Hallowed Script on Gilded Parchment
The Gate of Silaea is an enormous structure, an arched "gateway" of marble at the precipice of a cliff overhanging the Drostollorian sea, far north of Akathia, north of the Old Fjorlosian ruins, in a land known as the Alterra Cliffs. What would be the passageway of the gate is occupied by a panel of gold with the texture of parchment. Upwards of a hundred feet in height, the Gate of Silaea is home to the Sect of the Unspoken known as the Clericus Silaea, or simply "Clerics"; those that believe that the Selvedge realm of Silaea is a promised land of perfect order and beauty.
The gate itself, however, is famed for its capacity to inscribe itself with script, writing and erasing itself autonomously. The leader of the Clericus Silaea, and those they refer to as prophet, are capable of communing through the gate to those beyond, to the Selvedge, and they may respond directly through the gate. It is the only known way to communicate with the other planes, if indeed whatever is sending the messages is truly of the Selvedge.
The Clericus Silaea of course regard whatever sends these messages as a god known as "The Gatemother," and her sacred texts are everything ever written upon this monolith. Since its discovery during the Great Navigation, it has been a site of holy retreat for many, with everything written that point being recorded in more permanent ways. A permanent settlement was establish around the site known as Windfalls, named as the sight lies between two crags, wherein the constant downward pressure of air causes for perpetual wind within the canyon.
Significant Passages
To the day, there is record of everything that has come to the wall of the Gate as of 35 G.N. (~2400 years of record) which has produced a great tome worth of information. Every wall covered in text and recorded is known as a chapter, and there have been 1,031 chapters so far, one every two and a half years on average. It has been known, however, that there are gaps sometimes much wider and shorter than the average. The largest known gap has been 92 years, between 320 A.C.R. and 412 A.C.R., where the faith suffered a great deal as a result. This is known as the "Silence of the Gate". How it was broken is a blur in all records of the Silaean Gate, and is referred to as a sinful era of the religion by its faithful, a time foresaken by proper faithful.
To Witness Divinity
The Clericus Silaea - the worshippers of the Gate of Silaea, the Gatemother, and Silae in general - are a rather reclusive order for what powers they witness. Of the worshippers of an Unspoken god, they are regarded as fanatics at a base level, though the Clericus Silaea more than most. As a result of having a much more tangible faith than virtually any other religious group in existence, their fanatasism follow suit. The "Holy Revelations" and "Divine Truths" that are spelled out upon the gate have given way to the "Sins of Unknowing", as forgetting in this faith is seen as the unholiest of sins. To witness and obey, and to have clarity in mind while doing so are keystones of the faith. A mind with gaps, or faults in memory, is seen as appalling, and is a mind that should be laid to rest.
Listed are tenants of the faith.
- Your Master's word is known.
- The Benificent Gate gives credence.
- The loss of what is known is the loss of the self.
- Disobedience is Unforgettable.
- A Sinner shall be known, and never forget their sin.
The Sins of this faith include:
- Forgetting - Loss of the mind as they call it is the utmost sin. And if the mind can be searched, the sin is relieved, but the state of loss is a terrible fate to the Clerics. Everyone, however, forgets many things, and the the Clericus Silaea acknowledge this. Therefore, Clerics spend much of their days meditating on their existences, to remember all that they can. Those that have forgotten will be tattooed with what they have forgotten, in order to remember. A tattoo to prove their sin will also mar their skin.
- Ignorance of the Gate - As soon as the gate is rewritten, all Clerics are marred with sin. To absolve this sin, they must see the gate, and read its most holy scripture. Hopefully in person, but script is fine.
- Disobedience of the Silaea Scriptorus - The faith has a prophet. The Gate's meaning is actually only known to one: an interpretor that translates the meaning of the writings and then gives the gift of its words to the Clericus Silaea faithful. The Silaea Scriptorus' word is absolute, and is as if the Gatemother herself had spoken. To go against their word is Sin.
The Claricus Silaea
The Clericus Silaea have a few tells as to who they are outside of their domicile in the Alterra Cliffs. They often take missions to Aleryn and Drostollor to grow their numbers, and bring back those that seek the gifts they offer, rarely to have them return. They wear regalia of white and gold, famously wearing gilded stoles that drape around their necks, with passages of the chapters upon them in the Silaean script. They also despise the Bassyric, and wear brass to ward off their ilk, often in many rings upon their necks in the form of chainmail cowls, and stacked bracelets that cover their arms. They wield leaf-bladed swords of brass or bronze as well, though they favor etraline where possible.
The Silaean script can also be seen on their skin in the form of tattoos; many Clerics bare the markings of their sins, that they might remember them forever. Other scripture addorns them as well, often carrying several scrolls.
