Cinnire

The Cinnire are the ordained disciples of the Church of the Shaper who dedicate their lives to the Shaper’s service and lead the people in this worship. The cinnirí have over time realised they can best aid the Shaper’s children in certain ways, and this is the origin of the five Orders as they stand today. The Orders do not hold themselves apart from Five Realms society, since that is not the Shaper’s way. They have families and they work and fight alongside other people.

The Order of Counsellors

The Order of Counsellors uphold the virtues of loyalty and compassion. The Shaper wants their children to create communities, to find love, and to provide for a future generation.

The Counsellors can be sought out by those who encounter difficulties in their life. They provide advice equally to all; a Counsellor cinnire could advise an Iarla one day and a shepherd the next. They act as confessors, allowing the Shaper’s children to lighten the burden that mistakes and evil deeds can bring to mind and soul. They advise those who have erred on how they can atone. They perform marriages, and provide advice to couples that struggle to stay together.

The Counsellors are welcomed everywhere, as they offer support without judgment.

The Order of Hospitaliers

The Order of Hospitaliers uphold the virtues of duty and perseverance. The Shaper knows that life in this imperfect world is a struggle, and that their children will encounter danger and strife, so they ensured that their children would have the power to survive and earn their place in the afterlife.

The Hospitaliers use that power to heal and to protect. They maintain infirmaries, where the Shaper’s children can be brought back from death’s door, and hospices, where the Shaper’s children can rest after a life well lived. A Hospitalier cinnire might provide healing to both sides of a conflict between the Shaper’s children, or they may refuse to provide healing if they deem that a war has gone too far, forcing the two sides to come to terms or face losing hundreds of lives.

The Order of Hospitaliers is the most politically influential of the Orders for this reason, for the warrior class could not survive without them.

The Order of Necromancers

The Order of Necromancers uphold the virtues of clarity and wisdom. The Shaper knows that the knowledge of the dead can be of great benefit to the living. The Shaper has also judged that the dead should remain dead, to enjoy their reward in the afterlife and not be drawn back into the mortal world.

The Necromancers keep the rituals for communion with the dead, and ensure that those who use the rituals do not do so for any fatuous purpose, lest it anger the spirits of the dead. Angry spirits can be drawn back into the mortal world and become abominations (Undead). Proper funeral rites are the province of the Necromancers also, for few things are as dangerous as a soul not properly put to rest, or called up just to salve someone’s broken heart.

Necromancer cinnirí roam the Five Realms, visiting the recently bereaved and ensuring they are ready to let go of their dearly departed. It is important for people to see the truth: their loved one has gone to a better place, where they will receive their reward.

The Order of Teachers

The Order of Teachers uphold the virtues of ambition and prosperity. The Shaper wants their children to succeed in their aims and to derive great benefit from skills and knowledge.

The Teachers ensure that no knowledge is lost, and that skills are maintained from generation to generation. They run schools, and amass great libraries, covering every subject from magic spells to agricultural techniques. Teacher cinnirí travel from town to town gathering the wisdom of the Shaper’s children, offering help to artificers, farmers, and scholars, and encouraging those who would attain new heights of invention and discovery.

The Teachers are the most numerous of the Orders, for they have the broadest remit. They are also at once the wealthiest and most generous Order, for they put what they know to good use, and make good use of what the riches they gather as a result.

The Order of Torchbearers

The Order of Torchbearers uphold the virtues of vigilance and courage. The power of the Shaper is opposed in the mortal world by the power of the Gwyllt, beings of malice and insidious influence who constantly seek to corrupt and lure the children of the Shaper into their grasp. The Shaper empowers their children to fight against the Gwyllt with all their strength. The first Réig liberated Tirneach from their grasp, but there are still pockets all throughout the Five Realms where the Gwyllt’s influence is keenly felt. For the people in those places, the Torchbearer cinnirí are their protectors and saviours.

The Torchbearers have the knowledge to free a mind from Gwyllt spells, and they know how to kill the terrible Gwyllt creatures that emerge from the forests and cursed places. They always travel in pairs, for safety and security. They are the most removed of the Orders from the rest of society, for they must constantly watch the wild places, and the secrets they know make them strange.