Tinels Doctrine

“When I walk down the road that I know I must walk, and I come to the path I know I must take, I hope to find myself opposed. For if there is a rock in my path, I will not say ‘I must move this rock,’ as might the practical man. I will not say, ‘I will turn around,’ as might the impatient man. I ask, ‘Why has this rock been placed here before me?” Obstacles lie across our many paths in life to teach us the meaning of our journeys. There is nothing that happens to us without the knowledge of the Lord of Secrets. All that we experience in our lifetime is meant to edify. May we have the wisdom to learn.” —the Journals of Madrigan Yewstaff

There are many aspects of the scriptoriums of Tinel, and even a violent division between his faithful, but two beliefs are universal among all Tinelites. First, there is Truth. There are incontestable facts about the universe, and it is the duty and purpose of the faithful to find and examine the Truth using their senses and empirical evidence. Second, mortal life is a test.
All beings are being watched and judged as they travel through life. The final reckoning takes place before Maal, and mortals do well in that final reckoning if they solve the personal riddle of our existence. How these beliefs are interpreted varies based on which faction one belongs to.
The Faction of Tinel,the Heavenly Archmage (Chaotic Good)
The dominant faction of the scriptoriums believes Tinel wants everyone to be happy. However, mortals have free will, and cannot be made happy with the wave of the god’s mighty hand. Mortals must find happiness themselves, by exploring the meaning of their own existence. Every person encounters a great riddle they are meant to unravel over the course of their lives. Almost no one does, and therefore mortals are reborn, sent by Maal to try again. Solving the riddle is only possible if one seeks out the Truth, which is sometimes hard and terrible, and that is only possible if one shares knowledge with others who also seek the Truth.
The followers of Tinel have an advantage over others in the quest to solve the riddle of their lives, for they know how to seek signs of the Truth. Tinel wants mortals to be happy, and makes signs and portents available to all people throughout the world. The most important of these is the Vision of the Opening Eye. When a Tinelite is young (or young in faith, for a late-in-life convert), they learn a series of meditations to open the closed “eye of the mind.” After some time, usually a few months, the Tinelite is visited in sleep by an incredibly vivid dream. The dream is often filled with strange symbols. One Tinelite might wander a barren field and plant bloody seeds, as eight blue hawks fly overhead. This vision should be the Tinelite’s passion for many years to come, as they seek to unravel its meaning.Many never find the meaning of their visions. Those who truly understand them (and have an epiphany, instead of just pretending to know) take new surnames based on their understanding of the vision.
Comprehending the vision is only the first step, likened to finding one of the keys to Heaven. Tinelites spend the rest of their lives seeking out how the vision unlocks the riddle of their beings, searching for the lock to fit that key. The Tinelites explain each vision contains a great lesson they are expected to understand completely, before death. The true riddle is the process of uncovering and comprehending that lesson. Few manage it in their lifetimes. Those who do are among the most serene mortals one could hope to meet. Sadly, because their riddles are so personal, they cannot pass along answers future generations can fully comprehend, much less apply to their own mysteries, though they might help a seeker in some small ways.
This vision serves not only as a central pursuit for the members of the chaotic good faction, but also as an explanation of their view of Tinel. The god provides mortals with clues out of love, so they can find their way. Mortals must preserve and share knowledge to help one another on their journey to find answers. There should be debate, rancor, argument and struggle. The world is not pretty, and mortals must look at every aspect of it in their quests. Therefore, societies should be free, and lawful outlooks run counter to what is best for people. Highly lawful societies only work when there are questions people are not allowed to ask, and places they aren’t allowed to go. Groupthink is the enemy; the greatest good is found in many free individuals, not in united slaves. However, simply looking at all aspects does not mean partaking in them all; these Tinelites are not evil, and do not give in to depravity. The quest seeks the knowledge to live a good life. They regard the neutral faction as heretics who teach lies about Tinel.

The Faction of Aloof Tinel (Neutral)
The neutral faction agrees that one must seek Truth. Life is a great test; upon this, they agree as well. Both factions use the Vision of the Opening Eye, and therefore both seek to comprehend their visions. But the followers of Aloof Tinel believe a person must collect knowledge and secrets to break the riddle of one’s life for its own sake, not to help others. Secrets should remain within oneself. The vision is a map to the Truth that one must follow to serve Tinel. Once one discovers the secrets of the path, they should keep them hidden. Knowledge belongs to worthy Tinelites and their well-guarded scriptoriums.
To the Aloof faction, the mortal world is an illusion without consequence, created by the gods to separate the worthy from the worthless. When mortals die, those who have accumulated the most knowledge—the only thing that is real in this fleeting, illusory existence—are sent by Maal to stand before Tinel. Those who show they have unraveled the secrets of life are enlisted to aid Tinel in his studies to preserve the universe from the End Times. Nothing matters but the acquisition of the Truth, to prepare for this final test before the Lord of Secrets.
Therefore, this faction encourages the hoarding of learning. They believe it is wrong to give knowledge to those who are not be worthy, and will waste Tinel’s time. Adherents believe Tinel no longer cares about the Material Plane, that he places no signs in the world, and no longer offers his guiding hand to anyone. Tinel provides a vision not a loving embrace but as a way of seeing the pure and beautiful Truth one must seek forevermore. When the vision is comprehended, the Tinelite is well on the way to learning as much of the Truth as they need to pass the test, and serve Tinel.
They regard the chaotic good faction of the faith as deluded idiots, chasing phantoms. Tinel is too busy studying his secrets to pay attention to the inconsequential mortal races, when they must prove themselves worthy of him.
The Schism
Much blood has been spilled in the past over the division between the factions, but since the faction of Aloof Tinel doesn’t care about much beyond the accumulation of knowledge, it could not maintain the struggle against the dominant faction. For this reason, members of the chaotic good faction dominate the scriptoriums. Scriptoriums rarely mix factions, so it is not easy to find a neutral scriptorium. How long this will continue is unclear, but one thing is certain: The schism has not lost much of its rancor over the years, and members of these two factions still see each other as fools and heretics.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion