Helionsim
Helionism is a religion originating within the old Elysian empire, although the origins of the faith do not lie with the Elysians but with one of their subject peoples, the Dwarves of the Hebron Mountains. According to the scriptures, a young human was found by the Dwarves and raised as one of them. He was given the traditional Hebroni name Yohannan, meaning "The Light Saves". As an adult, he left the Hebron Mountains and began to travel throughout the Empire preaching a new religion. He taught that the Divine Light worshipped by the Dwarves was synonymous with the Elysian sun deity, Helios Nikitheis, and that He was the one and only God. He preached that all people of all nations were equal, and that all should love each other as they love themselves. Wherever he went he gathered more and more followers, and when his following had reached the tens of thousands he went to the old Imperial Capital Elysium and attempted to violently overthrow the Emperor. In the end he was defeated and was publicly impaled on the city gates. But the next day, his body had vanished.
Soon, word began to spread that he had been brought back to life and had appeared to many of his disciples in the days after his death. They said he was Helios in the flesh, a living God, and that he had been taken up into Heaven to await the end of the world. And they began to refer to him by a new name: Yohannan Soter, which means "the savior". From these humble origins would Helionism rise to become the dominant religion of the Empire that had killed its founder. It began as a fringe movement most popular amongst slaves, sex workers, soldiers, and the disabled. But year by year it gained more adherents, until every city in the Empire had a Helionic community.
It soon began to be seen by the Emperors as a threat. Periodic rounds of persecution began, starting as brief local affairs but rising in intensity over the decades. Finally, at the end of the Crisis of the Five Emperors, the ruthless but effective Emperor Craterus tried to permanently exterminate the Helionic movement. The streets were awash with blood, and every arena in the Empire saw those accused of Helios worship torn to pieces by wild beasts. Many were impaled, in a cruel imitation of their murdered savior.
But Craterus did not succeed in wiping Helionism out. Indeed, the Great Crateran Persecution would prove only to be the great crescendo before Helionism's final victory. After Craterus died without an heir, there was a civil war to see who would succeed him. The man who emerged victorious from this civil war was a man named Ioustinianos. On the eve of the last battle of the war, or so Ioustinianos would later tell it, he received a vision from Helios Nikitheis. He beheld the image of a solar disk and heard the words "By this sign, conquer." In the morning, he had all his soldiers paint the solar disk on their shields, and went on to win the battle and the Empire.
It was Ioustinianos who started to transform the Empire from a pagan state, to a Helionic one. As part of that project, he decided to found a new capital. Elysium was an ancient ramble of totally disorganized streets, and even worse it was full of pagan temples! Ioustinianos's new city was full of broad open avenues and stately but humble Helionic cloisters. It also included a massive palace at the cutting edge of luxury for the Emperor to inhabit and massive walls to guard the city from attack. Ioustinianos named his new capital after himself, Ioustinianopolis.
Since it became the official religion of the Elysian Empire, Helionism has changed from a decentralized social movement, into an institutionalized church with a hierarchy. Each cloister is overseen by a Prelate, who answers to a Metropolitan, who answers to a Patriarch. Important religious disputes are mediated at great cloister councils, called a Holy Synod. There have been 12 Holy Synods in the history of the Empire. At the very top of the clerical hierarchy is the council of Patriarchs, the most important of which is the Patriarch of Ioustinainopolis. The Patriarchs answer only to the Emperor, making him the official head of the church, though in practice the Emperors are encouraged to stay out of theological matters by the clergy.
Structure
All Helionic lands are divided into diocese, which consist of all the cloisters within a designated area, usually centered on a major city. Each diocese is overseen by a Metropolitan. The Metropolitan is appointed by a Patriarch and appoints all of the Prelates for each cloister in his diocese. The next level of organization up is the Patriarchate, which is overseen by a Patriarch. There were originally five Elysian Patriarchs, but due to territorial losses there are now only four Patriarchs: three within the Empire, and one outside it to the west. Of these, the Patriarch of Ioustinianopolis is considered the first among equals, and when the Patriarchs meet in council they do so at the Patriarchal Palace in the capital. All Helionic clergy are in theory subservient to the Elysian Emperor. However, in practice, those outside of the Empire in the east and the west tend to make their own decisions without reference to Ioustinianopolis.
Culture
In Helionism, the clergy are set apart from the rest of society. A Prelate can only be ordinated by a Metropolitan or a Patriarch, and those higher ranks can only be filled by those already ordinated into the lower ranks. That is, no Metropolitan can take his episcopal throne without first serving as a Prelate. Thus, the clergy is a self selecting group, and a sort of society within society. Like in Shamsari, the clergy is required to be educated. However, unlike in Shamsari, the clergy are held to a higher standard of behavior than the laity. Helionic clergy are not allowed to marry, to eat certain foods, or to own personal property. Most offices and positions within the church are appointed by higher ranking clergymen, but the Patriarchs are appointed by the Emperor in consultation with the Metropolitans of the Patriarchate in question. There are also many Helionic monastic communities, which occupy a unique place in the church hierarchy. While they are subject to their regional Patriarchs, they are considered to be self governing units exempt from the diocese system. The Abbot or Abbess of the monastery or convent is ranked equally with a Metropolitan, which gives the monastics a perhaps outsized say in governing the church. Many times Metropolitans have come into conflict with a major monastery or convent in their territory, and sometimes enemies of the church have found shelter in the protection of an errant Abbot. Monastic communities usually own estates to support themselves, in the manner of Elysian nobles, with lands and villages and sometimes whole towns under their control. Some of the largest monasteries and convents in the Empire grew cities around themselves, so great were the economic demands of the cloistered brothers and sisters.
Public Agenda
The Elysian Helionic Church's mission is: first, to be the living body of Yohhanan Soter, and to spread His gospel to everyone in the world; second, to provide for the spiritual needs and spiritual health of the faithful; third, to assist those who are poor and in need, as Yohhanan Soter did; and fourth, to ensure the preservation and perpetuation of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Yohannan Soter.
Assets
The material wealth and temporal power of The Church is vast. Collectively it is easily the richest entity in the Empire, even richer than the Emperor. In fact, in times of crisis, the Emperors have often taken loans from The Church, which The Church was only too happy to provide. This financial reality, along with their collective moral authority, give them a great deal of influence on Imperial policy, and The Church jealously guards its autonomy from direct Imperial control. For an Emperor's rein to succeed, it is vital that they appease The Church. Those who do not, tend not to remain Emperor for very long.
Alternative Names
Helios Worship, Yohannanism, Soterism
Demonym
Helian
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