> [!success] Integrated > This lore drop has been processed and integrated into the vault. > See: [[Faction - The Dry (Burnt Sages)]] ***GROUP OR ORGANISATION - The Dry / Burnt Sages - A strange new religion emerges...*** Within the wilder parts of Gryth, small religions often pop up and disappear without much fanfare, most of them tailored and suited to the needs of the local populace, who seek out the gods to perform miracles, bless the harvest and hunts, and perform ritual rites for cultural ceremonies. The vast majority of these religions are benign, happy to fill the spiritual void when needed. A small portion of these religions however, do not seek to pacify or satiate the local populace, and seek instead to disrupt the world as it is, and change it to suit their needs. Within the past forty years, a new religion has taken hold in area of Q'Shar and Iros, spurred on by radical teachings that espouse a view of imminent death, acceptance of negativity, and the relinquishing of the self to greater pleasures. The religion has multiple names, and resists easy classification. It has been condemed by Gryth's largest organised religions, such as the Salenian Church, the Greater Irosian Temples, and the New Auken Fellowships. Worshippers of this new religion call themselves either the Dry Sages (Iros), or the Burnt Sages (Q'Shar) depending on where they are found. Their religion consists of a strange ditheistic pantheon, consisting of two sister entities which exist beyond the confines of reality. Their names are multitudinous and strange, drawing inspiration from which ever local populace is currently preaching, but a common name shared amongst them is Ikoras, The Old God, and Sevira, The New God. The Sages do not deny the existence of other pantheons, but claim that they are not true Gods, only shadows and dreams consisting of the New and Old God's true power. The Sages read from an ancient apocryphal text known as the Vashira Salits (The Broken Verse), which tells a strange story of creation, and espouses heavily for mortals to give in to their base desires, for time and reality are not the true gifts of their dual Gods. This religion, though still at the fringes in most of Iros and Q'shar, has taken hold quite heavily in some Irosian southern villages, where decadent parties and gatherings of Sages have begun to have a noticeable effect on the cultural landscape. In Q'Shar, these Sages are solitary wanderers, who move through the deep and dark jungles of the Bleeding Isles performing strange and secretive rituals. Both sects seem to operate independently, and have made slightly different interpretive versions of the Vashira Salits. In the Bleeding Isles capital of Darkport, an area renowned for its absolute lack of law and order, the Burnt Sages have their only physical building, the Black Shrine of Utterance. Here, Sages gather and bring new recruits, and though the spread of the religion in Q'Shar is far less extensive and rapid than its counterpart in Iros, it has still drawn the attention of heretic hunters and mercenary troops as a potential issue. Though only having existed for forty years, the religion has been decreed a fanatical heretic cult by the Salenian Church, and its members have been issued a 'motu salenn', a decree from the highest council within the church, condemning any who practise the Sages teachings to be put to death. This powerful religious opposition from the Salenian Church, who command an incredible amount of sway in religious communities across Gryth, has slowed and halted the religions growth in some areas. Still, with such fanatical preachers and alluring teachings, the religion is certainly something for eagle-eyed adventurers to be aware of. ![[Pasted image 20260114000325.png]] ![[Pasted image 20260114000334.png]] ![[Pasted image 20260114000341.png]]