Editing Ezra (section)

==Splinter-Sects & Heresies==
Needless to say, a church as fractured as the Church of Ezra is going to continue splintering, especially given its history is built on "prophets" and "holy visions". So, whilst the four sects above are the officially recognized churches, there are various splinters, offshoots and outright heresies.

In fact, the church's own theology features the legend of the Final Sect, a belief that, as 5 is Ezra's holy number, a fifth and final sect will ultimately be founded that will prompt the full revelation and/or fruition of the Grand Scheme.

===The Rite of Revelation===
In fact, there are so many would-be sects demanding recognition that the church has created its own ritual to sort out the heretics, power-seekers, false prophets and other loonies from the genuine article: the Rite of Revelation. Only an aspiring sect that completes all three steps will be recognized as a formal new sect of the Church of Ezra.

So, what do you do if you step up as a supplicant for the Rite of Revelation?

Step 1: Write your own holy book, which codifies your relationship to Ezra and documents the new aspect of the Grand Scheme which she has revealed to you. Most aspiring sects only get this far, and the Great Cathedral has a huge library of these failed texts, most of which are deranged, nonsensical, [[heresy]], or some combination thereof.

Step 2: Demonstrate that you have Ezra's blessing by showing that you can manifest the Shield of Ezra with powers ''unique'' to you. If you can manifest such a Shield, then the Church recognizes you do indeed serve her plans. If your Shield matches one of the existing sects, then your visions have not revealed a sufficiently distinct aspect of the Grand Scheme to warrant establishing a new sect. If you can't manifest a Shield at all, you're obviously a liar and will be unceremoniously shown the door.

Step 3: Present at least five acolytes of your sect, all of whom must be able to manifest the same Shield of Ezra as you. This is irrefutable proof that Ezra wishes the Church to spread this new aspect of her teachings. Whilst a handful of supplicants have managed to pass the second step, nobody's completed this one since the founding of the Darkonese sect.

===The Échansons Heresy===
Appearing in the 3rd Ravenloft Gazetteer, the Échansons Heresy, informally known as the Cupbearers, is a heretical offshoot of the Ezra faith native to Richemuloise.

In a nutshell, the Cupbearers derived their faith from the base roots of the Erudites, believing Ezra to be a goddess from amongst the Mists - but, when she descended, it was not to merge with the Mists, but to be incarnated as a mortal in the Hollow. More specifically, she incarnated as a mortal to have children. Her bloodline continues to this day, creating divinely touched heroes who serve the world by protecting it against the Legions of the Night.

The Cupbearers believe that Ezra's descendants, the Prodigals, will eventually be brought together to create a benevolent theocracy that will unite all the kingdoms of the Demiplane of Dread and lead them to a great and glorious future. To this end, they tirelessly pour over their holy text, the Vessels of Mercy, in an effort to decipher its cryptic references and ciphers, and seek clues amongst obscure documents and references to various numerological and symbolic landmarks. All in hopes of finding the Prodigals and bringing them to their destiny.

The mainstream Church of Ezra soundly rejects the Cupbearers, pointing out that they chose to run to Richemulot rather than undertake the Rite of Revelation. Mind you, the Cupbearers reject them right back, claiming the Church has falsified its doctrine and covered up the truth to pursue selfish political power.

===The Blessed Army of Ezra===
The Blessed Army is a secret splinter-sect of the Mordentish sect, growing in power amongst the low-ranking anchorites of Mordent.

Its core belief is that the Darkonese sect in Nevuchar Springs has been infiltrated by a powerful, insidious and utterly evil creature, one that would ultimately turn the Ezrans to evil and send them marching out to war against the other Ezran sects under their belief of misguided salvation, whilst in reality feeding the dark creature secretly behind them.

Thusly, the Blessed Army is training its members in martial skills, hoping to stand against the Darkonese sect when it launches its unholy crusade.

The Blessed Army is covered in the 3e sourcebook "Heroes of Light", where it is presented as the kind of secret organization that the players could join.

===Valeri Antonin & The Rhiannon Heresy===
Introduced in [[Books of S|The Book of Sacrifices]], Valeri Antonin is a vengeful odem who has dedicated his unlife to the destruction of the Ezran faith, founding the Rhiannon Heresy to carry out his goals.

In life, Valeri Antonin was born the son of a minor noble family in Borca, some 40 years before the Great Cathedral of Ezra was completed. Born a singing prodigy, he fell under the attention of an ambitious anchorite named Sergei Kristovich, who coaxed Valeri's parents into allowing him to join the Ezran choir, which attracted much-needed funds.

However, this wasn't enough for Sergei; he wanted to keep Valeri and his beautiful sporano voice to glorify Ezra forever. And having visited Lamordia, he knew there was a way to preserve Valeri against the effects of puberty: by bribing Valeri's parents, and playing on the youth's devout faith in Ezra, he convinced the lad to become a castratti.

For several years, Valeri brought fame and fortune to the church with his wonderful musical prayers, becoming an anchorite himself and writing his own musical compositions. But, the fame his voice earned did not bring with it respect. Within the church, he was mocked and sneered at for his gelding, with some even denouncing him as an atrocity who had no place in Ezra's church. Sergei was his only friend. In the end, at the age of 23, he was found mysteriously dead in his sleep, canonized as St. Valeri and the date of his burial marked as a religious holiday.

Unbeknownst to the faithful, Valeri had actually been killed by accident by Sergei, when the two fought one night over Valeri's feelings of betrayal and having been cheated of a normal life. Even as his body was enshrined in a monument before the Great Cathedral, his spirit rose as an [[odem]]. Driven for revenge, he  used his possession abilities to follow Sergei, who had left for Port-a-Lucine in Dementlieu. But, rather than take his revenge quickly, he possessed his treacherous ex-friend, spending six years secretly riding in his mind and absorbing as much information as he could. Then, he began the first phase of his revenge, seizing control of Sergei's body and writing a confession of Sergei's true role in Valeri's death before devouring his life.

After this, he struck out, ready to enact the second phase of his plan. Firstly, he possessed a Richemulot dandy named Arsene Montcalme, for the man was strong, healthy, pale of complexion, dark of hair and bright of eyes; physical characteristics important to his plan. Next, he sought out a dark haired, bright-eyed, radiantly beautiful woman with a beautiful, serene voice, finding what he sought in Melodie Elysia. Wooing her, he impregnated her, then abandoned Arsene's body for hers, setting fire to her former house before fleeing for Kartakass.

There, he settled into a trapper's cottage, murdering the original owner, and waited until his host gave birth; not just to the daughter he needed, but to an unexpected bounty in the form of a twin brother. In the deep woods, Valeri-as-Melodie reared the two as the instruments of his vengeance, teaching them that they were an immaculate conception gifted to her by Ezra herself, with the daughter - Rhiannon (probably not ''intentionally'' an homage to the [[Fey]] Goddess [[Rhiannon|of the same name]] from [[Dragon Magazine]] #155) - being the mortal incarnation of Ezra and the son, Andreas, being Ezra's sworn protector. Finally, when he deemed them ready at the age of 11, he disposed of Melodie and visited them, claiming to be the voice of Ezra herself.

For years more, he trained the two, instructing them in a heretical envisioning of Ezran doctrine that he had created, teaching them the arts of combat, and tutoring the ecclesiastical knowledge and rituals they would need in order to "prove" their claim as Ezra's mortal incarnations. Finally, he deemed them ready and set them out into the world, hoping to bring the Church of Ezra crashing down around its ears.