Since the early days of the Sani Sabik during the Reclaiming, they have canonized scriptures that the mainstream Amarrian faith rejected. In the centuries that followed their sect being outlawed on Amarr, new texts have been written and the two religions have only further diverged. Altogether, these selected works make up the “Sanicanoncial Scriptures”.
Original documents are preserved along with a centralized digital archive of the Sanicanonical texts inside a sprawling Sabik-Canopolis on KFIE-Z II. This archive is maintained by some of the Red God’s most honored priests, charged with preserving the texts that sit at the heart of their faith. These same texts are the basis for the infamous rituals of the Blood Raider Covenant. A scant few of their most significant passages have been reproduced here.
The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik
The Sani Sabik live many different lives, but all are structured by core rituals. These rituals are organized into the Ten Sacraments. They are how adherents reaffirm their commitment to the Red God, each other, and their own personal paths. The Sacraments were laid out by the first members of the Sani Sabik, and though some interpretations may change, the core text has remained the same.
The Ten Sacraments themselves are:
1 - Begetting the Sabik (rituals conducted following birth)
2 - Sealing of the Sabik (confirmation into the faith)
3 - Covenant of the Hunter (confirmation as a hunter of the blood, for example, as a Blood Raider warrior)
4 - Covenant of the Scribe (confirmation as a priest)
5 - Sani Communion (bloodletting and blood drinking rituals)
6 - Mingling of the Sani (marriage rituals)
7 - Red Exaltation (immortality rituals, some of the rarest and most sacred rituals)
8 - Confirmation of the Savant (confirmation of an individual as a Savant)
9 - Marking the Dead (funeral rites, including entering the name of a member into the Book of the Dead)
10 - Draining Impurity (rituals of excommunication, including removing names from the Book of the Dead)
Let yourself be bound by blood
To the faithful
And their Great Truth.
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 2:4
Carry with you a promise;
Written in blood,
Locked in silver,
and be blessed by the Red God.
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 2:9
Purity is a crimson stag.
Before the feast,
Must come the hunt.
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 3:3
Adorn yourself not in gold
But in the crimson trophies of hunts past,
So all might witness God’s grace
And know its price.
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 3:17
Let your body be the soil
Your soul the seed
And sacred blood its nourishment.
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 5:3
Drink not from the profane
Lest you be brought low,
Sup from a worthy vessel
And through its nectar be transformed
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 5:9
Eternity in flesh
Is an eternity with the Red God,
For he lives in you
As you live within him.
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 7:5
Blessed be the Savant soul
Freed from base dirt
By their own will divine.
- Sanicanonical Scripture, The Ten Sacraments of Sani Sabik, 8:2
The Apocryphon
The Apocryphon is a collection of different texts, all of which were once canonical Amarrian Scriptures. Some are even believed to date back to the time of Gheinok the Wise.
Not all the scriptures within the Apocryphon are recognized by the Sani Sabik. Those that are were declared Sanicanonical before the cult was outlawed. Many early followers were commoners attracted by the possibility of ascension outside of their caste, and these texts often speak to that interest.
Ironically, it is Blood Raiders' sworn enemies, the Order of St. Tetrimon, who hold the Apcryphon most dear. For that Order, the entire collection is worthy of canonization.
My word lies within all,
All it requires is the breath of faith,
To ignite the fire,
So the lost can find their way,
So the fallen can rise,
To take their place as my chosen,
For you are all my creation,
And are all equal in my kingdom.
- Apocryphon, Lost Passages 14:12
Heed not his words with thine ears alone
Take it into your heart
And let it fill your veins,
Take it into your lungs
And share it with your every breath.
- Apocryphon, The Book of Grace 22:17
I had thought revelation a golden door
But now I see a staircase carved in iron
With each truth, a step towards God.
- Apocryphon, The Book of Truth 3:17
Book of Redemption
Ancient in origin, the Book of Redemption was once a core Amarrian text. It is comprised of a series of visions reported by an unknown prophet. Those who follow the book believe the author was one of the first settlers on Amarr Island. Those who question its veracity point to a number of contradictions with the Amarrian historical account. For these detractors, it is no more than the insane ramblings of a heretic.
According to the Sani Sabik, the Book of Redemption fell out of favor with the Amarr during the Reclaiming as it promoted a personal relationship with the Almighty and the possibility of spiritual growth beyond the caste restrictions of the Empire. When it was declared heretical shortly after the Sani Sabik were outlawed, they embraced it as a sign that it was their duty to preserve the Book’s teachings.
Farewell fertile soil
Lost across salt-poisoned sea
We stand now on barren rock,
Yet, from this doom
The seeds of our redemption grow.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 1:2
These words art mine,
But before they wert mine,
They fell from an iron mask,
Beneath eyes like fire.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 1:7
When gates lie open
The Strong shalt prey upon the Weak,
And only those who bare truth’s burden
may carry it along heaven’s road.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 2:12
We art as the Lord hath made us,
It is by his hand that our worth is forged
Not by mortal acts; Yet mortal acts may
Our worth reveal.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 2:16
Ten thousand eyes look skyward
and nine thousand art blinded
We art the one thousand
And we shalt in the Lord’s light be remade eternal.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 4:21
Those who dare not see shalt be blind
And those who speak falsely made mute
For hope belongs to the faithful as
Strength belongs to those strong enough to claim it.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 11:5
Fill thy vessel with thine enemy's wine
And be fortified by it.
Let their wasted strength
In holy service be redeemed.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 15:9
Hark,
Before the red dawn
A new star rises,
First light of a new age.
All who embrace the rebirth shalt by its light be lifted
whilst those who turn to darkness shalt ever in darkness be.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Book of Redemption 23:23
Confessions of Molok
Molok the Deceiver is the most reviled figure in the Amarrian faith, and his elevation by the Sani Sabik is for the Amarr their vilest piece of doctrine.
To the Amarr Molok is the betrayer of their holiest Emperor, their faith's greater adversary. For the Sani Sabik, he is a precursor to their faith who committed an act of divine rebellion. For them, he is the first to come close to the “Great Truth” of the Sani Sabik.
The Sani Sabik claim that the Confessions of Molok point to a deeper truth. They hold that these confessions were written as he awaited his execution, with his final words being added as an addendum. The Amarr claim that they are a fabrication crafted as an insult against their faith.
The Centenarian Emperor.
I called him father, though I was not of his blood.
In his glory
There was the warmth of summers unending.
Yet in his shadow,
Bitter winter and poverty did reign;
And his shadow was long.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 1:6
I went out among the people
And saw that they had faith not in the Lord
But in the Emperor first,
And their own weakness second.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 3:3
Why do you toil so?
“For it is what the Lord commands!”
And how do you know it?
“Because our Emperor has told us so!”
And I wept, for I knew they were lost.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 3:19
We are the Chosen
Yet if we are worthy
Why must we be weak?
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 12:1
Behind silver and gold
They whispered tales of beauty and power
But when their masks slipped
I saw a vision of our destruction.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 15:27
What is the weight of a lie
balanced against the sin of idolatry?
What is it to betray a man
If it means being true to the Lord?
Each of us must carry our own truth
And under its weight let our own strength grow
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 18:11
I could not save the drowning
For they believed they could not swim.
I could not cure the sick
For they had surrendered their flesh to lies.
But I was not drowned, nor was I sick,
and I was free to cry war,
And we free did a choir make.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 20:19
Once I did serve a man,
and in that serving was blind to the truth of our Lord.
My blood will soon be spilled, yet
That blood is richer for the choices I made.
Hear me now, all you who have been humbled;
Though now I die,
First I did live.
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Confessions of Molok 23:23
Meditations on a Crimson Chalice
Omir Sarikusa, leader of the Blood Raider Covenant, has attained a status amongst his people akin to a living Saint or Prophet. He has widely impacted the thinking of the Sani Sabik to the extent that his writings have been canonized within his own lifetime. His ”Meditations on a Crimson Chalice” are the newest addition to the Sanicanonical Scriptures, and they are extremely popular with Bood Raider priests.
"Molok, libeled as 'The Deceiver' by the false faith, was truer than any so-called 'True Amarr' follower of the corrupted throne squatters could ever be. He it was that understood the true nature of the universe. There is only one truth: power is all; naked, merciless force wielded by those with the will to grapple with it. We drink the blood of the powerful and the pure because to survive and advance we must feed on their energy and make it our own. This is the lesson of Molok. His failure is of no moment, his glimpse of the Great Truth is all that matters."
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Omir Sarikusa’s Meditations on a Crimson Chalice, 3rd Session
"Be wary of those who offer you aid with a smile and words of encouragement. They are false. Those that give life so that they may live are more reliable and true in their motives. Eternity beckons for the Sabik but travelers on that road must be clothed in the blood of the weak and refreshed by the blood of the powerful and pure. Only give succor to a true fellow traveler, that they may aid you on your journey along that road."
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Omir Sarikusa’s Meditations on a Crimson Chalice, 5th Session
"Terror and murder are tools that serve our great work well but only fools mistake them for ends in themselves. When an atmosphere of unremitting fear is to our purpose, by all means we should horrify and cow the weak with the ferocity of slaughter we bring to their pitiful communities. Even still, the greatest terror can be evoked with the hidden blade and subtle whispers from the shadows unseen. The Great Truth can only be approached by those who master all the ways of power: bloodthirsty fools and unreasoning murderers can never make progress on our path."
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Omir Sarikusa’s Meditations on a Crimson Chalice, 10th Session
"Use a cloak of deception whenever it suits the purpose of power. The corrupted faith holds deceit to be among the greatest of sins. In this, as in so much, they are false to themselves and to the system of this world. The truth of power is all that we need. Use that truth alone and care not for pious prattle of those who are weaker in spirit and purpose. If you must hide for the greater work, hide. If you must lie for the greater work, lie. If you must deny me and our truth for the greater work, deny me."
- Sanicanonical Scriptures, Omir Sarikusa’s Meditations on a Crimson Chalice, 14th Session