Esoteric Order of Cxebru

The Esoteric Order of Cxebru is a religion closely related to Dark Spirits. Records date its foundation to a cult of rogue spirits in an unknown time period. The faith was presumed to have disbanded until revived by the South Sea Saltmines LTD (3S LTD) CEO Thumb Yolk. Whilst a great deal is known of the activities of the order, research into members' specific beliefs has many holes. The order's followers seem to be fanatic worshipers of an ancient grand spirit "Cxebru" (pronunciation unknown). Many differences can be noted in the new and old versions of the order. Thumb Yolke is widely seen as the current leader of the order, although technically the order is led by a council of high priests.

The original movement has been largely considered harmless, however nations have expressed concerns about the new incarnation of the order. The current order has expanded into several territories, notably Fryslân, Cassland and the Water Tribe. As of current the order claims two islands in the Eldhavet, under the Divine Republic of Sirreth.

Information on the order is sparse even with the newspaper shady dealings weekly being dedicated to investigating and reporting on the order. The cult also publishes leaflets under the name Esoteria.

The cult is currently experiencing a schism between dark spirit worshipers, who follow the extreme and self-destructive teachings of the Yolke doctrines (orthodox or Sirrethi Cxebruites) and human worshipers of the Pontff's docterine (Ondeli Cxebruites). Recently leading to a law being passed in Sirreth which grants human followers the ability to follow the writings of Ordinel (at the cost of being moved to a separate province in the republic).

The traditional emblem of the order

Beliefs

Central to the order is worship of a grand spirit known as Cxebru. Cxebru refused to partake in the creation of the mortal realm with 4 other ancient spirits ("Original heretics") but was torn apart by them out of disdain for Cxebru's greater power. Followers of the order believe the mortal realm as a shroud through which they must look and follow Cxebru's word to trick the original heretics. Each original heretic cast themselves into their realm as a respective element, allowing bending of their respective element.

Within the order followers are split into two groups, those who are spirits and are considered aspects of Cxebru and those who are not, believed to be anchors of a false reality. The order's core goal is to free themselves of what they believe to be a false vision being portrayed by the original heretics. Order followers see other faiths as yet more lies from the original heretics. Whilst the goal was more abstract in the earlier version of the order, the new order has shown to act upon these beliefs in a more extreme way, likening the mortal form to be a "cancer on the body of Cxebru".

Those who do not cast aside their mortal forms, either through mutilation or just worship (under the Pontiff's doctrine) are called "anchored".

Awakening of Cxebru

It is believed that signs of the awakening of Cxebru are present, these are given cryptically. Followers of the order believe that when Cxebru wakes they must be ready to be reunited with the ancient spirit, those not "anchored" to reality will also be joined into Cxebru. The order believes that anyone anchored to the mortal realm at this time will be "feasted upon for eternity" by Cxebru.

Great anchors

According to an edition of Esoteria, in each holy book Cxebru will communicate the name of a "great anchor" who serve as a major obstacle to the order's goals. As the order only have access to two books only 2 great anchors are known. Currently only one has been named, that being Fabien Chungo as the anchor of delusion however scholars argue Thumb Yolke was told the anchor was Chieftain Urist. The order only release the name of a great anchor after their death, presumably to prevent attracting attention of the international community.

It is believed that the Pontiff was declared a great anchor prior to his execution, this is conjecture at this time.

4 Books

The old order believe Cxebru communicates through a chosen one via dreams, whereas the new incarnation of the order seek to locate various books through which Cxebru is said to communicate directly to a chosen one (The high priest of the order, a title which is inherited by bloodline). The four books are known to be the book of Delusions, Hands, Heretics and Divinity. Each of the four books communicates different information to the order. The order currently posses the book of Delusions and Hands, work on interpreting the book of Hands is ongoing.

The books are written in a dense, cryptic and hard to decipher language unknown to any specific region or culture. Thumb Yolke supposedly entered a 25 year coma due to the information conveyed in the book of Delusions, as such only those deemed highly capable of handling the text are allowed to read these books. The high priest then publishes interpretations and commentaries on the book for the rest of the order to read.

Practices

No actual practices of the old order are recorded, in fact it is believed few spirits actually followed the faith literally. The new order of Cxebru have however been shown to more literally follow what is known as "meditative annihilation of physicality". Texts regarding the rites are hard to come across as they likely only take place in the main Cxebru shrine.

Order members who are Light Spirits are corrupted in a ritual unknown to many. It is believed that Yolke himself was a light spirit until reading the book of delusions.

Rite of eyes

Members of the order who are deemed aspects of Cxebru are encouraged to partake in the rite of eyes, in which a member has their eyes and mouth sewn closed. The rite is adapted from text in the book of delusions.

