The Children of The Fiery Lock

Passion and Extremes

The Children of The Fiery Lock is a religious movement that traces its roots back to the origins of humanity. The Fiery Lock is one of many cults operating in the world, though their zealous beliefs and complex history set them apart from most.
They are the only surviving organization dedicated to The Red Maiden, a goddess of red, passion, and extremes. Evidence compiled by The Alexandrian University suggests the cult and The Maiden predate recorded history. Some texts even suggest she assisted humanity, while others paint her as an evil entity, a demon of sorts beyond human comprehension.
Regardless, of their deity's ethical standing, the cult routinely changed throughout history. Its beliefs and practices have been removed, changed, restored, abolished, and everything in between as different leaders made their mark on its history.

Joining

Joining the cult involves a pledge, an oath to serve. One who does so is immediately accepted, though not all make it further into the cult. The only true requirements are that one has red hair. (either naturally or dyed -see fun fact: Modern Marvels-) and that they accept the ideology of the church. One can be either male or female, though only women are allowed into the highest ranks.

Hierarchy

There are four, formerly five, levels of hierarchy in The Fiery Lock. At the bottom, you have the pledge. They are often given the dirty work, forced to endure many torments at the hands of those in higher tiers to break their will or tempt them into attempting The Rite. The only way to move higher is to undergo the rite all practitioners of The Prestige go through. If they survive the ordeal, they join the priesthood, becoming a red priest/priestess of The Fiery Lock.
The Priesthood is dedicated to furthering the organization's agenda, as well as tending to menial tasks around the mansion that serves as their base of operation. They spend much of their time learning to hone their skills in The Prestige, namely Arcana Sanguis. Anyone with red hair will gain Arcana Sanguis if they survive The Rite, and it is considered a sacred art in the cult.
Men cannot progress further, but women often entertain the hope of becoming a Lady-In-Waiting. These women are those who show enough skill to attempt the pilgrimage, the oldest ritual known in the world. The pilgrimage is required to enter the highest tier in the cult occupied by one woman, The Matron, who leads the cult.

La Streghe Rosse

The fifth tier of the hierarchy was occupied by the strongest (female) fighters. Le Streghe Rosse, The Red Witches, began some time before the first recorded leader of the faith took the title of Matron in Italy during the 1400s. Little is known of them, but their members were zealous to a fault, and capable of doing the most horrific acts imaginable in the name of preserving their faith.
The branch was removed as other religious movements grew and posed a threat to the organization. This required combat through The Prestige to be standard practice, rendering the branch obsolete. The title still remains, an honor given to those who show phenomenal combat prowess among the Ladies-In-Waiting.
Gaining the title also means you have a higher chance of surviving the pilgrimage, and most seek to gain the title if they can. The requirements are mostly incidental, as each matron has their own specific qualities they search for, key among them being loyalty and obedience.

Fun Fact: Modern Marvels

An intriguing aspect of The Web is how the world changes, and how ancient concepts work from a modern-day perspective. A matron dies should their hair lose its red pigment regardless of the cause. Most of the time this occurs due to old age. This rule has been in place since the dawn of mankind, stagnant and unable to adapt to the times.
Various methods of dyeing hair existed throughout history, going as far back as the Greeks and Egyptians. It wasn't until the early 1900s with the invention of synthetic hair dye that a matron attempted to trick this rule by dyeing her hair red. The matron at the time, Roselyn Moldova, began dying her hair at the age of 46, and took advantage of this loophole until her death.
Despite the harsh chemicals used, her hair always maintained a youthful and vibrant color and texture. The current matron of the movement, Jemma O'toole, uses the same loophole, pushing her life beyond other humans. She is currently 114, though looks to be in her mid 70s

The Goddess

The Red Maiden is classified as an eldritch entity, an outsider to this reality. Initially worshiped as a goddess of art, the color red, and passion, sometime after she gained status as a war goddess to early man. Madness, extremes, and blood became a staple of her image. The Maiden is mostly silent, expressing neither approval nor disgust at The Fiery Lock’s current actions, though her connection to the matron is highly regarded as acceptance by those who follow her.

Tenets of Faith

• The Maiden is known to be the source of all red hair, a product of her embedding a piece of her eldritch soul into the body.

• The Maiden is weak, too many pieces of her soul scattered across reality. She must be made whole.

• To make the goddess whole, her soul must be restored through sacrifice. The group often rounds up those with red hair, usually under the pretended of joining the movnent. In reality, they care very little for pledges.

• The Passion is a sacrament, an experience shared between the practitioners of Arcana Sanguis, and The Maiden herself. It is holy, and is to be embraced,

The Arts

The Fiery Lock maintains that art is the most efficient means of expressing passion outside of blood. Members of the cult are often brilliant musicians and painters. The cult makes a tidy sum selling its work, though their religious art is always kept at the manor they call home. These religious works are considered perfect reflections of the soul, though any unlucky enough to view them will find the experience disturbing if not completely maddening.

The Pilgrimage

The pilgrimage is required to become The Matron of the Fiery Lock. This is due to a special gift that only a Matron can gain, The Red Mantle, allowing the Matron to transform into an avatar of The Red Maiden and blend The Maiden’s soul with theirs.
It is unknown exactly what is required to complete the pilgrimage, but it involves entering The Maiden’s domain and seeking the goddess out. The journey is dangerous to the mind, body, and soul alike, and many ladies in waiting never even make it back to admit failure.
The Ritual involves bathing in a blood, your thoughts focused solely on The Maiden. You are then pulled down into infinite depths, regardless of the physical limits of the tub you bathe in. You will feel The Maiden pull you under. At that moment, your fight for survival begins.

The Red Schism

The Red Schism was an event that saw the slaughter of any who refused to accept a new direction of the organization. The Red Schism is often a term used jokingly by the surviving members of the cult, primarily because there wasn't much of a schism at all. The religion did not branch off into separate faiths, rather the separate faiths were purged entirely.
The Fiery Lock has a deep and complicated history of infighting that dates back to the early 1700s. Initially, this infighting began with the nature of The Passion and quickly spiraled into key differences regarding The Maiden’s teachings.
In the end, the butchers won out. The cult maintains a deadly presence in the modern world, but one that gains scant notice from those in The Web. They hide in secret, constantly seeking to restore The Red Maiden to her former glory.

The Historical Record of The Fiery Lock

The history of the movement is largely unknown. Most texts and records were lost over the years, most destroyed due to various circumstances. While evidence exists that shows their presence, The Fiery Lock failed to maintain its history until the Italian Renaissance. The family tree below is in the most aesthetically pleasing order I could manage. Each character article has a paragraph or two regarding that particular leader leading up to the most recent.