Religion Of Vengeance

### Worship Practices

They find criminals/capture criminals, and torture/sacrifice them for Utreus, outside at midnight with all the followers standing in a circle. This is a special ceremony that is usually done among members of the church privately, and does not happen often, only when they can get their hands on the worst of the worst. They believe that the moon is the eye of all the gods collectively, and that midnight is the time Utreus sees them the clearest. Due to this belief, they believe that the transformation of a lycanthrope is a holy thing to behold, and believe the people in possession of such a curse to be 'blessed'. However they do not wish to pass on the curse as they believe that only the most god-touched individuals worthy of such a blessing.

Confession is a large part of the religion too, if you believe you commit a sin, you must find an authoritative figure within your religion (Priest, cleric, paladin ect) and they can decide your punishment. Punishment can range from being branded with a “Sinner” icon, to being sacrificed.

### Myths And Legends

The main legend is the way their god was created. There were 10 noble paladin brothers, each upheld a different section in the ancient city they guarded. They stood for justice and honor. However, one brother, Utreus, began to see issues with their version of ‘justice’. Prison was not stopping the sinners. Laws do not stop sinners. They just kept reoffending.

Utreus began losing control of his section of the city. Crime spread rapidly, eventually his section became a warzone between criminals. His brothers pointing and laughing at him, calling out to the world that he was the failure of their family. Utreus massacred every single person that had committed a crime in his section of the city. Covering the streets in blood. Crime in his section from that day had ceased. It had the lowest crime rate of all the sections of the city. However, news of the massacre spread rapidly across the city, causing both uproar and support for Utreus. Protests in the street demanding that Utreus be executed, and others revolting against the protesters, claiming what he did was a good thing. The news reached the brothers, and they quickly decided that if Utreus remained alive, the conflicts within the city would never end. They quickly arrested Utreus, and ultimately judged that they had to publicly execute him. However, before that could be enacted, a mob rampaged the capital building of the city, where Utreus was being kept, and dragged him out of his cell. He was stabbed to death by 100 people.

News of this unjust murder spread rapidly, and his supporters started to riot and destroy the city. However, the 9 paladin brothers dispelled the riots and exiled the supporters. It is believed that these exiled supporters are the earliest followers of Utreus, and the ones who founded the religion for Vengeance.

#### Myth: The Archdeacon

It is believed that the “Archdeacon” of the religion, their leader, is over 800 years old, as even some of the oldest elves in the religion recall that It was the same man in power when they first joined. His name is unknown to most, they refer to him simply as the "Archdeacon".

### Rites Of Passage

'**Scarring'** - The culture associates each step toward full commitment of the religion with certain ritual scarring, the leader of the religion is known as the “Archdeacon”, he is covered in scars and brandings to show his full commitment. It would be blasphemy to know his name, let alone speak his name if found out. He rarely appears in public, maybe once every 10 years, he has a circle of Arch-Clerics, 3 of them, which act as his messengers. Caedric Vindae, a known member, has symbols and scars all over his body from his pursuit of power by joining the religion and committing.

**‘Justice’** – From the top of the religious hierarchy, followers are told that the only way for their dead loved ones to be avenged, or for the bad of the world to be handled, is to destroy the evil. They are taught that the only proper ‘justice’ is your decision. That is the ‘privilege’ that the followers have.

As you go up the ranks from interacting with the religion and bringing in sacrifices regularly, you get promoted through the ranks.

### Primary Tenets and Ideals

It is believed that Utreus will look fondly upon you if you do what he did, slaughtering the sinners. Morally, it is justifiable to kill the Sinners as they will not ever stop. Evil will not stop.

***Death* –** They believe that when you die your spirit must climb a mountain, carrying the souls of everyone you wronged in your lifetime. They do not view killing ‘bad’ people as wronging them, simply a service for everyone. – The mountain is believed to be in the center of the universe, and if the weight of the souls is too much, the spirit falls to the hells, where-as the strong spirits/good spirits will be able to climb the mountain, as they can either take the weight of all they have done wrong. At the top of the mountain they believe it to be the heavens/the top half of the wheel of cosmology. They believe themselves to be the strong spirits. The only ones willing to do what is necessary for peace.

***Destroy the Sinners* –** They are a religion based on war and killing. They believe that if you are to take an innocent man’s life, you should be willing to have yours taken too. When you commit to the religion, you are also committing to that ideology. Many people can end up finding comfort in this belief if they have been mistreated or if their loved ones have been murdered previously. The religion often preys on broken and depressed people to make a minor army for Utreus.

***Fight the Greater Evil -*** Faced with a choice of fighting your sworn foes or combating a lesser evil, you must choose the greater evil.

***No Mercy for the Wicked -*** Ordinary foes might win your mercy, but your sworn enemies do not.

***By Any Means Necessary -*** Your qualms can't get in the way of exterminating your foes.

***Restitution -*** If your foes wreak ruin on the world, it is because you failed to stop them. You must help those harmed by their misdeeds.

### Clashes With Other Ideologies

On numerous occasions they have clashed with Aziel's ideologies as they often resort to killing immediately. Although, they agree with Aziel's ideals of life and letting the good people live, and therefore are against The Conqueror Army.