[WB] Temple of Temptation

[SunnyCirce]

Setting: Low Fantasy

Geography
Culture
Histories

God/dess	Domain	Color	Tattoo Pattern
Lure (male)	Temptation	Black	Lace
Merci (female)	Compassion	Blue	Water
Ishva (female)	Wisdom	Purple	Concentric Circles
Phelan (gender fluid)	Inspiration	Green	Woodgrain Patterns
Core	War	Red	Smearing like blood

Proof of the Gods:
Gone are the days when the gods walked amongst their priests. Gone are the days when they spoke to their priests, or even "rode" their priests by temporarily possessing them. These days, a scandalous number of priests do not even believe the gods are real. But there are still two important things that are held by many as proof of the true existence of the gods.

1. The Books of the Law and Lineage:
There is a Book of the Law in each temple, encased in a thick glass box. There is no way to get into the box, the glass is unshatterable.
Every day, a page turns in the Book of the Law. No changes have been made to the Book of the Law in generations, but the ancient tales
say the laws wrote themselves. As if guided by an invisible hand.
2. The God Patterns. Every third year at the Feast of the Children, children dip their hands in the Tears of the Gods in the Temple of All Gods. Most of the time, the children's hands come out of the pool with colored patterns on their fingers and hands. The color and pattern signifies which god or goddess has chosen them. They will go through another Choosing Ritual at least one other time in their life. Each time a priest submerges any body part in the Tears of the Gods, their pattern will change. It can change in size, in complexity, in location, any number of ways. It cannot be removed except by a special ritual by the High Priest of the Temple.

Paths of the Gods:
These are listed in order of perceived importance. The gods teach that no path is more important than the other, but people are people.

Path of Obligation	Serves through menial labor. Cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc
Path of Action	Serves through skilled labor. Doctors and medics, construction, engineering, etc.
Path of the Body	Serves through sex.
Path of Protection	Serves by protecting the Temple and the priesthood.
Path of the Voice	Serves by communicating the words of their god. They are the teachers, the diplomats, the liaison between the Temple and the people. Usually formed from older priests who have retired.

Holidays
*Festival of the Children: Every three years. Children of peasant families can be brought to the Temple of All Gods to the Choosing Bowl.

Manned by priests of Merci, the Choosing Bowl is a large silver vat filled with the Tears of the Gods. Every child aged 8-10 is offered the chance to dip their hands in the bowl. Some children pull their hands out and nothing has changed, except they are a little cleaner. These children are handed back over to the parent or guardian who brought them with smiles and pats, and given a copper coin. Their parent or guardian is given a silver coin and the child and all family with them are fed at a banquet table stocked with plain, hearty, but delicious food - including sweets. Then they are sent away.

But other children pull out hands with new patterns that look like tattoos. The colors of the gods. These children will become priests and priestesses of the god that chose them. They are immediately taken to the temple of that god or goddess.

Other children are brought by their parents who do not partake of the feast. These are families who are offering their children as a tithe. Usually upper middle class and nobility. These children are often marked for the upper ranks of the priesthood.

 

[SunnyCirce]

Primary Education:
Primary Education: Each 'grade' is a year group. The first year of each group is the year of the Feast of the Children. All children taken into the temple at that time are placed in a year group. The youngest age permitted to put their hands into the Vat of Tears is 8 years old. Primary education covers the first eight years. The oldest child in primary school would be 16.

Primary education gives every child a solid basic general education with a heavy dose of ethics, spiritual training, and a class called 'Personal Interaction' where they are taught how to behave and make people feel comfortable in a wide variety of social situations and with people in different social classes. Another heavy layer is strong attention to physical activity. No track and field here, but lots of sports and dance and wrestling and all manner of hand to hand combats.

Every student is given a mentor within their first three days, a graduated priest or priestess. Mentors have no more than 2 mentees at any time, and it is a heavy investment of time. Mentors spend long hours with their mentee. Deepening relationships between mentor and mentee are highly encouraged, with a goal of a deep, healthy friendship of love and trust. Though it does not happen all the time, it is always the goal.

Sex education is taught, but only in the clinical sense. Most kids know what the Temple of Temptation does, but they are kept entirely removed from the rest of the Temple and except for their teachers and mentors, never have any social interaction with the other priests in the temple. The goal for the primary years is to graduate young adults who are confident, thoughtful of others, and devoted to Lure.

At the end of their primary education, every child is offered the option to leave. If they choose to leave the temple their god-given skin patterns will be stripped, they will be given eight gold coins (enough to support them for approximately two months if they are frugal), and escorted outside of the temple. They will never be permitted back in except as patrons.

The Choosing
At the end of their primary education, the students who wish to remain in the temple (most do - life is hard outside the temples) discuss their preferred paths and then go through the Ritual of Choosing. Deep under the temple is a series of rooms, all connected to a stream of icy cold water - the Tears of the Gods. Small pools are in each room, about the size of a large modern bathtub. Each student is guided to a room by their mentor and a Priest of the Voice where they are stripped, their existing marks recorded, and left with only a single candle.

