Hand (Caedaren)

If there ever was a definitely dualistic Caedaren faction, it is the Hands. As a whole they are the clergy, the monastics, the preachers and the shapers of the world's fabric (a very small subfaction that combines both aspects of the faction).

As two parts, they are not evenly matched: the Hurting Hand is outnumbered by the Healing Hand and always has been. The Hurting Hand is, unsurprisingly, the more violent of the two, though the less powerful. Though almost utterly helpless outside their temples (exceptions do exist) and shrines, they are capable of deeds that inspire faith... though the relationship with the spirits is more of the give-take kind than anything else.

Recently their dogma has evolved a bit stranger in some areas, and the nation has been suffering from a religious rift as it is. The renewalists run rampant, whereas the orthodoxes find it best to wait out the wave of renewalism. The renewalists are preaching that only Mother is worth respecting, and this has brought tensions with their primal forefathers, the Souls. While the few old ones that still have good friends among the Souls are annoyed of this happening, they are content to wait and keep the ties with the Souls as warm as possible...

...because the kids preach of respecting only Mother and raining destruction on those who would keep the Caedaren meek and helpless. Paradoxical as it is, they manage, mostly because the leaders among the Caedaren would rather keep the populace fighting and determined than meek and forgiving. The orthodoxes note, however, that without Father, which is represented by the Hurting Hand, there is no religion. Everything ebbs and flows.

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