The Oculosian Church

A religious denomination that practices a form of Christian mysticism, comprised exclusively of mages.

Similar to the catholic church, just more secretive, with the High Priest of Cumbria occupying a similar position to the pope.

High Priest Birkbeck Hodgson. Dr. Jules Devine also dabbles with the Oculosian doctrine when it serves him.

They believe that mages are not merely humans with heightened intuition, but were rather gifted their powers and favored by God. They posit that Jesus himself was a mage, that his miracles were acts of magic, and that his "likeness" to god indicates that all mages are more god-like than the non-magical. A central Oculosian belief is that come judgment day, when all non-mages are purged from the earth and sent to their respective realm of the afterlife, the Earth will be reborn and will belong only to the mages, the most active, "honorable," and faithful of whom will be rewarded with luxuries far greater than anything within the ascetic paradise of heaven. They are beyond eternal paradise or eternal judgement; they will earn eternal opulence, eternal bounty for their enactment of God's dirty work.

They aim to "perform miracles." What this means can vary. High Priest Hodgson suggests that they themselves are minor gods, upon whom lie the responsibility to enact God's will as they see fit. They determine "God's will" through a variety of divination methods, including tarot. Some fringe groups believe that they are manifested angels meant to "enact God's will" only through good action, and that God alone is meant to judge and punish, but Hodgson and the Cumbrian sect do not subscribe to this notion.

They borrow many rituals from catholic tradition, such as communion (but with enchanted wine) and confession (but with swift and immediate magical punishment: members of the clergy are incentivized to confess once each day regardless, because the punishments if they don't are worse). They will typically pray and perform incantations in Latin, and they hold intimate ceremonies only by dim candlelight.