The Church is a powerful secret cult in Anrelian society. Their God is more commonly called 'The Nameless One', because Anrelians believe that saying his true name attracts his evil attention. His true name is "Shakra", meansing fear. Their true name is the Shakrain, but few people would say the name aloud without fear of invoking the evil god's presence.

Anrelian mythology has always had positive and negative gods, but the Nameless One is no ordinary deity. He is the antithesis of Anrelian belief: that a combination of positive and negative gods, of creation and destruction, are the basis of order and balance in the world. The Nameless One cares nothing for balance: he stands for destruction, suffering, pain, death and nothingness.

History

His nihilistic cult appeared less than a thousand years ago and has grown immensely in the public imagination. His worship is not outlawed, but anyone believed to be a follower of the Nameless becomes an outcast.

Outsiders know almost nothing about the Church, except for its evil reputation. In fact, this secret society was established in Anrel over eleven hundred years ago by disciples of the renegade sorcerer Belikast, who was exiled and excommunicated by the Masters of Rasia.

Aims

The society is dedicated to preparing the way for his return, building up pressure in society which would overthrow the mewling stranglehold of Rasia, and establish a new progressive order, overthrowing the ignorance and stupidity of the current times.

Rasia lost influence long ago (a victory, perhaps), but over the centuries the church has become an underground religion, seeking to build political and ethereal power for itself. Their belief is that Belikast will return soon, and on that day, the Church must be ready to overthrow weak dictators and unite the world under an order of peace and enlightenment - brutally administered by the church.

Only the hierarchs of the Church know that Belikast was a sorcerer, and they secretly search for his resting place. The exact date of his expulsion is now uncertain, but the day of his return is estimated to be in the year 1660 of the Hornum Calendar - or very soon.

(In fact the Church is much older than this. Belikast infiltrated and modified an ancient nihilistic cult and twisting it to his purposes.)

Organisation of the Church

-Traditional formal greeting: "I come in the name of He who has none"

The Church is led by a council or Hegemony, versed in both occult lore and politics, some members specialising more in one than the other. Several hierarchs have extensive knowledge of pure sorcery, having their own elemental sources, though their powers in no way match the training provided at Rasia. Their Sources are all enslaved to their God, and the even these powerful hierarchs primarily practise only theosophical magic.

The precise number of members is unknown as they are scattered across the world. Currently the community at Larford, in the forests of northern Trésard, is the secret stronghold and safe haven for members of the faith. In the past the community has been forced to flee several times, being attacked by persecutors, often tipped off by the Rasian Academy who are its bitterest enemies. The Hegemony is headed by a Patriarch, the most powerful and influential of all the hierarchs.

The majority of Church members are organised in a cellular structure, to prevent infiltration and betrayal. No infiltration has ever succeeded - it is impossible to fool a god. Each network of worshippers is headed by a Decan . Decans are leaders of a city cell network, but only the leader of each cell knows who the Decan is. The Decan him or herself has only one other contact with the wider organisation. Worship is generally solitary, although Officiants are called in for special rituals. Breaching the code of secrecy, undertaking rites not sanctioned by the hierarchy, particularly unofficial blood-curses, or acts threatening the Church, require investigation by an Inquisitor . Inquisitors have absolute powers of jurisdiction, and the guilty are always punished by death.

Bloodsacristans

Only the Nameless One can place the Curse of Bloodlust upon individuals. This gives an agonising craving for the taste of blood, drunk hot from the flesh of a living creature. They generally develop a morbid self-loathing and shame, often becoming severely agoraphobic and fearful of the exposing daylight. Drinking life essence does give them great physical strength however, reinforced by their mental imbalance, and gives additional power to black rituals. Although it is a curse, some followers of the Nameless choose to become bloodsacristans, and many afflicted by the curse in fact choose to join the church, as it provides a haven where they are understood and can be part of a community. As such the curse is used to gain otherwise impossible converts. The cursing ritual is complex and involves blood sacrifice.

