Book of the Sírthites

First Sírthe
This book is the holy text of the Sírthite religion. Let it stand as a guide to all of Rathnir-Eldham. May it stand testament unto Sírthe!

This text is as revealed to EpicZomby, a lowly miner from Sethris who received a divine revelation, telling him to go and build a city upon the ruins of a former city, on a river in the Empire of Swardia.

EpicZomby went forth into the wilderness and wandered for days and nights, crossing oceans and vast deserts before arriving at the Sírthite promised land. The Sírthite promised land, Know as Templum Sírthe, reflected the creation of his realm and his principles:

Sírthe, the cosmic creator, gifted the realm out of his infinite grace. From his great gift he asked creation to respect and love one another, to live in harmony.

Sírthecommands his followers to be frugal and to give charitably, both to the downtrodden and to Sírthe via offerings; this is a demonstration unto Sírthe of obedience and a virtue.

As Sírtheis a god of creation, do not indulge in destruction, only create and transform.

And lastly, avoid conflict and violence. Cooperation between all creation is key to living a righteous life. Therefore, never raise your hand against another unless it is to defend yourself, The Temple, or innocents.

Templum Sírthe was founded upon the ruins of a fortress town between a swamp, plains, and forest. Sparse in population, resources, and with little fertile soil, cultivating Sírthe's temple would be a task like no other, but done in complete obedience nonetheless.

After The Temple was established, The Temple being Sírthe's whole following, and the first altar was erected, EpicZomby went to the Emperor of Swardia and negotiated the entrance of political integration into the empire. This is when,  from out of the sky, an angel of Sírthe descended, called upon by the emperor to inspect the destruction that was brought upon the land by previous squatters and profiteers. EpicZomby observed carefully before retreating to the altar to collect and give the first offering to the angel. And, as the angel departed, 10,000 units of currency was gifted to EpicZomby, which went into and continues to pay for the expansion and upkeep of The Temple.

Second Revelation
Shortly after the first offering was received, the second prophet, Rusybucket, received a revelation and came to The Temple. Here, it was revealed that Sírthe created Rathnir-Eldham as a gift to his sentient creations. It was also revealed to Rustybucket that it is through greed and destruction that corruption entered into the world, us now being subject to hardship as hardship has been wrought by the corrupted souls of this realm. Though, upon death all creation shall be reunited with Sírthe, except for those corrupted souls.

Third Revelation
As revealed to EpicZomby by divine inspiration, the corrupted souls, upon death, shall be cast into the void. Stripped of their mortal bodies they shall stew in the desolate realm beneath all creation, known only as voidbeings. Voidbeings are born in life from their dedication to greed and destruction over the wellbeing of  The Temple and of their fellow man. Although all creation shall be reunited with Sírthe once our time has come, Sírthites shall be favored as his loyal servants.

Fourth Revelation
From across the sea in the other world, during a great storm came the Fourth Revelation given to Bear_Cavalry and his revelation was thus:

when the Osteri Lord of Fearg was hunkered within his castle to weather the storm. Then a cosmic being, the Díofäb Taiscealai appeared to Bear_Cavalry and claimed “I am Taiscealai, protector of the weak and warden of the abyss, you have been summoned to answer Sírthe's call, for the void holes have spread to the world of Rathnir, and thus your people are in danger.”

Bear_Cavalry countered “What are you, what is Sírthe, what is this void you speak of? From whence have you come!”

Taiscealai knew Bear_Cavalry’s heart and spoke: “I am a Díofab, we are the protectors of the weak and the wardens of the void. Each and every single one of us is an aspect of our shared creator, Sírthe.” Taiscealai continued “There are others like me, many in fact, you have nothing to fear, I mean you no harm.”

Bear_Cavalry pondered for a moment, then he said “Very well, but what is my task and who is Sírthe?”

Taiscealai, with radiating beauty, resounded: “I’m glad to hear that”

“Sírthe is the creator of all things, from his hand he forged the earth and with it life on it. Sírthe has called you to save his creation. For a threat from the void has emerged and it threatens all. Your task is simple, in a far off land a few centuries ago that was once held amongst your people during your golden age. Travel to Eldham and find the Templum Sírthe, they’ll hold the answers you seek and will guide you on your journey. To help you on your voyage my friend and fellow Díofab Seol will help you. I must go now, other events call me, good luck.”

Bear_Cavalry understood and nodded as Taiscealai left.

He then hastily ran towards the archives of Castle Bristeoir and there he found ancient Osterii maps, centuries old. There he found it, the ancient settlements colonized by the Osterii during the Viodoxan rule of the Osterium, the next place he will be sent too would be the continent of Onthukhan. Bear_Cavalry knew what he must do and began to prepare an expedition to what was once lost and to reach the Templum Sírthe spoken of by Taiscealai, however he had a problem, he had no ship to make the journey. It was here pondering this issue that Bear_Cavalry met the Díofab Taiscealai mentioned, Seol. Seol rose from the sea and spoke “I know your struggle and I am tasked to assist you and as I see it, you need a ship, and I will deliver!” With this Seol proceeded to raise a ship from the oceanic abyss of the Osterium Sea to use on Bear_Cavalry’s journey. And from there he set sail, leaving the Osterium on his journey to Templum Sírthe. He was filled with both excitement and trepidation. The journey would be long and perilous, but he knew that it was necessary for him to answer Sírthe's Calling. Days turned into weeks, Bear_Cavalry spent his time pondering life, “who were these people” he thought to himself. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Templum Sírthe came into view. Bear_Cavalry was awestruck by the sight of the majestic temple rising up out of the water, and he felt a sense of profound pride wash over him.

