The Faithful of the Flame
by Luan Fei Lan of the Faithful of the Flame (Fire Eaters)
I came to speak of our true headquarters, not in Gehenna, but of Ash, where the icon of our sect drifts, a testimony of the pain of life. Countless generations of mortals ago, a power came to blows with a rival, and lost. Or perhaps it dared to disobey a superior. Its physical body was thrown into the fires of Gehenna, where we have built our Temple of the Fallen. There, for countless eons, the power burned, until its body turned to ash. The victorious power flung the incinerated corpse into the plane of Ash, where we periodically pilgrimage to revel the memory of never ending immortal burning.
Touching the ashen mass causes pain to the skin. We wear little and light clothing as we dig and explore the corpse. We learn to sleep as we lie on the ash; the pain eventually subsides to a dull ache. At that time, we journey deeper into the body, for the memory of burning becomes stronger inside. Our greater followers have felt the same fire in the centre of the Ashen body as at Gehenna.
The ash still reverberates with godly power, and we all burn within it, for the sufferings of a million mortals pale to that of a god. We invite anyone to come and meditate, but no sacrilegious behaviour will be tolerated. Sometimes we derive as much enlightenment from the suffering others as much as our own.
We still seek out the Astral corpse of our power, to unite the physical memory with the spiritual memory. Perhaps then we will know true suffering.
Source: Monte Lin
