Path of Inspiration

The ordinary citizenry of Riedra follow the instructions of their overlords with great devotion. These near-gods walk among them, smiling on the faithful and dispensing terrible punishment to their enemies.

Certain favored worshipers are promoted by the Inspired to lead the others. This is a great honor. It is believed that a human priest who serves faithfully can be reborn as one of the Chosen (empty vessels not yet possessed by a quori spirit) in his next life. No priest has power that even approaches that of the lowest-ranking quori noble, but the position does have its rewards. The clergy receive a touch of the divine blessing. Each carries a special seed-shaped crystal, engraved with the Inspired’s sigil, marking his status and storing a portion of divine energy.

Riedrans dress in black, white, or brown clothing. They highlight this garb by weaving designs along the hems, using this embroidery as a form of meditation. Complex designs are reserved for the Inspired. The colors blue and red appear only on the robes of the Inspired, which the faithful cover with labyrinthine patterns of color.

The priesthood has just one rank—priest. Priests report to the lower-ranking nobles who serve their Inspired overlord and receive instructions through these subordinates. A priest might go a lifetime without ever entering the presence of the one that he serves, although the hope of being so honored drives him to serve ever more faithfully. Priests might assign the most devoted members of their congregations to act as assistants. These fortunate people are likely to be chosen as priests, since being selected to assist a priest is tantamount to a recommendation. Beyond such minor administrative decisions, priests have no authority other than the respect conferred by their office.

As the vessels of higher spirits, all the Inspired stand above the priests, and any Inspired can issue directives to a priest. Inspired must answer to the Dreaming Dark and rarely act against the interests of their people. However, Inspired lords occasionally pursue personal schemes to prove their abilities to those above them.

The Inspired keep careful watch on their subjects through the Riedran internal police force, the Thousand Eyes. These elite watchers not only move swiftly to eliminate potential threats, but they also take note of community leaders who can be exploited to strengthen their hold on society. Whether a respected elder who teaches submission to the Inspired or a sergeant who inspires her soldiers to bravery in the name of the Riedran overlords, loyal and devoted persons make excellent candidates for the priesthood.

The Inspired tightly control any source of power that could threaten their rule, especially magical ability. Arcanists are eliminated whenever they are discovered—Riedrans believe that arcane magic is derived from fiendish sources, pointing to the Adarans as examples. Only the most loyal priests are trusted with the ability to wield divine magic. The Inspired are not gods and cannot control a priest’s ability to perform magic, but if the devotion of a spellcasting priest ever comes into question, that priest is swiftly eliminated. Most Riedran priests are experts trained to offer spiritual guidance and inspiration to the people. Actual spellcasters are valuable tools, often assigned to serve in the military or the Thousand Eyes.

Innate psionic ability is also discouraged in Riedra’s human populace, although it is not so dire a threat as magic. The Inspired cull those who demonstrate substantial power, often killing them but sometimes holding them for breeding experiments to improve their bloodlines, possibly even elevating them to the ranks of the Chosen. A priest, though, could be left with a wild talent or a natural aptitude for psionics, which could actually help in guiding the congregation.

Fallen priests of the Path of Inspiration do not exist. Those who do not obey their masters die, without exception. Nor is it likely someone can maintain a pretense of devotion while secretly advancing a personal agenda, for the Inspired telepathically monitor their servants to ensure such threats never emerge.

The priesthood serves a vital role in the administration of Riedra. Priests are responsible for indoctrinating the common folk and constantly reinforcing the people’s respect for the Inspired and fear of the outside world. Inspired often dispatch priests to areas believed to harbor dissidents, to quell potential uprisings and to assist the Thousand Eyes. Rare and trusted priests with spellcasting ability are often called into military service, and they might be sent to take part in the siege of Adar or an attack on a dromite city-hive. The Inspired have difficulty mastering divine magic, and they could send one of their treasured clerics on any number of special missions requiring divine power. However, should the cleric ever come to believe that his magic makes him equal or superior to the Inspired, he quickly disappears.

The Inspired cement their hold over the populace through pseudo-religious ceremonies that not only reinforce their role, but also have the more valuable function of focusing psychic energy. Most of these rituals involve the monoliths that the quori are erecting all over Riedra. These monoliths are known as the hanbalani altas, the “sanctuaries of the soul”; they are said to provide a resting place for spirits awaiting reincarnation, although the truth is far more sinister.

