Susannite Church
Susannite Church is the main religious organization in Atamor. Susannites worship only Lady Susanne.
Branches
There are two branches of the Susannite Church that are distinct from the rest. Both of the branches have a lot of autonomy and the Divine Ruler, head of the Susannite Church, has almost no control over them.
The first branch is the Elven Susannite Church. It is a branch to which belong mostly the Elves who migrate to the Kingdom of Lugia. The Elven Church believes that the Mountain Lords, are conduits which connect the world with Lady Susanne.
The second branch is the Krakian Susannite Church. As the name suggest it operates in the Krakian Commonwealth. The main difference to the elven branch and the main branch is that the Krakian Church rejects gender equality. They say that Lady Susanne created people equal, but never intended for males and females to do the same things. According to them the division between male and female roles is the natural order of things.
Mythology & Lore
In the beginning there was only the Forge of Worlds and when the first fire was lit the Makers woke up after a very long time of hibernation. The first to wake was Lady Susanne. She forged Atamor and all living and not living things within it. Susanne loved her creations and went down to it to live among them and rule them as a loving queen.
The so-called Age of Susanne lasted for about a thousand years. From that period came most of the myths about great heroes. Eventually, Lady Susanne had to leave Atamor and return to the Forge of Worlds. It is said that Lady Susanne was forced to leave Atamor by an evil being known as The Fallen. The conflict between Lady Susanne and The Fallen is the official doctrine of the Susannite Church. The Age of Darkness which came after Susanne left was a time when most of Atamor was under the rule of the Empire of Atamor which worshipped The Fallen. During that time most of the knowledge of Susanne and the Forge was suppressed. The empire ruled with an iron fist. It is said that The Fallen demanded regular human sacrifices.
Divine Origins
Irenaeus the Journeyman
Irenaeus was a son of a merchant in one of the bigger cities of the Empire of Atamor. From a very young age he had a feeling that something was wrong about the world and its religion. The practices of the followers of The Fallen never appealed to him. When Irenaeus became an adult he took over his father's business. During one of his trade expeditions he had a dream in which Lady Susanne came to him and told him that he will be the saviour of her people. He saw an ideal world where everyone was equal and were no wars.
Irenaeus went with the word of his dream to the people who suffered the most under the empire's rule. The word spread quickly throughout Irenaeus' home city. Not much later he had enough supporters to take over the city and burn the temples of The Fallen.
Battle at Golden Fields
When the city was secured Irenaeus called for a march to the empire's capital. His army consisted of professional soldiers from the city garrison and the common folk who took tools as weapons. The imperial army met them at Golden Fields, a fertile agricultural region. Imperials had the advantage in every way. However, Irenaeus refused to lay down arms. The Battle at Golden Fields was more of a series of skirmishes than a regular battle.
To resolve the conflict the Emperor himself called Irenaeus for a duel. As the Emperor was trained in combat since childhood he won without difficulty and struck a fatal blow to Irenaeus. When the leader of the rebellion was about to fall dead a beam of light pierced the clouds and healed Irenaeus. Then a voice spoke, a voice of Lady Susanne.
He is the one I was waiting for. Reign of The Fallen is over!
Then the beam of light struck the Emperor and killed him. Irenaeus was taken to the Forge of Worlds as Susanne's journeyman.
Founding of the Church
According to legend, it took only about a year to defeat the empire after the Battle at Golden Fields. It was clear that without the empire many political powers would rise. In order to prevent conflicts between those powers the Susannite Church was founded. The goal of the Church was, and still is, to make sure that everyone lives according to Susanne's prinicple of equality instead of fighting each other.
Tenets of Faith
The most important prinicple of the Susannite Church is equality. Everyone is equal no matter their gender, skin colour or culture.
Priesthood
Positions in the Church can be held by both men and women. Candidates have to go to a school in the capital of one of the dioceses. The education lasts for about 4 years after which the candidate becomes a priest. Usually, the first position of a new priest is an assitant in a parish and only after a few years a priest is given a parish.
All priests of diocese meet once every 10 years to choose a new Divine Duke.
All Divine Dukes choose a Divine Ruler after the death of a previous one.
I like that you've described the two different brances of the church, and also the history. Really interesting religion. :)