Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Griefswald Apr 22, 2014 19:23:26	So I had a look at the Blood of Vol religion recently and the most obvious thought I had was "Why call yourself the Blood of Vol"   This is a religion that tries to distance itself from or hide it ties to Erandis Vol, it is meant to be a large power base for the Lich that is hard to trace back to her.   So why announce to the world at large and Aerenal in particular that you have some connection to the House of Vol?
#2 Syltorian Apr 23, 2014 10:32:41	The common seekers have no idea Erandis sits on her throne in Farlnen pulling strings; they do know - in my Eberron - that House Vol was martyred for their faith.    Martyred. House Vol was not evil, and there is no shame connecting to it. They followed a different path than the Undying Court, true, and copulating with dragons was the cause of the war - the reason was their faith - so again, they are Heroes. People you look up to. Founding fathers. People who sought to destroy death itself.   Compared to our history: why announce, in Roman times, that you have any connection to a man crucified by the Romans for plotting a rebellion? Because they believed what that man did was right, and Aerenal does not even have the pull to execute people as the Romans had, so the Seekers live in relative peace unless Kaius III does something nasty.   Also, do you think the Aereni would be fooled by a religion which worships Vol tenets - in whatever bastardized version developped on Khorvaire when the fleeing Vol loyalists met the human immigrants disgruntled with the Sovereign Host - simply because they don't call themselves the Blood of Vol but the Seekers of the Inner Divinity? You might as well go the whole length, and honour House Vol, symbolically, because as we all know, there are no survivors from House Vol. They killed even the little girl.   I'm assuming here most Seekers have a passing familiarity with the destruction of House Vol, but few of the details and with the dragon elements struck to avoid confusion. I'm also assuming that the Undying Court has underestimated their foe and believes itself victorious: House Vol was eradicated. They don't know that Erandis is still undead and kicking. They're completely ignorant of the real danger, smug in their arrogant triumph, and a mere name is not going to bring Vol back miraculously. There's no danger, no vampire kings, no bloodsails on the sea, just a few people who don't want to pass away.   And the world at large does not care for House Vol and probably knows about as much about them as a random person from the street knows about the Roman gens Acilia. They may fight against the undead, but what's in a name - they would also fight the undead if the religion called itself after the Carebears.
#3 Griefswald Apr 23, 2014 17:18:50	I havn't been able to find the link between the fall of the Vol line and the start of the Blood of Vol, where did you read about the fleeing loyalists? It sounds right just had trouble finding it. If that is how the religion started then that makes sense.   Some of what you are saying I can agree with, some not so much.   That most people would not have any idea who Vol was I can get behind. that said in a world where beings that live to about 750 years old worship thier still very talkative ancestors it seems unlikely that knowledge of the Vol line and their "crimes" would not be known amongst the more educated. Anyone who had studies at Wynarn or Morgrave (possibly even Korranberg) would know of the history in a vague sense and certainly some of the Dragonmarked houses and the Royal Lines would know.   Given the amount of organisations in Eberron that are dedicated to destroying "evil" influences, the Znir Pact don't like Demons / Aerenal has their Deathguard / the whole of Thrane I would have throught that openly identifying with a group who had to have a reputation for being at least somewhat shady would be a bad idea.   As for the name of Vol not being enough to bring anyone of that line back, I agree, but wouldn't you want to kill of the legacy of the bloodline as well as the members of that family.
