Erumpens was not born gently into the world. When the Ancients shattered Ix, one shard did not drift through sky or settle into soil—it fell. Fell burning, fell screaming through the upper realms, and drove itself into the heart of an active volcano in a land whose geography predated human records. The impact was catastrophic. The mountain convulsed. For three days, the sky darkened with ash. When the tremors finally ceased, something new existed inside the stone.

The goddess woke confused and furious, trapped within a prison of heat and pressure, her consciousness scattering through molten rock like thought through fire. She had no worshippers. She had no one to call to. She was alone with only the volcano's rhythm—the slow circulation of magma, the periodic ruptures, the absolute indiference of stone.

Centuries passed, unmeasured by Erumpens in her stone sleep. Then a woman came to the mountain with desperation in her bones.

Maeve Eion was noble-born, beautiful in the way that made her a commodity rather than a person. She had been married for political advantage to a man who kept mistresses without shame. When she discovered him with another woman, something inside her—a lifetime of compliance, of acceptance, of being a wife and breeding stock—crystallized into fury so complete it felt like fire. She rode her horse to the nearest mountain, intending to end herself in the crater.

At the summit, she found not death but a woman's voice made of heat. Erumpens, recognizing in Maeve's desperation something that resonated with her own trapped anguish, spoke. Not words exactly, but understanding. The goddess offered a choice: surrender to the fall, or surrender to the fire. Surrender to becoming something new.

Maeve chose fire.

She stayed on the mountain three nights and emerged transformed—not physically, but spiritually remade. The rage that had driven her to suicide became purpose. She claimed the volcanic peak as sacred ground. She built the first temple from stones torn from the mountainside, working alongside followers she somehow attracted, as if Erumpens' newfound awareness had begun radiating outward, drawing those who needed to be remade.

The spread of Erumpens' faith followed volcanic geography. Wherever a mountain burned, her priesthood emerged. This was not organized conquest; it was recognition. Populations living on the slopes of active volcanoes faced constant existential threat. Erumpens' theology—that catastrophe is divine communication, that destruction contains divine will, that survival is grace—made sense to them.

Maeve trained other priestesses, establishing the practice that still defines the faith: temples built on active volcanic peaks, constructed hastily and deliberately impermanent. Each eruption would destroy what had been built. Each eruption would be interpreted as Erumpens speaking directly to her followers. The temples were not meant to last. They were prayers written in stone that the volcano would consume.

Over generations, a theological principle emerged that shaped the faith permanently: when a temple is present upon a volcano, that mountain erupts. Not metaphorically. The correlation was so consistent that Erumpens' priesthood came to understand it as law. The goddess does not merely accept destruction—she requires it. The presence of a sacred temple invites eruption. The ritual of building and the certainty of destruction became inseparable.

Erumpens offers a covenant unlike any other faith in Dort. She does not promise safety; she promises meaning in catastrophe and transformation through trials of fire.

An Erumpenic's faith is built on the acceptance of divine chaos and the recognition that destruction contains purpose.

(See also: claw/Soul_Coins_and_Divine_Economy)

Erumpens gathers power through those who accept the necessity of destruction and through the specific spiritual state of standing before catastrophe without despair.

An Erumpens temple is not a structure meant to outlast its creator. It is a prayer made physical, designed to be unmade.

Construction: Temples are built rapidly, using stone quarried from the volcano itself or its immediate surroundings. The buildings are functional but deliberately unfinished—incomplete walls, exposed internal structure, minimal decoration. Materials are chosen for workability, not durability. The architecture communicates impermanence.

Location: Always on an active volcanic peak or within a zone showing geologically recent activity. The temple is positioned in places where eruption will certainly destroy it. This is not coincidence; priestesses consult geological signs and divine intuition to choose the exact spot most vulnerable to molten flow.

Layout: A central gathering space open to the sky (no roof—Erumpens will see her own), stone benches for prayer, and typically a single sealed chamber said to contain relics from previous temples destroyed in prior eruptions. Smaller chambers serve as quarters for resident priests.

