Church Of Essence

It is unknown when the Church of Essence was founded or how it came to be, but it is one of the most powerful organizations, with a lot of influence especially in the Human realms.
Their base premise is simple: The Gods are fake and are conquerors who enslaved the Essences. Everyone either worshipping or using the Gifts of Essence are considered to be blasphemous and in need of correction.
Unfortunately that correction usually results in the non-believers losing their heads.

Structure

The Church of Essences is explained to be a Theocracy, where the Holy Father is speaking in name of the Essences. He himself then rules over a group of First Children, Essence Members who are proven devotees and from which a new Holy Father will be chosen once the current one dies. Further indepth information on the workings of the Church is missing since all spies that are sent in are either rooted out or converted, at which point they stop reporting back on the movements of the Church.

Public Agenda

The Church has one goal and one goal only. Destroy all that are able to use the magical gifts that are directly related to the Essences. This puts them in a direct line of war with The Essence Hunters and the Order of Power.

Assets

Not much is known of what the Church owns, but heavy support from the leaders of the Human Kingdoms both on Durania and Atarga, as well as the suspicion that they have infiltrated many organizations and are actively planning heists to intercept goods and wares to support the cause, makes them a force to be reckoned with.

Their regular handouts to poor citizens as part of their recruiting strategy only strenghtens the assumptions that the Holy Father has a lot of wealth at his disposal.

Demography and Population

Humans are overrepresented within the ranks of the Essence Members, followed by the Gniwers. Rhultak and Naru however seem to be opposed to the organisation and in some cases actively chase them away. Still, with the large presence of Humans in Windhaven and Mengbilla, they cannot avoid them and some of the lesser pleasant elements of their societies have joined their ranks or cooperated with them.

Military

Essence Members all swear an oath to take up arms to protect the interest of the Church. In recent years, rumors have started to emerge of trainingcamps, run by a more stricter sect of Essence Members called the Amber Brigade. They call themselves the Sword of Reason and have been classified as highly dangerous by governments across the known worlds. Their numbers and capabilities are unknown, but an Amber Brigade sect member is easily spotted by the Crescent Moon cut into their foreheads.

Divine Origins

It is unclear where the Church of Essence originated. The teachings seem to come from multiple places at ones, but scholars consider Ulf the Bloody to be the starting point. Not a lot is known about him, but he ruled the first few decades, a time that is taught in all schools of the Order of Power as "Purgatory".

Tenets of Faith

As no spie survives within this organisation or convert, the only true commandment that is known is to kill every Gifted, without hesitation. This results in magic users in general to be very careful around Essence members as they do not care about verification of the source of power up front.

May the Essences guide our blades

Founding Date

Unclear

Type

Religious, Inquisitorial

Alternative Names

The Church

Demonym

Children of Essence

Judicial Body

One can petition the First Children, headed by the Holy Father if one believes they are wronged by the Church. In reality this leads to a rather cruel test of faith as questioning the verdict of the Essences is perceived to be blasphemy.

Notable Members

• Deamhain Olc

Related Species

• The Gniwers
• The Humans