Eyries of Urian
The church of Urian has weakened in the civilized world, though worship of the god remains strong in wild places. As people move into cities and have ready shelter and warmth, the need to fear the winds and revere the sun is sublimated to reverence for more earthly forces like commerce, craft, war, and medicine. For this reason, the eyries of Urian (as his Churches are called) and the Urianath (YUR-ee-uhn-ath) who worship there have become rare in cities.
The eyries are not secularly strong, and one of their holy orders has vanished from the world. Indeed, the greatest eyries stand high in the mountains, ancient and magnificent structures that offer a commanding view out across hundreds of miles of valleys. These eyries
are remote and hard to reach, and it is rare for the skylarks—priests—to journey down from them. This does not make for a popular religion. And yet, for those who seek freedom from enslavement—of the body, the mind, or the spirit—there are few greater places than the eyries. Homes of contemplation, beauty, and austere wisdom, the eyries are a boon to many in their deepest need. The eyries are roused to action when asked to aid the enslaved and the downtrodden. Just as Urian’s wind reaches every corner of the world, the Urianath believe Urian’s care should be available to all people and therefore abhor slavery. However, the Urianath are now so marginalized that, should they seek to topple a major power, they would need aid from another church to carry out the task. The stance against slavery is universal in the faith. There are other points on which the Urianath vary. There are some devoted most to the sun and light of the Sky King. These Urianath strive against the undead and other forces of unlife. Others among the Urianath revere the Sky Father’s cold light of the moon and stars above all, and seek individual strength and glory, as the stars are
individual points of beauty and light.
Urian has a peculiar view of the world: He either focuses on the highly specific details of peoples’ lives, or pays attention to trends across hundreds of years. This is best understood as the sun and the stars. The sun rises every single day; its cycle is one of the daily repetitions. Stars hang in the heavens, unchanging, for thousands of years, their fire never dimming. Their cycle is either so slow as to be immeasurable, or they are not on a cycle at all. Urian sees the world through these eyes: the day-to-day and the very, very long term. Nowhere is this clearer than in his attitude toward the Urianath faith. He can become intensely involved with the mission of one skylark in a very specific predicament while ignoring everyone else in her eyrie, or he can go for hundreds of years without sending guidance or aid to any of
the Urianath—even the most powerful. Most of them accept this as the reason the order of the griffins have been gone from the world for so long; they imagine the Sky Father hasn’t even noticed yet.
Urian certainly has no reason to mistrust or dislike his church, but he also has the very practical details of being the heavens to attend to. And if he is capricious and uninvolved in his dealings with the Urianath eyries, he is even more so with the various nomads and barbarians who worship him on the fringes of the world.
Tenets of Faith
“The sky is light and dark. The wind is hot and cold. The sun gives life and death. But the sky is dark when the world needs dark, and death comes of necessity. Can we question and rail against the cold while we praise and hallow the warmth? Can we hate the sun in the desert when we love it in the winter? All are part of the Sky Father, and all have a purpose in his plan. We must be grateful, even for darkness and death.”—Skylark’s Song Abu Goldfeather’s “I Have Tasted the Stars” The Urianath practice a good-aligned faith, even though they sometimes praise and glorify things others find evil, like bitter cold, the blood moon, or darkest midnight—and it is precisely because others find them evil that they praise them. The core premise of the Urianath faith is that Urian loves the world and its peoples. After all, he guarded the tree, he opposed Kador bitterly, and he pulled the winds from his own body and enslaved them—he who loves freedom most! He gave light to the dark parts of the world, and gave evening to the light parts. It is therefore unquestionable that he loves the world and the mortals who inhabit it. So why, then, does he sometimes let the wind rage and destroy ships? Why does his cold winter wind come down and kill unprotected children? Why does his sun burn the skin and suck the water from a man’s body, leaving him to the vultures in the desert? Why does the night serve as a haven to thieves and evil beasts? The contemplation of these questions, and their reflection in every mortal spirit, is the heart of Urianath practice. For these great and difficult questions are reflected in the hearts of men: Why does a good and happy woman consider hurling herself to the rocks below whenever she stands at the edge of a cliff? Why does a loving father consider casting his own child into an open fire? Why do good people do terrible things? The contemplation of these questions is of central importance to the Urianath, and their understanding is that it is the freedom to do evil that makes people good. Just as the Great Sky must sometimes let awful things happen so