Practical functions: The temple is simultaneously sanctuary and observatory. Priestesses use the location to monitor volcanic behavior, reading changes in heat, gas, tremors, and bird behavior as signs of coming eruption. The temple is a place of worship and a station for geological prediction.

Sacred conditions: An Erumpens temple is considered most sacred not when it is pristine but when it bears the scars of survival—charred stone from near-eruptions, ash deposits from past activity, repairs over repairs. These are the marks of the goddess's presence.

The Erumpens priesthood is decentralized by nature, as each volcanic zone typically hosts only one major temple and one high priestess who claims direct communication with the goddess.

Authority flows through experience and survival. A priestess who has survived three eruptions holds more authority than one who has only maintained a temple through calm years. The priesthood does not rank by training or appointment but by proven resilience.

Regional priestesses coordinate loosely, meeting once every five years at a neutral location to share knowledge about volcanic patterns and to debate theological questions. These meetings are contentious; the faith values individual interpretation over universal doctrine. A priestess of one mountain may disagree sharply with another and both be considered orthodox.

Maeve's original temple, the oldest and most prestigious, serves as a center of reference. Its high priestess is consulted on matters of doctrine but holds no legal authority over other temples.

The priesthood is exclusively female. This is not stated as doctrine—Maeve's choice was practical (she was a woman, her followers were primarily women) and became tradition. Male believers are welcomed and do participate in rituals, but they cannot hold priestly rank or authority.

The Erumpens faith is not proselytized in the traditional sense. Conversion happens through crisis.

Soft entry: Someone lives near an active volcano or faces catastrophic loss. The priesthood approaches them in the aftermath—not with theological argument but with companionship. They provide shelter, food, guidance. They listen to the person's story of loss and gradually reveal the interpretation: this was Erumpens speaking to you.

Initiation: Formal acceptance into the faith typically occurs during a moment of volcanic activity. The initiate stands with priestesses on the volcano as warning signs intensify, as the mountain trembles, as heat rises. The test is simple: will you remain? The act of remaining is the vow. There are no words, no ceremony. To witness the goddess's power and not flee is to be initiated.

What makes an enemy rather than a convert: Those who deny Erumpens' agency in disaster. Who claim volcanic eruption is merely geological. Who preach that the goddess doesn't control the mountains. These people are not merely wrong to the priesthood—they are dangerous. They spread heresy that could corrupt the faith's foundation. They are actively opposed.

An Erumpenic priestess or devoted follower is recognizable by their acceptance of impermanence and their unusual calm in moments of crisis.

Date: Declared when geological and divine signs indicate imminent eruption of a sacred volcano. Not on a fixed calendar—on the mountain's calendar.

When a volcano shows signs of coming eruption, the priesthood declares Eruption Day. All believers within reasonable travel distance converge on the sacred temple. The gathering is not festive but solemn and purposeful. Priestesses conduct rituals that acknowledge the coming transformation. At the peak of volcanic activity—when the earth shakes most violently—followers witness the goddess's power directly. Some flee to safety at prescribed moments; the priestesses traditionally remain in the temple until the latest possible moment, emerging as the first lava flows toward the structure. The eruption itself is the holy day's conclusion. The destruction is the sacrament.

Date: Seasonally, following the major eruption cycle, usually weeks to months after Eruption Day.

Once a volcano has erupted and its immediate fury has passed, the priesthood directs the reconstruction of the temple. This is not a somber duty but a celebration of survival. Followers work together, quarrying stone, raising walls, reestablishing the sacred space. The work is accompanied by songs and storytelling, and it concludes with a ceremony that blesses the new temple and prepares for the next eruption. The cycle completes itself.

Performed when a volcano's activity is increasing but eruption is not yet imminent. Priestesses gather in the temple and perform a ritual that involves repeated calls, chants that echo across the mountainside. The ritual is believed to communicate with Erumpens directly, to let the goddess know her priesthood is present and ready. The calling can last hours or days, depending on priestess interpretation of divine response.

