The Embrace

The Embrace, or, more formally, the Gentle Embrace of Jabru in Repose, is a religious order dedicated to the care and dignity of the dead and the dying, in honour of Jabru in Repose, the god of peaceful death. They are a small but widespread order in Kinilan, having shrines in almost every city and town in the country, where acolytes care for the dead, preside over funerals, comfort the grieving and arrange for cremations.
In addition to the shrines, the Embrace maintains hospices where those in their last years of life might find comfort, shelters that feed and house the poor, and orphanages that take in children when no one else will. Indeed, most acolytes in the Order were once orphans in these homes; their upbringing tends to result in a uniquely accepting view of death.
Everyone accepts them as a necessary part of society, though many find them ghoulish and distasteful, even fearsome. The more successful members of society often make large contributions to the Embrace, hoping their contributions might stave off the one fate that ultimately awaits all. It won't, but the Embrace is more than willing to put their coin to good use.

Structure

Those who wish to join the Embrace become novices. Novices are fed and clothed by the Order, as well as given a place to stay, and in return are expected to work hard and study hard, maintaining the shrine, helping perform services as needed, and other such tasks, as well as learning the basic tenets of worship of Jabru and Order doctrine. At this stage, a novice may leave the Order at any time, for any reason, and may easily be turned out if they fail to live up to basic expectations. A novice who is judged to be suitably familiar with both doctrine and the necessities of maintaining a shrine will then become an Initiate.
Initiates gather at the larger shrines found in major cities, and are taught the more advanced skills of their trade. Every initiate is given basic medical training and taught techniques to provide comfort to both the dying and those left behind. At the end of their training, initiates become Acolytes, full members of the Embrace. Any initiate failing to meet expectations or wishing to leave the Order is regarded as something of a project by their teachers - all initiates have shown a fair degree of dedication to reach this point in training, so it is generally assumed that any difficulties are likely to be temporary distractions. Those who insist on leaving are allowed to do so, and those who continue to underperform but wish to stay are found permanent roles suited to their skills.
An Acolyte is a fully fledged member of the Order, and is free to find a role for themselves within it. Many continue their studies to become Healers, or put themselves to work at orphanages, shelters, hospices, or shrines. Each of these will likely spend much of their lives at the place they choose. A few become itinerant acolytes, sometimes called the Embraced, who travel Kinilan and in lands abroad, bringing comfort to those in need. And some get political.
Each shrine large enough to require more than a handful of acolytes is led by the Hearth, a council of 3 Acolytes referred to as Embers. One Ember must have served the shrine for 5 to 25 years, one between 15 and 45 years, and one for more than 35 years. Symbolically, the 3 embers represent those who die as children, those who die in their prime, and those who die at old age. Each Ember is selected by people eligible for that role. People selected for the role are usually either the junior Ember aides of the previous Ember, or someone who was openly opposed to them, depending on the general opinion of the previous holder of that title. The overlapping qualifying ages are deliberate - the intent is both to ensure that the Hearth have both the new ideas of the young and the experience of the old, but also to provide consistency - a situation in which the eldest Ember has been both youngest and middle Ember is considered ideal, and indeed, occasional exceptions have been made regarding the required years of service to allow this to happen.
The Embrace as a whole is led by another council, called the Pyre. This council is selected by the Hearths and follows the same restrictions regarding years of service, and each member of the Pyre serves alongside the role of Ember on their local council, as there is usually very little for the Pyre to do. The Embrace, as a whole, is supposed to be an apolitical entity, simply providing their services to society. The main duty for the Pyre is typically to correspond with other Orders dedicated to Jabru, both those that worship other apsects within Kinilan and those operating in other countries.
It is always proper to refer to any full member of the Order with the title Acolyte. Those who have specialized in a particular field are also granted a more specific title: Healer, Chef, Instructor, and so forth. Clerics - those who form a close enough connection to Jabru to draw on his power to perform magic may also use the honorific Magus, though this is a title not specific to the Order and is frowned upon by more conservative Acolytes. For members of a Hearth, it is proper to always precede their name with the title Ember, unless they are also a member of the Pyre. If that is the case, their name is to be followed with "of the Pyre,"

Culture

Acolytes of the Embrace worship Jabru, God of Death, by working to bring comfort to those at risk and tend to the mortal remains of those who have passed on. They follow the teachings of Jabru-in-Repose, the aspect of their god that sees the tragedy and suffering inherent in death, despite its inevitability.
They are, one and all, compassionate people, and have, in recent decades, taken a very broad view of their responsibility to tend to the dying - tending to those who are at risk if they don't receive some sort of support, not just those who are on death's door.

History

In happier times, the Order largely stayed out of politics, and in turn was largely left to tend to its own affairs. Acolytes held funerals, tended to the elderly, and took in orphans, asking very little in return. They were largely funded by donations made by the wealthy, many of whom believe a rumour that indicates that a donation to the Embrace can stave off death a few more years. Nobody seems to know where this bit of folklore originated, but Acolytes of the Embrace refuse to comment on it, simply accepting the donations it brings in and putting that money to good use.
They started extending their services to the destitute and starving in the decades leading up to the Kinilan Revolution, as the ever worsening treatment of the peasantry resulted in more and more people starving. The matter was debated for many months, but the Pyre eventually concluded that allowing the common people to starve would make a mockery of the Order's very reason for existing. However, this had the unfortunate result that the nobility simply continued their excesses, allowing the Embrace's charity to compensate for their misrule.
During the Great War, things changed again. As the war worsened, the Order was called upon to help provide for the refugee population, and many of their healers were called upon to help heal soldiers. This they did, though with serious reservations about their role with the military. Eventually they assented, having gained assurance that no Acolyte or Initiate could be pressed into service or asked to the front lines. It was this that finally led to the Embrace being officially funded by the government - both because of the dramatic increase in services being provided and because of the changes in society brought about by the revolution - those nobles who survived are less wealthy now that they're forced to compete with common merchants, and the merchant class is less superstitious (or at least, less willing to part with their money).
The The Treaty of Jabru was something of a scandal for the Order. It came about almost entirely due to the efforts of Abri of the Pyre, a member of their leading council, but she acted alone, approaching officials in both Kinilan and Chelestra to bring about peace talks, and then all but blackmailed the negotiators they sent into signing a peace treaty that neither side was truly happy with. Both in and out of the Order, many consider Abri of the Pyre to be the hero that ended the war that threatened to destroy both countries entirely, but officially she has been cast out for her actions - a penalty as unprecedented as her extreme political activism. However, the point is largely moot, because none have seen her since the treaty was signed.

Alternative Names

The Gentle Embrace of Jabru in Repose

Leader

Abri of the Pyre

Deities

• Jabru, God of Death