Order of the Willing Whip
Structure
The last two titles are awarded to those who have been head of a temple or who have personally distinguished themselves. Confirmed Priests use the titles (in ascending order), Taystren, Adept (in Pain), Sister/Brother (in Torment), Supremar, Caressor (of Terrors), Whiplass/Whiplar, Paingiver, Whipmistress/Whip Master, High Whipmistress/Whipmaster, Branded (of the God), Truescar.
Culture
Xaankean often engaged in self-flagellation, often in the morning when praying for spells. They celebrated each season with the Rite of Pain and Purity, a ritual that involved followers dancing on glass, thorns, or barbed-wire while being whipped by higher-level Xaankean. A smaller ritual occurring every twelve days involved followers passing their bodies through the flames of candles. During warfare, priestesses of Xaanke scourged their naked shoulders or tore their cheeks with their nails to evoke magic.
Public Agenda
Bringing pain and suffering was the aim of all Xaankean, either through physical torture or sometimes more subtly and psychologically. Beauty, intelligence, and acting were useful attributes of a Xaankean, but the ability to fully understand someone was the best skill a Xaankean could acquire, as knowing someone fully could help a Xaankean inflict maximum pain, one way or another.
Worship
Clerics of Xaanke pray for their spells in the morning while kneeling after striking themselves with a whip. (The same ritual is performed in the evening, although without praying for new spells.)
Be wary of your mortal limitations. While it is tempting to allow pain's ecstasies to sweep you away, particularly during a delicious bout of self-flagellation, broken bones hinder worship of Our Maiden of Pain.