When eruption is imminent and the priesthood has determined it is time to evacuate, this ritual occurs. It is brief and pointed. Each priestess places a hand on the temple walls one final time. Each speaks aloud what she is leaving behind and what she is surrendering to Erumpens. Then they walk down the mountain. The eruption that follows within hours is understood as Erumpens accepting the surrender and taking the temple back into herself.

Performed at the new temple once reconstruction is complete. Priestesses and followers renew their individual vows to the faith. Each person states what they have survived and how Erumpens transformed them through trial. The ceremony concludes with a collective acknowledgment: "What is built will be unmade. What is unmade will be made new. This is Erumpens' truth."

A robe, typically in deep blacks and blood reds, made from heavy, fire-resistant materials. The mantle bears visible signs of its purpose—scorch marks from proximity to heat, repairs from damage during eruptions, ash stains that are never fully cleaned. These marks are not wear damage; they are badges of office. A pristine mantle suggests a priestess who has not yet truly stood before the goddess.

Worn during major rituals, a crown crafted from volcanic rock and bone, darkened by ash, that sits heavily on the priestess's head. It is uncomfortable by design—a constant reminder of the weight of duty and the burden of living close to catastrophe.

Worn by all initiated priestesses, a pendant carved from volcanic obsidian in the shape of Erumpens' symbol. Some amulets are warm to the touch, retaining heat in a way that conventional materials should not—a phenomenon the priesthood attributes to the goddess's presence within the stone.

Carried during Eruption Day rituals, a torch that burns with an unusual flame—fed by oils and resins that produce a heat and color matching volcanic fire. The torch is handed from priestess to priestess during the final hours before eruption, passing through as many hands as possible as the moment of destruction approaches.

Maeve's story is told by the priesthood not as a narrative of personal salvation but as the moment Erumpens chose to speak to the mortal world. Before Maeve reached the volcano's peak, Erumpens had existed in divine isolation, aware but voiceless. Maeve's desperation—her complete willingness to die—was the first genuine call the goddess received. Maeve was not chosen because she was special; she was special because she was desperate enough to listen when a god spoke back.

The priesthood emphasizes that Maeve did not lose her rage when she encountered Erumpens. She transformed it. The fury that drove her to suicide became the fuel for building temples and founding a faith. Her marriage ended not because her husband changed but because Maeve remade herself around a different loyalty entirely. She became sacred not by virtue of sainthood but by her complete refusal to remain unchanged.

Maeve lived to be elderly, according to the priesthood's records, and died on the mountain during an eruption at a time when she had chosen not to evacuate. Her body was never recovered. The priesthood teaches that she was taken back into the goddess herself.

A priestess from a younger generation who survived three eruptions, each more violent than the last. Kael became known for her ability to read the mountains—to sense volcanic activity before conventional geological signs appeared. She would sometimes declare evacuation days before seismic activity intensified, and the priesthood's records show a near-perfect correlation between her warnings and subsequent eruptions.

Kael's theological contribution was the doctrine that "the mountain teaches those who listen." She established the practice of priestesses spending solitary nights in the temple during quiet volcanic periods, listening to the mountain's subtle movements and variations in heat. This practice continues today and is considered essential to priestess training.

Kael lived through a major eruption that killed several followers who did not heed evacuation warnings. Rather than accept this as divine will, Kael responded by developing systems of communication and coordinated evacuation protocols. She is remembered not as a mystic but as someone who merged faith with practical wisdom—who believed Erumpens' power was expressed through both volcanic force and the priesthood's strategic response.

During a period when volcanic activity had decreased dramatically—so much so that some communities began leaving the faith, believing Erumpens' power had waned—a single priestess maintained her temple and her vigil on a mountain that had not erupted in forty years.

Her name is not recorded in the priesthood's official histories. The point of her story is her anonymity. She is remembered simply as the priestess who persisted in faith despite silence from the goddess. When the mountain finally erupted after decades of dormancy, it was this priestess and her followers who were at the temple. They survived because they had never abandoned readiness.

The priesthood teaches this story to young initiates as a counter to doubt: faith that requires divine action to validate is weak faith. True faith persists through silence, through apparent abandonment, through the slow periods when catastrophe seems less likely. When the goddess finally speaks again, only those who maintained vigilance will be prepared to hear.

