Sordan
Sordan
I have come to a realisation in recent days. When thinking on the nature of pain, and its use as a tool for purification, a revelation occurred. I believe I have been living a fantasised version of life as a Sordanite – and as such I have missed certain truths about the nature of purification. Pain is not a tool for purification – it is purification. Firstly, that if the fire is purifying me, it is burning me. Just as there is fierce pain that can’t be avoided when flesh is exposed to open flame, so too there is real pain, pungent and rich, when Sordan applies His reducing fire to your soul. Do not expect to be purified without the incredible burning that accompanies it – whether it is by your hand, or in your experiences. Secondly, when a fire burns, it consumes its fuel – there is less ash left than there was wood before the fire. Therefore, when I am purified, there should be less of me left. Whilst this is intuitive – the process of purification is to drive off impurities – I and many others have failed to take it into account. My message is this: When you have been purified by Sordan’s blessings, there will be less of you – you will not be the same person that you are now. Do not fear this change – embrace it, embrace the pain that heralds it, and you too can know bliss in the light of Sordan.
From the writings of Floriano Mellamaci
History
The Sordanite faith is an offshoot from the Yeoman strand of Crofter. Over time, the extremists realised that suffering was merely another word for pain and thus the church was born.
Philosophy
The embodiment of suffering is surely pain. Only through pain can an individual truly come to know one.s limits and eventually, understand themselves and what they are. Thus pain brings truth and understanding with it.
In addition, the afterlife is meaningless and this life is all. Thus it is surely obvious that pain is the best route through life. To suffer pain is to bring understanding and understanding will bring truth.
Strands
The Guides
Self-inflicted pain can never be entirely true; you know you won’t go as far as someone else might. Therefore another must inflict the pain. Thus this is what the Guides have made their mission.
Flagellants
The Flagellants believe the opposite of the Guides; only the individual can know their limits, and know what they require. Therefore, to truly learn, pain must be self-inflicted.
Materialists
Pleasure is a reduced form of pain. Sensation can be both pleasurable and painful. Therefore any sensation, be it ‘good’ or ‘bad’, is a thing of pain. To experience a new sensation is to bring truth.
Strictures
Experience pain, whatever its form, whenever possible.
Do not allow another’s pain to end prematurely.
Life is limited; do not fritter it away on rest.
Domains
Primary domain: Debilitation
Secondary domains: Dismissal, Harming, Healing, Mind Control, Warding