#4 Syltorian Apr 24, 2014 4:44:38	Griefswald wrote:
#5 Hellcow Apr 27, 2014 14:02:32	I haven't been online much, so I've only just noticed this. Syltorian has already said many things I'd say, but I'll speak further to that point. You also may want to check out this Dragonmark article.   The faith of the Blood of Vol didn't manifest out of thin air. The Elven civil war resulted in the utter erradication of the Line of Vol, but Vol had many allies. Those lines were offered a simple choice: abandon the traditions of Vol and accept the Undying Court, or exile. Many chose the latter. They travelled north along the eastern coast of Khorvaire, settling in Lhazaar and moving inwards. They brought their faith with them, though it was transformed over the course of centuries as humanity picked it up and put its own spin on it.   So why IS it called "The Blood of Vol," anyway? There's a few simple answers. The premise of the faith is that there is a divine spark in mortal blood. Thus, blood is the center of the faith. Tied to this is the fact that one of the primary rituals of the BoV is the donation of blood - an act that both serves to remind a community that they are all bound by blood and to sustain their undead champions. The Line of Vol were the first to explore the mysteries of the blood. It was the spilt blood of the line of Vol that brought this faith to Khorvaire. Looking back to the Line of Vol: unless you're an Aereni hardliner or a member of the Deathguard, there was nothing inherently evil about the line of Vol. It's core tenet was that death was something to be defeated... that Death is the enemy. It embraced the practice of negative necromancy as a tool in this struggle. It employed necromancy as a social tool: animating the dead to perform manual labor, speaking with the dead as a resource and source of information, and so on. They didn't want to turn the world into a wasteland of zombies, blood thralls, or anything like that. And they practiced their traditions peacefully for over ten thousand years before the appearance of the Mark of Death.   The Undying Court and the Line of Vol were the two primary political forces in Aerenal. The erradication of the Line of Vol was as much a political power play as a religious act. The Court asserted that all negative undead were inherently dangerous: that it's not just vampires that prey on the lviing, but that ALL Mabaran undead are innately consuming the ambient lifeforce of Eberron. As such, they have a responsibility to eliminate all Mabaran undead, hence the Deathguard. The Mark of Death was used as the final trigger, combined with the fact that Argonnessen supported it; because of the existence of the Mark of Death, they had no choice but to utterly eliminate the entire bloodline. The fact that it destroyed a political rival was just a coincidence, honest! They were just doing what they had to do for the good of everyone. Really. Trust them.   So, again: If you believe the propoganda of the Undying Court, the Line of Vol was at best selfishly blind to the deadly consequences of their necromantic practices, and carriers of a Mark that threatened all life. If you believe the propoganda of the Blood of Vol, the idea that Mabaran undead threaten all life is a lie cooked up to eliminate a rival; the Line of Vol were martyrs exterminated in an egocentric power play that nearly wiped out an important philosophy. Even then, the Blood of Vol has never been about taking revenge on Aerenal; it is driving by the idea that death itself is the enemy, and that it can be defeated.   The Blood of Vol is a grim faith. It asserts that the universe is conspiring against us; that the cruel gods created death to prevent us from ever challenging them; and that death is the utter end and extinguishing of the soul. However, it balances this with the idea that all mortals have a spark of divinity and the potential to be truly divine; that death can be overcome; and that we should all stand together, because we are all allies in the fight against death. It encourages strong community bonds and charity - again, the universe is against us, so we need to help one another.   I'll leave it there, but Syltorian made a lot of good points. The Line of Vol was an ethnic group with a particular philosophy that was persecuted and exterminated, its reputation stained by its enemies. But it's not like WE don't have thriving faiths in our world that began when a persecuted few were driven from their homelands... and hardly uncommon to see one religion painted as evil by those who follow a different path.
#6 AvonRekaes May 21, 2014 10:22:51	Kind of off topic, but still concerning the Blood of Vol   I could have sworn there were alternate LN domains for the Blood of Vol somewhere in print, representing the "true faithful" who don't know about the evil corruption in the upper ranks of the faith.  I thought they'd be in the Sharn book where the sidebar describing the local Blood of Vol sect painted them in a more normal light than your average Emerald Claw zealot.   Any one remember if this was ever a real thing, or just something I imagined? Could have sworn Community was one of the domains...
(Reply to #6) Hellcow	AvonRekaes wrote:
(Reply to #7) AvonRekaes	Hellcow wrote: