Sundered Priests are known ubiquitously through the continent thanks to Zoher having pushed the Church of Hormus into permeating every other civilized nation and group except the more remote Giravian Archipelago, treacherous Western Wastes and frigid Strana Gigantov. But even such places often have local stories of the strange Priest with a missing foot who came to their village, taught from The Book of Nefiqaddis and aided in the daily lives of commonfolk before moving on to some unknown destination.
It is impressed by Church of Hormus leadership that the goal of the Bereaved is not to become Sundered Priests, a life of sacrifice is not validated by the literal bodily kind, and there are hundreds of ways in every day by which one may live to honor their Sundered Father.
Becoming a Sundered Priest
Becoming a Sundered Priest is only for those looking to truly give their body and life towards not only Hormus, but his Church as well. In so becoming they pledge themselves to The Head Priest as well as to their god, and while a Bereaved may live their life outside the rule of The Head Priest if they live somewhere other than Zoher a Sundered Priest is always beholden to their leader after their commitment.
When a Bereaved decides they wish to partake in The Tear they must first travel to Morus and consult with the Torn Order, those Priests who sacrifice their minds and hearts to facilitate the grizzly ritual necessary to become a Sundered Priest. After one year in the Torn Order’s monastery they are evaluated before the Torn Order and in passing are permitted to take part in The Tear offering a body part of their choosing to Hormus in exchange for its related gifts.
The Sundered Blessings
The body party one gives up in The Tear correlates to an aspect of Hormus benevolence and thus the newly created Sundered Priest receives blessings in kind. Additionally to the sacrifice of a body part the Sundered Priest replaces their first name with the body part in question to represent the additional sacrifice of freedom of self, thus a Bereaved named Ensio Niemi who sacrifices their arm becomes Arm Niemi.
Eye
The Bereaved sacrifices their dominant eye to The Tear and half of their vision shall be forever dark and formless. In exchange an Eye is granted the blessings of healing, they are capable of many Inspired Workings which aid in the health and well being of individuals.
Tenets of the Eye
Eye
I will sacrifice my health to cure others
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I will heal all
I will sacrifice my wealth to heal
I will teach of Hormus and the healing he gives
Head
The Bereaved sacrifices their entire head, even after millennia it is still not understood how this is possible even through Hormus power. When a Head comes to their senses have permanently altered and where their head once stood but a stump of bone and flesh remains. Head’s are capable of limited range Lahettaa projection which allows them to communicate with those who surround them. Additionally they are capable of an uncanny visionless sight and earless hearing, and have remarkable memories, making them wonderful story tellers and keepers of knowledge.
RiychackBuildTogether
Sundered Priests of the Head can train their version of the Lahettaa and increase its potency. Riychack is a technique a Head may acquire with enough time training the strength of their projection that allows them to increase the permeating volume but not its range, which as far as anyone can tell appears fixed to the individual anywhere from 60-120 feet. With enough time it is possible for a Head to incapacitate entire crowds of people surrounding them with Riychack like some kind of mental scream. It brings about short but powerful migraines in the individuals who it touches and in rare cases may knock them unconscious.
During the Meyda War the Headless war cry became notorious for upending battle fields and completely disrupting War-worker’s capabilities. According to The Logs of Markus Lepik if intelligence found strong evidence that the enemy was currently fielding Heads it put severe roadblocks up for their strategists who couldn’t find ways to mitigate their battlefield altering effect besides range. Unfortunately most ranged Meyda-work and typical missile weaponry had trouble penetrating barriers setup by Hands causing much consternation for the Zyclester Coalition.
Tenets of the Head
Head
I will sacrifice my time to learn
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I will learn to teach
I will sacrifice my time to teach
I will teach of Hormus and the knowledge he gives
Arm
When it comes to actual memory of the pain of your own Tear the Arm is most commonly the choice which cements an almost immutable, accurately painful memory. It is worse than an arm or hand but often not traumatic enough to knock you unconscious the way the other ceremonies do and thus it lingers in your mind longer than any other. The arm you sacrifice must be your dominant arm but in return Arms are granted a bolstered Soul capable of high volumes and durations of Transfustion making their Meyda-work extremely potent. Arms are generally law enforcement in Zoher and in the past the soldiers of the Church of Hormus.
Tenets of the Arm
Arm
I will sacrifice my time to train
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I will become a warrior
I will sacrifice my safety to become reliable
I will teach of Hormus and the strength he gives