During the rite, members recite a prayer, the text of which was given to Fabien Chungo during his initial investigation into the order's revival.

Rite of hands

Adapted from text in the book of hands, the rite of hands involves a participant placing their hands and wrist in lava for 25 seconds. Participants are required to have taken the rite of eyes first. The rite is used to test if a member of the order is worthy to read from divine books and act as bishops in the order.

The rite has only been performed once so far, several members are supposed to have died before the selection of a high priest.

Divine Speech

This rite has only occurred once, in which Thumb Yolke sacrificed a hundred of the order's most loyal members. The process supposedly allowed Yolke to communicate directly with Cxebru, but left him and all involved presumed dead for several months. The rite seemed to mutilate and distort the forms of members, who were tied to basalt poles. The poles are now considered immutable and permanent structures on the island, the largest of which has been incorporated into the foundation of the Sirreth parliament building (The Shrine of Eyes).

Yolke returned, but has not been seen publicly since this occurred. Several other former high priests have also returned but have been noted to act unlike they did before. All other members involved are assumed dead. The night the rite was performed is known as the night of divine speech, and was recounted by Edward E. Door in his traveling notes.

Painting "Night of divine speech" by an unknown author

Following this rite the power gap which allowed Ordinel to rise to power was created, leading to the current schism in the cult.

Scriptures

The original order recorded one holy book, that being The bible of the Esoteric order of Cxebru, which was recently stolen from the museum of Frisian. The theft went unnoticed as until recently the order were not noteworthy.

Due to the new variation of the order believing themselves to have access to the words of Cxebru directly, there are far more texts written on them. Cxebru communicates in a similarly dense and cryptic style as the style of the original order's bible, and as the new order value expansion much more heavily over the original one, there are far more penned interpretations. The new order believes these books to be the books of delusions, eyes, heretics and hands.

Very little of the supposed direct words of Cxebru are published, however it is believed these untranslated words are written down in a book within the main shrine of the movement. Several commentaries have been published and are reportedly in heavy circulation in regions of the world open to 3S LTD trade. These books are unrecorded on import documents. Commentaries on the book of delusions appears to serve as the main book of the new movement, directly quoting the actual book of delusions frequently, and The rite of eyes lays out the doctrine of "meditative annihilation of physicality". The remaining books On the book of divinity, on the book of heretics, on the book of hands all seem speculative, as if to imply the order have not yet located the respective holy books.

In some circles it is believed that the books act as an anchor through which the high priest of the order is able to communicate to the owner through their dreams. This phenomenon has only been observed in spirits and may simply be an adapted form of astral projection.

Commentaries on the book of hands are rare and both holy books have not been spotted since the night of divine speech. However, shortly after the rite several cult envoys were seen walking radially from the island carrying golden boxes, which may have contained these books.

Book of Delusions

The book of delusions is the best documented of the divine books, with a focus on the theme of the nature and creation of the mortal realm. The books seems to act as a manifesto for the movement.

Commentaries on the book of delusions is reportedly in wide circulation, however only incomplete records of readings from the book are documented.

Book of Hands

The book of hands appears to act as a more direct call to followers of Cxebru, explicitly stating actions to be taken in the context of the current world. Commentaries were briefly circulated but to a lesser extent than delusions, it is believed by some that the book contains more direct expansionist ideas and so the order refrained from provoking too much attention.

Levre Ordinel

Briefly, the doctrines of the Pontiff Ordinel were circulated in a book known as "Levre Ordinel". No copies have been found outside of Sirreth as Ordinel's rule was plagued with sanctions and outreach issues due to the attention gained by 3S LTD.

Ordinel set out several beliefs that were not present in the original doctrines, these include:

• A stricter, hierarchical leadership system in which Bishops would be stationed to manage faithful in a specific region, this differed from the flat and unstructured group of high priests that now govern the order.
• Removal of the "rites" from Yolke's doctrines, these were seen as cruel and tailored towards spirits who could change their bodies at any time.
• Removal of the order from affairs in the spirit wilds and removal of spirit based powers (Ordinel was unable to posses or project dreams)
• Easing of the ban on bending introduced in the previous leadership.

Esoteria

The order publish a short leaflet at irregular intervals containing readings or commentaries from the high priest. Often the copies incite some sort of action in members or as propaganda to gain new ones. Copies of Esoteria are known to appear in several nations with no traceable of import path.

It is rumoured Esoteria is smuggled in shipments of goods from 3S LTD.

Major Events

Revival

It is unknown when exactly the original order formed and until recently it was presumed they disbanded due to an inability to spread, however it is now known that Thumb Yolke killed the old order after waking from a coma induced from finding the book of delusions.

