Category:The Mordentish Sect

This section contains canon info from officially published sources

Also called the Pure Hearts, the Mordentish Sect is the second oldest branch of the Church of Ezra. Based in Mordent, the main alignment of this sect is Lawful Good. Unlike the Home Faith, the anchorites of the Mordentish Sect actively seek to convert as many souls to the worship of Ezra so that they may be spared the wrath of the Legions of the Night.^[1][2] Unlike the Nevuchar Springs Sect in Darkon, the Mordentish Sect avoids conversion through force.^[3]

Trouble is brewing on the horizon, or so think certain figures within the Purehearts. Spurred on by the apocalyptic visions of the humble Bailey Lacrese, a secret society called the Blessed Army of Ezra has formed within thhe Pure Hearts to fight what they believe is a fiendish corruption that has infiltrated the Nevuchar Springs sect.^[4]

The Mordentish Sect and its Blessed Army maintain the Church of Pure Hearts^[3] (also called the Chapel of Pure Hearts^[5]) in Mordentshire.^[3][5] Bastion Sarlota Otrava currently presides over both the chapel and the Mordentish sect itself.^[6]

Clerics of the Mordentish Sect mostly take the Mists Domain and the Healing spell-domains, though as with the Lawful Good alignment, these represent dominant trends and not absolute requirements for individual anchorites of this sect.^[7]

History

The Mordentish Branch originates in the fallout of the First Schism^[6] of 698 BC^[8]. In that year, Camille Boritsi poisoned many of her relatives, including the founder of Ezra's church, Yakov Dilisnya. In order to quell the riots in Borca and to disavow herself of Yakov's demise, Camille went into public mourning and financed the construction of a statue of Yakov on the premises of the Great Cathedral of Levkarest. A schism split the Church over whether this construction was a blasphemy, as certain figures within the church considered the statue of a mortal man upon Ezra's holy ground to be an unholy act.^[6]

Under pressure from Camille, the majority of the Ezrites accepted her offer of reconciliation. A minority faction, led by Felix Wachter, instead broke away from the rest, moving to Mordent and establishing a religious stronghold there.^[6] In 699 BC, Felix penned the Second Book of Ezra.^[9][10] However, the Home Faith and the Mordentish Sect did not bridge the divide caused by the First Schism and achieve peace with each other until the approximate year of 706 BC.^[6]

In the wake of the Requiem in 751 BC, Teodorus Raines finally succeeded in establishing a foothold for Ezra in Darkon. He wrote the Fourth Book of Ezra and passed the Rite of Revelation, thereby earning recognition of his sect in Nevuchar Springs. Raines' understanding of Ezra included dark and apocalyptic visions of the future and particularly harsh methods of preparing for the end (thus reflecting a predominantly Lawful Evil alignment)^[11] Over the years, the practices of the Nevuchar Springs branch grew more ruthless and fanatical even as more and more people converted to the faith.^[12]

After 15 years passed, a humble anchorite of the Mordentish Sect named Lacrese gave testimony that he had heard the voice of Ezra speak to him warning him of a hidden corruption existing within the Nevuchar Springs anchorites that would eventually bring them to wipe out their Mordentish kindred. Told to gather the faithful such that they may prepare to defend themselves, Lacrese bore witness of his vision to a secret council of Mordentish anchorites. Lacrese's visions were deemed true, the Mordentish sect covertly began building an armed force, the Blessed Army of Ezra, while at the same time launching a campaign of layman evangelization to conceal the order's true purposes.^[13]

References