The Church of Syrrha

Praise Syrrha! For she has sent us these trials, that we may be forged anew in the fires of adversity! We will emerge on the wings of the phoenix, better men! Endure the tribulation, brothers! For it is not in this life, but in the next, that we will find sanctuary, and peace. But only if we endure.
--Street Prophet of Unknown Origin

Sign of the Times

In days where disease decimates the country, war tears apart races, cults lead entire villages into darkness, and where petty power grabs turn daughters to orphans and render fathers son-less, there is little hope to be found. People lose faith in its existence, clawing their way upwards on the backs of others, fighting every day to survive.
In these times, a once vaguely obscure deity of endurance and suffering becomes far more prevalent. Wandering prophets and local priests institutionalize. A corporate church is founded.
Enter the Church of Syrrha.

Street Prophets and Apothecaries

In years prior, worship of Syrrha was highly scattered, generally separated into two loose groups.
The first of these groups were apothecaries and healers that worshipped Syrrha unofficially. Caretakers of a local shrine, workers in an infirmary, and the like. Localized individuals that took no part in orthodox worship, but simply dedicated their work in Syrrha's name.
The second group were a more modern one, colloquially called Street Prophets. These priests wandered the land, bring messages of simultaneous doom and hope. They preached that in the days of suffering that were coming, humanity should bear the trials with endurance and self-sacrifice, living with hope for better times that could only be wrought by human hands.
Whether those better times were to be in this life or the next was a different matter.
While their message was pure, the motives of these Street Prophets was oftentimes less than benevolent. In southern Ravengrin, especially in areas where religion is more superstitious and tied to the Raven Gods, Street Prophets gained a reputation of being exploitative, manipulating villagers into providing them with exorbitant levels of monetary support.

Founding and Current History

In the last decade, the number of those under the service of Syrrha has grown exponentially. With their increasing presence, awareness of Syrrha has also heightened in its prevalence, her worship spreading from purely explicit devotees to the commoners of the land as well.
In 314 ALF, two years after the death of Yaeza, a large number of Street Prophets, saints, and priests of Syrrha from across all of Ravengrin convened in Valendost. There, a gathering of all of the Syrrhic scriptures were codified into a single text, known as the Syrrhic Testament. The collection of these scattered texts are an entirely separate instance in and of themselves, but the ultimate result of these events, now known as the Council of Valendost, marked the founding of the Church of Syrrha. The Church has rapidly grown to be one of the most prevalent organized religions in Ravengrin.

Structure and Leadership

Ever since the Council of Valendost, the city of Valendost has been the seat of power for the Church of Syrrha. Since the declaration of the city's independance in 316 ALF, the Church has become the official religion of the Concord.
The Church is spearheaded by a council of five archbishops and one cardinal. The archbishops function as missionaries, traveling between cities on holy missions, spreading the doctrines of Syrrha. The cardinal is based in Valendost, coordinating the religion as a corporation.
In the years since the Church's founding, worship of Syrrha has become far more codified. Rarely are there unaffiliated apothecaries that burn prayers to Syrrha before a delicate surgery. Instead, most of the worship of Syrrha are found in the form of small temples and churches. These institutions are run by minor priests and deacons, with larger groupings of communities being overseen by bishops.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Deities

• Syrrha