For a Riedran, work is prayer. Through his unrelenting toil, the Riedran peasant believes that he is honoring the Inspired and furthering his spiritual evolution. Such devotion is reinforced by the subtle influence of the monoliths. These thoughts feed the psychic energy of the quori, who in turn use the monolith network to encourage the citizens’ religious submission with telepathic suggestions. But Riedrans do invoke the names of the Inspired when in distress, believing that doing so attracts benevolent attention to the problem. Riedrans also occasionally worship at their local monolith, hoping for success or aid as any worshiper might.

The priests oversee typical ceremonies that cement the community, such as namings, weddings, funeral services, and the like. They or their assistants fulfill the role of minor functionaries, completing paperwork and maintaining central records.

The Inspired mandate monthly celebrations of thanks, which are conducted by the local priest, to further reinforce the population’s subservience. Citizens sing hymns of praise and sometimes make special requests for divine assistance. The rite usually lasts about an hour, after which the celebrants share a simple meal.

Once per year, on the anniversary of the unification of Riedra by the Inspired, all of Riedra observes the Feast of the Founding. The celebrations occur within each fortress-complex that controls a group of villages, and the noble of the region convenes them. At dawn, the village priests lead processions to the central complex and usually to the monolith within. Once the throngs have assembled, a lengthy ceremony offers praise to the Inspired for their vision and thanks for their generous shepherding of the people. Individual worshipers might step forward, overcome with religious fervor, and offer testaments to personal experiences of the love of the Inspired, such as a sick child who recovered or a failing crop that suddenly began to thrive after the peasant invoked names of the Inspired. Proceedings might last several hours.

While the ceremony goes on, the monolith glows and hums in a low tone, capturing and reinforcing the powerful psychic energy of the fervent worshipers. During these times, high-ranking Inspired convene within the monolith and draw strength from the psychic radiation. Sometimes the region’s overlord shows himself atop a tower, shining like a star with manifested psionic energy and speaking in thunderous tones about the great future to come. Such a display usually causes the worshipers to become even more emotional, setting up mutual psychic feedback.

Except for Inspired, quori do not use the Galifar calendar. Instead, they mark time according to the cycles of the Quor Tarai—the Dream of the Age—which is currently a nightmare centered around il-Lashtavar, the Dreaming Dark. The heart of Dal Quor sends out powerful psionic emanations at regular intervals, which the quori can feel intensely. Each period of “wakefulness” lasts three terrestrial days; in the flowing time of Dal Quor, this translates to roughly one month. This is followed by a long “sleep” cycle of two terrestrial weeks (or about four months in Dal Quor). During a “waking” cycle, quori experience tumultuous visions of il-Lashtavar, becoming highly agitated and hypersensitive to sensual and psychic stimuli. Whether the possessing quori is “asleep” or “awake” according to the rhythms of Dal Quor, however, the Inspired vessel follows a human’s normal 24-hour sleep cycle.

For the benefit of human followers, priests lead celebrations of thanks at the time of each month when that month’s moon is full. (The Riedran calendar is lunar and named similarly to Galifar’s—humans from Sarlona originally conceived both.) The Feast of the Founding takes place at daybreak on the day of Therendor’s new phase in the month of Therendor. This also corresponds to a period of especially intense wakefulness within the Quor Tarai, so that the psionic energy manifested in this ritual resonates even more strongly with the Inspired.

The typical followers of the Path of Inspiration are humans and Chosen. Farmers, tradespersons, and merchants— these people are convinced that the Inspired, through the spirits that installed them, hold a great vision for the rebirth of the world. Failing to obey the requirements of that vision endangers the spiritual health of everyone. Thus, worshipers follow orders without hesitation and are highly intolerant of any who question authority or speculate on the nature of these near-divine beings. Riedrans are willing to die in the service of their overlords and fight to the death in battle.

Government

Within Riedra, of course, the Inspired are the government. The few in Riedra who do not obey these nobles have long since died, left the land, or hidden themselves to carry on their resistance or preferred practices.

The Inspired have begun to send ambassadors to the nations of Khorvaire. Although conquest is their true goal, this diplomatic exercise lets them gather information on the resources of their targets. At the same time, agents of the Dreaming Dark have infiltrated every rank of society in Khorvaire’s larger cities, nudging public opinion here, supporting or eliminating key figures there.

Riedran emissaries receive a warm welcome from most governments, although only one nation has entered into a treaty with the Inspired—Q’barra’s King Sebastes eagerly accepted their offers of assistance in pacifying his frontier land. In general, other rulers hearken to these exotic foreigners, whose beautiful appearance and reassuring words are difficult to resist, and whose resources have proven most useful as the nations recover from the Last War. Still, Khorvaire’s leaders are not in the thrall of the emissaries’ religious fervor and telepathic conditioning. Sarlona represents a great unknown that the governments of Khorvaire wish to learn more about before committing to diplomatic relations. Dreaming Dark agents are attempting to apply appropriate conditioning where it does the most good, but this might take as many centuries as the ultimate conquest of Riedra did. Quori have the patience of immortal spirits. They can wait.

