Church of the Silver Flame

The Church of the Silver Flame is the state religion of Thrane. The followers of the religion are called the Faithful.

History
The Church of the Silver Flame was founded in the early centuries of the Kingdom of Galifar by the sacrifice of a brave paladin, Tira Miron. The church's influence spread throughout the centuries, but its heart remained in Thrane. During the Last War, King Thalin declared independence in the name of spreading worship. When Thalin died in 945 YK, the Church stepped in to replace the monarchy with a theocracy.

The Age of Demons
However, the story of the Silver Flame does not start in 299 YK. The Overlords ruled the world during the Age of Demons. After the discovery of the Draconic Prophecy, the fiends were overthrown by the combined forces of Dragon and Couatl. However, like all immortal spirits, the fiendish overlords could not be permanently killed. Countless of immortal couatls sacrificed themselves to bind the children of Khyber, creating the Silver Flame.

The Founding of the Church
In 299 YK, the event that started the religion of the Silver Flame took place. In that year, a terrible eruption split the ground and a great pillar of crimson fire emerged from the resulting chasm on the shore of Scion's Sound. No one understood the significance of the blazing column of flame, but most who dared approach it felt unrelenting malevolence in its radiating heat. Dark and vile creatures crawled from the ground, and the people grew to fear and distrust each other. The Year of Blood and Fire was filled with terrible loss of life.

Tira Miron, a paladin dedicated to Dol Arrah, received a powerful vision about this strange fire while exploring the western reaches of the realm. In her vision, a great rainbow-winged serpent warned her that a terrible evil was emerging in the east, riding crimson fire from the depths of Khyber itself. Tira rallied the forces of Thrane and defeated the dark creatures that had come to venerate the crimson fire and help free the malevolent entity trapped within its flames. With her great sword Kloinjer, its pommel capped with a Khyber dragonshard, Tira turned to face the emerging demon just as the great serpent with the rainbow-feathered wings of her vision appeared and dove headfirst into the fire. Tira watched as the serpent and the demon struggled in the flames. The battle within the fire seemed to last for an eternity, and as she watched the demon began to overcome the serpent. Horrified, she saw the demon strike a crippling blow. The serpent, calling on its last reserves of power, encircled the demon and buried its fangs into the fiend’s fiery throat. At the same moment, it sent a mental plea to Tira, and the paladin didn’t hesitate. She leaped into the fire, plunging Kloinjer through the writhing serpent and deep into the demon’s flesh.

While Tira's body perished, her soul persisted and she became the Voice of the Flame. A new city grew around the site of Tira's sacrifice, and came to be known as Flamekeep, eventually becoming the capital of Thrane. The church was administered by a series of keepers, as listed in the table below.

The church has faced four great challenges in its history - the Time of Two Keepers, Julian's Crusade, the Silver Crusade, and the Last War.

The Time of Two Keepers
In 497 YK, a peasant woman named Melysse Miron challenged Keeper Kyra Danth for leadership of the church. Not only did she challenge the church's doctrines, but she wielded astonishing divine power, able to directly call upon the Flame like the keeper herself. Divination magic was unable to ascertain the truth, leading to a schism that lasted years. Eventually, Melysse was uncovered as the False Keeper - drawing upon the power of Bel Shalor instead of the Silver Flame - and petrified in Dreadhold. While the demon was bound by Tira's sacrifice, the Shadow in the Flame could now whisper to the faithful, disguising itself as Tira to lead them astray.

Julian's Crusade
In 558 YK King Julian III attempted to make the Church of the Silver Flame the state religion of all of Galifar after converting during his time as Thrane's regent. A few bloody clashes almost led to civil war, but the conflict ended before it could start when King Julien died of mysterious and sudden circumstances during his second year of reign.

The Silver Crusade
At the start of the 9th century, Lycanthropy began to surge in Western Aundair, in what is now known as the Eldeen Reaches. The rising tide led to Keeper Jolan Sol declaring that "the curse of lycanthropy corrupted the soul itself," and ordering a Holy Purge of the Reaches. With this proclamation the templars of the Silver Flame launched a nearly 50-year war. in Aundair, this crusade led to the emergence of a group that calls itself the Puritans, a sect of the Church of the Silver Flame that is more ardent about eradicating perceived evil (and eager to distant themselves from their Thranean co-religionists).

The Last War
The Last War changed everything for the church. Thalin ir'Wynarn echoed King Julian's language from over four centuries prior, proclaiming a vision of a new kingdom devoted to the Silver Flame. In 945, Thalin died of old age, and a combination of popular sentiment and the political maneuvering of the Council of Cardinals led to the church gaining control over the nation of Thrane. While this has empowered the church in the world, critics say that the concerns of the state are a distraction and avenue for corruption. The Argentum are an example of this, as an organization originally intended just to contain dangerous magical items is now also trying to perform ordinary intelligence work, where the lines are blurrier.

Beliefs

 * The Silver Flame is force of light that holds fiends at bay. Those who seek to defend the innocent from evil can draw on the power of the Flame.
 * Every mortal soul can find the light. Inspire and guide others to virtuous behavior; force is a last resort.
 * Listen to the Voice of the Flame; beware the deceiving whispers of the Shadow in the Flame.

At its core, the Silver Flame is an active religion that calls upon the faithful to fight evil. For the warriors of the church, this means combating the many supernatural threats present in Eberron like undead and fiends. For the ministers and friars of the church, this means leading others to be more compassionate and making sure the natural order of kine above monsters is perserved. And for the laity, this means simply living a virtuous life.

