The Pale Grimoire
Started by the first Pale Imperator, Cilritanë a'Detvida, the Pale Grimoire represents the culmination of millennia of theological and philosophical discourse. At the same time, it serves as the central canonical document for the Faith of the Nine, the backbone of the Dominion and the tretalleri people. The original document is written in Tretalleri in its most exacting and most stringent form so as to leave as little room for interpretation with regard to the semantics of the text. Later additions to the tome have followed in this tradition, so as to ensure that the words of the book could not be perverted to unscrupulous ends.
Dominean Tretalleri Priest: Then I ask this, why do we worship Him? Di'Marrë: Enkarëna Qarë kira cilynë îdë Di'Teýnare Congregation: For He brought Death to our bondage and Life to our freedom. Di'Averêni: Kirannë lertenë Di'Teýna d'khytë îdë neda vaeýnë Di'Teýna d'alteri îdëre Priest: And the price we paid for this gift? Di'Marrë: Neda di'syna syannë îdë ζ kirannë vanto gallore Congregation: A Life for Life. The Blood of our Ancestors. Di'Averêni: Vaêýdë kirannë Di'Vaeýdë. D'Galtë di'Rildaldynëre Priest: And how do we thank Him? Di'Marrë: Neda qare methi janë idë Di'Teýnare Congregation: We seek Him through glory in Life and in Peace through Death. Di'Averêni: Finë îdë Di'Teýna ziertë qorda ziertë vaeýdë neda ziertë rissë ziertë lertëre Priest: And his will? Di'Marrë: Neda qarë d'dasë Di'Teýnare Congregation: Let all who will listen know that He is Deliverance. Di'Averêni: Erzë îdë ormë latŷrë s'Cillena Di'Teýnare Priest: Your faith is affirmed. Go now to seek the guidance of the Nine. Di'Marrë: S'Wynedë d'averrë fîtëre Fillë mirenë fîtë ζre Csendë finë fîtë d'tireda Di'Nennre
Purpose
The Pale Grimoire was written in response to the tapestry of religious traditions in the early Dominion. Whilst Cilritanë had focused his efforts, early on in life, to uniting the tretâllë under a single banner, the truth was that there remained friction between the different, disparate peoples that the tretâllë had become since the years of the diaspora. More often than not, religious practices from one corner of the empire were incompatible with religious practices from another.
The Pale Grimoire, written in the later years of Cilritanë's life according to tretalleri tradition, was the imperator's bid to unite the tretâllë not just under one banner, but also under one name as a people — the Stranger's people. Taking the best elements from the regional faiths practiced by the tretâllë at the time and combining them into a single faith that all tretâllë could follow, regardless of wealth or station of birth, the Pale Grimoire was to be Cilritanë's legacy, a means of forging the word "tretallë" as an identity to which all his people could belong, but also as a reminder that only through unity can the tretâllë avoid committing the mistakes of the past.
Document Structure
Publication Status
The document is publicly available
Historical Details
Background
At the time of the Pale Grimoire's writing, the Kingship of the Bone Trees had only just transitioned into the empire that would later be known as the Dominion. Cilritanë a'Detvida, the first Pale Imperator, in the twilight of his life, had done amazing work over the four hundred years that he had lived and had a chance to take a step back and examine the empire that he would leave behind as his legacy.
He saw a people that were united by a single banner, but were still driven apart by cultural and religious divides. Practices from one corner of the empire were entirely unacceptable on another corner, and the people butted heads because of it. The crown was caught in the middle of it all, having to resolve the conflicts that arose from so many different cultures and traditions being driven together by unification. Cilritanë saw only one solution: invoking their shared history. And so, building a religion with the Pale God, or the Stranger as he would come to be known to the tretâllë, at its centre, Cilritanë was able to unite the spiritual identity of his people and ensure that his empire would live to survive the ages.
Public Reaction
Because many people believed that in Cilritanë's view, their gods were "lesser" gods, there was initially a lot of pushback against the ideas that he espoused in his grimoire, especially among the more rural areas of the then-much-smaller Dominion. But as Cilritanë's philosophy, his appeal to the shared history of their people, his plea that the tretâllë all come together in worship of the Stranger not out of obligation but out of thanks, gained in popularity at the heart of the empire, the grimoire and its passages were gradually accepted by the tretâllë as a whole.
Legacy
Without the Pale Grimoire, the Faith of the Nine, the world's most practiced and least divisive faith would not exist. The ideals of unity and togetherness espoused in its pages have built a world where not only is slavery condemned in the strongest of words, but also discrimination against individuals for any aspect of their being that is outside of their control.
The Pale Grimoire, and the Faith that it spawned challenges all cultures that it comes across to reexamine the foundations of their morality, and takes the focus away from doing the right thing out of fear for divine retribution or eternal damnation. Instead, the Pale Grimoire contends that people are to hold each other accountable for their wrongdoings, and that morality isn't about saving oneself from a fiery pit, but rather minimizing the suffering of the people around oneself.
As a result, the Pale Grimoire has been the most important catalyst in the world of Sekhar for making Dominean society, as a whole, far more egalitarian than it could have been.
Type
Manuscript, Religious
Medium
Vellum / Skin
Wow, I really love the history to this. Great work :)
Thanks so much! :D