Children of Shilen

By kwondoh

After the Fall of Giants, the Elves, Orcs and Humans fought endless wars for domination of the continent. Many thousands died on the battlefield. Confronted with that kind of unprecedented destruction, the sentient races realized that death was an inseparable part of life, something nobody could escape. Of course, falling into an empty nothingness was something only the strongest among them could face. Most of the common folk, however, were yearning for a next world, some place where they could continue to exist in some way. Like the Orcs, who believed that the souls of brave fighters were consumed into the fires of Pa'agrio, the Humans also felt the need for a promise of reprieve after death. Having been considered as a failure and abandoned by their father Gran Kain, and since Einhasad, the source of all life, had not been involved in their creation, they began to direct their prayers to Shilen who had never been completely forgotten among them.

These devotees, often obsessed in a somewhat unhealthy way by thoughts about death and the afterlife, called themselves the Children of Shilen. Originally just a cult among soldiers accepting and embracing death, the new religion soon started to spread to other professions - farmers who had troops trampling their fields, merchants who had their wares looted, everybody found the idea of a next world quite appealing. When the Humans finally emerged victorious from the fierce wars between the races which had laid the whole continent in ashes, the Children of Shilen had become an important part of their society.

Later Emperor Shunaiman decreed the Einhasad worship to be the only true religion and started a widespread persecution of all who dared to disagree, with the Children of Shilen becoming the main target of that crusade. Being faced with an army of robot-like Nephilim under the command of Einhasad's daughter Anakim, they suffered a temporary setback and were forced into hiding. Recently, however, the Children of Shilen succeeded in growing the Seed of Infinity and the Seed of Destruction on the continent of Gracia, which gave their movement a new impetus.

Source:

[1] The Secret History of the Elmoreden Empire