Category:Church of Brightwell

The Church of Brightwell is a religion centered on the mercurial goddess known as Brightwell. While the Church is most widely accepted in the Wartorn Cluster, it claims its roots lie in the Core and it has already spread to other parts of the Demiplane of Dread.

Symbol

The Church has several symbols, among them:

• A sleeping fox, its nose tucked into its tail.
• A succubus, rising from nightmares, clawing and screaming at the heavens.

Alignment

Brightwell is Chaotic Neutral.

Favoured Weapon

Sword cane

Portfolio

Arcane magic, Witchcraft, science, martial arts, prostitutes, thieves, the moon, darkness, the night, dreams, knowledge, Vixens, fertility, lust, madness, nightmares

Titles

Auntie Thirteen, Breaker of Chains, Breaker of Worlds, Dreaming Goddess, Dreaming Vixen, Enemy of Ezra, the Great [Redacted], Our Lady in Darkness, Rising Fiend, Queen of Keys, the Vixen, Witch Goddess

Spell Domains

In D&D 3.5, Brightwell's spell domains are: Chaos, Darkness, Dream, Knowledge, Lust, Madness, Magic, Mind, Moon, Strength

In Pathfinder 1E, in the Domain of Lilliend, Brightwell's spell domains are: Chaos, Darkness, Knowledge, Madness, Magic, Rune. Its subdomains are: Arcane, Insanity, Language, Loss, Memory, Moon, Night, Nightmare, Thought

Clergy

Clerics of Brightwell can be Chaotic Evil, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral or True Neutral. They receive their spells at dusk, when darkness encroaches upon the land and men, women and creatures alike need all the power they can get to resist the forces that would enslave, maim or kill them.

Hierarchy

As the faith of a chaotic goddess, the church of Brightwell has little in the ways of an established hierarchy. Those who excel, be it in power, wisdom or skill, tend to rise to the leadership of their respective congregations. If a believer who excels does not wish to wield authority, however, they are not required to do so. Inter-congregation differences are typically decided by ways of vote or direct competition. Visitors to other congregations either submit to the local leadership or may contest for equal or superior standing.

History

In the Wartorn Cluster, Brightwell's faith rises with the majority of the local Domains' own history, and is already rooted in local false history. From these Domains, it has spread to most of the Cluster and beyond, as Clerics wandered into the Mists and practised their faith elsewhere. As the faith was already present in the majority of Domains when they first combined into the Wartorn Cluster, it is difficult to say which might be its true origin.

A common element in the church's own oral history, however, is that the faith was carried to the Wartorn Cluster by a chosen of the goddess who originated somewhere in the Core. As a result, the Church believes that there is holy ground dedicated to their divine patron somewhere in the Core, even if they are not certain where it might be.

Beliefs and Practises

The mythology of Brightwell is confused and multiform. Some believe she is a goddess who was abused by other gods, fell into the Mists, and struggled her way back into power. Others believe she was a demon succubus who was cast into the Mists for studying, only for her to claw her way onto a divine throne. Yet others believe she was once mortal; a thief, a prostitute, a scientist or a witch, who suffered through a hard life but still managed to ascend to her current status. The faithful believe that in some way, all these stories are true, or at least represent the same truth: that their patron had to fight for the majesty she now possesses, and that she holds hatred for all who would oppress others and dictate the way their lives should lead.

Brightwell's primary command to her faithful is to be a saint, be a sinner, be whatever they choose to be, but regardless to be themselves as best and as hard as they can. The faith sets very few limits on the behaviour of the faithful, forbidding slavery, the twisting of others' minds and bodies with the goal of enslaving them, and abuse of young children. Crimes like murder and torture are considered to be a competition of will and skill, and thus not regulated.

Generally speaking, the only gifts Brightwell bestows are infrequent dream oracles; singposts to warn her faithful of danger ahead or chances within reach. Other than this, she encourages her followers to improve themselves: educate their minds, train their bodies, sharpen their fangs. While Brightwell will not cup the faithful in her palm and protect them, she will light the fire in their bellies and their brains to help keep them going, and lend her support to their actions when they live fierce and free and the way they wish.

Good-aligned followers of Brightwell seek to tear down tyrants and uplift the oppressed. Evil followers of Brightwell want to burn down the unfair and imperfect world so they can build a better one on its ashes. Chaotic Neutral followers of Brightwell pursue knowledge and power at all costs so they can rebuild the world into something worthy of their patron. True Neutral followers tend to lead quiet lives, pursuing dream oracles, passing down knowledge to the young, and focusing on the needs of their own community.

Worship services are held in response to astrological events or dream oracles, to facilitate magical rituals or scientific experiments, or to celebrate major events in the lives of the faithful. Although some permanent temples do exist, faithful of Brightwell prefer to meet in stone circles outside the circle of lights cast by civilization. Here they ward their ceremonies with magic, light fires, drink wine and eat roasted meat, sing songs and tell stories, and dance under the light of the moon and stars.

There is no set uniform for Clerics of the faith, and no special requirements for clergy, other than that they must believe in the goddess. Local bias in some countries may be that women are more likely to become clergy, but there is no true dogma to enforce this in any Domain.

Organization and Schisms

The faith of Brightwell has little in the ways of formal organization. Leadership lies with those who are special enough to garner the admiration of their fellows, ambitious enough to seize the reins of power, and competent enough to retain the loyalty of the community. No leader has even an ounce more authority than their followers are willing to give them, and those who try to get more than their due soon fall under suspicion of blasphemy.

Most communities are oriented locally and tend their own patch. If two communities come into conflict, the general tendency is to either reconcile or ignore the differences or else for the weaker to move to a new area; truly violent conflict between communities is rare, even if individual believers may at times fight to the death.

The faithful typically convene when it suits them, although they prefer gathering at night and under the light of Brightwell's moon. If a minority or an individual wishes to depart and found their own community, or simply to practise their faith alone, they are free to do so. Only when the faith comes under attack or a believer is found to have violated the few rules of the church, do communities pool their resources to inflict harm on the enemy or the blasphemer.

Church and State

Although the Church has a certain effect on local events, it is notoriously unwilling to (openly) involve itself with politics, even in the case of governments that display a positive attitude towards the faith. Even in the Domains known as the Broken Wheel, West-Lund, Malopelagio and Umbrash, where there exist proper churches and even cathedrals dedicated to Brightwell, the faith keeps itself aloof from temporal politics - unless said politics are perceived as having devolved into tyranny and/or hostile to the faith. Generally speaking, a government with a positive attitude towards the Church of Brightwell should feel vindicated if the Church is merely standoffish but remains visible and non-hostile. Under these circumstances, the faith can occasionally be relied upon to be helpful to the populace, as can any church that provides spellcasting services. By the time the Church of Brightwell goes underground and engages in acts of sabotage and guerilla warfare against a government, it is generally safe to assume that a government has crossed the line, and has made an enemy of a folk faith with a long tradition of avoiding persecution and fighting tyrants.

Relationship with other Faiths

Many of the divergent origin myths of Brightwell tell how she suffered at the hands of other gods, particularly Lawful ones who wished to constrain her, but also Chaotic ones that wished to dominate her - and some her own children who badly disappointed her in various ways.

As their patron holds little love for the other gods, the Church tends to keep most other faiths at arm's length or regards them as enemies. Particularly gods like Ezra, Yutow and the Lawgiver, who provide many rules and demands for mortals, are seen as enemies of Brightwell and hence her Church. Open hostility is rare, though not unheard of, but the Church of Brightwell prefers to display its animosity through sabotage, subtle curses and murder under cover of night, rather than open warfare.

The few faiths that are accepted as friendly, generally are treated with cool politeness under normal circumstances, and can count on support in difficult times with no mention of a need for compensation.