sirep lore

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Oh Supreme Flame, rid me of my weakness, ignite the will within me, purify my heart. I am the Spark of the Punishing Flame, the guardian on the border of the righteous and the sinful, the sword of a righteous punishment that acts on orders of those who are never wrong.

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Lives in a number of DnD campaigns. Human, an Oath of Devotion paladin, lawful good (could be considered by some but not others). Is approximately 20 y.o., his birthday is around the spring equinox (it is in fact so but he is not aware of it). His name is the Spark of the Punishing Flame, Sireptus Likarn, but you can call him Sirep

His story begins a few centuries before his birth, when this asshole (on the left) appears ↓↓↓

His name is Lumien Sorath, “the Flame of Doom”, but Sirep just calls him Father

A middle aged 498-year-old high elf. Is lawful evil, but Sirep doesn’t think so: Lumien is always smiling and never beats him for no reason, and Sirep is unaware of how manevolently Lumien stares at him from behind his glasses that glisten brightly and obscure the elf’s eyes. Besides, he is the one who taught Sirep everything, even to walk and possibly to breathe.

For a long time Lumien lived in human cities, ultimately losing his mind from the fast pace of life and all the deaths around him (human lifespan barely reaches 100 years while elves like Lumien can live up to 800 years). He decided that humans are incapable of clear-sighted judgement typical of elves (they are feeble, thus, they are defective), which is why around 200 years ago he united a small settlement by the belief in the Flame to curb the people.

The Supreme Punishing Flame is without a doubt an existing, higher essence of everything living and pure that definitely wasn’t made up by some elf (it was). It empowers the Good and burns all the sins mercilessly.

The Church of the Punishing Flame worships the Flame, believing it to be that essence metaphorically. The Church is accepting of all religions ̶a̶s̶ ̶l̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶n̶e̶f̶i̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ as long as they are not downright blasphemous.

The holy symbol of the (cult) church ↓↓↓

When Sireptus Likarn was an infant, Lumien became his guardian. The only thing Sirep knows about his birth parents is their surname. ̶H̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶s̶u̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶’̶v̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶f̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶v̶o̶l̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶e̶n̶t̶s̶?̶ ̶W̶h̶o̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶s̶…̶

Lumien personally took part in Sirep’s upbringing, taught him to talk, read and write in Common and Elvish.

Despite the fact that Lumien is the closest thing Sirep has had to a father figure, the elf never considered Sirep his child or even an individual. He has a depraved love for Sirep as a project or an experiment, an object he uses to study science.

Sirep was raised under strict rules. Games were forbidden, he was forced to train incessantly until failure and was whipped as punishment (which continued even after he got older). Sirep’s back is covered in scars from being whipped. He is ashamed of it because every scar is a stain from a sin cast out, and he’s embarrassed to have had so many.

Sirep is convinced that to be beaten is to be loved and that pain purifies.

It is customary in the Church to give children honey after punishing them. For that reason, Sirep doesn’t like honey very much.

Despite the constant abuse he had to endure, Sirep stayed a kind and cheerful child, but the initiation rite he had to go through when he was 13 finally broke him. The Trial of Light was so horrific that Sirep doesn’t remember a thing about it. On that day something dark took root in his heart never to be torn out. Sirep has panic attacks every time he tries to remember the Trial. Since that day Sirep hasn’t been able to sleep without screaming from nightmares haunting him.

He knows that he cries out during sleep and hates it because it inconveniences others. Sirep started biting his hands at night to suppress the urge to shout. Lumien decided to help out: when the human was 16, the elf filed his teeth so that the bites would cause more pain and be more effective.

Since then physical pain has been helping Sirep pay less attention to whatever causes him anxiety at night, and he sleeps quietly.

Sirep covers the bites on his hands with his gloves.

Sometimes Sirep thinks he doesn’t deserve to live, because he is broken. Because it’s only thanks to the Flame’s mercy that there’s light within him. Without the Flame he is inexcusably sinful.

In his twenties Sirep is still a kind and naïve young man who genuinely wants to make the world a better place. He is polite and "well-behaved" to the point of absurdity (Sirep doesn’t swear, drink alcohol or give in to the temptation of lustful thoughts). He believes that there’s light in everyone.

Sirep doesn’t sleep well, there are always bags under his grey eyes, but he pays them no mind when he sees himself in the mirror.

HIS SWORD

Sirep always carries a huge two-handed sword with him, which is called SOLIS EXCIDIUM, the Sun of Punishment. When no one can see or hear him, Sirep hugs it and whispers to it affectionately, calling it “Kuzya”.

Kuzya is too heavy for a regular human to carry and weighs 64 pounds. But Sirep swings it as if it weighed only 6 and wholeheartedly believes that it's about right. This is not about physical strength, it’s about the belief that a paladin can wield this sword. When Sirep was first handed the Sun of Punishment, he was told that he must learn to wield it: “how can you carry a paladin’s oath if you can’t carry a sword? The oath is way heavier than this sword.”

In his pursuit of the goal to become a warrior of light, the Spark of the Punishing Flame, he had to do the impossible.

It is the belief in himself that makes the sword ten times lighter that it really is, and its weight is directly influenced by the confidence of the wielder to carry it.

May the Light be your guide, and remember:

*DO NOT CONFUSE!

Murder

• A horrific act of evil
• When an innocent victim is killed without a reason
• The soul hasn’t ascended
• The loss of the person hasn’t made the world of mortals a better place
• The victim cries out in pain
• Results in death

Ascension

• A holy righteous ritual
• Souls are cleansed by the Flame and become one with the Light
• The only way to purify the more sinful souls that have been serving the dark for years
• During the act people cry out from joy of being purified (the louder the happier)
• After the filthy physical shell is incinerated, a new stage of existence that those who haven’t ascended cannot comprehend begins

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