Abbadon is held to be the primordial god of nothingness, of time and eternity, beginnings and endings. He is not a deity of death�that role belongs to Alduir�but of inevitability, of entropy and conclusions. Some worshipers view him as a (or the) motive force behind creation, the being who began life and existence as well as he who will end it�or to whom it returns. Naturally, this means that, to some, Abbadon represents order within chaos, and the spark of life that emerges from oblivion.

Extreme sects exist that believe it is the duty of mortals to hasten the natural destruction of the universe, or even that mortals were created as divine agents of entropy; they practice such convictions first upon themselves, and then upon others and the world around them. Other, more accepted, churches of Abbadon preach balance, and teach that the god lies outside of time and space�his role as the avatar of oblivion sets him as a keeper or watcher over the gaps in creation, even a protector of life from the nothingness that seeks to encroach upon or reclaim it. The latter groups usually have close positive relations with mainstream worshipers of Alduir, who espouse popular philosophies of reincarnation.


SISTERHOOD OF SORROW

Ever barefoot and clad in hooded black gowns trimmed with red, the Sisters of Sorrow are recognizable everywhere and crossed by none. Adhering to their own strict policies of neutrality, the Sisters always seem, coincidentally, to be wheresoever there is great conflict, appearing like silent ravens at the edges of battlefields, natural catastrophes, and communities ravaged by disease, famine, or worse. They answer few questions, simply moving among the dead and dying to judge those who have some unknowable relevance to their enigmatic faith. Seemingly at random, some are spared, brought back from the brink of death or beyond by a passing Sister; others who lie close in the grip of passing are eased on their way with only slightly more compassion.

Despite their mysterious nature and stoic demeanor, the Sisters of Sorrow are permitted to move unhindered through civilized lands; governments and societies have learned to leave them be, since they charge no apparent price for their healing and offer no reason for their actions, in any case. Likewise, they serve as harbingers of disaster, viewed with trepidation but simultaneously welcome for their tendency to somberly appear when difficult times are imminent. The sight of a Sister when no calamity is apparent is often sufficient omen for innocent bystanders to clear the area, or to prepare themselves as best they can against the unknown.

Others have learned the price of interfering with the Sisterhood, as well: In the past, ignorant communities and suspicious leaders have blamed the Sisters for the tragedies to which they seem drawn. The strange, quiet women endure all with equal diffidence, refusing to speak of their goals or secrets even when tortured or burned as witches, remaining unbothered to the last. However, their aggressors find that the Sisterhood�rather than retaliating�simply...leaves them alone. Forever. No Sister ever again visits a place where one of their own was slain by mortal hands, and such villages or cities soon understand how valuable the cold, dark priestesses actually were. Even if individuals find themselves forced to relocate, neither they nor their descendents will ever benefit from the alien aid of the Sisterhood. How the Sisters keep track of or recognize those who have wronged them remains one of their many secrets, but scholars have noted that greater ills seem to befall sites not under their keeping, and bad luck follows those who have a hand in crossing the order, leading some to theorize that the Sisterhood somehow shepherds the balance between order and chaos that is often disturbed by mortal intervention, passively or otherwise.

In addition to their healing powers, the Sisters of Sorrow are also known for their command of ephemeral forces�including their ability to wield such forces as protection or as a dire weapon�their indifference to many forms of physical harm, and their disdain for the rare and terrible undead. Creatures, especially from the wrong side of the grave, who foolishly battle a Sister of Sorrow will find her to be difficult to harm and surgically precise in her application of dangerous magic.

