The Temple Avesti (Avestites)

The fanatic and disciplined Avestites are the hard-line arm
of the Church, often too regressive for even the Patriarch's tastes,
though he is often thankful for the power to unleash them on victims. While
some Inquisitors come from other sects, most do not (the Avestites long
ago gained most of the chairs on the Inquisitorial Synod).

Temple Avesti began as a breakaway movement from the Orthodoxy,
composed of puritans who thought that the Church was not strong or
stern enough in punishing the excesses of its members - and to the
Avestites, everyone is a member of the Church, willing or not.
They built their temple in the burning desert on the planet Pyre,
from which they embarked on missions to cleanse other worlds of sin.


Their violent and unannounced terrorist attacks caused a great deal
of anger, particularly among the often-targeted noble houses. After
too many incidents without effective response from the Orthodox
Church, royal fleets arrived off Pyre to destroy the zealots. At
this point, however, the Orthodox battle fleet also appeared,
ordering the nobles to halt. The Archbishop of Urth went down to
the planet in person, where he offered the Avestites a simple choice
- swear fealty to the Patriarch, and obey him and his successors in
future, or be left to the royal houses. After brief consideration,
the master of the Temple threw himself on the mercy of the
established church.

Since then, the Avestites have been considered penitents, owing
duty to the patriarch and his bishops. While they may act on their
own, they must also heed the call of Orthodox priests as required.
However, the extreme measures favored by Avestites limit the
frequency of their use by the bishops. They are often called upon
only as a last resort, when everything else has failed.

Would-be Avestites must petition to join the order, only being
accepted if they can demonstrate sinlessness or extreme repentance.
Only the ignorant and uneducated are taken, for learning is seen as
a burden on the soul which is hard to remove. Thus, their
membership is largely drawn from the poorest peasants, who sometimes
seek revenge for their lack of empowerment. Most members never
again leave the temple on Pyre, spending their lives in prayer for
humanity and hard labor of the Temple. Those who prove their
prowess in sniffing out sinners are promoted as "pilgrims", those
who will deliver punishment to sinners across the Known Worlds.
The best pilgrims are granted Inquisitorial seals, and may
eventually be ordained as Inquisitors.

Avestites are often bigoted and anti-alien, but may also be
pillars of kindness and nobility - to those deserving it. Aliens
are actually allowed into the sect, if they can prove their faith
like other applicants. To the sinless, Avestites are often perfect
gentlemen, having learned humility from their sect's downfall. To
those deemed sinners no amount of cruelty is too much. They take
the Prophet's words about burning out sin literally, and their heavy
flame-retardant robes and cowls are instantly recognizable. Their
high priests even prefer to carry flameguns to enact a literal
punishment on the sinful.

Their symbol, the flame, is worn on a pendant - which may be
converted to a searing hot brand at the flick of a switch.
Those avoiding immolation are often marked in this way.

Stereotypes: Inquisitor, fanatic preacher, cult leader,
arsonist, religious terrorist, political activist (arguing for
theocracy), missionary to the Known Worlds, missionary to
the barbarians, border guard (protecting the true Church and
humanity), renegade cultist (thinks the Temple goes too far),
spy (disguised as member of another sect), bounty hunter.