8.24 Priests

Of once proud and noble purpose, the Priesthood stood as a haven for those
mortals who wished to serve the citizens of the realm through healing,
teaching, and caretaking. Though peaceful, the clerics were urged to take up
their maces to protect innocence and the sanctity of life. From its inception,
the guild members struggled with defining themselves as more than just
blessing-givers and rite-holders. Some believed that utter peace was the path
to priest-like perfection while others believed that a more militant role had
to be taken in order to safeguard their common faith. The two opposing ideals
clashed brutally, creating many rogue Priests for both sides.

So began the long disintegration of the Priesthood. In the recent past, the
Priesthood had turned into warring factions. Many Priests threw out the laws of
their fold and took to killing good, sentient beings such as Mhun. Others
formed marriages and friendships with practitioners of necromancy and the
blooded of Belladona. In deep frustration, the last guildmaster of the
Priesthood sought a cure for the apathy and corruption that riddled her guild.
Another force heard her pleas for a new path. Readying the minds of the
Priests, this force bestowed dreams of writhing snakes, dark captors, and
grasping tentacles upon them whilst they slept. A few Priests were weary of the
dreams, coming to their guildmaster with their concerns. She validated that
she, too, had dreamed and had woken tired each night from lack of sleep.
Gathering to discuss the meaning of the dreams and the possibility of the
dreams being an omen of some kind, the Priests were stunned when their
guildmaster collapsed and vanished from their midst.

Wild suggestions flew as to her whereabouts and a large crowd gathered in
conjecture. It was then that a bright light grew over the southeastern corner
of Enorian. Deciding to investigate the Lighthouse frequented by their
guildmaster, the Priests and company flew to the location. When they arrived at
the Lighthouse, nothing seemed amiss and she was no where to be found.
Suddenly, the sun rose fast in the eastern sky and there was a vision of an
angel superimposed on the red orb. As the sun grew higher, the angel separated
from the sun and began floating down to earth inside the city. It was then that
the Priest's guildmaster arrived. Proclaiming the light and shaking an ancient
parchment and a long tube with unknown contents, the guildmaster described a
revelation she had been gifted with by light. Yelling out to anyone who would
listen, she pronounced the beginning of a new age, the Age of Enlightenment. It
was then that she dissolved her faltering fold and the Priesthood was no more.