Sept of the First Virtue

The Sept of the First Virtue is a small, dualistic religion in Eastern Rathnir, focusing on exploring the cyclical nature of the world, especially the unending tide of life and death. The religion is known by many other names, but officially brands itself as the Sept of the First Virtue.

Origins and History
The Sept of the First Virtue has been around perhaps since life first began at the beginning of creation, when the Second Circle was born from the fracturing of the Spheres.

Long before Rathnir, even Jagdas, the religion existed, though unknown to many. It slumbered like a great beast, waiting to awaken and enact the will of the Gods.

Most of the Sept went extinct long before the creation of the current world, with nearly all sites and information lost to time, with the exception of the corpse city of Cimeterium (despite attempts in the past to conquer it), though most, if not all of the people that remained there also lost the knowledge of the old times.

While Cimeterium continued to survive under the guidance of the Undead King, the religious beliefs of the Sept were lost, with many of its people turning to other religions, such as Lux or the Blue Phoenix. This time is considered the "Great Emptiness", as though the city and its people (who would later come to be known as Osseus) flourished, culture and knowledge was almost entirely lost to the world.

For many years, this continued until the Kartek Diarchy fractured, and the first Painted Mummer in a thousand lifetimes came to be in Rathnir. He came with the blessing of the Matron of the First Circle, and set about restoring the religion to a stable place, beginning with the reunification of his own sect, Nomos-Eikos (translated from the Old Tongue as Images of the Law of Gods), and Osseus.

Literature

 * nεκρόνόμεἰκών - One of the old texts of the Sept, this book was lost during the Emptiness, but many continue their search for it. It contains the secrets of the Circles, and describes in detail the fracturing of the Spheres, as well as the creation and end of the world.
 * n̸͕͖̐͋̅̒à̵̢͔̣̜̗̳͎̿͗̑̋͊́̈́͜͝͝͝m̷̳̓e̷͓̘͉͑̃͒̎̃͛̆̋͝l̸̨͔̠͇̈́̍e̴̹̼̮̝̫̻̅͋͊̐͜s̸̨̪͚̮̫͍̄͛̑͗̓̀s̷̯̳̥̪̓ ̴͙͝ķ̵̬̺͖͈́̏̆̾̉̇̚͜͠i̶̡͇̖͖͔̭̲̭͇̮̿̀̀̏̾͝n̸̛̫̆g̴̡͖̭̳̪̳̫̣͙͎͎̀̃̑̏̈́̕̕̚ͅ - A strange journal written by the Painted Mummer, containing information on the Gods and Rings. 3 copies exist currently, one in the Stoneforge library, one in the Voskovy Library, and one in the Mummer's personal sanctuary.
 * Of Tekhelet Blue - A play written before the Emptiness that has been translated to Traveller's Tongue. It describes the end of the reign of Angharad the Splendid during the war between Yhtill and Naqsh-Eşehir thousands of years ago.

Holy Sites

 * Cimeterium -- The Corpse City, Cimeterium is the only concrete location that stands from before the Emptiness, as well as being where the Sept operates from for the time being.
 * Istanboulder -- The land that Istanboulder sits on is significant to the Sept in many ways, being both the alleged historical location of the Lost City of Naqsh-Eşehir, as well as being the site of the brutal Ferryman Wars, leaving the area as a place where the veil between life and death are particularly thin. Boulderist control of the land is a source of distress for much of the Sept, as the land was originally going to be the location of the main temple complex, but for now the Sept has acknowledged the Boulderist's claim on the land.

Trivia and Meta

 * This page is currently a work in progress.