The Heretic Church

The Church of Chaos:

Chaos

• Lord Might
• Lady Fortune
• Master Void (Lord Death)

The Church of Chaos is not as institutionalized as the Church of Law. While it generally acknowledges a divinity above the Lords and Ladies, the church generally views that divinity as the backdrop upon which destiny must be carved. The divine is entropy. It is the vacuum that must be filled, but directs the end result by its very nature, as the vessel gives shape to the liquid within. The Church of Chaos is almost a confederation (an uneasy, competitive confederation) of three different faiths.
The temples tend to be quite competitive with one another and it is rare for a temple to serve more than one of the great powers. However, the temples do acknowledge the Grand Heresiarch—at least as a figure head. It should be noted that the title is not considered pejorative by the Church of Chaos.

In the Church’s conflict with Law Lady Virtue is signaled out for special ire. As the upholder of the civilizing order she is charged with all the faults of the status quo (something her own preachers often rail against as well). Lord Might and Lady Virtue often find themselves arrayed against one another on the field of battle, and each sponsors a number of holy fighting orders. Pragmatism characterizes the Church of Chaos to the other powers, including the other powers of the Church of Law.

Master Void is a fearful power of the Church of Chaos and his worship is not encouraged even where (especially where) the Temple of Lord Might is ascendant. Master Void offers release from the eternal struggle that Chaos sees as the very notion of existence. He is often the rallying cry of revolt by the oppressed and disenfranchised. One form of release is the sacrifice of one’s affections, desires, and identity—that is, one’s soul—to the void, in order to continue “living” as the undead. Wealthy patrons of the Temple of Lady Fortune turn to the Void Temple to prepare their afterlife as mummies. Lord Might, however, hates the undead and his Temple practice the incineration of the dead.

Hooks: The Church of Chaos is an obvious foil for clerics and others aligned with the Great Church. It is also the affiliation of Chaos Clerics and Anti-Paladins (only Lord Might sponsors Anti-Paladins). Allegiances and sects within the Church are expectedly more chaotic than in the Great Church. The Church is chaotic, but that does not mean it always acts against humanity and civilization—rather, those are handled as useful tools or troublesome obstacles as the situation dictates. Parties of mixed alignment can and should exist, though clerics of the opposed Churches will have a harder time of it. Parties should not contain both Paladins and Anti-Paladins.

The Church of Chaos is looking to bring about the End of Ages. There is no agreed upon doctrine of what this looks like, but it motivates all the Temples of the Church of Chaos to some degree. This means that there is always some scheme to further, or thwart, or discover, or expose.

The Church of Chaos will obviously be connected to most adventures involving undead. Of particular note, the Lady Fortune looks dimly upon tomb robbers and is noted for the cruelty and craftiness of her vengeance. Adventurers beware.