Church of the Dawn
The church of the Dawn is devoted to the worship of Uriel. These followers aim to work within communities to spread the message of civilization, its beauty and its necessity. The members are the first to follow the Templars when defending the people, they even have a strange cult within their ranks, known as the Cult of Dusk. This cult takes the ideas of the church and its protection of civilization and enacts upon them by using the darkness that Uriel fights against to fight, they are a true fight fire with fire culture. The church of the Dawn is beholden to the teachings of Uriel, the organisation is the largest of the Sects attracting the truly patriotic of Stormwind.
Tenets of Faith
The Church of the Dawn follows the tenants of faith laid out by Uriel:
Law. The law is paramount. It is the mortar that holds the stones of civilization together, and it must be respected.
Loyalty. Your word is your bond. Without loyalty, oaths and laws are meaningless.
Courage. You must be willing to do what needs to be done for the sake of order, even in the face of overwhelming odds. If you don’t act, then who will?
Responsibility. You must deal with the consequences of your actions, and you are responsible for fulfilling your duties and obligations.
Worship
The church similar to other churches within Hepostrism shares a daily mass in their holy places, the priests read extracts from The Book of Life & Light or a tome known as the Lights Dawn. These ceremonies are to guide the people in the ways of Uriel they are taut the importance of civilization and the trust in your neighbours. The priest conducting the mass will be adorned in ceremonial robes, adorning their mantle of sun, a symbol of light to the people they speak their teaching to.
Some of the priesthood will perform a ritual known as the "scouring". This ritual is performed when communities start to fall off the path of civilization that the church lays out. This can be the worship of a lesser deity taking over the church of the seven, or communities becoming overwhelmed by crime. Whatever the case the scouring is a ritual where the priests o the community accompanied by templars will go door to door and take any items that they feel promotes corruption within the society. The times searched for include but not limited to; Idols, unfit artworks, contraband, books not endorsed by the local church, weapons etc. these are gathered and burnt in a large pyre in the centre of the community where the priest will preach the purification of the people is possible should they repent. In extreme circumstances, priests have used the templars to capture ring leaders of these corrupt communities, and flog them or even burn them in the pyre. The scouring is rarely performed and is seen as a last resort by the church of the Dawn, believing their sermons are to curb the people from requiring such a heavy-handed approach. In short, the ritual is seen as a failure by the church.
Priesthood
Those who choose this Church as their calling are presented with white robes, the robes become more ornate the longer the cleric has served, many choose to attach golden accents and red and orange linings. The priests and clerics of this church are given a formal symbol of their faith, a sun-shaped mantle that hovers behind the wearer. The symbol is rarely used in day to day but is rather a symbol of their faith shown off during mass.
The priests of this church are anointed by a strange some would still say barbaric ritual. The new priests are anointed with oil in the shape of Uriel's Sword of Mercy, the symbol of the church, this is then set alight searing the flesh with Uriel's mark. The priest may choose where this mark is placed upon their body, it is not meant to be a sign of their faith for others, though some choose to have it in plain sight to show their faith. once anointed in this manner they are left in a chapel of Uriel from dawn to dusk where they sit in silent prayer, once finished they rest and arise with the sun a new member of the church of the Dawn.
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