The Hierarchy of Evil
The Church sorts evil into five categories:
 * Entities of alien evil. Fiends and aberrations fall into this category, as both malevolent and foreign. While the Gatekeepers are the primary group in Khorvaire concerned with aberrations, a templar of the Silver Flame would absolutely recognize the threat as important.
 * Entities of unnatural evil. Undead and lycanthropes are originally of Eberron, but fundamentally corrupted by malevolent forces.
 * Entities of innate evil. A controversial category, this covers "monsters" like medusas, yuan-ti, and hags, but also non-kine such as goblins, orcs, and lizardfolk. These beliefs have long led to conflict between the church and the natives of so-called "monster" nations like Droaam and Q'Barra.
 * Those who choose evil. Evil kine are covered by this. Only the most zealous followers believe all evil kine must be put to the sword - the church broadly espouses ideals of mercy and repentance for those who choose evil (and are also not innately evil)
 * The evil within. The time of two keepers has highlighted the importance of staying vigilant for the whispers of the Shadow in the Flame, which seek to mislead and corrupt the Faithful.

Syncretism
The Church of the Silver Flame is not exclusive with worship of the Sovereign Host. The Sovereign Host explains the fundamental forces of reality and the aspects of power that control them. By contrast, the Silver Flame is a faith solely born of fighting supernatural darkness and the rule of non-kine; that is, the actions and consequences of mortals.

Rites and Prayers
The Silver Flame is a practical religion with short, purposeful rites and prayers. A purified farmer doesn't associate a good harvest with the blessings of the flame and doesn't involve prayer in ordinary and mundane activities. Simply acting virtuously and embodying the ideals of the church is devotion enough. However, the faithful may pray for strength or guidance in a time of hardship or in the face of temptation to do evil

Rites are similarly practical, oriented around purification and preventing the spread of unnatural evil. Both friend and foe are purified after death by the burning of an alchemical substance known as silverburn, which is also used in other rites. Purification rituals are also used for the sick and for those ordained into the ministry. Since the start of the theocracy, the church has also performed purification rituals on behalf of the state.

Symbol
Per its name, the most common representation of the faith is the image of a flame inlaid with silver. Arrowheads are also associated with the religion. Symbolically, arrowheads represent shafts of light piercing the darkness. Practically, ranged weapons provide safety against the claws and fangs of supernatural threats while providing flexibility. Furthermore, a quiver of arrows can feature many special arrowheads at a much cheaper cost than a bag of swords.

Hierarchy
The Church of the Silver Flame is broadly divided into two orders - the Temporal Order and the Pastoral Order. The temporal order consists of officials who deal with the day-to-day mechanics of running a theocracy, while the pastoral order consists of those charged with caring for the faithful. The church is led by the Keeper of the Flame and the Council of Cardinals, and includes several secretive groups like Miron's Tears and The Argentum.

Titles
{| class="wikitable" ! Authority !! Temporal !! Pastoral }
 * + Church Hierarchy
 * Local | Hello | Test
 * Regional | Ok| Nuts
 * Regional | Ok| Nuts
 * Regional | Ok| Nuts

The Keeper of the Flame
The Keeper of the Flame is directly chosen by Tira Miron, the Voice of the Flame. The Keeper ultimately leads the Church, but delegates most authority to the Cardinals. The current keeper is Johannes Goodman.

Temporal Order
The Order of Ministers is the largest and broadest of the three orders. Outside of Thrane, the order of ministers is only charged with administering to the matters church, although many ministers still find themselves involved in local politics.

Inside of Thrane, the Order of Ministers also act as the government - performing not only local governance but judicial functions. While ministers are on balance better educated and more invested directly in the people's needs than the local rulers of other nations, they still sometimes find themselves caught between the duties of faith and the duties of governance.

Structurally, the Order of Ministers makes up the majority of the top levels of the church's hierarchy, privileged with purely bureacratic duties.

Pastoral Order
The Order of Templars is the militant arm of the church, historically charged with protecting the innocent from evil. Whether a vampire, witch, or fiend, the Knights Templar have destroyed or imprisoned countless threats. Templars are supposed to protect all innocents regardless of whether a local town pays many tithes to the church, although corrupt opportunists sometimes extort communities.

The Last War merged the Templars of Thrane and the Army of Thrane, causing issues for the order's legitimacy. Even today, a regiment of Thranish knights may have issues pursuing supernatural threats across borders as local authorities question if they're serving the mission of the church or the state. Templars in other nations found their loyalty questioned whether they chose to serve in their nation's armies or not. While the templars broadly have no higher titles than "Prefect", the Thranish army does include higher ranks such as Sacrosanct (Major) and Argent (Colonel). Outside of Thrane, Prefects fall under the command and control of their archbishop and work in tandem with the local bishop.

Order of Friars
Charged with wandering the world and spreading the light of faith, the Order of Friars is the least hierarchical of the Church's three orders. While Friars never lead cities or regions, some rare few friars have made the jump to the Council of Cardinals.

Pilgrims are the initiate rank of the order and below all other ranks in the church. While not required to perform missionary work, pilgrims do lead by example and represent the faith.

Friars travel Khorvaire, attempting to convert new followers to the Silver Flame. Furthermore, Friars are typically trained in investigation, acting as the eyes of the church to report instances of supernatural evil such as cults or possessions.

Council of Cardinals
The Council of Cardinals stands above the other orders in the church, administering to the broad concerns of the faith. Cardinals primarily attend to bureaucratic concerns, with many of them having spent the past 84 years running a nation. Cardinals are nominated and elected by existing cardinals, leading to the majority coming from the Order of Ministers.

The Diet of Cardinals are chosen by the Keeper of the Flame, although new Keepers rarely remove cardinals from the diet. The true governing body of both the Church and Thrane, the Diet collectively makes decisions on behalf of both. It is currently led by High Cardinal Krozen.