The Strazhdan ("Suffering")

Meleath Gwynn ("Blood Curse")

Written by Mlawt

Long ago, the people brought orphans to the priests of Ilmater to rear.
Long ago, the priests of Ilmater used a ritual to examine holy initiates for falsehoods and faith.
Now, those brought to Tìr Tàirngeir are young and innocent. No longer does the Order fear the ignoble heart or a deceitful tongue. It only seeks to raise warriors, capable of shouldering the great burden of a dying oath: To keep the Valley, upon Bloody hands.

History

The Strazhdan, or "Suffering" in the Common tongue, is the colloquial term The Blooded use to describe their ritual of initiation. It is only performed on young children: orphans or those taken for their magical aptitude. The ritual changes the mind and the body, there is something spiritual and metaphysical about the process, but tangible. It is a marriage of herbal-induced trance states and magical astral projection that allows the participants to share a common mind and, in that mind, feel the terror of darkness-- the great enemy of the Order. It is "meleath", a curse, because one never returns home: they either graduate into Blooded, or die.
In an effort to create a lineage of protectors of The KRVE, the kings of ages past established a Knightly Order out of the priests of Ilmater. With the aid of court wizards and druids of the valley, the priests developed a means to train themselves from simple men and women of the cloth into capable warriors over the course of several nights. A well-kept and guarded secret, the Trials of Ilmater's Suffering or simply, the Suffering, projected the knight-aspirants into a world of their making entirely created to challenge them physically, mentally, and spiritually. The process proved an incredible victory for the Petty Kingdom of Perth, yet often fatal for failed initiates. Half of all participants died.
Once upon a time, the Kingdom provided initiates, new priests and children from outside the valley. As the years passed however, contact with the outside world became more and more sporadic until eventually there was none at all. Turning inward, the Knights of Ilmater, looked to the people who lived in the KRVE. It was quickly discovered the ritual proved too much for most older folk and most adults were discouraged by the failure rate. So it came to be the Blooded, who now for all were the rulers of the valley, began adopting the orphans and receiving the unwanted children from the people. After studying the religious orders and serving as a squire these children were placed into the Trials just prior to the age of maturity (dependent on the race).
Centuries would pass, though, and time would render such pleasantries obsolete. As the Order aged, its numbers waned and so too its ability to teach and serve the people of the valley. Somewhere in its late-age, the Order's numbers fell beneath its reach and it could no longer remain passive in their mountain fortress. Those they received from the villages and forts performed the Trials as soon as they could wield a sword. Futhering, without an external supply of magic, the number of those who could perform the ritual components dwindled to a handful. This would be supplemented by forced adoption of any child that showed magical aptitude, "for the safety of the valley."
The people became restless when the Blooded arrived, like specters come to whisk children into the night. A people that once revered the rich, crimson banners, had grown wary of them.

Execution

On the morning of the ritual, the initiates are cleansed with holy waters from the temple grounds, red ash made from ground Bloodstone spread and rubbed into their body, and fed meal. Throughout the day, the initiates fast and perform little to no manual labor or chores (often, in recent history, they are children newly introduced to the Order and so have only come to live there and not taken on an initiate's responsibility) and are encouraged to remain in a relaxed state whether by reading, contemplation, discussion, or sleep.
Upon the eve of Dusk, they are moved into the inner temple and receive Rites of Ilmater and are accepted into the Church as honorary initiates with knighthood granted upon graduation of the Trials. Once the Rites are performed, each initiate is laid to rest and fed a decoction to enter the vision. Then the Seer begins the Strazhdan and the Warden follows the initiates into the dream.

Components and tools

The ritual is highly guarded, with ancient tomes that detail the precise measurements, movements, and timing to perform every aspect. The tomes are held deep under the mantle of Tir Tàirngeir and safeguarded under multiple hidden and ensorceled passages. In conjunction with the sage rites, a mineral, mined underneath the fortress, called Bloodstone, must be ground into a powder for use in suffusion into the body. The rare ore was utilized in the creation of the plane the participants projected into and a means of interconnecting them between isolated existences.
The main premise of the Strazhdan relied on the Law of Intimate Energies, that delineated the relationship between two metaphysical bodies and the interposition of arcane energy.

Participants

Once, the Strazhdan were made of young men, bristling at the chance to prove themselves Knights of the Blood. Now, young children have their toys stripped from their hands and placed in its stead lies an arming sword.
Those who participate in the Strazhdan are generally 6 - 13 years old, occasionally there are older youths that attempt the Trials, but in recent history this truth is more fiction (few youth and fewer adults find a life of lonely suffering as noble as in ages past). The ritual can be prepared by one person in times of need, but is most preferably completed with two: one Seer and one Warden.
Seers are magically attuned masters trained in the ritual arts and mixing the decoction necessary to induce the initiates into the trance-states. Seers define the ritual; their mixture and choice of herbs influence the strength and intensity of the trance and only with a Seer can the ritual be performed singularly. Without a means of inducing the Trials, none can endure the Strazhdan. Only an arcane master can be both Seer and Warden.
A Warden of the ritual is a symbolic figurehead. Named after the adjudicators of the Blooded, Wardens enter into the projection with the initiates and it is from the Warden's own mind that the world inside the Trials is built. Wardens take on the role of mentor and architect of reality. They attempt to guide and mold the initiates from their weak and vulnerable state into seasoned court knights during the ritual. Conflicts, monsters, people, places, even issues of moral conscious are born from the Warden's own innate nature, experience, and intentions. It is for this reason Wardens are often the most experienced members of the knightly order. It was discovered most Wardens may only perform the ritual a set number of times (according to their race's lifespan) before it alters their minds irrevocably.

Observance

The ritual itself may be performed at any time with the correct intention and components and at any place so long as its safe. To an outside observer, the ritual lasts only for one long night. To the initiate, it can be as long as ten years. It is for this reason- and safety- that the rites are performed in the inner temple of Ilmater, upon the stone temple floor, resting on plain mats. The surroundings must be simple, easy to recognize, and unremarkable for when the initiate returns from their astral projection.
There are no astrological requirements to perform the ritual, however, historically they occur during the night of the full moon, before it transitions into its next phase, to symbolize the rebirth into new life.

Primary Related Location

Tir Tàirngeir