Focus Titles: Midwife of Oblivion, Mother of All Nothingness, She Who Endures, the Veiled Watcher
Perceived Portfolio: Balance, cycles, entropy, oblivion, rebirth
Sect Alignment: N
Practiced Domains: Chaos (Entropy subdomain only), Destruction, Healing (Restoration, Resurrection), Law, Void (Isolation), War (Blood subdomain only)

Icon: Black disk cradled atop a red crescent
Symbols: Bare feet; black and red
Favored Weapon: Unarmed strike
Major Center(s) of Worship: Leitourgia Lachrymosa (Nom Kordor, the Kolma); Sacellum Subumbrare (Sentinel Mountains, Regnan Federation)

Dogma: The motivations and goals of the Sisterhood of Sorrow are little understood, and some scholars who have been fortunate enough to wheedle a few, precious morsels of information from the tight-lipped order even disagree that they actually worship Abaddon. While it is possible that the being or beings they sometimes cryptically reference may be allegorical or even referential to past, influential members of their faith, most modern theologians agree that there are enough similarities between this nebulous central mother figure and the god of time to accept them as variations on a theme. When accepted at face value, this makes the Sisterhood unique in that no other cult or church of Abbadon interprets the deity as female�perhaps a contributing factor to the Sisters' low-key popularity in the Regnan Federation, where they have established an important convent in the Sentinel Mountains.

Whatever philosophy the Sisters follow at least has something to do with watchfulness over some kind of balance, typically assumed to be that between order and chaos. Similarly, their concern with life and death: Why this drives them to pick and choose certain individuals to benefit from their healing abilities, only a Sister could possibly say.


CULT OF JUSTICE

Unlike the Sisterhood of Sorrow, there is nothing subtle or mysterious about the actions and philosophy of the gray-robed Justicars. Worshiping Abbadon as an aspect of inevitable conclusions�of clear beginnings and endings�they make it their business to monitor, understand, and�in some cases�administer the law.

While there is some variation in how Justicars of differing subsects apply their knowledge, all are scholars of the body legal as well as of custom and tradition. Since the cult is interested almost exclusively in the letter of the law, rather than its spirit, they can be depended upon to serve as impartial arbiters when the situation demands. While their oath prevents them from taking sides in a dispute, their position as recognized clergy�or at least, as people inspired by and adherent to a god�keeps them from holding judicial offices in most civilized places. However, in rural areas or in towns that otherwise lack a judge or magistrate, Justicars are often welcomed and invited to settle local claims and complaints before they move on. Such services are usually paid for with room and board set aside by uninvolved third parties, to avoid interested persons influencing the Justicars' decisions. Some towns even maintain a "Justicar house," a cottage kept up by the entire community and used only by visiting Justicars when they stop to rest and work.

All Justicars study the basic processes and science of law in order to understand legal systems wherever they travel. Different cultures so often have such vastly differing bodies of law, though, that many Justicars further specialize in a particular area or region, such as contracts, legacies, or Dalish environmental ordinances. Those who become practiced in a specific kind of law tend to restrict their travels to areas where their knowledge is relevant; a Justicar well-entrenched in Federation industrial policy might spend most of their time in Gvante, for instance, while one learned in tariff law may move constantly from port to port over great distances.

Because the assistance of Justicars is so often appreciated by local law enforcement and government officials�at least in the Regnan Federation�there are few who would molest them or attempt to corrupt their intentions. The church provides itself on being inviolate, and Justicars who accept bribes or allow themselves to be fooled one too many times by false evidence are ejected from the Cult in disgrace. Those who remain true to their oaths, however, are generally praised for their services as legal advisers, researchers, historians, advocates, and expert witnesses.

Focus Titles: The Arbiter, The Grand Magistrate, He Who Judges
Perceived Portfolio: Law, judgment, order
Sect Alignment: LN
Practiced Domains: Community (Cooperation), Knowledge (Thought subdomain only), Law (Inevitable, Judgment), Rune (Legislation subdomain only)

Icon: Blindfolded figure holding an open book
Symbols: Gray; scales
Favored Weapon: Flail (light or heavy)
Major Center(s) of Worship: Basilica Iustitia (Karanduniash, the Zahhak)

Dogma: All things that are created are also judged. It is the nature of things to receive judgment, and the diligence of order makes all more perfect. The purpose of order is not to negate chaos, but to rule it. Through our attempts to impose our own order on the chaos of life, we grow closer to enlightenment. As we pursue a more perfect order, we glean a greater understanding of the cosmos. Our perpetuation of law in a thinking society is the path to unlocking the secrets of cosmic law and the true meaning of life, thought, and purpose.


