special rooms reserved for group confessions, which are more related to unhealthy trends like alcholism, or more social issues like marriage problems.
Participants
Anyone can attend a confession, as long as it's their own or they're invited to participate in a group session. Normally, a confession is legally private affairs which serve to protect the honor, dignity and reputation of the person. With the exception of confessional court cases. The discression of confessions are not only sacred in faith, but within law as well. The violation of sharing sensitive private information with the public is absolute, as it could risk the peasantry to pull out pitchforks and torches due to common hearsay. Something which shatters the order that a person is innocent untill found guilty.
Hence, those that participate to listen on a confession are mostly authorized holy or spiritual figures such as a priest or cleric. Sometimes lawmen and a few experts in social-philosophy and magic are also allowed to participate if the issue at hand make sense with their craft.
It's common for organizations that practice warfare, especially the churchly ones to have a couple confessors at hand to ease the mind of soldiers and motivate them to keep on a righteous path so that they do not succumb to the darkness inside.
By ancient laws, any castle or nobles mannor has the right to a private confessor, with some well known figures like high-nobility, kings, queens and top generals having a right to a private confessor, due to the sensitive politics which often surround them.
Primary Related Location
Comments