"You stand accused of heresy, treachery, arcane perversion and corruption of the innocent. You have been tried before the highest tribunal of the Misericorde and have been found wanting in the eyes of the Trinity most high."

"As is the fate of all who name themselves Sorcerers so shall you be put to the pyre and therein purified by the flames, your dark taint forever expunged from the Three’s creation."

"You may ask for forgiveness; you already have it. You may scream for mercy; this is merciful. You may die knowing the Grace of the Three, that is our gift."

- Hemi-Lector Arnas, at the burning of Silfred, Warlock of Ulvis

In the time before the breaking of the World the Trinity granted their Priests boons, a magic of sorts that allowed clerics to preform minor works of blessing, healing or purification. Then came the Will War and the fall of Trinity and with their passing the power they had granted their followers was lost. In the absence of divinely inspired power, Fideism arose in the faithful; a power born of blind faith, a power with only a single purpose: to destroy those called Sorcerers.

The Church proclaims Fideism a blessing from the Trinity bestowed upon the truly faithful who have purged themselves of doubt. Those who witnessed the fall of the Gods would debate this but whatever its source it has some ability to shield its practitioners from the ravages of Sorcery.

Fideism is a mixture of mundane skill and metanormal ability that the Church has honed over the past three decades to aid in their crusade against Sorcery. Initiates are first taught how to identify and track Sorcerers and to spot the signs that indicate that magic is being used. They are then taught when Will-Workers are most vulnerable to attack and the ways in which they may be incapacitated. Masters of Fideism, those who truly wish to devote themselves to the ways of the Misericorde, are then schooled in the art of Kenosis; the ability to forge one's faith into a shield against Sorcery by emptying the mind of all but the absolute surety in the truth of the Trinity

"I defy your Will, in the Trinity I find strength.

I defy your Will, through them I endure.

I defy your Will, for my faith is my shield.

I defy your Will, for I subsume my own.

I defy your Will, there is only the Three."

- Canto 194 of the Kenotic mantra

There are three Devotions of Fideism that the faithful can learn to master. The initial devotion consists of training in the hunting and capture of Sorcerers that once mastered allows the initiate to progress on to more advanced devotions. These higher devotions impart knowledge of using faith to shield oneself from the power of the Will; allowing minor Sorcerers to be confronted directly, and the prayers' of congregations to be shaped into aegises against the arcane.

An initiate into the Misericorde is taught to unerringly hunt Will Workers and learns how to separate superstition from reality so that true Sorcerers may be distinguished from hapless scapegoats. Initiates learn to detect the subtle distortions in reality that Sorcerers leave when they unleash their power and study how to trace these distortions to their source.

The art of slaying Sorcerers is also learned. Initiates are taught to avoid direct combat and instead wait until the Sorcerer sleeps, striking with subtle methods such as poison or the herb Eunoia ¹⁾ that can slay or incapacitate the Will-Worker before they can focus themselves and unleash their power.

Through faith the power of the Will may be denied as the Adept learns to focus their belief into a shield against Sorcery, an ability called Kenosis. When they do so the magic of lesser Sorcerers will simply flow around the practitioner; leaving them untouched.

There are limits to this protection however and it can only ward the user against direct magical attacks; falling masonry will still crush, fissures will still swallow and waves will still swamp. While Kenosis is sufficient for dealing with minor Will Workers, those only just awakened to their power, it is no match for more powerful Sorcerers and even the most devout Misericorde will be vulnerable to Sorcerers who have passed the fourth veil.

Those who have truly subsumed themselves in their faith are able not only to focus their own belief through Kenosis but also to focus the belief of others using the rites of Abnegation. A master of Fideism may lead a congregation in prayer using their combined faith to shield large areas around the centre of worship from the onslaught of even the greatest Will-Workers.

This ability is not offensive and cannot bind a Sorcerer's power but it can be used to protect the faithful and places of worship from harm as long as they continue to pray and there are sufficient numbers of them to generate the required faith. Though since no truly great Sorcerers have existed since the breaking of the world the Church has never had the opportunity to test what “sufficient numbers” might be.

Fideism give members of the Church training in how to hunt and attack Sorcerers and also provides them with limited protection against low level Sorcerers; giving Sorcerer hunters the impetus to strike sooner rather than later. It will always be extremely dangerous to attack a Sorcerer directly and Sorcerers who have passed the fourth veil will be able to overcome the protection Kenosis provides with ease. However even the most powerful magic user is vulnerable to mortal weaknesses and training in Fideism means a character has knowledge of how to exploit this.

Ranks in the Fideism skill do not make a character a skilled assassin or warrior rather they provide specific training in particular applications of these skills. Players who wish to play Sorcerer huntings assassins should takes levels in Talent to represent this. Fideism is not just useful to fighter types however and people who have high ranks in Influence will have a congregation to lead in the rite of Abnegation making Fideism as useful for high ranking members of the Church as witchfinders.

If trained in Fideism it will be assumed that you will always use it should the need arise. Hence if a attacked by a Sorcerer you will employ it reflexively and if you turnsheet to attack a Sorcerer (unless you say otherwise) it will be assumed that your plan makes use of the teachings of Fideism.

This doesn't mean you will succeed without a good plan and when targeting especially powerful Sorcerers (those who can overcome Kenosis) you will need to come up with a convincing strategy for how you wish to approach the target and avoid being killed by them before you can subdue them. Fideism will augment such plans though it won't make success a certainty and if the Sorcerer is expecting you all bets are off.

Practitioners of Fideism can move to the next devotion (ie initiate to Adept and then Adept to Preceptor) by spending their 1CP in a turnsheet to do so, they do not need to have used the skill during the previous turn to do so.

Fideism is based on the power of blind faith and hence is not appropriate for members of the Church who have come to doubt their faith in the Trinity. If your Character loses their faith during gameplay then access to the powers of Fideism may also be lost.

If you do play a Sorcerer hunting Misericorde you should bear in mind that the Church as it stands views Sorcerers as absolutely evil, if you converse politely with one, spare one or befriend one you will be in very big trouble.