Vymonni/Wychlari

The vymonni and the wychlari are holy men and women who wander the Rusivan Peninsula. They generally live and operate in the western portions of Moscovy. Mount Nedanya, the largest mountain in the Nedanyan Mountain Range, and Lake Bakkal, which sits in its shadow, are considered holy sites. According to the mystics, the boundaries between the material world and the spirit world are weakest here. This allows them to commune with spirits, who give them the power to use healing powers, see the future, and other magical abilities.

The Vymonni and wychlari have numerous functions among the peasant population of Moscovy. Many are healers, who are trained in the use of herbs, spices, leeches and other techniques. Many are storytellers, who have memorized the history of the Rusivi people, of Moscovy, and of the known world. They perform birthing rites, funeral rites, and tend to the spiritual needs of the men and women who seek them out.

Technically, the mystics are illegal in the kingdom, a decree made long ago by the Old Order. According to the official position of the church, the vymonni and the wychlari preach heretical beliefs. The early patriarchs of the Old Order fought to purge the Rusivan Peninsula of its native religion and convert the population, and they see the vymonni and the wychlari as the inheritors of their heretical beliefs. Very rarely does the church take any kind of action against them, however, as these wandering holy men and women are seen as folk heroes and saints by the majority of the peasant population.

Vymonni and wychlari generally live ascetic lifestyles, abandoning physical pleasures and possessions in order to pursue a holy, spiritual lifestyle. They survive on the goodwill and alms of others, to whom they give blessings and perform holy rites for. The vymonni and wychlari have no set dogma, teachings, or tenets. While beliefs vary from individual to individual, there is a great deal of commonality and overlapping philosophies in their ideologies. All believe in some kind of impersonal creator force and spirits, which are intermediaries between that spectral world and the physical.