How they refer to themselves: the Interpreters or the Voice of Stone

The Ash Readers are priestesses who specialize in reading volcanic behavior with extraordinary precision. They spend extended periods on active volcanoes, analyzing every tremor, every change in heat signature, every chemical shift in released gases. They practice a combination of faith and geological observation that other priestesses sometimes view as suspiciously secular.

The Ash Readers argue that Erumpens speaks through the volcano itself and that understanding the mountain's language is therefore a sacred duty. They maintain detailed records spanning decades, correlating volcanic patterns with prior eruptions and community activities. Some communities hire Ash Readers as consultants, which creates tension with more traditional priestesses who see commercial application of divine knowledge as corruption.

How they refer to themselves: the Reconstructors or the Hands of Renewal

Not all followers of Erumpens are mystics. The Temple Builders are practical priestesses and lay followers obsessed with the engineering and construction challenges of building sacred temples in hostile environments. They study materials, practice rapid construction techniques, and approach each new temple as a puzzle to solve.

The Temple Builders maintain that building beautifully is a form of prayer—that temples should be not just functional but aesthetically intentional, even though they will be destroyed. They create sculptural elements, carved decorative work, and deliberate architectural choices that serve no practical purpose beyond expressing the faith's spiritual core. Other priestesses sometimes view this as frivolous, but the Temple Builders argue that the goddess deserves beauty, even if it is temporary.

How they refer to themselves: the Watchers or the Mountain's Companions

The Silent Vigil are priestesses devoted to remaining on sacred mountains during quiet periods—spending months or years at a temple when volcanic activity is low. They practice meditation, ritual prayer, and the continuous listening that Kael established as a spiritual practice.

The Silent Vigil believe that spiritual growth requires prolonged proximity to divine presence, even when that presence is quiet. They are sometimes isolated from other priestesses and are viewed by some as eccentric, but the faith respects their commitment. When volcanic activity does begin, the Silent Vigil are typically the first to detect it.

How they refer to themselves: the Stabilizers or the Order of Safe Ground

The Earthbinders argue that Erumpens' true purpose is to prevent volcanic eruption—that the goddess can be appealed to for safety and stability rather than demanding submission to catastrophe. They believe building temples on volcanoes should invoke divine protection, not divine destruction.

The orthodox priesthood considers this a fundamental inversion of the faith. Erumpens does not prevent eruption; she causes it. The Earthbinders' refusal to accept this basic theological truth is, from the priesthood's perspective, a refusal to know the goddess at all.

How they refer to themselves: the Scholars or the Observant

The Rational Vulcanists accept that Erumpens exists but deny that she directly causes volcanic eruptions. They argue that the goddess has blessed volcanic science—that understanding geology is understanding the divine—but that eruptions are natural phenomena, not divine will made manifest.

To the priesthood, this is perhaps more dangerous than outright atheism. It uses the language of faith while denying its core premise. A follower who believes eruptions are purely geological will not maintain proper ritual preparation and will miss the spiritual transformation the priesthood teaches is possible.

How they refer to themselves: the Purified or the Remade

The Consumed Ones believe that physical destruction in volcanic fire is not transformation but liberation—that the goal of faith should be to achieve destruction. They seek out eruptions not for witness but for participation, deliberately positioning themselves in flows' paths and embracing death by lava.

The mainstream priesthood considers this a corruption of the faith. Erumpens does not require death; she requires transformation. There is a theological difference between surviving catastrophe and being destroyed by it. The Consumed Ones have abandoned the former in favor of the latter.

How they refer to themselves: the Builders of Eternity

The False Permanents reject the theology of impermanence. They believe that faith should focus on creating structures and communities that outlast volcanic cycles—that building temples meant to be destroyed is wasteful. They attempt to construct structures using exotic materials or magical protections designed to survive eruption.

The priesthood sees this as a fundamental rejection of Erumpens' truth. The temples are meant to be destroyed. To fight that destruction is to fight the goddess herself.

(See: Cosmology/Physical Realms/The Shattered Domain)