[.38 snubnose special]

"To find His loving embrace in death is sacred."
- Cassius 2:12

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Tumultuous is the ideology of those who have revered Caius in recent years. One whose purview covers death, love, and abandonment in equal measure, yet doctrines and sects have found most heated debate and divide amongst that foremost topic. Where there are those who might wield his affiliation with death as a means to promote undeath, there are instead those who see it as pure sacrilege; for to take away death from Him is to take away part of his purpose, akin to pacifistically prohibiting the hunt and claiming it's in the name of Nemea.

The Order of the Pariah is one sect which subscribes to such beliefs.

Carried on and cultivated through the golden age of necromancy by those carrying Caius' blood in their veins, their dogma is rigid. To live a full life of love and abandonment in equal measure, each the woes of the latter important to exemplify the highs of the former, then to accept one's death with grace so that their soul may be reborn anew and experience the cycle with fresh eyes devoid of accumulated jadedness once more; this is the natural way of things.

And it must be maintained.

Emerging in 2008 amidst rampant necromancy performed under Caius' name, a direct foil has been erected to counter such ideologies: the Order of the Pariah. In part a church, yet worship is not a prerequisite to membership—only a strong drive to counter the undead and their masters whom see a foul miasma spilling across Meranthe in their quickly amassing numbers.

Thusly, it's split between two branches of differing purpose:



Gravekeepers are those tasked with seeing undeath eradicated, with seeing the stolen bodies of the damned forcibly returned to death so that their souls may in turn pass on to the afterlife. Those who bear the title of Gravekeeper need not worship Caius himself, yet are required to swear an Oath to uphold the values of the Order and work always against the presence of undeath.

Priests are the faithful of the Order, those who revere Caius and seek to draw from His strength for the various practices they perform. Blessings, rituals, and other rites which wield His favor, gained through worship, in the pursuit of the faith's three core pillars: the righteous preservation of death, the importance of leading a life of love, the acceptance of abandonment as a necessity. Unshakable is the need by virtue of their sworn Oath to proactively uphold these pillars, and while the engagement in martial matters firsthand is not a requirement, many still take up the sword or stave regardless. Those Priests who as well partake in martial affairs may colloquially be referred to as Priestkeepers.

Each of these branches may possess a small few of high esteem whom have been granted the title of either Great Gravekeeper or High Priest, as to delegate management of the Order.

The Prophet of the Pariah is the head of the Order, tasked with overseeing its affairs from the top level and ensuring the sacred doctrine remains true and unchanged as faces may come and go from the sect. A true Prophet is a Nephilim descended from Caius, though heritage alone does not guarantee the position; they must still be deemed personally worthy of it by the reigning Prophet, or in their absence, instead by the High Priests. If no Nephilim of Caius worthy of holding the position is found, one of another race may take on a similar role under the title of Grand Sage instead, until one may be found.

Every member of the Order who has sworn the oath, regardless of branch or role, may be identified by the branding of its sigil burned into their flesh amidst initiation, sized similarly to a gold coin and placed just over their heart. Those whose oath has been broken in some fashion, yet not so severely to warrant death, have their branding mutilated with the image of a skull.

Those looking to join may seek out Kamilla J. Lyndon in Oakvale, or contact rat queen#2022 via Discord to arrange a scene.