World > Races > Clans > Fidellian

Fidellian

The Fidellian clan is the religious sect of the K'Tri, and is actually recognized as practicing the oldest and most undiluted form of Et'vori on the whole of Clydira. The clan makes no distinction between sex, race, or history and all are welcome to find spiritual redemption within the walls of Kalead'n Temple, provided they follow the basic rules of the sanctuary.

While all are allowed access to the Temple, induction into the priesthood is something else entirely, especially once one advances to the higher ranks. Little is known of this process outside the Temple, except that it is a difficult and requires the dissolution of one's outward identity for the furthering of their inner spiritual growth. The initiates and priests don more and more elaborate robes and masks based upon their corresponding level of knowledge.

The figurehead of the Fidellian clan, The Childe, is as much of an enigma as are the processes held sacred within the walls that she resides. Fiercely protected by her two Guardians, The Childe is what her name implies, she is in fact a K'Tri youth, albeit one of immense knowledge and psionic ability. At birth, The Childe inherits the memories of her predecessor, who is also one of her parents. The result is that each generation's Childe possesses the memories of all that have come before her, an unbroken line stretching to the dawn of K'Tri civilization. However, this knowledge comes at a price, and especially in recent generations, each subsequent Childe has been subject to an increasingly fragile mind, as the memories can often be overwhelming, with a botched transfer or traumatic memory having disastrous results.

The Childe often spends his or her entire life within the temple walls to help prevent such trauma. They are also never allowed to reach adulthood, and before they come of age, and thereby their innocence lost, a mate is selected for them, and they consummate their relationship. Once an heir has been born, the outgoing Childe's memories are then transferred into the incoming, in an act known as the Sacrifice as the former Childe never survives the process. While this may seem inhumane to many, it is also the oldest surviving K'Tri ritual, and is held in a state of reverence by just as many as those who consider it barbaric.

At the heart of the Kalead'n Temple is the most fantastic library on all of Clydira, thanks in no small part to the writings of each generation's Childe. Knowledge of all sorts is kept here, nothing being considered too trivial to archive, and it is said that if something cannot be found within the Fidellian library, it simply does not, has not, and will never exist. The centerpiece of the library, forbidden to all but the most senior priests, is the most sacred book on all of Clydira, the Book of Fidel.