The second version of the order seems to have resurfaced during the exile, where it is supposed the new high priest Thumb Yolke managed to convert several Kaerii tribe members to the order, likely taking advantage of their desperation. The order then built a ship and sailed south, landing on an island and constructing their shrine. This shrine is believed to be both the main mine site of South Sea Saltmines LTD and the site of the book of delusions.

The interior of the shrine of delusions, the first Cxebruite shrine.

Following the assassination of the Water Tribe's Chieftain Urist by pillagers it was noted that several of their advisers had copies of the order's work, some believe these advisers acted to aid in the continuation of the Frisian-Water Tribe conflict as well as somewhat strengthen the possession of the chieftain, this is however speculative. The order are believed to have had no role in the assassination of Urist as the order used the war to gain members in discontented regions of both nations. The order seems hostile towards the church of Hebenism, as with any other faith.

Pontiff's Doctrine

Under Pontiff Ordinel the order became much more aligned with the human based faiths of the world, dropping many practices such as the rites as well as dropping beliefs in the sacred books of Cxebru (Ordinel claimed himself unable to read the books, being human. This was used to question the legitimacy of his role as Pontiff). During this time the order followed a piece of scripture known as "Levre Ordinel" ("Book of Sight", intentionally similarly titled to the orthodox order's inability to locate the Book of Eyes).

The Pontiff also encouraged various types of bending, including blood bending, this was met with disdain from most Cxebruites as the practice of bending is seen as acting engaging with the anchors. Specially, Ordinel's encouragement of necromancy ("re-anchoring") was so unpopular that various Cxebruites fled what is now Sirreth to the spirit wilds in an effort to form an order closer to Yolke's vision. It is at this point that the distinction between Sirrethi and Ondeli Cxebruites is made.

Alternative emblem used by followers of Pontiff Ordinel

Ordinel's leadership became known for it's silence, as with the brief collapse of 3S LTD Esoteria was unable to circulate effectively, Ordinel also lacked the abilities held by his predecessor to project and manipulate others. Despite fleeing, the Sirrethi Cxebruites still had immense influence in most areas of the cult.

The Declaration of Truth and Schism

With the declining popularity of Ordinel and the reported death of hundreds of Yorkish Cxebruites at unknown hands (some believe the Sirrethi priests are responsible for this), the Pontiff announced he was to give a speech to the order. It is unknown what occurred during the speech but it resulted in Ordinel being imprisoned and Thumb Yolke (previously thought dead) returning to the helm of the order.

Thumb's return was met with little opposition initially as the Sirrethi Cxebruites had been maneuvering on the island since Ordinel declared himself Pontiff. This event was known as the declaration of truth and led to the formation of the Divine Republic of Sirreth.

As time progressed, a greater number of human Cxebruites began to burn crops on the island, forcing the high priests of the order to expand the republic of Sirreth, giving Ondeli Cxebruites (most if not all humans) a provincial island in the nation. There is a great deal of overlap between Sirrethi and Ondeli Cxebruites, to the onlooker there may seem to be no difference (other than species). However, each side believe themselves heretics and are locked in bitter conflict.

Cxebru youth outreach

The order has a youth branch, it is unknown how successful they are.

Potential ties to South Sea Saltmines LTD

Fabien Chungo

A report headed by salt news NOW writer Fabien Chungo has unearthed a lot of what we know about the new version of the order. Fabien notes that the reformation of the order aligns with the rapid growth and expansion of South Sea Saltmines LTD. It is supposed that 3S LTD is a front through which the order are smuggling texts into nations the company trades with. The investigation ended with Chungo's disappearance and the 3S buyout of salt news NOW.

Shortly after the investigation unearthed the order copies of Esoteria began to be distributed and the order presented a public face, it's likely Chungo's investigation aided in placing pressure on the order to unveil themselves.

Chungo was declared dead a week after the 3S LTD buyout of salt news now.

3S LTD trade patterns

The order appears to have grown most rapidly in regions where 3S LTD trade is active, with the only exception being the Duchy of Yorktown. Whilst the order saw a small initial movement in the Air nation is quickly died out around the time 3S LTD trade was banned when reports of Esoteria in the nation also stopped around this time.

The order are likely uninterested in nations where strict religious doctrines are followed, making it hard to spread their own, as such there have been no reports of order activity in the Fire nation and likewise 3S LTD have never traded with them.

Distribution

At the moment it is believed that Sirrethi Cxebruites make up the majority of the order, however in some areas Ondeli Cxebruites are fairly common. Internal conflicts have reduced the order's ability to maneuver politically in different nations, leading to stagnant growth.

A map depicting known Cxebruite cells. Nations which are not known to have active Cxebruite cells are left out to reduce clutter. Alignment is represented by respective emblems and areas in red are area where cells have/currently have some degree of political influence.

See also

• List of religions
• Divine Republic of Sirreth