that the mortal races fully appreciate the good of the world, so too must all people contemplate the darkness in their own souls to fully appreciate the good. One can see, therefore, why the Urianath so oppose tyranny and slavery. A slave is not free to walk the good path, to explore the depths of her spirit. Tyrants seek to control the thoughts and hearts of their subjects, though thoughts and hearts must be free to soar or sink. But just as the Urianath oppose the extremes of law, they oppose the extremes of chaos. They believe that discipline and rule are necessary for a person to fully appreciate his goodness. The path of the Urianath lies between law and chaos. It embraces contemplation and balance on the road to good. The eyries are most often visited by those wrestling with the darkness of their own spirits, just as the sun and moon wrestle, and just as the North and East Winds battle with the South and West. Those who strive to conquer what they see as their worse natures, those who feel imprisoned by past deeds or wicked desires, find succor in the faraway and hidden eyries, high in the mountains. Whenever they are apart from their eyries, the Urianath seek to bring spiritual guidance and support to people across the land. They bring freedom of the mind, the heart, and the body to all they encounter, so that all people can explore the dual sides of their nature—the light and the dark—and understand that both are necessary for goodness.
Worship
Urianath Prayers
The Urianath have many sayings they utter repeatedly, as they contemplate the world and their own spirits. One of the most common is a meditation on light:“Father Sky, the Sun and Moon, Giver of the golden boon, Silver twilight, radiant dawn, The cycle ceaseless carries on. “Hallowed heavens, pitch and star, Thou kindle even near and far. Thy light shines out when all is dim, Thy darkness forms the nightly hymn."
Priesthood
Skylarks of Urian
A contemplative order, most skylarks live high up in the mountains, dedicating their entire lives to pondering the two faces of Urian and the mortal races. They are quiet and kind, revering the sunshine and moonlight. The skylarks value contemplation, compassion, and gentle guidance far more than harsh action. There are other orders of the Urianath dedicated to fighting brutal wars and saving the downtrodden; the skylarks are the spiritual and mystic order instead, and are often difficult to talk to. They speak of mysteries, and constantly analyze the lessons learned from happenings in the world. However, for those with heavy hearts burdened by sin, the skylarks prove marvelously helpful. They have ready ears, are never judgmental, and are always eager to offer guidance to those who seek it. Some skylarks leave their eyries to go on a quest. They collect themselves, inform the songs, and head down the mountain. No one orders these quests; rather, the skylarks feel the pull in their meditations. Sometimes this is based on a vision, other times on a hunch. Sometimes they are even certain they heard the command in the wind. Many skylarks are slain on their spontaneous journeys. Others come back quickly, with a minor quests fulfilled. A rare few live lives of spectacular and heroic adventure, returning to the eyrie when they are old, and ready to impart the wisdom they gained from their journeys. The skylarks have only two titles, and they are not based on power or prestige, but age. A young or middle-aged skylark is a wing. The wings are charged with carrying the faith, learning, growing, and performing any physical labors necessary. A wing is addressed as “skylark’s wing.” All Urianath addresses follow this form, and all are introduced using just this address—the order name is not repeated. So, Idrin would be addressed as “Skylark’s Wing Idrin,” and introduced as “the Skylark’s Wing Idrin, of the eyries of Urian.” When wing reach old age, they become songs, addressed as “skylark’s song.” It is their duty to teach others the ways of the skylarks, oversee students and visitors to the eyrie, and generally live out the remainder of their lives in wisdom and grace. Songs contemplate the faith, and defer to eyrie lords on secular matters. There are three dominant alignments among the skylarks, though the most common is neutral good. The neutral good skylarks hew closest to the doctrine of the faith. They spend their days in contemplation of the dual nature of heaven and man. They are filled with the certainty that goodness can be found in the dark and the light, the cold and the warm, the individual light of a star, and the radiant glow of the sun that blankets everything. They are a serene and kindly group.Lawful good skylarks certainly follow the doctrine of the Urianath, but focus on the goodness of light and warmth: There must be darkness for the light to be perceived in all its glory. There must be cold for the warmth to be felt in its splendor. These skylarks focus on what they call “Urian’s Order,” meaning all things and people have a place under the sun, and all bad things happen so we can learn our place in that order. The lawful good skylarks can truly be said to revere Urian’s sun-face more than any other, and are quite close to sun-worshipers. They feel that when he shines, he is the center of life and holiness, and they hope to bring that light and warmth to the world. Such skylarks are profound enemies of demons and undead.
