The Divine Ütherreich

Cities

The Holy City - Heilige Stadt

Description

The Divine Ütherreich, an empire attempting to restore the former glory of the great, fallen Üth Empire. The old empire conquered most of the eastern half of Ardunor. When it fell, it split into many, smaller nations or city states. The Divine Ütherreich has nominally consolidated a number of nations in the southeast corner of the continent. Most of the nations within this empire still attempt to maintain their individuality, though the emperor's soldiers spread all throughout the empire, ensuring loyalty.
The Ütherreich is a feudal society, where peasants are serfs on minor lord's lands, and those lords then pay tithes to major lords, and so on and so forth until they reach the Emperor.

Virtues

Piety

Worship of the Divine Light is not only virtuous, but expected from most Imperials. Being an atheist, or worshipping other gods, brands you as a heretic, and causes you to be shunned. Imperials pray every chance they get and claim any boon in their life has been delivered by The Light. Everybody goes to Mass.

Priesthood

Priests in the Empire are idolized and many commoners aspire to priesthood. Of course, this path is out of the reach of most.

Sacrifice

Worshipers of the Divine Light are expected to make sacrifices of gold, food, animals, and rarely, people. The commoners make sacrifices/donations to the nobility. The nobility does the same for the priesthood, and the clergy hold public sacrifices where they absolutely sacrifice everything that was given to them to the Divine Light.

Solidarity

Showing support for your neighbor and shunning outsiders is virtuous within the Empire. There may be internal turmoil throughout the Empire, but when threatened by outsiders, the people of the Empire will band together to protect themselves. Taking up arms to fight an outsider is one of the noblest causes a commoner can take.

Acceptance

Along the lines of solidarity, the acceptance of other religions is a big point of contention within the Empire of the Divine Light. The more open minded citizens accept that deities of other religions are simply manifestations of the aspects of the Divine Light, and have no issue with foreigners worshipping them (though they may still take offence to one of their own having such a skewed idea of the Divine Light). The more devout abhor any worship of anything other than the Divine Light.

Arcane Magic

Spontaneous and flashy magic is considered by most in the empire to be wild and unpredictable. Most are distrustful of this kind of magic or are outright afraid of it. "Proper" magic involves ritual, prayer, and typically can only be performed by the clergy.

Predictability

Having a plan for yourself is always considered a good thing in the Empire. Many residents have their entire days planned out to the minute and will follow this plan to the letter. Planning one's entire life out is not uncommon either, and in fact most children are expected to do it as a "passing of rites" to become an adult. "You are but a child, unless your path is set". An Imperial who does not have a path in life is suspicious.
Birthdays are momentous occasions for an Imperial where they compare their current place with their Plan. Imperials falling behind in their plan are expected to spend the next year working as hard as they can to catch up, and those who are on track usually take a year to relax and take it easy.
Of course, the clergy are so pious, and they must always be reaching their goals, as they always are taking years off, and the peasants are so busy with their daily toil, so obviously they don't have as much time and usually fall behind. Peasant's plans, when given by the clergy, frequently detail how much grain they should be farming this year, or how many horseshoes should be smithed.

Emulating the Üth

Though the Üth Empire existed centuries ago, most Imperials believe The Divine Ütherreich to be a reincarnation of this fallen empire. Citizens of the Ütherreich attempt to emulate any of the customs (supposed or otherwise) from this era.

Gladiatorial Arenas

One such custom are the gladiatorial arenas. Many of these arenas had fallen into disrepair in the time since the Empire, though the Ütherreich has rebuilt most of them. Many historians argue what kind of combats happened in the original arenas, whether it was simply champions versus beasts or if there really ever was any humans fighting each other. Most matches held today are between the champions of each arena against heretics or outsiders who are unworthy.

Violence

Violence towards another Imperial is a sin. Violence towards outsiders is a virtue. "Harm not thy neighbor, protect thyself from outlanders". Unfortunately, many lords within the empire tend to forget the first portion of this decree.

Architects and Masons

Because a large portion of the Ütherreich is within wetlands, architects and masons are highly virtuous. To build or design a stable, beautiful structure is to make an offering to the Divine Light itself. Many buildings in the Ütherreich are impressive and formidable. A peasant's second highest aspiration, after joining the clergy, is to become a mason or architect.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Subsidiary Organizations

• Church of the Divine Light