Shakrain Bloodrites

Severe illnesses may sometimes be cured by the Rite of Blood Sanctity . This must be performed by a bloodsacristan and by a skilled theosophist, usually an Officiant. It requires the individual to be partially drained of blood by a sacristan, and then infused with his blood. This will cure many serious infections, but places the individual in the power of the Officiant and sacristan by weakening their will to resist. It can in fact be broken, but victims of this rite are made to believe that they are completely without hope, which further weakens their will. This is sometimes deemed the 'Curse of Servitude', and can also be accomplished with rituals and drugs.

Feasts of the Nameless

There are eight solar festivals, at which the Nameless God may give special dispensations and boons to supplicants. All disciples must take partake in a feast, consisting of a minimum of three supplicants, at which all must make an offering. The great Feasts at Larford can include the most barbaric acts of torture, blasphemy, murder and the eating of human flesh.

- Hamel Moon - celebrates winter

- the Festival of Lights, fire and purification, at which Purgations are performed.

- the birth of Spring and the New Year.

- festival of fertility

- the Midsummer Feast of Retribution, and celebration of martyrs.

- Festival of Thanksgiving

- Feast of Mysteries

- Feast of the Dead.

The Call of Malediction

This is one of the greatest forms of punishment for acts against the Church. It is called by an Officiant, challenged in appeal only before a Hierophant, and can be called against any memeber of the Church or a former ally, or rarely, an outsider. It calls for all disciples of the Nameless One to harry, torment and persecute the victim, constantly driving them into exile or suicide. The Malediction can only be relented if it is overturned by a Hierophant, or more usually when the order is given to finally put the victim to death.

Malicho

The dread state of perpetual torment which may be declared upon a victim by a Hierophant - a living tortured nightmare far worse than Malediction, which is not even relieved by death. It is a curse and more, causing everlasting pain and physical torment, from deformity and an agonising hypersensitivity to all the senses. There is no release in Death as the victim is not permitted to die. Should his body be so ravaged that life is no longer possible - and with the arts at the disposal of a God this is extreme - the spirit remains bound to the body for all eternity, or until it is so desicated and fragmented nothing remains. Burning and scattering the remains is the only real release, although the victim will feel ever moment of the burning flames. The horror of Malicho is held as a dreaded threat to all who have dealings with the Church, and its threat is so terrible that three people in the past two hundred years have been sentenced to Malicho. It is not known whether these have yet been released.

Initiation into the Church of the Nameless One

Initiation is carried out on those born into the Church before the age of fifteen, most often at the Winter Festival. Outsiders who are not thoroughly educated in the ways of the Church have a greater initiation, it being more in the form of a test in four stages:

1. To be chosen for initiation, they must have demonstrated dedication to the Paths of Negative Existence, as described in the Negrarcanum of the Prophet. This is manifested in various forms of tests, such as completing tasks for the Church, and severing ties with their former existence. (N.B. This may be in a spiritual sense, as the Initiant may have been chosen for the importance of their position.) The test is often in the form of murdering former close friends or family members.

2. The candidate must be brought forth as a candidate to a Prelate, who will present the initiant before the Lord at a Festival. The subject must renounce his former life and have his mind Purged, a mind-rendering ritual which causes bleeding from every orifice.

3. This is followed by a day and a night of fasting, prayer, meditation and contemplation of the Lord.

4. The Initiation ceremony itself is performed by the sponsor, who offers the candidate up as a sacrifice to the Lord. A minimum of 12 aliment points must be generated from degradation of the candidate. If he or she survives, they must then renounce their former life, and all loyalties to nations, gods, family and friends, and eternal devotion to the One True Lord.

The god has a highly formalised ritual tradition, noted by grotesque orgiastic ceremonies. It operates on a cellular basis, with

( NB : When the renegade sorcerer Belikast was excommunicated and banished from Rasia in 3050 HM, the masters set a curse-elemental upon him. It was intended to stop him communicating with elementals, thus for ever depriving him of power. It also stopped him harming others. Through long years, Belikast eventually broke this hold, and turned the entity to his service. As part of his revenge upon the weak fools at Rasia, he twisted it into a god-elemental, accumulating power from his followers. He laid the foundations for what was to become the Church of the Nameless , with Shakra as its god-entity, instructing his followers to undermine Anrelian society and secretly accumulate power, in preparation for his return to Anrel. Shakra is one of the most self-aware of the deitals, and manifests in various forms through a formalised ritual called the Shakrain Mind Call .)