The Web of Faith

Not every member of those who followed Lilryth against Queen Maev and Once King Oberon was immediately suited to the attentive care and calming magic needed to reach out to their leader. Some were fighters, or farmers, or poets, or crafters. They looked to the others for guidance, and the caregivers split their time between Lilryth, the needs of their people, and training those interested in their craft. In turn, they learned from their people and adapted as needed. These caregivers—votaries, as they would come to be called—formed a web of connection between all the disparate, dispairing people who had come to this strange, new world and fought these strange, new monsters. When the Mythalenairra thought their leader was lost to them and that they should move on, the faith passed through this web encouraged them. When Lilryth was found, grief maddened and incoherent, it was their faith in what she had stood for that broke through to her. When she was healed, it was their faith that emboldened Lilryth to grasp divinity.

Practice

In Mythalenairran society, the Faithful serve as arbiters and counsellors. They offer guidance and therapy as individual votaries specialize in the relevant disciplines for a given community. Even for those who don't worship Lilryth specifically, the Faithful provide the same services as they do to their web, just without the devotional aspects.

While most Mythalenairran settlements lack a police or military force of any kind, the Faithful are trained to defend against Abyssal portal breaches. The more senior members become the martial arm of a region as needed.

Structure

Because they began as an informal collective with a specific purpose in society, no real hierarchy ever formed among the Faithful. Today, the votaries of Lilyr'ythra act as the main hub of the Web, though their leadership mostly involves passing information. The nature of the Faithful is to be uniquely tied to their individual communities, central leadership serves little purpose.

A prospective votary spends an amount of time determined by their own needs training in mental health counseling, Abyssal defense, and magic to complement each. Once they have completed that training, they spend another stretch of time in meditation and reflection. While votaries are not tied to their position for life, frequent vocational changes are lightly discouraged. The Faithful would rather make room for a lay volunteer whose profession or vocation lies outside of the chapel than bind and unbind them through ceremony more than once.

Once the initiate has decided to fully join the Web, they are bestowed the title Faithful and set on a path to specialization.

Type

Religious, Other

Alternative Names

Lilryth's Devoted

Demonym

Faithful

Deities

• Lilryth

Location

Lilyr'ythra

Notable Members

• Faithful Silence