# Origin: Formed from a pre-war puritanical extremist sect in the Ten-River borderland. They survived the nuclear firestorms and biochemical plagues untouched, interpreting it as a divine sign.
# Ideology: The world is infected with "sin." All factions, mutants, and slaves are inherently corrupted unless they submit to the Fire Lord. Flame is the ultimate tool for purging, cleansing, and salvation.
# Social Structure: Total destruction of secular life for the sake of forced repentance and breeding.
- Child Separation: Biological families are outlawed. Newborns are taken by the Tabernacle to be raised in deprivation and absolute obedience, erased of memories and names to become weapons.
- Abolishment of Desires: Marriage and love are forbidden. Reproduction is treated as mandatory labor controlled by the "Reciters of Breed."
- Property & Obedience: Ordinary cultists own nothing. They wear ash-gray sackcloth, maintain low blood sugar via fasting, and remain in a sleep-deprived, suggestive state to ensure blind obedience to Father Azekel and the Three Reciters.
# Combat Style: Highly aggressive expansionist military cult. They broadcast ominous bell tolls and scriptures (Ash-Mouth Broadcast) to shatter enemy morale for 7 days before executing a "Fire Purge."
- Targeting the Future: Adult males are branded and sent to hot-sand mines as draft labor. Women undergo brutal evaluations; those unfit are executed. Children are taken to be converted into cult loyalists.
# Relations: Hostile to all factions. Clashes regularly with The Flayhouse. Viewed by the PWU as a mortal threat. Listed by The Legion as a high-risk regional mental biohazard slated for tactical elimination.
# Leadership of The Ablaze Tabernacle
1. Father Azekel (The Supreme Fire Lord):
- Status: The absolute spiritual and political leader. Supposedly walked into a burning nuclear reactor core during the cataclysm untouched.
- Mystery: No ordinary cultist has seen him for decades. Orders are delivered via a low-frequency synthesized voice from a device called the "Scorched Voice Synthesizer." Rumored to be dead, operating as an automated audio system or an OMNISET bio-brain.
2. Eloisa (Reciter of Language):
- Appearance: Head wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, only exposing a pitch-black painted mouth. Tongue branded with the "Sound Flame" rune.
- Function: Controls the broadcast network and brainwashing frequencies. Never speaks in the first person; only recites Azekel's commands.
3. Mileth (Reciter of Ritual):
- Appearance: Completely bald, skin tattooed with micro-passages of the Fire Scripture. Drags a red cloth stained with cultists' blood.
- Function: Governs the "Pure Breeding Facilities" and mandatory matings. Uses hot holy oil to judge the compliance and fertility of women.
4. Salmi (Reciter of Punishment):
- Appearance: Wears an expressionless cast-iron death mask; mouth is sewn shut with steel needles. Completely mute.
- Function: Wields the "Sin-Scourge Whip" and "Branding Wheel."