The One Faith
Divine Origins
The One Faith grew out of the reverence for Islik the Divine King as he lived in Creation as a Mortal. Living in and around the lands of the People of the Blood, Islik would take on lives of elves, humans, orcs and mixed-blood folks throughout history following his rebellion against the Great Cycle and creation of the Afterlife. The Divine King lived many lives, potentially dozens or even hundreds depending on one's interpretation of older scholarly texts and oral histories that pervade the Steppelands and the Lands of the Eye. These lives left behind many more influences: (1) actions, (2) sayings, (3) teachings, (4) rulings, (5) artwork, and, of course, (6) relationships and children. These "mundane" words and acts are all in addition to the "divine" actions that the more-hierarchical Church of the Divine King places primacy upon. This is where the tenets of the One Faith diverge from their cousins in Islik as it tends to focus primarily, often solely, on the lessons and wisdom inherent in the mundane lives lived by the Divine King.
Primarily a faith professed by the nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of the Steppelands, the One Faith has adherents throughout the western world. As far north as the Lands of the Eye, as far west as the enclaves on the Gold Coast, as far east as Aldoon, and as far south as Westervale, Mercadia and even Greyvale. For over a millennia, the center of the faith has been the Prophet's Dome in the city of Qorum. The "sole city" in the Steppes, the city of Qorum was originally founded by the Imperial Dwarves as a trading and logistics outpost but is now administered by agents of the Prophet called "the Outer Circle." These mundane and "worldly" matters are apart from the matters of the faith itself, and it is an "Inner Circle" of Priests, Preachers and Scholars from all over the world that advise the Prophet on matters of the faith of the One Faith: theology, curriculum, social considerations and artistic expressions.
The nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyles of the first adherents of the One Faith have had a direct impact upon the development of its tenets, teachings, liturgy and ritual. This has changed as more folks from wider areas have also adopted the religion for themselves. The tools used, the way in which they are used, have all developed alongside that of the Prophet's Dome as successive mundane administrations and religious synods have become more sophisticated and idiosyncratic.
Cosmological Views
The One Faith is predicated on the world as it was created by the elder goddess Yhera and her Pantheon as it is in the elven tradition. In its approaches, both the One Faith and the Church of the Divine King accept the history and story of the Old Faith with its deities and sages. What it purports to be, though, is the next chapter in that story. The Old Faith has gone as far as it can, and the two sects of the Divine King are the new way. Having rejected the prison of the Great Cycle of rebirth, Islik created a new path and a new destiny for mortals in Creation by crafting an afterlife and living lives that serve as an example of proper thought and right action.
While the Church focuses on the divine actions of the Divine King in his forging of the Afterlife, the One Faith focuses on the mortal lives of the Divine King. While the Old Faith and other religions often focus on the importance of observing ritual and liturgy to acknowledge the influence of the Heavens upon the Earth, the One Faith places importance of the conduct of mortals as they live today. Making the world a better place, defending the world from evil, and expanding the influence of the One Faith throughout the Earth: all of these things can have widespread and overarching influence upon not only the mundane world, but also in the Heavens. The notion here is one that identifies the reciprocity that exists in the relationship between the Earth and the Heavens, that the influence flows in both directions, not just from on high and to all under Heaven.
In this, it is believed that the right thought, words and actions can create energy that can change the whole of Creation for the better. That the forces of the Divine King and the Faithful are as active in the Divine worlds as they are in the mundane one. Priests have spent days arguing whether the chief otherworldly servants of the Divine King, the winged men and omen known as Angels, are active in not only the Afterlife, but all aspects of Creation: the Heavens, the Earth, the Afterlife and even perhaps other planes. They have also argued just as much on how these beings are created, how they are sustained, and what their overall purposes can be.
There is an importance placed on the concept of freedom within the One Faith. That the chief concern of the Divine King has always been the ability of the mortal soul to escape the spiritual prison that is the cycle of rebirth put in place by Yhera and protected by most within her Pantheon. The specific nature of "spiritual freedom" is subject to much debate amongst the clergy, but it's almost wholly understood that "a way out" of the great cycle is a good thing given the rampant misery of life for most of the inhabitants of Creation. Whether and how these things are acted upon is subject to various schools of thought within the One Faith. There are two main schools of thought regarding the solutions to ascension and escape: an internal path where the challenge is to remove oneself from desire/temptation/bad influence to prevent despair, and an external path where one acts to make the world a better place to prevent despair or remove the things that create despair.
Ethics
With the concept of spiritual freedom being so important, and the importance of individuals within various nomadic societies, there is a strong ethical position on the sovereignty of the individual in body, mind and spirit.
Slavery is forbidden.
Indoctrination and coercion is forbidden.
Charm and mind-affecting abilities are strictly forbidden.
Animating flesh, binding spirits and the like are all forbidden.
Preventing due ritual at death is forbidden, individuals -- even enemies -- should not be denied the right of their souls to be judged according to the edicts of the Divine King.
People get to choose for themselves, even if they choose in a way that is seen as foolhardy.
As a result, many of the organizations within those realms and places that adhere to the One Faith are far less hierarchical than others. In contrast to the Church of the Divine King, the One Faith places primacy on the individual making unfettered decisions as the basis for judging their worth -- however defined -- rather than things that were not the product of their own choices such as caste, ethnicity, and so on. In some places, there is a meritocratic streak. This is true on the streets of Qorum and the guild and meeting halls of Westervale.
There are different approaches to the Afterlife, an inner path and an outer path. For some, the question of salvation is how to divorce oneself from desire in order to rise above the despair inherent to mortal life. For others, the solution is to address the worldly causes of despair. In many instances, these schools run opposite to one-another; in some curious ways, these two paths are coterminous and concurrent with one-another in both individuals and within society.
Worship
Congregations of the One Faith tend to settle into three formats: (1) tribal or family worship, (2) community-based worship and (3) individual, scholarly or meditative worship.
Many tribes on the Steppes and families within more-settled places tend to have a favoured incarnation of the Divine King. They often place importance on learning and understanding the specific details of an incarnation's life and trials, words and actions. This is especially true for those tribes or families that had an incarnation born into it.
In settled places, communities come together to worship in various ways. The Thessids gather in natural places together to sing songs and perform liturgical musical pieces. The Republicans of Westervale gather in former temples and cathedrals of the Church to worship, they have converted these formerly opulent and hierarchical places into more pedestrian and approachable places to study holy texts together and talk through their interpretations -- they use discourse as a means to worship.
Many of the Qorum-based clerical establishment embrace various forms of individual worship. For some, this is the process of reading the writings of the incarnations, or reading scholarly accounts of the Divine King's lives. For others, this is performing the music, reciting the poetry, or singing the songs created by the incarnations of the Divine King. In many instances, it is the silent contemplation and mindfulness of meditation and such practices that focus the mind of living this life and being in this moment.
Priesthood
The clergy of the One Faith is separated into three main branches: the Preachers, who bring the Faith to the World; Scholars, who bring the World to the Faithful; and the Priests, who seek out and interpret the words, actions and creations of the Divine King as a mortal to lead the peoples of the Faith.
Each has their own practice and focus, and these vary from place to place and culture to culture as well. The One Faith is diverse and eschews the strict hierarchy of the Church of the Divine King.
Actions Echo Through Eons
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Alternative Names
The Faith, the Nomadic Sun, the Nomad Sun
Demonym
the Faithful
Leader
Leader Title
Deities
Divines
Location
Related Ethnicities
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