The endless rumbling sound of threadworn spinning wheels joins with a softly hummed chorus. A dim candlelit chapel that could pass as a bazaar’s shop if exposed to the sun. Tapestries of endless hues drape from rafter to rafter, crisscrossed with the silken threads of coffin-spider webs. Pilgrims file into the chamber in silent procession, filling the room until the heat of breath and bodies is stifling.
In the center of the room, dangling four feet off the floor, is a limp elven body clad in a gorgeous ceremonial deathmask. The figure is suspended by an intricate weave of strings, looking like a grim puppet, held fast in a mimicry of genuflection. The Lady of Knots welcomes all newcomers into her fold.
The Church of Our Lady of Knots is a prominent cult of Selk located in Aideum. Originally founded in [time] by [person] as a small display of faith, the Church eventually grew in number and influence in the Angorian capital. At the time of the new Age of New Hope, the Church of Our Lady of Knots is the main face of the worship of Selk in the city, and maintains close connections with other relevant factions, religious or not, including The Three Lanterns.
Origin Mythos
A Cult of Selk
The followers of the Wanderer are many, and they take countless forms. Selk is not a picky god, and will welcome any who will partake in his deals. On occasion, a sect will form around a personality or an event. A sudden surge of penitents may follow, burgeoning the god of Trickery’s influence, and providing an atmosphere ripe for miracles.
In this environment, centuries ago, the woman who would come to be known as the Lady of Knots came to be. Accounts as to the Lady’s life are much less prevalent than those of her death. Born and raised a seamstress’ apprentice, Pran Cyrene lived a devout life in the plain settlement of Mirridh, keeping a silver coin around her neck at all times. In her role as weaver, she would make common practice of weaving similar disks into her work. Unbeknownst to her, these coins would often act as protective wards, carrying the monks who patronized her shop through dangerous territories unscathed. In those days, warbands following the god Radar-Riel were rife through the countryside of proto-Angoria, and such defenses came as boons.
Tragically, these simple gifts would be the bringer of Cyrene’s end.
In the summer of her 19th year, Cyrene had her skills purchased by a stranger hailing from the north mountains. By his order, the two took a carriage south, aiming for the peninsula for a business affair of the stranger’s. The man was eccentric, jovial in disposition and generous with kind words. He was also a master thief. Under the stranger’s direction, Cyrene crafted all manner of odd garments: ballgowns that tore into bodices, coats engulfed in dozens of small pockets. Each piece of craft she secretly endowed with her precious silver coins.
As the pair traveled southward, the stranger revealed his grand designs to Cyrene; he was to meet two companions whom he had shared correspondence with, for the purpose of pulling off a heist the likes of which was unheard of in this burgeoning country. Cyrene was delighted by the strange man and his dreams, and shared in kind her own personal passion for the Wanderer and his wills. The two became close, and would have formed an indelible bond, if not for the tragedy to follow.
Despite his bluster, the stranger from the north was not in a wealthy position beyond his means of conveyance, and when he and the weaver were accosted by the War God’s zealots, the stranger’s lack of coin was taken as an affront. They beat the man violently, until he was rendered unconscious. Cyrene huddled in the carriage, praying desperately to Selk, asking for deliverance.
What happened next can not be confirmed by any living soul, as no witnesses remain who could share it. What is known is that when the traveling thief awoke, he found himself surrounded by a horrific display of offal, blood, and bone. The remains of the zealots hung from webs in the trees, or were spread across the paving stones, fixed in place by silver needles, two armspans in length. As for Cyrene, she was dead; her right arm burnt fiercely into a charred, black mess, and a brand burnt into her chest where her silver coin once lay.
A god’s hand had touched this place, and the thief devoted himself fully to Selk and his coin that day. He carried with him the body of Pran Cyrene, ever southward, to the shore.
From this tale and from this miracle arose the Church, slowly, over many generations of quiet veneration, until it stands as it does now, an obelisk fixture of the city of Aideum. Ever cherished by the followers of Selk, ever trusted by the Three Lanterns for their diligence and duty.
Church Structure
Ranks:
- The Seamstress – The Lady of Knots’ intercessor in the mortal world. Her voice is the Lady’s voice. When a Seamstress is chosen, a rare occasion, she is sequestered in a special rectory, her only means of sensing and communicating with the outside world through a speaker affixed to the great amber gate barring all passage.
- Canonicists (the Sisters of Tradition) – those who keep the Church’s beliefs, its strictures. They are responsible for ensuring that Church leadership and the members follow the precepts of the Church. They maintain a treasury of histories and artifacts, including the Lady’s Needle.
- Mendicants (the Sisters Unseen) – those who go out amongst the streets, begging alms. Also trained spies, able to discreetly follow marks and observe activities occurring in public.
- Mediators (the Sisters who Wend) – those who are responsible for Church interaction with the many other vital factions in the city. These range from intercessors to the Houses for resources and offerings, counselors for the Lanterns and their allies, and many other functions.
The Church in Modern Times
- The Church of Our Lady of Knots is spread throughout the city in a handful of chapels, though the main congregation gathers in a temple in Dicana’s Path in Inner Aideum. The clergy amount to about 400-500 members in total, and while the church welcomes all into its fold, members of the church are primarily women who come from the coasts and plains of southern Angoria.
- The priestesses of the Church are recognizable by their colorful, intricately crafted garments woven through with trims and dangling trinkets special to their creator. While there are vestments for all occasion and ceremony, from mournful to evocative, priestesses are responsible for sewing and maintaining their own garments and are encouraged to be creative in this. Every color under the sun is represented in some form or another in the religious garments of the women of the Church.
- [Current leadership name and length of service. Any particular allies with other government entities in Aideum.]
Connection with The Three Lanterns
The Church has a prominent connection with the criminal organization The Three Lanterns in Aideum, with some members of the Church also a part of the Lanterns. Mendicants and Mediators have found their skills useful in the organization as spies and information gatherers, overseeing deals and contracts, and mediating intra-faction conflict and disputes that require an outside hand.
The Church performs the ritualized tattoos seen on the hands of those in the Three Lanterns.
writing assistance: Ren