Brotherhood of the 8 Moons

Dogma: Priesthood of the Unknown God

Priesthood

Circle of Echoes: The ruling council of the Brotherhood. There are eight members, representing the eight core phases of the two moons' cycle. They are the oldest, wisest, and most powerful members. They do not command, but they debate and consensus emerges from their discussions. They are the keepers of the deepest secrets, including the fragmented ritual of Ipalnemoani's True Name. The Rememberers (Huehuetque): They are the shamans, the historians, the storytellers, and the scouts. They are the public face of the Brotherhood, the ones people call for blessings, to record genealogies, to settle disputes with ancestral wisdom, or to perform rites of passage.

Roles of Rememberers

Sky-Tending (Citlalmina): The scholars, astronomers, and artists. They are masters of the Cunning Spirit.

Duties: Chart the stars and moons, design the intricate art and glyphs that adorn their temples, and compose the poetry and songs that preserve their knowledge. They find divine patterns in the heavens and translate them into art.

Pathfinders (Ohtliyotl): The scouts, protectors, and gatherers of secrets. They are masters of balancing both the Deep Instinct and the Cunning Spirit.

Duties: They travel between communities, "checking in" on families to update genealogies (a perfect cover for gathering information). They scout the borders, protect remote shrines, and are experts at moving unseen. They use their shifts for tracking (Wolf), seeing (Eagle), and hearing (Deer) far more than for combat.

Word-Givers (Tlahtolmatini): The historians, storytellers, and diplomats. They are the keepers of the oral tradition.

Duties: They are the librarians of a spoken-word library. They memorize the epic of the First Shaman, the history of the Makasi people, and the lineages of every major family. They are invited into homes to tell stories, subtly reinforcing the tenets of Ipalnemoani. Their deep knowledge makes them excellent mediators and advisors. Initiation & Recruitment Recruitment is informal and based on recognizing potential. There are no open applications.

The Recognition: A Rememberer (of any Path) identifies a individual—usually a young person—who shows a particularly strong, intuitive connection to their two souls. This might be an artist who sees patterns others miss, a restless explorer, or a natural storyteller with a flawless memory.

The Choice to Quest: The Rememberer will orchestrate a situation with the individual into an impromptu vision quest. This might involve stranding them in the wilderness overnight, guiding them to consume sacred plants, or confronting them with a spiritual dilemma they cannot ignore.

The Adoption: The outcome of the vision quest determines their path. The Rememberer who found them becomes their mentor. They are now Initiate and Apprentice, a pair (omei) working together. The mentor is responsible for their training, and their fates are spiritually linked. This creates a cell-like structure of pairs operating across the land.

This system ensures that every member of the Brotherhood has proven their connection to the spirit world firsthand and has a direct, personal tie to the order.

Type

Religious, Cult

Deities