The Faithwalkers of Brakir are an order of wandering female missionaries who perform healing acts, ceremonial rites, and act as religious lorekeepers for the various tribes and settlements of the Demarian homeworld. They are colloquially known as Sand Sisters.
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Organization
Faithwalkers are Demaria's lone priest caste, headquartered in the Alhiran Temple. They occupy a social rung that is neither above nor below noble or underclasser, although in practice they are generally regarded as greater than underclassers. While no noble would afford a Faithwalker the rights and entitlements of any member of a Great House, most will at least treat one with respect to her face - she may, after all, be the one to preside over his kits' rites, or his own funeral.
There are seldom more than a hundred active Faithwalkers at any given time, and they often travel in small groups of six, as anything larger would become cumbersome and dangerous on the dunes of the Sand Mother.
Duneshadows
Every Faithwalker is protected by a Duneshadow: an unmarried lay brother of the Faith who is trained in combat. They are usually a member of the underclass, are not afforded the same social standing as their charges, and are "given" to their respective Sand Sister by Brakir himself during the seventh year of training.
During the Final Sacrament, prospective Duneshadows must set out alone into the Sand Mother in search of an acolyte, who will be under the effects of dreamwater. The acolyte's actions are therefore unpredictable - they may attack, behave strangely, or may not even notice the warrior at all. He must adapt and protect her until the sacrament is complete, then accompany her back to the Temple, where the Rite of Divine Service is performed and the Duneshadow is sworn to his new Faithwalker. Those who do not find an acolyte are invited to try again in seven years.
Should a Duneshadow's assigned Sister die of unnatural causes, that warrior cannot try again and is forever disgraced in the eyes of the gods and men. Should he himself die, the Faithwalker is required to beg a new shield from Brakir, and once again the hopefuls may compete for a place at her side.
Training (The Seven Summers)
Ten acolytes are chosen from the orphans and wards of the Alhiran Temple every seven years. Each acolyte becomes cupbearer and apprentice to an elder Faithwalker, and spends the next several years learning the necessary skills. Each year of training ends with a grueling final test which begins on the solstice, and concludes with either advancement or death. Few cupbearers survive.
The most important abilities a Faithwalker must master are the four Ls: language, literacy, lore, and location. An understanding of the variances in culture and communication between the Demarian people is critical, as is a knowledge of how and when to travel to what settlement. Faithwalkers are expected to be experts in Demarian history, geography, and dialects, above all else.
Different Sand Sisters will, of course, have different strengths and weaknesses, but all possess at least a basic understanding of self-defense, herbalism and folk medicine, and storytelling. They must be able to perform all ceremonial rites and maintain a strong knowledge of Demarian myths and legends, and demonstrate willingness and ability to assist the areas they visit with various domestic tasks.
Over the course of the first three years, the cupbearer will receive the Gifts of Voice, Claw, and Blood, representing communication, combat, and healing arts respectively. During the next four years, the tests get markedly more difficult:
The Gift of Almighty Sound
During the fourth summer, the cupbearer must make the pilgrimage to the Valley of Shades, where the ghosts of the dead are said to dwell. There, she must ring her ears and nostrils with snowcrystal powder and listen for the voice of Brakir among the whispers of spirits. It is accepted that the Father has said her name when the cupbearer collapses and begins to expire, as none can hope to hear the Great Father speak and maintain a grip on the conscious world. Should the Faithwalkers be unable to revive her, it is acknowledged that the word Brakir spoke was "unworthy."
The Gift of the Father's Mercy
During the fifth summer, the cupbearer must ascend to the Altar of Offerings in the Alhiran Temple and drink from a chalice of Kth'ki viper venom at the stroke of midnight. Should she fail to succumb to the poison by dawn, it is believed that Brakir has lent her his armor, and she is given the antitoxin.
The Gift of Divine Fire
The penultimate summer sees the cupbearer fasting on a diet of fireberries and fireberry wine for seven days. On the final morning, she constructs her first ceremonial bonfire and lights it at high noon in anticipation of performing her first - and traditionally the longest - dziri. She recounts the story of Creation as dictated by Brakir himself to the First Walker ages ago. An inability to control the swirling flame as she speaks is considered a sign that the cupbearer possesses a weak spirit, and the fire of the Great Father is allowed to consume her.
The Gift of Endless Life
The Final Sacrament begins on the solstice day of her seventh summer and is the last of the trials a cupbearer must undergo to be anointed as a Faithwalker. All remaining cupbearers are sent out alone into the Sand Mother for thirty days, with nothing to sustain them but rationed dreamwater. There, they are at the mercy of the desert and Brakir himself, and will experience unique visions that the Great Father will demand they spend their lives meditating upon. Prospective Duneshadows set out in search of the cupbearers, and are responsible for rescuing them; the acolytes are too weak to stand by the thirtieth day and will often be carried back to the temple by their new protectors, making success - and survival - wholly reliant on the intervention of a competent Duneshadow.
