Church of Emku

The church of Emku fosters learning wherever they go, and often work with the church of Mudutu to provide education to the masses.

Structure

At the bottom of the order are the Learners, not strictly speaking members of the church’s power structure, but unusually devout laymen. The lowest rank in the church is the Students, who, as the name implies are students of the faith who hope, through great study and devotion, to become active members of the church in time. Above the Students are the Disciples, these are Students who have proven themselves to be true to the church and devoted in their vows. Above the Disciples are the Teachers, Teachers are responsible for the running of a single shrine or temple. In towns or cities with multiple shrines and temples there will be an Instructor responsible for all the shrines and temples in the community. Next up are the Academics who are responsible for all the temples of Emku in a single kingdom. Above the Academics are the Philosophers each is responsible for all the temples in a single region. There are three Philosophers, one each for the Old Kingdoms, New Kingdoms, and Frontier Lands. The current Philosopher of the Frontier Lands is Hereweald of Feler. He is currently headquartered in Etef but is considering moving to a more central location. At the top of the Church is the Savant. The current Savant is Kinborough of Azen, who is headquartered in Athneftendez.

Public Agenda

The church of Emku seeks to spread learning throughout the land to all intelligent beings. They also seek to preserve books and have some of the largest book repositories in Arda. These repositories are always growing as members of the church hierarchy are expected to write and save those writings. In addition to saving knowledge the seek to uncover knowledge, believing that knowledge should eb shared with all, this sometimes outs them at odds with the church of Mudutu who collect and keep secrets, but the two churches normally cooperate, especially when it comes to educating the masses.

Assets

While not wealthy per se, when it comes to gold and silver, the church of Emku does well for itself, many parents donate to the church in return for the free schools they provide, usually in cooperation with the church of Mudutu. Like the church of Mudutu they keep extensive libraries which are available to nonmembers for a nominal fee. These fees and donations allow the church to meet its needs and a little more.

History

The church of Emku was first established in the southern Old Kingdoms. From there it spread to the rest of the Old Kingdoms building temples and schools wherever they went. When humans first started exploring the New kingdoms, they church if Emku went with them hoping to provide education not only to the explorers but the indigenous peoples there. However, the Elves and Dwarves of the New kingdoms already worshipped Emku (as Aywalet to the elves and Togtir to the dwarves).

Worship of Emku spread through the New Kingdoms ahead of the waves of human expansion. Naturally when people began exploring the Frontier Lands priests of Emku travelled with them seeking to enlighten the natives. However, most of the intelligent races of the Frontier Lands were less than receptive to their message. The manneskor of the northern reaches were open to the teachings of Emku where it didn’t contradict their traditional ways (and sometimes when it did). When mangen and elves began settling the Frontier Lands the worship of Emku established a strong foothold in the Frontier Lands, and even now missionaries are heading east into the unknown reaches.

Tenets of Faith

• Never stop learning,
• Teachers are purveyors of knowledge and should be honored.
• Elders possess wisdom and should be respected.
• Books are sacred and should be preserved.
• Knowledge needs to be preserved and passed on.

Ethics

The church teaches that the greatest goal one can have in life is to learn and educate oneself. They realize that the lay brethren are usually too busy with the simple business of surviving from day to day to devote their lives to study, but they offer evening classes throughout the year to encourage lay members to learn. It is believed that every activity offers the opportunity for new learning, and farmers, and craftsmen are encouraged to share what they learn during the day to day practice of their profession.

Teachers, whether members of the church or not, should be honored for their work in passing on knowledge. This includes not just professional teachers, but any who take it upon themselves to pass on knowledge, whether a parent teaching a child to walk or a professor in a university.

Knowledge untampered by wisdom can be dangerous, and therefore wisdom is as important as knowledge. Those possessed of wisdom are to be respected. Those who have experienced life the most possess the most wisdom and therefore are to be respected for the wisdom they have accumulated.

Books are repositories of knowledge and thus are sacred. Anyone who damages a book through negligence should be censured. Anyone who deliberately damages a book should be punished. Anyone who destroys a book should be punished severely. The preservation of books is a vital task.

The loss of knowledge is a tragedy that can take years if not centuries to undo, if it can be undone at all. Knowledge should be preserved so that it can be passed on from one generation to the next. A fact may seem trivial or unimportant, but one can never know when it might be a critical piece of knowledge.

Worship

Worship services are held in the morning as the sun rises. They consist of singing or reciting poems, usually in honor of Emku or praising knowledge. Then the congregants take terns sharing new things they have learned. These can be obscure lore simple practical facts or interesting news tidbits. Afterwards the Teacher in charge delivers a short homily encouraging the worshippers to learn and spread knowledge.

Priesthood

Students, Disciples, and Teachers form the rank and file of the church. When performing their ecclesiastical duties priests of Emku from Students up to the Savant wear silver-trimmed, blue robes tied with a silver sash. The width of the sash and the trim of the robe indicate the rank with Students having just a cord and no trim to the Savant who wears a very wide sash and trim. Except in the coldest weather the clergy of Emku go barefoot and bare headed. Those of the lay brethren who demonstrate themselves faithful and diligent in their studies, are invited to join the Students. From there the Student’s aptitude both for learning and for teaching determine how far they advance and how quickly. Students and Disciples generally spend an hour or more each day copying texts to preserve writing and to create copies to be sent to other temples. Students assist Disciples in teaching classes for children and youths on basics of reading writing and arithmetic. They also maintain the libraries kept at temples to Emku, assisting researchers and in their free time conducting their own research. Teachers in addition to conducting worship services (assisted by Disciples) teach more advanced classes for young adults and adults. To advance a Student must produce a written work, generally a short treatise, essay, or poem. The local Teacher judges the quality of the work often using magic to ensure it is an original work and not plagiarized. Likewise, Disciples to advance must produce a longer written work, usually the length of a scroll. If the Disciple’s Teacher deems the work worthy it is sent to the local Academic for review, and he (or she) decides if the author is worthy of advancing to the rank of Teacher. Advancement above the rank of Teacher is predicated on the needs of the church. When an opening presents itself the superior picks who will fill it. The exception being the Savant who is chosen by a meeting of the Philosophers guided by Emku. By the time a person reaches the rank of Teacher, they are generally well versed in academic subjects, including history, geography, and science as well as the tenets of the church. They have also specialized in an area of study from which they will produce writings for distribution.