He disembarked his ship and spoke with the Chief Prophet and said “I am BearCavalry  and I was summoned to answer Sírthe's Calling. I was told by the Díofab Taiscealai you needed assistance and thus brought gifts of aid to help your temple grow.”

The Chief Prophet replied “I thank you for these gifts and it is an honor to meet you. You have been summoned for one reason, the threat which so much plagued our world, the void has expanded to your lands as well. Rathnir is in danger and there is no one to protect it. Our lord Sírthe has chosen you to be the guide and expand the faith in the world of Rathnir so that those in your world may be safe from the ever corrupted void, come follow me, you have much to learn.”

BearCavalry nodded and followed the prophet deeper Into the temple. “You will meet with three scholars of the faith, they will each tell you something to help you in your adventure in the faith before we send you back to your homelands in the Osterium.” The prophet said.

Then the two entered a grand hall and at the center stood three men in different robes, one of red, one of gold and one of white. They spoke in unison “We are the voice of Sírthe and our word is true.”

Then the red robed man spoke “I speak of the primordial good. Sírthe is our creator, he created all things and he created the Díofab to act as a shepherd who guides the races of the world. But the races fought each other, and killed each other for petty reasons. Infighting plagued all life as the corruption of greed infected the realm. For this, Sírthe created the void to contain corrupt spirits who threaten the peace of his realm.”

The red robed man stopped speaking and then the man in the gold robes spoke. “I speak the dark truth, The Void is all corrupting and ever spreading. It had to be stopped and that became the main focus of The Great Creator and the Díofab. The void consumes the souls of the condemned, the ones who greed and the ones who cause unjust harm. And the void seeps through the earth, corrupting those who otherwise would not cause harm, additionally the void occasionally spits out void beings these are powerful beings stronger than even the Díofab, these beings cause great calamity, in their wake famine and plague follow. They must be stopped, but they are spreading, becoming ever more common.”

The gold robbed man stopped speaking and then the women in the white robe spoke “I am the one who speaks of peace, calamity and conflict. Another round in this cycle is about to begin and you must be ready. Both Rathnir and Eldham face the void and the word of Sírthe must spread so that we may face the void beings together, now go back to your homeland and spread the word of Sírthe, good luck, you do not stand alone.”

With this the three robed men stopped speaking, turned around and walked away.

“Do you know what you must do?”

The prophet spoke to Bear_Cavalry and the man responded with one word “Yes.”

Fifth Sírthite
The Second prophet RustyBucket remains one of the more mysterious members of Templum Sírthe, his origins are somewhat unknown all that is known is that he was from a far away land farther then Eldham or Rathnir or any other know realm. It is not known how old he is, some claim him to be centuries old other believe he is nothing more then a man, what is known however is how he came to join the Sírthite in their quest for order.

RustyBucket was a powerful religious leader of an unknown order, he lived a luxurious life of wealth and servants and loyal followers and yet he still felt empty. He had dedicated his entire life to pondering the universe and its creation and got closer to the truth then many before him ever had but still he felt he only understood a fragment, a single piece of the cosmic puzzle that was reality. Over time he began to feel an unending cold and dissatisfaction with his life. He lost passion for the order he had spent his life building from the ground up. He became disillusioned with the teachings he himself had wrote. It came to a head one night when during one of his teachings he simply stopped halfway through claiming to feel too cold and too Ill to continue.

It was this night that RustyBucket experienced his revelation, as he slept Sírthe visited him in a dream and for the first time in his life RustyBucket felt he could see the whole picture, pieces of the puzzle that had never quite clicked suddenly made perfect sense and he saw the truth of it all, the truth of creation. The world was not a playground for some mysterious primordial beings to do whatever they wished with, no it was a gift. A perfect paradise made to accommodate Sírthe's favorite creation, Humanity. He saw that all the world’s resources and creatures were meant to be shared and the extravagant reality that had been given to them.

Unfortunately this great revelation also came with a dark truth, while the world might have been perfect people were not. Every person contained a piece of the void within them leaving them vulnerable to corruption and evil. Sírthe explained to RustyBucket that he viewed himself as a humble author trying to write the perfect story for his people but that as the author he could see how the story would end, he claimed that if the world was to continue down its current course nothing but death and destruction would remain. Ever curious RustyBucket only asked one question. Why was Sírthe telling him all this? Sírthe replied “you have a silver tongue that seeks to speak the truth, and sharp but gentle mind” Sírthe explained that he had a plan to stop the future he foresaw, he claimed that RustyBucket was the second of the beings he had chose to be his heralds and to spread his message of creation and order.

RustyBucket woke early that morning and left his wealth and power behind setting off for the promised land Sírthe had told him to find. All he left behind for his followers was a copy of the text he had written with the words “Tome of Lies” smeared across the cover in red ink. It is not known how long the journey took or even how he managed to get there but one day RustyBucket arrived in the city of Templum Sírthe and the high priest stood outside the gates as though he had been waiting. The man greeted RustyBucket and after a few minutes RustyBucket found he was deeply impressed with the mans wisdom and knowledge of the world so there and then he devoted himself to Templum Sírthe and it’s people vowing to do what he could to spread its message. To show his dedication he took to building a grand Temple and imposed a sort of oath of poverty in which he would only take what was given to him as he felt the worlds resources should never be controlled by the few. It is said that he neither slept nor ate until the temple was complete but with The Priest RustyBucket it is often hard to distinguish what is fact or legend.