Students of Dorim

The **Students of Dorim**, otherwise known as the Dorimins, are a radical Valasite sect that formed in Kaschar shortly after the death of its founder, Dorim Jalmont in 650 CR, though followers of Jalmont's teachings were referred to as "Dorimins" by their enemies in the Global Church and members of other Valasite movements as early as 647 CR.

## Organization

The Dorimin movement has historically been only loosely organized, with each group being conducted by a Lector whose primary duties are to lead mass readings of scripture and oversee distribution of new converts' possessions to the poor.

## Practices

The Dorimins practice extreme pacifism and a form of redistributive charity in which a convert gives away all their possessions to the poor upon completion of a vow of poverty taken before the lector. Regular charity also occurs in communal feedings every God's Day and throughout Festival.

As collective reading aloud was central to their practice of doctrinal learning, literacy was encouraged for Dorimins of all ages and sexes.

## History

As a radical Valasite, Dorim Jalmont preached absolute social equality, esoteric knowledge meant to guarantee salvation, and extreme pacifism. While his opposition to secular and religious hierarchies earned him the ire of both the royal House of Reschanant and the Global Church, many others praised his movement's commitment to nonviolence during the then-ongoing Second War of Taruschkani Succession. Furthermore, the movement's esoteric teachings won many adherents from the peasant and merchant classes who were dissatisfied with the Global Church's hierarchical absolutism as well as the ravages of both warfare and the lingering social consequences of the Great Mortality.

The Dorimin message spread quickly throughout western Taruschkan in spite of religious persecution of Valasites within regions under Reschanant control, which caused many converts to flee to Kaschar and other Anaschen lands for protection. They found willing allies in the city council of Kaschar, who had previously declared the city independent and neutral in the conflict between the two claimant houses after the unsuccessful Reschanant siege in 614 CR. Migration of Dorimins and other Valasite refugees into western Taruschkan and Kamischkan intensified further after the signing of the Treaty of Arnoss in 652 CR codified opposition to Valasite teachings in Taruschkan upon penalty of confiscation of property, reversion, or death.

As a result of ongoing persecution in the east, Kaschar's population swelled to over 25,000 in 678 CR, of which 4000 were Dorimins. This changed when the royal House of Reschanant, eager to reassert itself in the Third War of Taruschkani Succession through enforcement of its ban on Valasite teachings, ordered the city to be captured by the end of the year. Dorias Valatin and Arrel Gasecha led an army of 24,000 men to besiege Kaschar that autumn, offering to spare the rest of its inhabitants in exchange for expelling the Dorimins and declaring for the House of Reschanant. However, the city council refused to surrender and Kaschar endured a 62-day siege until Lord Dorias' men breached the walls. The subsequent sack lasted for three days and resulted in the deaths of 20,000 people, including most of the Dorimins within the city.

After the fall of Kaschar, scattered groups of Dorimins remain throughout western Taruschkan, Kamischkan, and Honta, though in much smaller numbers than before for fear that larger communities might arouse similar persecutions.

## Influence

The Sack of Kaschar and resultant slaughter of the pacifist Dorimins later proved to be an inspiration for the Evangelical Brethren in Cyrnne, whose later acceptance of extreme militarism came in response to fears that they may be similarly destroyed by the Global Church and its Ossirian allies.