SEEKERS IN CHAINS

Not all adherents of Abbadon have a sterling�or even mysterious�reputation. In fact, the average Regnan, in particular, probably thinks of the Seekers first, and with revulsion. Purported to be the faith of slavers, torturers, and immoral sadists, the truth is not far from rumor, and the cult cares little for hiding their beliefs.

The lure of the sect is in its promises of power through suffering: The hopeless and the broken, yearning for release from their situation, find their way to the Seekers, baited with the idea of divine apotheosis and mortal ascension via endurance. In fact, the Seekers do not particularly care who it is that suffers for their quest toward godhood; the church does not offer release, but instead teaches worshipers to embrace misery and cruelty, eschewing freedom as an illusion and portraying life as a constant struggle between those who have already fought their way to the top and the desperate stragglers at the bottom.

Most civilized folk find the cult repugnant�their rituals require practitioners to suffer for their prayers to be heard, and the Seekers in Chains have no qualms about human sacrifice, often deliberately seeking the torment of individuals perceived to be good or pure specifically because their anguish might cause widespread grief. When denied victims, Seekers mutilate themselves, instead, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Obviously, the faith is unpopular in the Regnan Federation, where slavery and abuses of human and civil rights are explicitly banned and harshly punished; while religious liberty is considered a core civil right by the Federation, there is also the caveat that one's beliefs should inform one's own life, not dictate the lives of others. Since Seekers have a bad habit of proselytizing as well as of looking for participants from outside the group, known cultists tend to find themselves ostracized from their communities, and most Regnans cross to the other side of the street when they see a Seeker coming, leaving the church isolated and despised. In stark contrast, the Seekers in Chains long ago found a strong foothold in the Serene Empire, where slavery is an institution and the individual rights of citizens are not nearly as important to the governing body as is their obedience. There, Seekers often partner with local authorities to "train" slaves to endure specific tasks or prolonged activities, whether such labors are menial, sexual, or scholastic.

While many would consider it difficult to find any redeeming qualities among the Seekers, their understanding of anatomy and pain inarguably places them among the best mundane surgeons in the known world. Their medical techniques, ranging from an intuitive knowledge of bonesetting and chirurgical practices to an encyclopedic awareness of medicinal chemistry, has fascinated scholars of science for centuries. Unfortunately, since the price so often demanded in exchange for access to these secrets is induction into the church�including the requisite torture involved in initiation�the Seekers' expertise remains mostly in their possession. While modern medicine continues to advance without the church's help, practice necessarily makes perfect, and the cultists' constant experimentation on their offerings�willing or otherwise�keeps their already-proficient surgeons one step ahead of the game.

Focus Titles: The Chained God, Harbinger of Misery, Lord of the Pit, Master of the Ladder and Wheel
Perceived Portfolio: Domination, submission, suffering, toil
Sect Alignment: LE
Practiced Domains: Artifice (Toil subdomain only), Destruction (Torture subdomain only), Evil (Corruption), Law (Kyton, Slavery)

Icon: Wheel centered on a chain-wrapped skull
Symbols: Black and purple; wolf
Favored Weapon: Spiked chain
Major Center(s) of Worship: The Purgatorium (Serenity, the Serene Empire)

Dogma: Reality and our place in it are illusory, deceptions of the sheltered mind. Life begins with the pain of childbirth and ends with the agony of inevitable death. In embracing this truth, it becomes possible to ascend the steps of enlightenment. Understanding can be achieved only through patient effort; suffering is impossible to avoid, and those who endure are rewarded with greater strength, knowledge, and awareness. There is no shame in finding satisfaction with one's current place, but it must be defended from those who would usurp us from below. Those who weather enough pain achieve perfect clarity, for there is no anguish, no sorrow for those who attain oneness with the universe. Deceive not, lest you be deceived, and seek the final truth of your existence through acceptance of unavoidable torment.