Church of the Silver Flame

The priests and paladins of the Silver Flame have battled the forces of darkness for hundreds of years. A relatively young religion, the Church of the Silver Flame has found staunch support across Khorvaire, especially in the nation of Thrane. This lawful good organization is based in the city of Flamekeep, under the leadership of Jaela Daran, the Keeper of the Flame. Members of the Church carry a silver arrowhead engraved with a stylized flame.   The Church of the Silver Flame was born in 299 YK, when the paladin Tira Miron and a couatl merged with a silvery pillar of fire to stop a demon from escaping Khyber. Tira now acts as the Voice of the Silver Flame, serving as an intermediary between the common races and the divine. The current Keeper of the Flame, eleven-year-old Jaela Daran, receives the powers and abilities of an 18th-level cleric as long as she is within the confines of the city of Flamekeep, where the Silver Flame constantly burns. Beyond the proximity of the pillar of fire, she must rely on her own skills as a 3rd-level cleric.   Over the centuries the Church of the Silver Flame has spread across Khorvaire. Its followers are engaged in a never-ending struggle against the forces of evil. They have fought demons, hunted lycanthropes almost to extinction, and battled all manner of monsters. Corruption within the ranks, however, continues to be the organization’s most relentless foe.   The Keeper of the Flame sits on the spiritual and temporal thrones of the church and nation. The next level in church hierarchy is the Council of Cardinals, which oversees the operations of both church and state. Church ministers provide spiritual guidance to the faithful, both in Thrane and abroad, battling evil by nurturing good.   Church templars consist of warriors, paladins, clerics, and exorcists trained to meet evil head-on with sword, mace, and spell. The order’s cardinal sits on the Council of Cardinals, and his templars protect Thrane, the churches, and religious holdings throughout Khorvaire. The third order within the Silver Flame, the friars, provides missionaries for the church. Friars devoted to the Silver Flame spread the faith beyond Thrane’s borders with zeal.   While not a separate order, a small portion of the faithful believes in the Pure Flame. These fervent Flamers, called Puritans, interpret every utterence of the Voice of the Flame literally. In the past, the Puritans helped initiate the inquisition against lycanthropes and inspired crusades of all types. Today, they remain a vocal group within the church.   The Church of the Silver Flame seeks to purify the world. It wages war against supernatural evil; members of the church templars roam the land fighting fiends, undead, and magical beasts. The church also seeks to fight corruption, greed, and other human evils, and through these acts of faith kept the Last War raging on. The average faithful is not expected to fight zombies and ghouls, but he is expected to live a noble life and to encourage others to do the same. The church teaches that those who purify their spirits in this life join with the Silver Flame after death, strengthening the fires that bind the forces of evil within Khyber. Sadly, church clergy and members don’t always live up to the noble standards embodied by the Silver Flame.   The greatest enemy of the Silver Flame is the Lords of Dust. The Lords of Dust rarely move openly, but over the centuries there have been many clashes between the agents of the Flame and the fiends.