Though Mondavel has been cast out from the Faith, it remains a land of believers. While the Ecclesiarchy no longer recognises the Free State, many of its people still revere the Lady and the Twelve Saints, though in ways that often differ from orthodox doctrine.
Freed from the rigid structure of Clairvaux’s theocracy, new interpretations of faith have flourished—some merely divergent, others openly heretical in the eyes of the Ecclesiarchy. While the Free State has allowed these sects to grow, relations between them and the Ecclesiarchal temples that still stand in Mondavel are fraught with tension.
Many of these sects remain true to the Lady’s worship, but their doctrinal differences, attitudes toward magic, and rejection of Ecclesiarchal authority have created a fractured religious landscape where faith is hotly contested, and devotion is sometimes a source of conflict rather than unity.
The Keepers of the Silent Flame
- Core Belief: The Lady reveals Her will not through priestesses or scripture, but through personal revelation to those who seek Her in silence.
- Distinctive Practices: Silent vigils, trance-like meditation, ritual purification through sacred flame.
The Keepers of the Silent Flame teach that the Lady speaks to all who are willing to listen, but that Her voice is drowned out by the noise of the world. They reject the need for Ecclesiarchal hierarchy, arguing that true enlightenment comes from personal devotion and inner contemplation, not from priests or temple decrees.
Keepers gather in dimly lit sanctuaries, their halls adorned with ever-burning braziers symbolising divine truth. They perform ritual burnings, in which believers cast written prayers or past sins into the flame, believing the fire carries their words directly to the Lady.
The Ecclesiarchy denounces them as dangerous mystics, claiming their doctrine leads people away from structured faith and into wild, ungoverned spirituality. Meanwhile, some Keepers whisper that the High Ecclesiarchs have silenced true prophecy, refusing to hear the Lady’s voice because it no longer serves their power.
The Order of the Twelvefold Path
- Core Belief: The Twelve Saints are not simply the Lady’s servants—they are aspects of Her very being, and to follow them is to worship the Lady in the only way mortals can understand.
- Distinctive Practices: Devotion to a personal Saint, temples structured around the Twelve rather than the Lady, dismissal of direct worship of the Lady as unnecessary.
At a glance, the Twelvefold Path seems almost indistinguishable from orthodox faith. Like in Clairvaux, a child of the sect chooses a patron Saint at the age of twelve, dedicating themselves to the virtues of that Saint for life. Shrines to the Twelve Saints fill their temples, just as they do in Ecclesiarchal temples.
But at its heart, the Twelvefold Path carries a doctrine that the Ecclesiarchy finds deeply troubling—they do not see the Saints as mere heavenly messengers, but as the Lady Herself, divided into twelve forms. Each Saint is a different facet of Her, and to pray to one’s Saint is to pray to the Lady in the only way mortals can comprehend.
For many among the Twelvefold Path, direct worship of the Lady is meaningless—She is too vast, too unknowable, and has already broken Herself into Twelve so that mortals may understand Her will. Thus, some among them reject Her central worship altogether, considering those who still pray to Her directly to be misguided, failing to see Her divine presence already embodied in the Saints.
The Ecclesiarchy condemns this as a grave distortion, arguing that it elevates the Saints beyond their station and diminishes the Lady’s true divinity. Relations between the two groups are tense, and in some places, Ecclesiarchal clergy have accused the Twelvefold Path of outright heresy, warning that their doctrine edges dangerously close to polytheism.
The Sable Covenant
- Core Belief: The Lady’s mercy is not infinite—faith must be defended, purified, and protected from those who seek to corrupt it.
- Distinctive Practices: Secret gatherings, masked ceremonies, punishments of perceived heretics and blasphemers.
A shadowy and feared sect, the Sable Covenant believes that faith is not merely a thing to be held, but a thing to be defended. They view the Ecclesiarchy as weak, having lost its way by clinging to diplomacy instead of action, while also despising the lawlessness of the independent sects.
The Covenant operates in secrecy, its members often wearing dark veils or hoods, gathering in hidden sanctuaries to pass judgment on those they deem faithless. Some whisper that they are more than just zealots—that they are executioners, striking in the Lady’s name against those who have strayed too far.
While the Ecclesiarchy condemns their violent tendencies, they do not fully disavow them, and some suspect that certain members of the Faith secretly approve of their actions, even if they dare not speak it aloud.
The Children of the Dawn
- Core Belief: The Lady does not favour gender or bloodline, but judges by virtue and discipline alone.
- Distinctive Practices: Monastic training, ascetic lifestyle, physical and mental discipline, acceptance of men into faith leadership.
In Clairvaux, faith is strictly matriarchal—men cannot rise to power within the Faith, and the Ecclesiarchy claims that the Lady’s will is carried through women alone. The Children of the Dawn reject this outright.
To them, faith is a matter of devotion, not birthright, and so they train both men and women as equals, judging only by wisdom, strength, and character. Their followers live in monasteries where they follow a strict regimen of training, combining philosophy, martial discipline, and theological study.
This sect is openly despised by the Ecclesiarchy, which considers it a direct challenge to the divine order. While they do not break from the Faith entirely, their refusal to accept the Ecclesiarchy’s authority has made them enemies of the orthodox clergy.
The Wayfarers of the Lady
- Core Belief: Faith is a journey, not a destination—the Lady’s will is found on the road, in the wild places, in the lessons learned from the world itself.
- Distinctive Practices: Pilgrimage, wandering preachers, storytelling, rejection of rigid temple-based worship.
The Wayfarers believe that true faith cannot be contained within stone walls. They reject the idea of permanent temples, instead wandering the world, teaching the Lady’s wisdom through experience rather than doctrine.
Wayfarers are known as storytellers and healers, appearing in villages to share knowledge before moving on. Many travel alone, believing that solitude allows one to hear the Lady’s whispers more clearly.
The Ecclesiarchy dismisses them as fools, calling them unreliable, unrooted, and lacking discipline. Yet, for many in Mondavel, the Wayfarers embody the spirit of the Free State, and their influence continues to grow.
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