During the night, the students pray and immerse themselves in the pool. When they emerge, they have new marks. The size and complexity of their marks indicate how much interest their god has taken in them.

Path of Obligation	God marks are found on the hands and arms - usually forearms
Path of Action	God marks are found on the feet and legs - usually lower legs
Path of the Body	God marks are found on the torso and can extend down to genitals
Path of Protection	God marks are found on the back - especially the shoulderblades
Path of the Voice	God marks are on the neck and shoulders

The next morning, one by one, the students are examined in the chamber they spent the night. Their new marks are recorded and they are given the gray robes of a student priest. They are still considered to be full priests, just restricted in activities.


All new Priests of the Body are immediately matched with a Priest of Protection. Their match is identified because their marks match each other. At this point the matched pair are considered Guardian and Ward. All the student priests are moved from the Primary Care area away from the children and placed in the Initiate Wing. Most student rooms in the Initiate Wing are single rooms, small in size with a bathroom (plumbing exists in this world - just go with it). But a section of large rooms exist for Guardians and their Wards. These are really suites, with a bathroom, a sitting room, and two bedrooms. Most Guardians and Wards sleep together, but not all of them do.

When a Guardian and their Ward see each other for the first time, a god-given bond snaps into place between them. There is a certain level of trust and protectiveness towards each other. That bond can increase or decrease based off their behavior going forward. Most bonded become very tender and affectionate with each other. They may or may not interact sexually.

 

[SunnyCirce]

Four year Schedule. The youngest student graduating from Initiate should be 20 years old.

Ninth Year (first year of post-primary):
Restrictions:
No penetrative sex, no moderate or severe pain play, no toys.
No leaving the Temple without authorization (rarely given unless accompanied by a mentor or teacher)
No access to the Dome

The focus of the ninth year is to become comfortable about sex. Penetrative sex is not permitted, but other forms of experimentation are. Long hours are spent in classes and discussion groups talking about who touched who and how everyone feels about it. Priests of Temptation are notorious for their unsurpassed knowledge of anything sexual but people are always shocked at how completely casual they speak of sexual things. The Priests of Temptation calmly discuss sexual matters like most people talk about the weather - and it is in their First year of Secondary Education that they learn to do so. It is in this year that they began discovering what their kinks are. Consent is ground into them every day, all day. What constitutes consent, proper ways to gain and give consent, what happens when consent is withdrawn, consent consent consent. They are also drilled in the concept that there is nothing to be ashamed of regarding sex - except a lack of consent. Shame is anathema to a Priest of Temptation - unless it is something that turns them on. But that is not considered REAL shame.

9th Year Path of Protection Specific Classes:

Combat and Weapons: Protection students now have specialized teachers in weapons and combat training. All students take swords training and must choose two other weapons to specialize in - a close range and long range weapon.

Evasion and De-escalation: Self-explanatory

Sexual Psychology and your Ward: Protection students begin taking specialized sexual psychology classes designed to help them emotionally protect and - when necessary - control their wards.

Personal Protection: Protection details. Protecting one person, multiple people, acting as guards in crowds.

Healing Sexual Trauma for the Path of Protection: Covers unobtrusive guarding as well as basic sexual trauma and associated therapies.

Meditation: covers different methods of reducing sexual excitement - you can't effectively guard your ward who is being fucked if you are so turned on you can't walk right.

Common classes held among 9th year students:
Sexuality 101 - covers different genders, designation preferences (dominant, submissive, etc), sexuality preferences (gay, bi, etc), various kinks.
The Complete Sexual Act - Detailed deep dive into sexual organs and healthy sexual practices. Jokingly called "Insert thing A into Thing B Class" by the students.
Sexual Toys and Their Safe Use: Self explanatory
The Sexual Attitude: A daily deep discussion relatively informal class where personal stories of experimentation are discussed, questions are asked and answered, various sexual situations are considered and discussed. During class two students may be told to kiss, then a discussion will be had as to how everyone feels about it - including the onlookers, friends of the participants, etc. Two more students may be asked to take off their tops and touch each other. Then discussions will be had. Final exam is a roleplayed session between the student and a Priest of the Voice who will introduce an uncomfortable situation the student must assist them in overcoming. Ex: teaching a blushing virgin about sex without actually having sex, explaining to an angry mother that it is ok that her son is gay, etc. One memorable such session was a "patron" farting.

*Most of the time Priests of Protection are not matched to a ward in their first three years but there are usually at least a couple every year. These new Guardians will go to many classes with their ward but they cannot attend all. However, wards are never to be left alone except in their private spaces. So when a guardian cannot accompany their ward due to a scheduling conflict, the guardian's fellow students will fill in for them. Thus teamwork begins to be taught, and even Priests of Protection not matched to a ward yet will begin learning how to guard them.

10th Year
Restrictions:
No severe pain play
No leaving the temple alone
No access to the Dome

The focus of the 10th year is a deep comfort level with safe and consensual penetrative sex. Again, students are encouraged to experiment with each other. The deep daily emphasis on consent and safety continues.

10th Year Path of Protection Specific Classes: