Holy Manifest Chancel

The Holy Manifest Chancel, also known as the Manifist Creed or the Maximian Church, is one of the largest organized religions in the world, and the largest of the Manifist faith. Throughout most of the Rust Age, it was the leading political institution of the Heartland Realms, and played a significant part in the history of the world after the fall of the The Meron Supremacy. The Chancel is headed by the Chancellor, a title inherited from the old Meron republican chancellors, and a High Council of Principals, who interpret the will of the Heavens to write official Chancel doctrine into law.
Those who follow the Chancel have Orthodox Manifism as their denomination.

History

The Holy Manifest Chancel was officially formed at the Council of Pontiga in 10-3a, where surviving disciples of Maximian presided over a 90-day congress of 5,000 clerics. During this time, it was decided which books would be added to canonical scripture, as well as which sects would be incorporated or tolerated, and which ones would be cast as heresies. All three months of the council were characterised by heated discussion, impassioned debate, and a handful of murders.
The disciple Azenar came out of the affair with a strengthened position, due to rumours that Maximian had chosen him as His successor (rumours which Azenar himself did not feel a need to address). After using much of his influence to influence which beliefs would be canonized, Azenar was elected the First Manifest Chancellor, and changed his name to Telos I. Chancellor Telos I would later be canonized as a Herald.

Cosmological Views

According to Manifism, the universe and everything in it was originally contained within The One God Mandur, who exists as an infinite, formless cosmic sea. Mandur gave life to mankind so they might dwell within Him, but The Outsider, an atheistic and unholy force, created the material world, and stole mankind from Mandur, dooming them to physical existence. This same demonic force keeps mankind ensnared in the material plane through impermanent, fleeting, libidinal things and desires which, due to their very nature as fleeting, create a feeling named The Absense, or a deep ennui and sadness, in all mortal things, who are incapable of achieving true happiness.
To escape The Absense, mortal souls must achieve Communion with the 9 Idols, who are aspects of Mandur capable of communicating Their desires with the material world. This is done by following the Manifist path, where they must cast aside all attachments to the fleeting things of the mundane world, and instead understand their fundamental Unity with the divine. Souls that are incapable of achieving this enlightened state are doomed to be reborn over and over again, their life and memories erased with each new cycle.
Mortals who achieve Communion in life are known as Heralds, and are capable of using their conscious connection to Mandur to perform great miracles. In the Manifest Chancel, Heralds are revered as paragons of virtue, and serve under the Idol best represents which quality they lived by. The greatest of all Heralds was Maximian, The Apotiate. He achieved such a deep communion with the Idols through his austere life and pious judgement, that he channeled Mandur's very will through his own, becoming an Idol himself after death (though some denominations see him instead as a Herald, incarnation, or direct vessel to Mandur).
Since the Absense is felt exclusively by mortal souls, it means that long living creatures such as elves or other fey are not separated from Mandur's Communion. This means that they do not belong with Him, and are in fact the very same forces that drove humanity astray. Because of this, Manifism does not allow non-human creatures to participate in sacraments, rituals and traditions, and depending on the time and place are actively shunned by officials of the Faith.

Founding Date

10-3a

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

The Chancel

Demonym

Manifist

Permeated Organizations

• Durwyn State