"… but all was not to be peaceful for long. The days of nascent Stormwind were plagued with the bickering of counts and earls, brawls between Arathorian noblemen, internecine and petty violence over land and family. The young city-state faced neglect. Violent crime became endemic. Buildings fell into disrepair. The peasantry went without food.
In this, the Church rose. They fed the hungry, clothed the poor, comforted the weary and the distraught. The faithful chased those that would rob or harm and brought them to justice. The fervent tended the city - the streets were cleaned, roofs were thatched, plants were watered. They did what they could to heal the pain of the forgotten.
There was once a name for these exemplars of a caring Church. It was set to ring down through time, a beacon of virtue.
But such things rarely last.
Little is known about what followed. Most records of the sect during this period have been destroyed, erased from humanity’s collective memory. There are rumours of unrepentant zealotry. Some claim barbarism. The holy men, it is said, took it upon themselves to punish criminals and demand obeisance. Power went to the heads of even the most holy. This zealous pursuit of Stormwind’s recovery granted the sect too much sway with the peasantry, with the lesser nobles, with the pious and downtrodden.
So self-interested, so caught up in internecine squabbles and border conflicts, the nobility realised almost too late that power had shifted from Keep to temple. But when they took note, they acted against this populist flame with extreme prejudice.
The sect was outlawed and the name erased from the pages of history. Those who refused to repent and kneel were imprisoned, or worse. Bit by bit, year by year, Stormwind forgot."
The dust caught in her throat and forced a cough that echoed through the gloom. Even she’d never been down here before; the lowest level of the Cathedral’s basement held tomes long thought lost, forgotten, discarded. Could this be it? For too long, now, the city had been neglected. Admittedly, yes, for wars and battles, for threats to humanity’s existence… but to ignore that which lies close to home courts another type of disaster altogether. The city had changed, and people had forgotten the pride and faith that they once held. Tainted elves crept about Old Town; bestial worgen leapt from rooftop to rooftop; the streets were in criminal disarray. Maybe it was time to repurpose the past and learn from history’s mistakes.
The flickering light of the candle drew Lady Sallien’s attention back to the book:
"When captured and queried as to their loyalties, none of this sect would admit to their complicity. Instead, they uttered a single unwavering, unfaltering claim:
‘I serve a flame resurgent.’"
A Flame Resurgent is a new concept that’s taking part in the really rather exciting Stormwind Crown Confederacy initiative.
The Fervent Order of the Flame Resurgent has been revived by the Lady Sallien Harrow and Under-Marshal Bedivere to address the perceived neglect of Stormwind by those who rule over it.
Tainted elves run amok, worgen prowl, the Illidari and the Ebon linger. The city has changed too far, too fast, and some of the faithful are displeased. They fear that the nobility have forgotten the commonfolk. They fear that humanity has forgotten what it means to be holy. They fear that Stormwind has forgotten what it means to be proud. It is time, they believe, to use faith - humanity’s greatest strength - to remind the Kingdom of what it has lost.
The guild will provide intelligent conflict and a faith-driven, zealous narrative. This doesn’t mean brawling on the Cathedral’s steps in full armour, or chasing the unbelievers around the city. It means engaging Stormwind’s citizens in conversation; offering blessings; tending the cemetery and aiding the infirm. It means rabble-rousing sermons and speeches on the dangers of the worgen or the void elf. It means lobbying the civil and military organisations of the city to remind them of their Light-given obligations. It means observing the Three Virtues, and doing so in the pursuit of supremacy for Stormwind. We want to return the Cathedral of Light to the thriving hub of roleplay it once was.
Alongside the Crown Confederacy initiative, there will be a cracking guild plot starting over the next few weeks.
I’m going to avoid listing any qualities for recruitment of the like here. Your character has likely seen a pamphlet or a poster, perhaps heard word of the sect after paying an Old Town guttersnipe a couple of silver. They might’ve seen the Lady Sallien or one of her brethren strolling through the city.
If you believe that this pursuit is something that would interest your character; if you believe that your character would be best served by pursuing a zealous and conservative agenda, in defence of those who perhaps can’t fight themselves, who lack a voice, then you know where to find us.
Any questions can be fielded either ingame or at sallien#21590.
Also, now with discord: https://discord.gg/3PAvQYY