The Inspired are wary of other powerful, supernatural forces. Dragons remember the quori invasion that shattered the realm of giants, as well as the dragon magic that exiled Dal Quor. Lords of Riedra know that their psionic powers are vulnerable to draconic sorcery. So concerned are the Inspired that they might be willing to eliminate this threat by any means. However, the Inspired also know of and fear the great rajahs that sleep under Sarlona, and they would never trust any force allied with such beings. In fact, the Inspired could be a force for “good” against organizations such as the Lords of Dust and the Cults of the Dragon Below. Inspired might employ or aid heroes who oppose dragons or fiends.

Inspired and Other Faiths

Those who worship dragons as living gods are especially hostile toward the Inspired, because they see the Inspired as relative newcomers who presume to challenge the obvious divinity of the dragons, and because the Inspired are enemies of magic. However, most such worshipers (Seren barbarians and Q’barran lizardfolk) live in a state of savagery, knowing little of the outside world and the threat of the Inspired. Some of the wiser dragons, mostly those of the Chamber, are gradually revealing this danger to the dragon-worshipers.

The Lords of Dust that know the true nature of the Inspired view the puppets of the quori as even more foolish than mortals who truck with fiends, for the rajahs truly are near-divine beings (some rakshasas see themselves similarly), not just parasites occupying human bodies. Rakshasas envy and hate the quori and the Inspired for being able, to some degree, to accomplish what they have not. A knowledgeable rakshasa might arouse heroes to action against the Riedran overlords.

Inspired during the Last War

For centuries, Riedra had no contact with Khorvaire. But the outbreak of the Last War brought the Inspired to its shores, both as traders and as secret operatives. Even as Inspired merchants began to sell exotic foodstuffs and open up relations with the warring nations, the quori laid their plans of conquest, sending Dreaming Dark agents across Khorvaire. These operatives studied their prey carefully and began to exert influence, both psionically and through selective assassination and manipulation. Meanwhile, the beautiful Inspired emissaries charmed their way into courts and assemblies. They swayed leaders and populations toward attitudes that would lead to more bloodshed, in the hope that a continent shattered by conflict would be easy to overwhelm. Khorvaire suffered terrible upheavals and could have quickly fallen, but the Day of Mourning was a catastrophe unexpected even by the quori. Suddenly, the war was over, the squabbling nations horrified into negotiating a treaty. Now that Khorvaire has fragmented into a dozen young states, the Inspired are pursuing opportunities in those that seem most malleable.

Discord 5/30/2020

The question arose as to whether it was forced on the people by the Inspired. The point to me is yes... and no. It's forced on them in the sense that the Inspired have eliminated the practice of other religions, destroyed the churches of Pyrine, etc. But the looking as to how it spread in the first place, it wasn't something they forced on people AFTER they rose to power; it was one of the tools through which they rose to power.

The point of the Sundering is that the Quori used mind seeds and dream manipulation to sow dissent and instigate conflict between the existing cultures. Throughout that and the chaos of the wars that followed, they also spread belief in the Path of Inspiration. The first Inspired were, in theory, common people who reached the end of the path and who served as champions of the common people.

The reason the Inspired were placed in charge in the first place is because they were able to spread the belief in the Path and convince people they were its chosen.

This is why they AREN'T interested in trying to conquer Khorvaire and to enforce Riedran culture on it. Because their prefer to work from within - to trick the society into ACCEPTING its conquerors rather than trying to force belief through force.

So if you look at history, it LOOKS like the Path of Inspiration spread as a popular movement, uniting the disillusioned people of warring lands, and united them behind the leadership of their divinely inspired champions.

THOSE PEOPLE certainly forced their beliefs on other Sarlonans - they did destroy the churches of Pyrine - but they were able to do that because the religion was popular on its own.

Q: Given the Sovereign Swords article, was the Path of Inspiration invented whole cloth by the Quori or is it a corruption of an older religion?

A: Most likely a little of each. It was certainly largely created to serve their purposes, but it may have built on some early form of "People can achieve divinity" -- which could be the same root Sarlonan faith that combined with the beliefs of the post-Vol exiles to create the Blood of Vol in Khorvaire.

Which ties back to the original question raised before. The Inspired created the faith as a tool to help them control the people. But it's quite possible that faith in the Path of Inspiration could continue without the Inspired and can grant actual divine power to followers, even though that power doesn't come from the Inspired.