Church of the Ageless Star
"Hail, O Eternal Stars of Night, Watchers Blessed, Keepers of Eternal Order, Eternal Divines;
Ye who have ordered the universe, bring order to your faithful and guide their path;
Correct those who stray, straighten our paths that we might follow your plan;
Eternal Aroak, creator of all and placer of the stars, illuminate our paths;
Bring unto us the light of the stars that we may be more perfect in your plan."
~Prayer of Aroak
Structure
The Church of the Ageless Star is a decentralized hierarchy. The religion operates through a series of autocephalous patriarchates with each political entity in which the church operates having its own head. The various patriarchs then meet jointly to form a consensus around doctrine. Beneath the patriarchs there are arch-priests and priests. Arch-priests preside over larger geographical areas and priests serve particular organizations, communities, or in the case of large cities, specific churches or chapels.
History
The Church of the Ageless Star has been around for as long as there has been recorded history. A variety of theories have been suggested for how the church began or from what earlier, progenitor religion it may have sprang from but nothing conclusive has ever been proven. The church itself has appeared uninterested in answering the question and instead focuses on spreading its message and tending to the people of Aelliver. The oldest patrarchate is located in Galoress, capital of the Galoressian Empire, but the Church now has local headquarters in every major nation and the customs of that nation, to some degree, influence the behavior of the church.
The church at the present time continues much as it always has by trying to convert the unconverted and attend to the needs of its followers.
Mythology & Lore
The Church of the Ageless Star derives its belief system from a fundamental underpinning belief in pre-planned destiny. The Church relies heavily on divination, astrology, and other sky-gazing practices. According to the Church, one can divine one's destiny by looking to the heavens, the seat of the Gods, and discovering their "path which leads to the heavens." Each person has one of these paths that will be shown only to the virtuous and dedicated servant of the Gods.
Divine Origins
The origin of the church is unknown but reference to it exists in all recorded history including those small snippets which reference the First Age. Some scholarship suggests that the origins are linked to the first instances of weaving which led to the widespread production of clothing and other basic necessities for civilized people given the Church's religious doctrine placing a heavy emphasis on the weaving metaphor.
Cosmological Views
The Church believes that the entire universe is a tapestry woven by the Gods, with each God contributing some "motif" or "design" to the greater whole. Their creation legend says that in the beginning from a lifeless void the Gods banded together to weave a new universe of existence into being. As each of them wove their design into the larger tapestry the universe and all its inhabitants formed. Each person, creature, nation, etc. has its own thread that has been pre-planned into the design to follow a specific path and serve a particular purpose.
Tenets of Faith
The Church's particular practices tend to vary from culture to culture, but the overall message is a life of dedicated service and humbleness to the awe inspired plan of the universe which the God's have ordered. Anything seen as contravening that plan is considered "bad" or a "sin" according to the Church. This somewhat vague doctrinal element leaves each patriarch, archpriest, and priest free to preach or teach on any particular issue in their own way.
Worship
Religious services are offered daily but typically practitioners of this religion meet individually with a member of the clergy to receive spiritual guidance. The public services, however, involve entreaties to the Gods in the form of offerings of items of value, prayers, and songs to both continue the ordered plan of the universe and to guide the practitioner on their own particular path to the heavens.
Priesthood
The most basic member of the clergy is the priest. A priest is appointed by the archpriest overseeing the geographical area in which the priest is needed. Priests are typically drawn from larger cities with large cathedrals or churches and then trained in a quasi-apprenticeship prior to being given a full assignment on their own. Priests are expected to know how to plot star maps, provide advice and counseling to the population they serve, care for the needy, and provide educational services when necessary.
Above the regular priests are the archpriests. They oversee particular geographic areas and are usually either elected by the priests of the geographic area when necessary or are appointed by the patriarch of the country they serve but the practice varies from territory to territory. Technically, archpriests are to provide the same functions as priests in that they will have a home church or cathedral which they are responsible for, but in practice many focus on mostly administrative tasks leaving the preaching and divination to their subordinates. They do enjoy "doctrinal authority" over priests and have the ability to countermand an interpretation of doctrine or, in the case of a star reading, correct the interpretation.
Patriarchs are the heads of the faith in the Kingdom, Republic, etc. where they are found. Occasionally, especially in small countries, one patriarch will be the nominal overseer of several countries. Patriarchs are as diverse as one might expect running the gamut from dedicated administrator to corrupt bureaucratic political appointee to religious hermit. The only unifying theme is that the patriarchs must, according to their faith, meet once per year to establish doctrinal purity and resolve incongruities between the various territories where the faith practices. They will also, sometimes on matters of great importance, conduct their own collective star reading to try and divine the portents of the future. In practice, this rarely yields results as the patriarchs can rarely agree on a unified reading.
Sects
The main sect is the Cult of the Unwavering Star. This sect, while not a recognized part of the Church, subscribes to the same basic beliefs and cosmological mythos. The primary difference is that the Cult views the idea of predestination as supporting whatever action takes place in the world. As an example, if one person steals another's inheritance then the fact that the person was able to do it indicates that the God's favored the action. The Church has condemned this practice as a heresy but among the seedier or more freedom loving elements of the world this viewpoint has taken hold.
