Chaos Worshippers
Not that they ever call themselves that. But what madman would admit their own madness?There are all sorts of religious movements and believes in this world. Some seen as reasonable and tolerated by the church, some deemed heretics and heavily persecuted. And then there are Chaos worshippers, whose very existence is seen as an affront to God and betrayal of all things sacred. A mere mention of the topic is enough to cause most clerics to go into a fit of rage. So what is so bad about them, aside from the name? After all, it is far from the only religious movements to reject the church's right to represent God or even try to defend the use of sorcery. However, no other sect that I know of would dare say that what we call God is in fact Chaos in disguise! That is one hell of a way to explain why sorcery is actually good and not inherently evil.
Public Agenda
I personally think that a lot of supposed "Chaos Worshippers" are just youthlings caught in a "play pretend" act. They want to be edgy and defy the authorities, and what fits the bill more than going against the very core of what the Church of Three Prophets stands for. Unfortunately, it seems my opinion is a rare one nowadays.
Most people I have discussed the topic with are convinced there is some sort of nefarious plot behind the Chaos worshippers. If they are even willing to discuss them, that is. All sorts of theories, from ruling over us as tyrants to destroying the whole world by sacrificing every last one of us to Chaos in exchange for supernatural powers. The often professed "official" goal of overthrowing the church generally pales in comparison with the stories passed around.
Mythology & Lore
Peculiarly, the things I was able to find about Chaos worshippers (only for scholarly reasons, of course) for the most part do not contradict the teachings of the Church of Three Prophets. God has created our land and given us all the things in life to enjoy, you know, the standard stuff. And then they add one small story that flips the whole thing on its head.
Allegedly, sorcery was commonplace and mages and wizards protected the people while God went back to his divine domain. In his absence and in his image, Chaos brought calamities down upon our land and then blamed them all on the sorcerers thinking themselves equal to God and causing him to leave. Fanatics killed everyone capable of sourcery and expelled all priests of old, turning the people against God.
That either gave Chaos enough power to prevent God from reaching us or just hurt God enough that he chose never to return, I am a bit unclear on that part. At least those two seem to be the most common explanation for why God would not just strike the offenders down where they stand. And so we live here in Chaos's shadow, unwittingly praising him and the "Gracious Wind" that Chaos uses to kill every last trace of God's own creations. Such a ridicilous story, is it not?
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