TRESUM is a tripartite religion. The three Houses of Tresum are:

• MOON (Female)
• SUN (Male)
• SKY (the prophesied combination of male and female)

The gender associations are not as clearly delineated as they first appear to be. Though the characters do not yet know it, the Sky House prophecy will be fulfilled by persons of non-traditional sexuality.

Believers in Tresum follow the teachings of the BOOK OF TRESUM, but different practitioners interpret it differently. The MOON HOUSE and SUN HOUSE each have their own version of the BOOK OF TRESUM. The SKY HOUSE combines the wisdom of both books.

The Books of Tresum are unreadable to a lay-person. As a student of magic becomes more skilled, they are able to read more and more of the pages, and master more and more spells. There are pages of the book that are unreadable by even the highest ranking practitioners. It is believed that only an Avatar of the Sky will be able to read these pages.

The purpose of the religion of Tresum is to be the great balancing power between male and female energy on Earth. This encompasses all things.

Practitioners of Tresum do not call themselves witches and warlocks, though they are often referred to that way by laymen. The ranks of practitioners of Tresum are:

• Aspirant (a young or uninitiated person)
• Ascendant (a student of the art of Tresum, lately risen from Aspirant)
• Artisan (a journeyman practitioner with many abilities)
• Avatar (the High Priest or Priestess; there is only one Avatar per house in each sect; each sect is associated with a particular region)

Practitioners increase their power in Tresum incrementally twice a year through special group ceremonies at each solstice, by which they are able to tap into the forces of the earth and become stronger. Teachers and students join their powers together in these ceremonies of Lux (at the winter solstice) and Lumina (at the summer solstice).

In Dante’s Cove, generations ago, the House of the Moon decided it wanted ALL the power ALL the time and “reinterpreted” the book their own way. Gone was the coupling of the same sexes at Conjunction, replaced by a female Avatar and male “innocent.” But tradition cannot be put aside easily. The same sex coupling of the Conjunction is something that the offspring of these Avatars have had in their blood for generations -- they’re still drawn to it. And, despite the hatred between Grace and Ambrosius, there is a sexual draw between them even now -- the call to create an heir.

The seasonal ceremonies of Lux and Lumina have gone unfulfilled in Dante’s Cove for over 150 years. Because Grace imprisoned Ambrosius and her ordained gestation never took place, the Tresum powers in Dante’s Cove were dammed up for decades, awaiting the restoration of a normal cycle. The magical springs dried up, and no new practitioners of Tresum have been seen in the cove for generations -- until the arrival of Van.



TRESUM OUTSIDE DANTES COVE

Outside Dante’s Cove, other followers of Tresum have gone on as intended and struggle to keep the world in balance, but it’s an imperfect job. Society and the environment have both suffered from the imbalances in the current practice of Tresum. The world we’re living in would be far more peaceful and healthy were Tresum stronger. In our current, blemished world, torn by war and pollution, the natural world suffers. The healing magical hot springs around the world (including the ones in Dante’s Cove) have lost much of their powers, leaving them in decline.