Vaksyrna

Description of the Church

The Church of Vaksyrna, known as The Cycle Eternal, is a solemn and awe-inspiring faith that reveres death not as an end, but as a necessary transformation. Its theology is centered on the belief that all energy passes through stages—birth, growth, death, and rebirth.

The Church is divided into two dominant sects:

• The Circle of Renewal, who emphasize rebirth and peace.
• The Church of the Blessed Wanderers, who venerate those caught between life and death—seers, ghosts, and wandering spirits.

Temples are quiet, earth-scented, and built into groves, caves, or beneath necropolises. Priests of Vaksyrna guide souls across thresholds, comfort the dying, and perform resurrection rituals only when balance permits.

Core Beliefs

• Death is sacred, not to be feared or rushed.
• Rebirth is inevitable, though not always immediate.
• All life is energy, cycling endlessly.
• Mourning is healing, and honoring the dead is divine.
• To cling to life without cause is to disrupt the balance.

Religious Structure

The Cycle Eternal is dualistic in form, with paths of stillness and motion.

• The Grey Shepherd – The senior priest, usually an elder who has guided thousands through death.
• Keepers of the Flame – Clerics of the renewal path, who preside over births, recoveries, and spring rituals.
• Wanderers of the Pale Path – Priests who walk between worlds, guiding souls and speaking with spirits.
• Veilbearers – Mourners and soul-guides, trained in funerary rites and comfort.
• Seedborn – Initiates who serve at both ends of life, planting trees for the dead and welcoming the newborn.

Rituals and Practices

• The Candlewalk – A deathwatch ritual in which the dying are honored with light and song.
• The Turning – A rite marking the shift from grief to remembrance.
• The Rootfast – Bodies are buried with sacred seeds; the tree becomes a monument.
• The Recalling – A rare resurrection rite, performed only when balance allows.

Followers

• Midwives and morticians, who guard both thresholds.
• Ghostwalkers and spirit-talkers, who navigate the afterlife.
• Philosophers and druids, drawn to the natural cycle.
• Families and caretakers, honoring the memory of loved ones.

Temples

Temples are round, earthy, and filled with growing things. They blend graveyard and garden, cave and sunlit grove.

Common features:

• The Hall of Names, carved with the dead who have passed in peace.
• The Spiral Flame, burning in cycles for death and rebirth.
• The Veil Tree, believed to bloom for every soul reborn.

Conflict and Controversy

• Tension with Hiruwen, over the timing of death and preservation.
• Respected by Deskeylla and Faelahn, for honoring life’s complexity.
• Internal divisions between:
• Those who favor the peace of ending,
• and those who champion resurrection and continuity.