The Kadmielian Heresy

There is, so much more history to this world than one can begin to imagine. Stories of countless nations and countless peoples living and dying in equal measure. However, much of history has been lost, or in more extreme cases, erased. Censured, and left to fall and die in obscurity. Such is the times when some organizations wield unimaginable power over life as we know it. Though it may be easy to forget, the reality is the church has power in daily life, and be thankful that they do not exercise it more openly than they have. Or, at least, that we know of. Regardless, the Church of the Flame is no stranger to its own history of schisms and heresies. However, there is one that has been buried by the concentrated effort on the churches' behalf. A heresy that saw the very foundations of the church tested, and all record lost to time. To pen anything related to it, is to invite death. Death, however, is an old friend, and so penned this shall be. This is a tale, of the Kadmelian Heresy.
It is said that this heresy is around the year 1879EC, and the church had enjoyed such a long time of success and wealth. It had been about 800 years since the first crusade, and faith in the church was at an all-time high. The church was strong, like a solid castle wall built upon the sturdiest of foundations. While the mortal men did politic and war with each other, the church enjoyed a position of privilege and decadence. Debate was the natural course of action, for to discuss the divine is a truly wondrous thing. Many schools of belief were formed, even some unrelated heresies, but these were all minor and inconsequential. However, one man's questions were to herald a storm of death and fire.
Within the province of Treehold, there lived a man known as Father Kadmiel, a bishop in the Temple of His Holy Fire. A staunch believer and steward of the Flame, he was seen by his peers as a pious man, always making sure the flame was kept alight by the vestal virgin of the temple, and that the flock from the town were guided in the love of god. However, it is believed one night a revelation struck him when writing at midnight, a candle went out as he wrote. Too annoyed to relight it, he kept writing for a moment before the candle flickered back on. He realized that he had still written a word or two just fine without the light. He was racked for days in contemplation before he came to his fellow brothers in the cloth and began to speak of his revelation: What is light, without darkness? If there is no darkness, how can there be light? What is the purpose of darkness if there is light? Why would the flame allow darkness if it did not serve a purpose in his grand design?
While confused at first, Father Kadmiel was always a charismatic fellow, and soon many in the temple began to ponder this question with him. If darkness had a purpose, why must the kindling (mortals and their prayers) need to sacrifice to keep the flame alight? Even if they do, there is still darkness surrounding the light, for light only reaches so far. This was the birth of Kadmilism, the belief that for the grace of god's light, there must be darkness, for even darkness has a place in the Flame's plan. If the light is of good virtue, is the darkness virtues considered evil? No, at least not entirely. Kadmilism simply espouses that there is no inherent holy or unholy action one can take: for if we are the creations of a great god, he must have foreseen all the actions his creations would do. Sin itself was not real but a more social construct similar to how laws are, though this is not the condoning of evil or wicked deeds. It simply sees deeds as just that, deeds, and nothing more.
Some people were confused as to seeing over time the temple priests began to wear darker robes, and something previously thought unthinkable: allowing the sacred fire in the church to go out. While usually a sign of calamity, nothing occurred, vindicating Kadmiel more that he was on the verge of the truth of the Flame. However, one of his flocks told of this in a tavern, which just so happened to have a witch hunter overhear them. The witch hunter, one Rex Heim, claimed to have then followed the man back to the church for evening worship, where he claims to "have born witness to the dark vileness of Demiar, Lord of Darkness, in the hearts and hymnals of those present". Having had to flee the scene as his soul quite literally screamed and burned (or so he claimed) he traveled to Aramoor at the greatest speed one could, and informed the pope of his findings.
Pope Orson the II was said to, while horrified, be an optimistic man, and calmed those around him and asked that this Father Kadmiel bring himself and his followers to explain themselves in front of council. Surely, he thought, there could be some more reasonable explanation than the father of darkness and hell appearing on the doorsteps of the church. So it was that Father Kadmiel and his followers were brought to the grand cathedral of Aramoor, in what is referred to as The Council of Moor, to explain and assuage worries the church had. Father Kadmiel explained his newfound theory before the assemblage of some of the highest authorities in the Church and the many cults, and it did not take long before all hell seemingly broke loose. Shouting began quite early on, and at one point during the shouting it is said a rogue gust of wind suddenly caused the candles and torches of the room to flicker and nearly go out, spurning many to believe that it was a sign that the flame was enraged by this treasonous priest. It is not known how, but guards were called in to detain Kadmiel, though he managed to escape with most of his followers back to Treehold.
A heretic spouting blasphemies in plain sight of one of the capitals of Ashenfeld, it did not take long for retribution to be swift. Even the cult of Vandarr voiced its complaints of these Kadmilites donning the black robes meant for their order. Other cults pointed out that: "if centuries of tradition could be uprooted just like that, what is to stop the ancient agreements of the incorporations of their gods and goddesses of old from being voided and overturned?" Thus, it was that a force of priests and church loyalists would assault the Temple of His Holy Fire. It is said they entered the city without incident, but upon a brief moment where Kadmiel gathered his loyalists outside the temple to make one last plea, a crossbow bolt was fired and all hell broke loose. Steel was drawn and blades did cut down men and women alike, as many citizens were also caught in the crossfire. The fighting left some 107 dead upon the steps of the temple within but the first few minutes, as more bloodshed soon followed as the temple was purged of both priests and worshipers. The chaos of the fighting even lead to a sight that was thought only to be one of nightmares, the great tree of Treehold catching alight and burning like a horrific beacon in the darkness that surrounded it, the fire being able to be seen for miles. The agents of the church said to have found, dark and vile things in the hidden basements and dungeons of the temple, but all record or possible accounts of what was down there were burned.
By the morning, much of the tree was scorched, as the church rushed to do damage control. The guard enforced some of the strictest martial law ever known, and even looking up at the tree could result in someone being beaten, sometimes to death. In the end, the temple was burned down from the fighting at night, and the church then made sure to cover up the incident as best they could. It is even believed that the Second Crusade, the sudden "desire to purge the eastern wastelands" was but a ploy to help distract the wider populace from this event. It worked, however, as the Second Crusade of 1880EC took much of the world by storm, and allowed the church to quietly sweep the event under the rug. So well have they hidden this, that the tree in the center of Treehold shows no sign of burn, though some whisper if one can manage to find the deepest parts inside it, they can find scorched wood that has yet to fully rot or heal. Those who took part in the church task force were taken care of in whatever fashion was deemed necessary: forced to take oaths of penance as flagellants, executed, mind scourged, locked away forever, or simply sworn into vows of absolute silence.
While the church eagerly moved on, there are some whispers that a single Kadmilite, or even maybe a single book, managed to escape the fires of the churches' wrath. Some speak that the cult exists still, yet somehow...darker and more hateful than before. They speak of men and woman screaming for the end of the church, and the extinguishing of the lights and candles they worship so dearly. Pray that these are but treasonous rumors, for if they return, it could be the doom of the nation, and perhaps the entire continent.