Anointed in Ash

Seemingly non-hierarchical, the Ashen priests have many roles based on their skills. Those who are charismatic preach to outsiders, those with a head for numbers and organisation manage logistics, and the strong help move and undertake their work.   While there seems little clear structure the priests do clearly have voices in the church that they listen to more than others and while their is no proof, rumours flow about a council and official leadership who are based on the Ever-smoke Volcano.    Darker rumours known only to Skull Burners and those other agencies who watch such things cover the fact that the Church has agents and paladins who seek to do work across Reef, the exact purpose and reasoning is not known, but these agents appear well funded and trained for their tasks.

The Ashen are a religion obsessed with the internment of the dead, they see the Ever-Smoke volcano as their new god, replacing the living volcano that consumed their homeworld. In full attire, their priests were simple robes and rub themselves with a binding oil that is then covered with a fine dusting of ash from the volcano, though for their great rituals some ash from the dead is also used as part of this mix.   The core belief of the Ashen is that a soul has two parts, the breath and the bone, the breath is trapped in the flesh and released through the fire (though they grudgingly admit that burials allow the breath to be released just excruciatingly slowly). The breath is all that about you is ephemeral, the memories of your current life the hopes dreams and the temporary graces and sins. The bones though are the immortal soul, this is the scaffolding on which the breath is built and the true part of you, recycled by the gods time and time again. The bones need to be returned to the gods and this is best done by burning them to ash, as they lose form they return to the gods ready to be remade. The resulting ash is akin to a holy relic, the physical substrate of the soul and the last memories of the life you led.   They are known for extreme dourness, sobriety and dutiful service. Their more charismatic agents focus on the importance of their work and the core belief that ash is key to the life of the world, that it is the best way to remember someone, examples are becoming part of nature or being forged in a sword. The act of cremation is also sold as a punishment for some, the priests believe there is no greater punishment than ritualistically binding someones eternal soul to their ashes before sealing them away in an urn and hiding them far from view. These ashes are then cut off from the world and placed as a warning for all time waiting until the prison falls to the ages and the ash can rejoin the world.

The group take in a significant amount of money, their finances remain health through donations, and fees for more than basic cremations. These assets seem to be invested in their holy places however much of the money remains hard to account for. One of the few ways they do spend is with their evangelists who are permitted to wine and dine the powerful, or fund soup kitchens and other outreach programs for the poor.    As one of the few groups permitted to access the Ever-smoke Volcano it is believed their assets are kept there. There have also been implications that they have smuggled out Ever-smoke Glass to improve their finanaces.