_(The Scaled Doctrine, The Crimson Offering, He Who Dwells Below)_ > [!infobox|right] > > # Creed of the Faith > > ![[scaled_cotrine_sigil.png|cover hsmall]] > >
History
FoundedCirca Late Second Era, c. 2E 720
FounderSeletha the Silent
Belief System
SymbolA coiled serpent encircling a black flame
Sacred TextsWhispers of the Coil, The Crimson Silence, oral rites recorded by the Ember Sisters
Core Tenets
  • Silence is Reverence
  • Discipline begets Power
  • Sacrifice brings Order
  • Chaos dwells in Light
  • The Coiled One dreams beneath all things
Structure
Seat of PowerDeepcoil Sanctum, beneath Par-Thalax
Current LeadershipHigh Ember (currently unnamed)
Orders & BranchesCrimson Veils, Ember Sisters, Bloodmarked
RanksNovice, Ember Sister, Crimson Veil, Bloodmarked, High Ember
Known HeresiesThe Azure Coil, The Bleeding Scale
## Origins and History The Scaled Doctrine emerged in the bleak years following the founding of [[Par-Thalax]]. As chaos reigned across the Reaches, a veiled figure named Seletha the Silent returned from the caverns beneath the earth with ash on her lips and reverence in her stillness. She spoke little, but those who followed her came to understand the message: a vast, sleeping entity - He Who Dwells Below - curled in endless silence beneath the city's basalt bones. What began as whispered rituals became tradition. What began as fear became law. Over centuries, Par-Thalax grew not in defiance of the world’s horrors, but in pact with what slumbered beneath them. The Coiled One did not demand worship. It required obedience, purity, and silence. And so the Doctrine took root - an austere theocracy where every breath serves a deeper stillness. ## Doctrine and Beliefs The Scaled Doctrine teaches that chaos is the natural state of the surface world - light-blinded, hungry, and wild. Only below, in the deep silence and unshifting dark, is there order. The Coiled One embodies this principle: a primeval force of stillness and structure. Its dream holds the world in place. To rouse it would bring ruin. To soothe it ensures survival. The Coiled One must never awaken. But through careful offerings, its dreams may be shaped to protect and empower those who kneel in reverence. ### Core Tenets - **Silence is Reverence** - The tongue is a blade that wounds the sacred. Words are spent only when they are earned. - **Discipline begets Power** - Strength is nothing without mastery over self. - **Sacrifice brings Order** - Blood, gold, and precious stones maintain the slumbering balance. - **Purity attracts Favor** - The untouched, the focused, the unbroken of mind and body are closest to the Coil’s favor. Virgins are especially prized for their spiritual clarity. - **The Coiled One Dreams** - Its slumber holds the world together. Its dream must be soothed, not stirred. ### Rituals and Practices Ritual defines life in Par-Thalax. The most sacred rites center on **three offerings**: - **Blood** - The highest form of submission. Animals are sacrificed monthly, while once per season the temple selects a child - raised in cloistered purity - for a ceremonial offering, believed to ensure divine protection from famine, war, or winter's cruelty. - **Gold** - Melted and poured into ornate channels beneath the sanctum. It is said the god coils itself among these glistening offerings. - **Gemstones** - Placed at vision-altars, they are thought to feed the dreaming mind with beauty, thus steering its slumber into mercy. Every season is marked by rites performed in subterranean halls lit by crimson oil. The *Crimson Offering* - a blood rite performed beneath the Deepcoil Sanctum by the priestesses - is held monthly, with participants veiled and silent, bearing their gifts to the altar. During the offering a ritual sacrifice of blood is brought forth. Usually these are animals brought in front of the dark pit, but once a season the blood of an innocent, an orphan raised by the temple, is spilled to grant plentiful harvest or protection from the cold winters. The *Emberwake*, in early spring, is a night of purification by fire and ash. And the *Night of Ashen Mercy*, held midwinter, sees penitents march through the city in ash-cloaked silence, bearing stone weights to the Sanctum gate as personal atonement. Perhaps the most feared rite is the Weighting, an act of public penance where transgressors bear iron weights into the temple’s depths. If they remain kneeling until dawn, they are deemed forgiven. If not, their burden is deemed insufficient - and those of insufficient faith are brought to the obsidian halls beneath. Only an obsidian mask of their likeness returns from there to be mounted on the Wall of Stillness. ### Duties of the Clergy The priesthood is comprised exclusively of *Ember Sisters*, women bound to vows of silence, celibacy, and unwavering obedience. They act as caretakers, spiritual guides, and enforcers of purity. Their voices are rarely heard, as silence is their liturgy. The *Crimson Veils*, senior among them, interpret signs and dreams. They alone may speak within the Sanctum, their words believed to echo the will of the god. Above all stands *High Ember Kelvara*, a young woman of unsettling calm whose communion with the Coiled One is both sacred and secret. She governs not only the temple but the city itself with austere precision. Most zealos of all are the *Bloodmarked*, masked warrior-priestesses who carry out the Doctrine’s final judgments. It is said they bear scars, depicting lizard-like scales, cut deep into their skin and sleep with their weapons submerged in sacrificial blood. They serve as protectors of the city, blessed by the will of the god beneath. ### Everyday Life and Community Practices Par-Thalaxi citizens live under ritualized discipline. Before meals, ash is drawn over the heart. Children are taught to speak only when granted leave. Public emotion is discouraged, and even mourning is silent. Every household hosts a small shrine marked with the spiral sigil, where incense and silence are offered each evening. The city may seem grim, but its people take pride in their survival. They believe themselves chosen - not by destiny, but by the god’s forbearance. Festivals are held, but always in solemn reverence. Joy, too, is structured. ### Temples and Sacred Sites The *Obsidian Halls* are the sole temple of the faith, a vast subterranean structure of basalt arches, spiral descent corridors, and sacred pools fed by deep heat vents. The deepest chamber is forbidden to all but the High Ember. Pilgrims and penitents may descend a portion of the way, but only the truly devoted - or the damned - ever approach the inner sanctum. ### Regional Variations The Scaled Doctrine is not missionary in nature. Its worship is limited almost entirely to Par-Thalax, though some rogue Ember Sisters have been found practicing its rites in exile or secrecy beyond the city. These branches often distort the doctrine, blending it with local spirit worship or personal heresies. ### Common Practices - Drawing ash over the heart before speaking or eating - Observance of *Quiet Hours* from sundown to sunrise - Monthly tithes of grain, coin, or blood at district shrines - Daily washing rituals emphasizing bodily and spiritual cleanliness ## Whispers of Heresy The Coil knows no heresy. Any deviation from the doctrine is rooted out carefully and the next generation and foreigners, who settle in [[Par-Thalax]] are indoctrinated from the first moment on. Some splinter faith escaped the walls of [[Par-Thalax]]. The *Azure Coil* is a cult in [[Karnost]], that seeks awakening, believing the god must rise and reshape the world in darkness and scale. In [[Drestal]], the *Bleeding Scale* rejects gold and gemstone, offering only endless flesh in a bloody spiral of sacrifice. All variations of faith are hunted relentlessly. Those who stray are erased, their masks mounted in mute warning. > _“When the flame flickers, we must not shout. We must kneel.”_ > _ - from The Crimson Silence_