Upon the completion of the Final Sacrament, the cupbearer is anointed before the faithful and given the Gift of Endless Life - the formal induction into the Faithwalkers which ensures that even in death, they will live on to walk the sands. The Duneshadow who rescued her is joined with her in the Rite of Divine Service, wherein the temple acknowledges the Great Father's choice in warriors.
Lifestyle and Practices
The life of a Faithwalker is far from easy, and is often spent removed from much of the civilized world. As such, most are unused to the level of luxury that most Demarians have come to take for granted. In addition, while they can be considered among the most knowledgeable and literate of their peoples' lorekeepers, it is rare for them to have more than brief encounters with extraterrestrial races and they therefore have an extremely limited understanding of foreign cultures, technology, and languages.
While the daily activity of a Sand Sister depends on both her current location and the needs of any community she and her colleagues are attending to, she can usually expect to begin her day either leading or participating in the Grace of Morning's Star, wherein Brakir is thanked for the new day. At sundown, the Grace of Evening's Star is conducted, wherein an offering (usually freshly killed) is presented as proof that the Demarian people are worthy of another sunrise. The hours between can be filled with anything from ministry, healing the sick, performing birth, maturity, marriage, or funeral rites, transcribing texts, hunting, travelling, or simply assisting settlements with mundane tasks.
Faithwalkers are the only Demarians who may speak or record the words of Brakir, and when doing so, they are required to perform a dziri, or recitation in fire: the rinsing of the mouth with fireberry wine and igniting the fumes produced when speaking, or burning of the words into a tanned animal hide with a red-hot branding tool called a urakh. If unable to do either of these things, then she, like every other Demarian, is required to paraphrase - to do otherwise is sacrilege.
The Great Marriage Question
Neither Faithwalkers nor Duneshadows are required to be celibate, but as with all things Demarian, there are a lot of honor hoops to jump through.
Marriage between Faithwalker and Duneshadow, while not unheard of, is typically uncommon; the two are usually paired at such a young age that any love that develops between them is familial and not romantic. They may bond with the Great Father's blessing, and both may retain their roles, so long as there is no intent to raise kits.
Faithwalkers may wed other males, though the suitor must have her blessing to challenge her Duneshadow to single combat for his position at her side. Should the challenger emerge victorious, he takes on the role of Duneshadow, and the two may wed with the above conditions.
Should the Duneshadow wish to marry another female, he may not do so unless released from Divine Service by his Faithwalker. From that point on he is no longer a Duneshadow, and cannot attempt to become one again, though there is no disgrace from leaving the Faith this way.
Premarital sex is strictly forbidden in all cases, and any Faithwalker who wishes to have children must receive the blessing of the Temple to be released from her divine task and reduced to the status of underclasser. They will often retain some position within the Faith, but will be forbidden to Walk or perform dziri. It is not without some social stigma: Sand Sisters who forfeit service to the Great Father for their own self-interests are frowned upon among traditionalists, as they have received the Gift of Endless Life and determined that it was not good enough.
The traditional Faithwalker greeting is "shade and water," which is historically their way of ascertaining the friendliness of any given settlement. Those who receive the Faithwalkers in peace respond in kind, thereby offering respite from the hot suns and dry sands. Over the generations, the expression has evolved to also represent a farewell or a general expression of goodwill.
OOC Considerations
A few important things to keep in mind about Faithwalkers:
What they are
Jesuits with a Demarian twist. They are priests and pacifists who, while firmly entrenched in Alhiran traditions of honor, leave glory in battle to the actual warriors. Their glory is a different kind, centered around their ability as teachers, healers, and interpreters of divine will. They are generally excellent speakers and mediators, and few know the Sand Mother as well as they do.
What they are not
Warrior monks. They aren't samurai or Jedi and do not do things like practice katas on desert cliffs or meditate on the art of war. All Sand Sisters are able to endure the harsh environment of the desert, and some may even be skilled hunters or fighters, but this is not (and should not) be the focus of the Faithwalker's attention. Many must rely on their Duneshadows for protection, and that is why Duneshadows exist.
Hiverspace vs. Normalspace
Those Demarians from who reached Hiverspace from the [Rift Crisis] lived - with few exceptions - aboard the colony ship Sanctuary during the Kretonian War, meaning some interaction with outside races occurred before the final destruction of their home universe. This can be safely ignored for any Demarians living in the 2650-era Normalspace Variant, as it never happened.
How do Faithwalkers feel about other Demarian gods?
Demar is an unpopular concept among older Demarian players, so let's just please dismiss him/her/it as some weird cult that died down to the last man in the Rift Crisis. If you mean the Sand Mother, "she" is traditionally not an omnipotent deity, but more accurately a revered personfication of the dangers of the desert itself.