The town of Rellekor, in the south of Thrane, is an unusual settlement primarily consisting of tieflings and other outcasts. Founded by Keeper Saren Rellek in the seventh century, Rellekor is a haven where planetouched can learn to safely harness their talents. The region around Rellekor is sparsely populated; while Keeper Saren’s proclamation removed tieflings from scrutiny as a matter of dogma, even relatively tolerant farmers have concerns about making a home near a village of natural sorcerers who are learning to control themselves.
This sparse population made the city a target for an Aundairian invasion during the Last War. While the bishop’s priority was the safety of the residents, many of the older tieflings chose to make a stand and defend their home. A Mabaran-touched tiefling named Hope (they/them) led this contingent, ultimately giving their life in an act of astonishing sorcery to drive the Knights Arcane back. Hope’s sacrifice has been memorialized in one of the stained-glass windows that decorates the town’s central church.
Besides the rising threat of the Pure Flame, one current controversy with Rellekor is whether it has become too strong of an expectation that all Thranish tieflings will go there. The average age of arrival has steadily dropped over the last two and a half centuries, and today most tieflings arrive as infants never knowing their birth parents.
Source: Cultures of Thrane
Rellekor was established as a haven for planetouched tieflings. When Thrane
families give birth to a tiefling (due to planar influences), they will
usually turn the child over to the church, who will in turn deliver it to
Rellekor. Thus, the population of Rellekor is made up of planetouched
tieflings with ties to many different planes. It’s not a prison; it’s a place
where tieflings can be with their own kind without dealing with the fear of
others. Priests of the Flame seek to help tieflings come to terms with their
planetouched nature and any gifts or powers associated with it, and help them
find a path to the light… while Templars stand ready to deal with those who
prove dangerous or irredeemably sociopathic. Note that most of these priests
and templars are themselves tieflings.
People of Thrane thus have some concept of tieflings, but
bear in mind that part of the point of Rellekor is to keep tieflings from
mingling with the general population. The basic attitude is thus that
tieflings are dangerous, much like people with aberrant
dragonmarks.
Source: Dragonmarks: Tieflings
Most people know that the longest reigning Keeper of the Flame—Keeper Saren
Rellek—was a khoravar. Fewer know that Saren was also a planetouched aasimar
of Irian. Saren felt a great kinship with the heavily stigmatized tieflings,
and he rose to become their greatest defender upon becoming the Keeper. During
his tenure, he advocated fiercely on behalf of many marginalized individuals
in the Five Nations, eventually declaring that tieflings were not considered
creatures of innate evil.
Still, Saren knew this would not be enough to protect the tieflings of the
Five Nations. After consulting with other influential tieflings within Thrane,
he proposed a solution. The Church of the Silver Flame would maintain a town
for tieflings. A school would be provided for young planetouched to grow and
develop their innate magic in peace. It would be their safe haven, and the
church would maintain the town for as long as it was needed to protect the
vulnerable population.
The tieflings agreed and named the town 'Rellekor', meaning ‘town of
protection’ or ‘sanctuary’ in Infernal. As part of their gratitude, they in
turn honored Seran with a name: Rellek, ‘Protector’. The Keeper used it as a
surname until the end of his days.
Rellekor Today
Today, Rellekor is a small but thriving town. It is built around a large
central church, flanked by dozens of houses for the children who attend the
school. While Rellekor is a space intended for tieflings, genasi and
planetouched aasimar have a strong presence in town. The town welcomes
outcasts of all kinds, and there is a rapidly growing community of
changelings, shifters, and even those possessing aberrant dragonmarks.
Over time, the Church of the Silver Flame has accepted increasingly younger
applicants, and most tieflings today arrive at Rellekor as infants. Rellekor’s
children are assigned a team of caregivers to see them as they grow. This
includes a wet nurse for the very young, teachers, magical tutors, and
priests. Many of these mentors went through Rellekor’s tutoring program as
children and see their charges as younger siblings.
As part of Rellekor’s program—unless a child has been orphaned—the church
mandates that parents maintain contact with their children. This includes both
consistent communication through letters and attendance of at least one
visiting day a year. These visiting days are special events, often falling on
important holidays for the Silver Flame so that families can celebrate
together.
Students graduate at the age of 16. Some head back to their families and
hometowns, taking their place as heirs to farms, businesses, or artisan
trades. An equal number stay in Rellekor, opening stores of their own or
working with Rellekor’s mentorship program.
Curiously, however, the majority of Rellekor’s students become missionaries,
priests, and templars of the Silver Flame. Some theorize that because
tieflings are influenced by evil at birth, they better understand the
necessity to fight it. Others take a more pragmatic view, seeing the Rellekor
clergy as wanting to repay a perceived debt to the church.
Source: Tiefling Treatise
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