Church of the Silver Flame

Defenders of the Innocents

Pre-History

In the Age of Demons, Stellarium was one wrong decision away from collapsing into a demonic ruin. It was due to the valiant efforts of the Silver Flame that banished the Overlords into their immortal prisons from the plane.
Yet still from their far off prisons, the Overlords embody your worst fears. They thrive on cruelty and hatred. It is because of these evils that the Silver Flame exist to protect from.
The Silver Flame was too pure in ideals for humanity, and the people of Stellarium could not hear its call -- until Tira Miron set upon her righteous path.
This noble warrior had devoted her life to the cause of honor and sacrifice... and in her the Flame found a worthy vessel.
Guided by a glorious, feathered serpent, Tira gave her life to end the reign of an Overlord that had escaped its bond. Though she fell in battle, Tira's soul joined with the Silver Flame, and in so doing, she became a conduit -- a voice that humanity could hear.
Across Stellarium, the pure of heart heard her call; and ever since then, the Church of the Silver Flame has stood against evil, whatever form it might take.

Rekindling Honor

The Silver Flame are the defenders of the innocent and eradicators of all evils. The Templars of the Silver Flame seek nothing but to protect the entire world from evil. Be it from man, fiends, or supernatural threats.
While in the past they were joined as part of the Clergy of Paradenia, after Alitheia Sol was crowned as the Speaker of the Silver Flame, the church become a stand-alone power and returned to their roots and beliefs of the Silver Flame.

Entities of Evil

The Silver Flame teaches that not all evil are equal, but evil is defined by 5 entities.

1. Entities of Alien Evil;

   The children of Tiamat such as fiends and aberrations are innately malevolent that seek to harm the world.

2. Entities of Unnatural Evil;

   Mortals whose body and soul have been corrupted by supernatural forces and turned into monsters, such as undead and lycanthropes.

3. Entities of Innate Evil;

   Monsters that are evil in nature such as trolls and medusas.

4. Those Who Choose Evil;

   all humanoids who were born are innocent, but through life they have chosen to partake in evil acts. Because this category has mortals that weren’t born evil, followers aim to lead them back to the light.

5. The Evil Within

   Even the most righteous of followers of the Silver Flame can succumb to evil. The Shadow of the Flame is always whispering, and it is foolish not to stay guarded and aware of oneself.

Facing Evil's Might

Entities of alien and unnatural evil must only be fought by the Templars by spell and blade.
Protection of the innocent is always the primary concern, so if it is possible to eradicate a threat through healing—such as a lycanthrope—then it is acceptable.

There’s no evil in the heart of a newborn child. But demons' prey on our base emotions, and from the moment we’re born, the fiends start calling us down their dark paths.
None of us are perfect, and there will be times when even the best are lured into darkness. But remember: the child who’s gone astray isn’t the enemy—they’re the victim.
You carry the Flame. Don’t burn the misguided; instead, banish the shadows and lead them back into the light.

—Tira Miron, To the Templars

Those who choose evil and those who fall prey are urged with compassion over brutality—these roles are given to Friars and Ministers.

Innate evil is more difficult to discern and ultimately up to the Keeper of the Flame to make rulings on those matters.

Such as when Tira Miron had evaluated the deathless of the Aereni Elves are not classified as an innate evil.

She ruled that all creatures classified as innate evil should be reevaluated and judged by their actions by Templars.

The Council of Cardinals to this day debate over the creatures with no final verdict.

Protecting the Innocent

While the Silver Flame protects the world from evils, the entity itself is not a god in any fashion.
It is a pure force of divine celestial power created from the sacrificed souls of the Coatls with one sole purpose: to shackle the Overlords and serve as the cage of The End.
The Sovereigns and Six are gods that influence the faculties of everyday life. The Silver Flame, however, is pure celestial energy that will only empower champions who will use that gift to protect the innocents.
When those that draws from this power dies, their spirit and soul merges with the Silver Flame, empowering it and therefore future champions to aid in the fight against evils.
It is the greatest honor for a believer to merge with the Flame, that their will and drive will empower future generations of Templars.
It for this reason that it is unlikely for a follower of the Silver Flame to be revived.

The Graduation

After segregating from the Clergy, the Church of the Silver Flame- now being led by Alitheia Sol- has focused their attentions on the frontiers. However, their segregation has left disparities of the hierarchy.
There are many followers of the Silver Flame who do not believe Alitheia Sol to be the Keeper of the Flame. While all followers follow the principles to unite against evils, there are sects that has lofty aspirations and find faults when it fails to live up to them.
Shortly after Alitheia was titled as the Keeper of the Silver Flame she had disappeared... and in her absence there has been corruption within the Church of the Silver Flame.
Zealots are by far the most common form of corruption. Paladins and clerics, who devote their lives to the principles of the faith, but lost sight of the importance of compassion—therefore giving into the evil within in their own hearts in their quest to fight the evils in the world.
Opportunists seek to use their religious authority for personal gain, typically involving charging people for services that should be granted freely or gaining gold or influenced by using church resources for unrelated purposes.
However, the tarnished are the worst form of corruption. Priests or Templars who knowingly serve the shadow in the flame while posing as servants of the light.

Branches

The church of the Silver Flame split into multiple branches. It should be noted that cardinals of the Silver Flame serve different purposes than the cardinals of the Sovereign Host.
The hierarchy of the Church is very strict compared to the Sovereign Host.
All rules are to be followed are you would be dismissed immediately.
Each branch serves the Silver Flame to its rudimentary principles... no matter how it affects the Frontiers and the Great Houses of Stellarium in various ways.

Ghaash’Kala

The Ghaash’Kala follow the older traditions than the modern church of the Silver Flame.
While they follow the principles of the Silver Flame, Their primary focus is to take the battle the fiends and supernatural threats of evil.
They risk their lives every day to protect the lives of all mortals from demons, devils, yugoloths and any other supernatural threat.
They do not expect thanks, accept rewards for their quest, nor want acknowledgement for their deeds.

The Pure flame

The Pure flame are extremists, seeing no room for compassion in their pursuit to smite evil.
They tolerate no evil with an uncompromising sense of justice.
So focused on the eradication of evil, the Templars of The Pure Flame would deem it worthless to aid treat those who succumbed to evil.
It is much more effective to burn the evil out of them at the stake.

The Serpent Cults

The Serpent Cults follow the Silver Flames oldest traditions and possess secret knowledge about the Silver Flame.
Rather than following the Keeper of the Flame, they seek guidance from the couatls that sacrificed their lives to create the Silver Flame.
It is not known to many that very few couatls remain separate from the Silver Flame itself to carry out secretive missions.
Just as Tira Miron was able to heed the spirits of couatls, so do the Serpent Cults.

Maps

• 

  Town of Nirvana

Type

Religious, Holy Order

Leader

Alitheia Sol

Leader Title

Keeper of the Flame

Related Ranks & Titles

• Priest