Church of the Cleansing Flame
The Church of the Cleansing Flame is one of the two churches that give worship to Flæmr. The Church of the Cleansing Flame is based in Azantium with its largest and most heavily staffed chapel being close to the centre of Azantium, near The Throne of Sand, if the imperial palace is the centre of the city, then the Church of the Cleansing Flame is directly opposite from the Church of the Redeeming Flame.
Culture
The Church of the Cleansing Flame, despite its ethically questionable method of redeeming sin, is not necessarily an evil organisation. The Church pays fair taxes, keeps an open, publicly available record of all their received donations and where those donations were sent and how they were used, and re-donates almost every sent of their received donations that they don’t need to continue running. Despite this surprisingly open and giving way with money, the Church is one the richest and most influential organisations in the Mortal Plains, contested only by their twin, and the Azantium Empire itself. This is because a portion of all transactions undertaken by the church is funnelled into a separate account that they say is under the control of Flæmr themself. The church say that this is yet another way of giving worship to Flæmr, for only when Flæmr is a part of all things, can you be judged fairly.
This money cannot be accessed without Flæmr’s explicit permission, which has happened before, recently in fact, when Flæmr commanded that the entirety of the account be used to fund the @[Xern Troop]’s expedition North.
Ethics
The Church of the Cleansing Flame believes in the total and complete cleansing of your sins. Flæmr as a God of freedom does not prevent you from doing any action, but freedom to act does not protect you from the consequences of your actions, or even your inactions, and the Church of the Cleansing Flame believes that these sins irrevocably stain the soul, requiring a complete cleansing in the divine flames of Flæmr, and frequently burn people to death, typically at stakes. Due to the Twin Churches beliefs in the afterlife and reincarnation, the Church of the Cleansing flame does not see this act as murder, but rather as a kindness. They believe that by scouring away any sins from this life, the next life will be that much better. In essence, the twin churches believe in the same practice, just on differing time scales.
Worship
Unlike the Church of the Redeeming Flame, the adherents of the Cleansing flame do not commit ritualistic deformation, as they do not believe in the redemption of sin through scarification. Rather, adherents of the Cleansing Flame undergo a period of slavery upon their advancement to Bishop, this lasts for an indeterminate amount of time, to prevent the adherent from knowing how much longer their trial will last and demonstrates to them what true lack of Freedom is. This period of slavery is brutal, featuring frequent beatings and abuse. It is not uncommon for adherents to be beaten to near death, and to only receive healing enough to stabilise. Due to this practice, adherents of the Cleansing Flame are among the most proactive, and violent activists against slavery in the world.
Allied
POV Redeeming Flame:
The Church of the Redeeming Flame has tense, but peaceful relations with it’s twin the Church of the Cleansing Flame, this ideological divide occurred early on in the formation of the church, when two clear interpretations of Flæmr’s word could be seen. The Redeeming Flame stated that the redemption of sin did not necessarily need to be complete, and that the scars one carries on their body can be adequate reminders of one’s Freedom and its consequences, The Cleansing Flame on the other hand stated that the cleansing of sin required a complete wipe, and that it required a death by fire. - This belief is explored in more detail in the Church of the Cleansing Flame’s page – Naturally this drastic difference in operation caused some tension between the adherents of the two churches, but the overall similarity of their mission has prevent any overt conflict between the two.
POV Cleaning Flame:
The Church of the Cleansing Flame has tense, but peaceful relations with its twin the Church of the Redeeming Flame of the Redeeming Flame, this ideological divide occurred early on in the formation of the church, when two clear interpretations of Flæmr’s word could be seen. The Cleansing Flame stated that the cleansing of sin, by necessity needed to be complete, and that the complete, albeit temporary removal one’s Freedom by death, and it’s return with reincarnation can be adequate demonstration of the consequences of Freedom, The Redeeming Flame on the other hand stated that the redemption of sin did not necessarily need to be complete, and that the scars one carries on their body can be adequate reminders of one’s Freedom and its consequences - This belief is explored in more detail in the Church of the Cleansing Flame’s page – Naturally this drastic difference in operation caused some tension between the adherents of the two churches, but the overall similarity of their mission has prevent any overt conflict between the two.
Tense Alliance
The Church’s relations with the common people are tense, with the common person seeing the Church of the Cleansing Flame as truly barbaric. It is not uncommon for entire villages to temporarily flee their village, taking temporary refuge elsewhere in fear that an adherent of the Cleansing Flame would see some sin within them. Flæmr is one of the most widely worshipped gods, but the lengths that the churches go to fulfill Their edicts is considered truly excessive. Multiple attempts have been led by smaller organisations to outlaw this practice, but the church is simply to large and powerful at current.
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