Religions App: Priesthood of Selas, an IC report.

For the most part, the Priesthood is a law-abiding group, with one exception. Under the Dark Arts and Dark Creatures section of the Sanctimonian Common Law, states that…

“Vampires and Therianthropes
The creatures are to be beheaded with a silver-edged axe. The bodies are to be disposed via burning.”
– Sanctimonian Common Law

This is an issue, as the highest caste of the Priesthood consists entirely of lycanthropes. However, these lycanthropes, unlike the common lycanthropes that plague Sanctimonia, are white in fur, with silver claws and are blessed by Selas herself with the sole task of hunting down, and killing therianthropes.
So, it is my wish that white lycanthropes are the sole exception to this law.

The Clergy has a strong sense of community among them, it's this close-knit community that allows them to keep the secrets of who is a White Lycan from the Watch. In one case I observed, ten or more unrelated Clerymen and Women were living in the same townhouse, under a cumulative income, acting like a family. The Clergy believes in deep passionate relationships, and polygamy is common within the Clergy. Due to the social pressures of the worship of the Pact in Sanctimonia, polygamy with the uninitated is highly uncommon, if it exists at all.

A common belief outside of the Clergy is if one is exposed to a full moon long enough, he will become insane. Scholars believe this has something to do with the selenium of the moon being a cause of this "moon madness." Of course, the Clergy denies the idea that the moon causes madness and that it's just superstitious nonsense involving Nazu, the goddess of madness, being a descendant of Selas.

Revered by the Clergy, shooting stars are an important symbol of the worship of Selas. When a shooting star streaks across the sky and connects with the ground, it leaves a crater, which is lined with a selenium residue, these craters are commonly interpreted as a sign from Selas to build a temple in her honor there, and so most temples are founded in or around these selenium deposits.

The shooting star itself is an elemental, made of crystaline selenium, a divine servant to Selas. When they crash-land, they will stay behind for eternity, guiding the devoted of Selas in the newly constructed temples.

White Lycanthropes (Top Caste)
Through study into the white lycanthropes, I found a rather tattered up book, but managed to scrape together some idea of what exactly a white lycanthrope is,

“…werewolves blessed by Selas to hunt other Lycanthropes, whose claws are silver and whose coats shine like the full moon.” – Lycanthropes: An overview

They are obviously highly regarded by the Priesthood, because of their blessing from Selas.


Prophets (Second Caste)
Those who are directed by Selas personally are referred to as the Prophets. These Prophets are usually directed to a specific area of Aeria by Selas to assist the locals in an ever present war against the therianthropes.

High Priests & Priestesses (Third Caste)
Ordained Priests or Birthrights who have struck great blows against the Werekin and are faithful to Selas. They are often warriors and mages who utilize the power of the divine magic of Selas, which creates a burst of pure moonlight that acts as Selenium and is ever dangerous to the therianthropes.

Birthrights (Fourth Caste)
They are the children of High Priests and Prophets, who are brought up in the Priesthood from birth. They are taught how to perform the divine magic of Selas before the Ordained Priests.

Ordained Priests (Fourth Caste)
Acolytes who have been Ordained by a High Priest or Priestess through a ritual known as the Great Moon Purification. At this point they are sworn to slay all therianthropes who cross their paths.

Acolytes (Fifth Caste)
Acolytes are the lowest caste of the Priesthood, who run errands and prepare areas for the Great Moon Purification. They also act as pages to the High Priests and Birthrights.

The Great Moon Purification is a very symbolic ritual which depicts the final battle of the powerful lycan, told in the story of the first lycanthrope.

“Lycanthropy, like all the Therianthropic diseases, is a divine affliction created by Voar, God of Bloodlust and the Hunt. Voar, like his brother, Dyaus, was angered by their father's actions during the War of the Dawn. When Kielm left his throne to become Aeria's God of Nature, he barred his children from following, allowing them no place in the order of nature. Denied what they felt was rightfully theirs, they now enjoy meddling in their father's work, disrupting the natural order.

Voar sought to prove any creation of his was superior to his father's, and thus gave birth to the wolves and a number of other dangerous predators. He was unsatisfied with besting his father's work, however, and sought to make a mockery of that which he valued most on Aeria; civilized life. He thus created a series of afflictions, the Therianthropic diseases, to force people to become mockeries of their former selves, driven only by Voar's delight; the Hunt.

According to legend, the first Lycanthrope was born centuries before even the God Wars. In those days, it is said, there lived a great hunter, a young man in his prime, who sought to best every creature of the world, be it of the land, sea, or air. There came a day when he slew his last beast, and was approached by a great wolf, far larger than any wolf he had ever seen. The Avatar of Voar spoke to him, and gave him a challenge; to hunt and slay the master of the hunt. They stalked each other for weeks, up the mountains, through the forests, across the plains, until the huntsmen landed a fatal strike with his spear. As the Avatar lay wounded, he congratulated the huntsmen and offered him a prize; to join his soul with the spirit of beasts, and become the master of the wild. He accepted, and became the first Werewolf.

Long after this event, be it legend or truth, came a time when Werewolves were king among beasts, and plagued the peoples of Aeria. Many were slain; those that survived turned, and became Werewolves themselves. There was a great Werewolf, a cunning hunter by the name of Atros, Voar's champion in those days, who sought greater game than mere mortals. He sought the blood of the Divine. He chose Selas, for her realm always overlooked his hunts, and the hunts of all Werekin. To make Selas bleed would be an endless reminder to all of Voar's beasts that he was the master of the hunt.

He began with her priests. Worshiping as they did at night, under the Moon, they made easy prey. Hundreds fell to his claws, a bloodletting to open the hunt. When they failed to take notice, she moved to the mistresses, and then the maidens. When he slew her Matron, he had finally aroused her ire. Selas formed an Avatar and came to Aeria, to kill the impertinent beast. Atros easily fell before the might of a God; and in his final moments, pleaded for forgiveness. Selas drew close, willing to receive the werewolf's dying wishes - and was struck by his powerful claws across her face. Blood spilt upon the beast's already lifeless form, and Selas, infuriated, disappeared. Selas resolved to wipe the Werekin from the face of the world, and cursed all Werewolves with the light of her realm, driving them forcibly into the world to be hunted.” – A history of the Lycans


On a full moon, the Clergy of Selas conjoins in an open field under the moonlight and perform the Great Moon Purification, to ordain Acolytes into the Priesthood. This ritual involves a High Priest, who is dressed in wolves’ hides who, systematically, “kills” the Acolytes to be Ordained. At this point, another High Priest, dressed in silver, reenacts the conflict between the Avatar of Selas and Atros, with the “lycan.” At the end of the conflict, the lycan falls to the ground and beckons Selas close. The Priest who depicts Selas will bend over the lycan and the lycan will claw at her face, “Selas” then holds her face and disappears in a burst of white light from the moonlight spell. At this point the newly ordained priests will be “reborn” with the task of getting “revenge” by hunting down and killing all therianthropes who he or she comes into contact with.