The Nameless Ones were the most fanatical followers of Vishanti. They had no conventional spellcasting ability; their only talent was a secret art that could transfer the cost of casting spells. Put plainly, they were consumables Vishanti had prepared for its representatives.
Their group had existed since roughly the twelfth Sorcerer Supreme and had continued to this day.
Though they dressed exactly like monks, wearing coarse robes and shaving every hair from their heads, what they cultivated was not Buddhist doctrine, but the "Vishanti Sutra." Su Ming had glanced through it before, and it felt more like the Bible.
Buddhism emphasized cultivating one's next life. Do good and accumulate virtue in this life, and the next life would be better in whatever ways.
The customized version of the Vishanti Sutra cultivated by the Nameless Ones, however, spent half its contents describing how past Nameless Ones had died while sharing the burden of the Sorcerer Supreme of their time, while the other half recorded the blissful lives those martyrs enjoyed after ascending to "heaven."
They constantly endured ascetic training to strengthen their will. When necessary, they sacrificed themselves for the Sorcerer Supreme. After death, they would attain perfect freedom and become Blue Birds at the Goddess's side.
The version of the scripture they studied differed from the identically named version used by the birdfolk. It could be called a handbook for brainwashing.
Well, the book had once been called the Scriptures of Oshtur. After Vishanti was established, the Goddess changed its name, though she had only changed the cover. The contents still revolved entirely around herself.
Su Ming did not see what was so great about becoming one of Oshtur's servants after death, but that was what the monks pursued. Even as the Sorcerer Supreme, he had no right to deny