Chaotic good skylarks are almost the reverse image of their lawful good comrades. While they too hold that Urian is the center from which goodness flows, they believe sunlight and daytime are Urian’s way of aiding the mortal races to overcome their weakness, but that nighttime is the true time of purity. They see the stars as the best guides to holiness: thousands of brilliant lights, standing out individually, making the most beautiful work of the heavens. Urian wishes the mortal races to be like the stars, standing out as brilliant individuals doing wonderful things, and only in the dark, when we have no light to guide us, are we truly alone, and able to stand as such individuals. Urian gives mortals the sunlight because they are too weak to embrace their individual destinies; they are frightened by loneliness, so he brings them together with solar brightness.
Joining the Skylarks
Skylarks are clerics devoted to Urian Adventuring skylarks favor weapons that represent lightning, such as javelins and whips, for Urian smites his foes with lightning, which cracks from his clouds when the gods argue and he thunders.
Sects
Holy Orders
The eyries have four holy orders, two of which are nearly extinct, and one of which was last active so long ago it is now but a dim memory. Each order is named after a beast of the feather. The skylarks are clergy, and the dominant order. They have two levels of status: the wings and songs. The eagles are holy warriors with two ranks: the talons and the eagles sworn. The hawks are an order of protectors who recognize no ranks among themselves. The now-extinct griffins once mastered the mystical elements of Urian’s manifestations. In addition, a member of any sect might be named eyrie lord, to manage one of the faith’s strongholds, but must abandon prior affiliations to oversee the other sects fairly. Not all eyries select a lord, and some simply grant authority to the highest-ranking resident, though in all cases the senior skylark will be the authority on spiritual matters. The average eyrie has five or six skylark wings, two skylark songs, a couple of eagles’ talons, and a presiding eyrie lord. Four hawks might be resident, but rarely participate in eyrie business, as they simply use the place as a base of operations. However, some eyries have no eagles whatsoever, and are instead protected by the hawks.Eagles of Urian
The eagles are a noble and beautiful order of holy warriors. They wear tall, golden helms and carry greatswords of silver, decked with gems like the stars. They speak with the song-like voices of birds and are magnificent to behold. Sadly, they are rare, and it is uncommon to see the glorious eagle-riders sweeping down upon an evil foe from the backs of their winged steeds. The eagles stand for the freedom of all people to achieve their potential. They wish to break the locks and gates of the world that obstruct the winds of freedom. They oppose any force, mortal or immortal, that would enslave or imprison the spirit. This often takes them into opposition with infernal forces, particularly devils, but it also leads them to oppose rulers who dominate by fear or other evil methods. This ends up being a wide assortment of foes, as they will oppose lawful evil, chaotic evil, neutral evil, even lawful neutral and chaotic neutral regimes. Any that seek to outlaw the freedom of thought, and certainly any that allow slavery, will be opposed by the eagles. With so many enemies, is it a wonder they are rare? As raptors soar above, looking for the dark scurrying things of the world, so do Urian’s eagles. They sally forth looking for evil deeds to set right. In doing this, they must never knowingly commit an act of evil or allow one of the mortal races to be enslaved (imprisonment for crimes does not count). They must never contribute to any plan that forces one viewpoint or way of thinking on a people. This is a fine line—a society that worships dark gods and believes people should have their hands cut off might or might not be overthrown by the eagles of Urian. If the people all believe this is the best way, it would be wrong to