Illuminated Doctrine

Doctrine

The Five Promises

• The Promise of the Sword: The Glorious First Age Will Fall & Creation Will Become Corrupted
  • All things must end, but each ending heralds a new beginning. The riches and the glory of the First Age came crashing down. This event caused the deaths of hundreds of Exalted and millions of mortals. It caused the deaths of leaders and merchants, knowledge and Charms. Saturn’s sharp sword descended, and Creation shook under the mighty strike. But with the end of the First Age, the world began again.
• The Promise of the Quill: Creation Will Struggle Onward
  • Creation was not destroyed by the ending of the First Age. Farmers still plowed their fields, and merchants still peddled their wares. Time and life flowed inexorably as Creation rebuilt. Mortals looked for guidance and found little as the Dragon-Blooded of the Realm concerned themselves with power struggles. The world continued, although lacking its former wonder and glory.
• The Promise of the Key: The Gods Will Not Forsake Creation
  • The gods met and determined that a new Age must be ushered into the world. The mortals needed mentors and leaders, those who would guide them spiritually and politically. After much debate, the gods determined that they would send their children, the Shining Ones, to Creation to bring the world back to the glory of the First Age. These children of the gods would offer their knowledge and leadership to the mortals and scour Creation free of the Fair Folk and the Dragon-Blooded betrayers.
• The Promise of the Gauntlet: The Gods Will Send New Champions, the Shining Ones
  • The Shining Ones will arrive in the dark of night, many of them alone and vulnerable from the hazardous journey from Heaven. Only when they can band together will they reach their potential. It is the purpose of the Cult of the Illuminated to find these Shining Ones and unite them, strengthening their power so that they may stand up to the corrupt Realm and the false leaders therein. A great war will follow, shaking Creation yet again, but the Shining Ones will prevail.
• The Promise of the Ewer: Creation Will Be Restored To Its Former Glory
  • As the corrupt Dragon-Blooded lie in their graves or limp to the fringes of the Wyld, the Shining Ones will take their place on the thrones of Creation, lending their power and goodwill to lead mortals into a Second Great Age. Their faithful followers will lie at their feet and be among the favored of mortals, serving as their ambassadors, generals and courtesans. Only the Shining Ones can bring glory back to Creation, but they are unable to do so without the support of mortals.

The Illuminated Sutras

The primary teachings of the Cult of the Illuminated are contained within the tome called The Illuminated Sutras. This set of texts is old, dating back many centuries. Fragments of it are found all the time by those who know where to look, so it is an ever-growing corpus of lore. Some of its pieces include:

• The Golden Truths: The Five Promises (outlined above), with additional philosophical lore regarding them. Each Promise is given a book of its own, with the Promise highlighting one of the so-called Golden Virtues: Acceptance of Fate, Tenacity, Mercy, Glory and Faith.
• The Writ of Transcendence: A manual describing the ways in which those who wait to serve the Illuminated shall prepare themselves: study, strict diet, martial arts practice and ascetic practices (including fasting, prayer, self-flagellation and charity).
• The Satsuma Prophecies: Writings which give the signs of the coming of the Illuminated Ones, including the rise of the Deathly Ones, the death of the Scarlet Empress and a handful of other portents and signs.
• The Holiest Duty: A small pamphlet, written by one of the cult's earliest proponents, telling its adherents that their duty was to remain hidden and pure, that they were to wait for and recognize the signs of the Illuminated, and to aid them. It warns of the Immaculate Philosophy's lies and invention of the Anathema.
• The Ascendance Gospels: A series of prophecies that look to the rise of the Illuminated, to the sundering of the Scarlet Empire and the establishment of the Holy Empire of Light.
• The Book of Dark and Light: A simple book of prayers that form the corpus of Illuminated prayers, filled with lore about the superiority of the Illuminated, about the unworthiness of mortals and the promise of Illumination, prayers begging for them to return, prayers asking for protection from the Dragon-Blooded.
• The Letters of the Sainted Lantern: A series of letters from several hundred years ago, written by an elder of the cult of the Illuminated, describing the best techniques for hiding one's presence, preparing for the Hour of Illumination, how to stymie the efforts of the Dragon-Blooded to track down the Illuminated.
• The Fallen Blossom Sutras: Philosophy and martial arts training scrolls that focus on the duty of mankind to defend the Illuminated with their last breath, and describing a training regimen for those with enlightened Essence for embodying that philosophy into a style of martial arts, Fallen Blossom Style.