force them to stray from their beliefs. Of course, the odds of a whole society willingly cutting off its hands are slim, and the eagles would be quite skeptical of any assertion to the contrary. Eagles of Urian associate with any who are good of heart, though they will not stay long with those who are so convinced of their righteousness that they seek to impose their order on other mortals, or those who are so opposed to order that they tear apart functioning systems and societies in the name of freedom. Those who are openly evil will not find an eagle long in their company.Joining the Eagles Becoming a talon is as simple as climbing to an eyrie and asking to join. The eyrie lord examines the prospective eagle and determines, through some strange second sight all eyrie lords have, whether this young person has truly heard the call to take up arms in Urian’s name. The student is then taught the language of the heavens (Auran, a dialect of Primordial), given training in weapons, and becomes a champion. With basic training complete, the eagle is called a talon, addressed as “Eagle’s Talon,” and is sent abroad to learn what she might find under the heavens.
Most eagles are neutral good. Talons learn by doing. Just as the winged eagle learns to feed by swooping down and attacking the prey of the fields, the eagles of Urian must learn to oppose evil by fighting it. They wander the world, taking up any mission they can to improve the lives of others. They make friends with those who are good, and bitterly fight those who are evil. They soak up knowledge and skill, until the day they can swear the oath of the eagle. After a long life of fighting, and winning glory against evil forces, the eagles sworn return to the eyrie to become its protectors. They train and examine new talons who come to the eyrie, oversee the eyrie’s secular affairs, and ride forth in times of greatest need. When such eagles become eyrie lords, they are addressed as “Eagle’s Lord” to acknowledge their past deed.
Hawks of Urian
The hawks are thought to be a less noble order than the others, for they act as guerilla warriors against the forces of evil. While the eagles soar above things, hawks aren’t afraid to fly low seeking enemies under the cover of the forest. They are addressed as “Hawk,” regardless of seniority. The hawks of Urian are trained to serve Urian as hunters of evil, just as the birds for which they are named can be trained by falconers to seek prey. Hawks are master archers, skilled at calmly sneaking near their foes and sniping from hidden places, but when drawn into melee, they fight ferociously. Their fighting style is furious and fearless, and they do not hesitate to get their hands dirty. As the faith of Urian says, there is good in the light and the dark; the hawks believe the only way to effectively fight those who would do evil to the mortal races is to engage them in the mud, mete out brutality and destroy them utterly. To this end, the hawks are wild, passionate warriors, and when they come upon the forces of evil they abandon any sense of “honor” or “mercy” and instead seek to ravage their foes completely. This horrifies those who see goodness in honorable combat, but others understand it as a philosophical stance toward the wicked. To a hawk, the only language evil understands is violence.Hawks are sometimes found alongside armies, moving with them against evil forces. They are marked by the symbols of Urian worn on their breasts or, more often, tattooed on the backs of their hands; they dress in colors that blend with their surroundings. They often move with a force’s vanguard, or as scouts. Hawks happily work with outsiders, but their tactics are not often embraced by other good people, who might find them extreme. Bands of hawks are rare, but profoundly dangerous.
Joining the Hawks Barbarians often become hawks. When barbaric peoples who have long worshiped Urian under different names enter his eyries, they readily take on the hawk’s mantle. Other hawks are rangers, fighters, or rogues, though any character sworn to Urian and skilled with a bow might join the order.
Comments