Church of Benevolent Gods
The Church of Benevolent Gods is a conglomeration of multiple pantheons of different gods that have agreed to unite under a singular church of identification in the region of the Valarnamora Sea. As more deities are discovered across the various lands or as new people come to spread their faith in this region they are discussed and added to the church.
History
The Church was founded about 200 years after the War of Life had decimated the region leaving many of the races struggling to rebuild as old grudges between the various races started to surface again. This lead to many clerics of the different gods to accept that there was a needed action to keep the peace for as long as possible and to provide a space for followers to come to that wish to avoid being drawn into another war. As they were starting to meet to navigate how this would work the followers from the Pantheon of the Gods of Fury and their swell of new gods joined their ranks as well. They started a campaign of conversion across Theados killing any and all people or clerics that refused to convert to their faith. Working with the kingdoms of Malasazh, (), and () the Pantheon of Fury soon swept over the other lands and pushed the other worshipers of the good-aligned gods into hiding.
To those living through the persecution, these were hellish times and they lived out their days hiding in caves, sanctuary cities, or were hiding among secret believers in the Pantheon of Fury's strongholds. In the year 189 since the War of Life prominent figures emerged in a movement that sought to overthrow the Pantheon of Fury in their home country of Arulean. Garland of Pelor, Anja of Mourdin, Velasha of Corlleon Lantherion, Balan of Yondalla, and Haskin of Garl Glittergold banded together as heads of the Human, Dwarven, Elven, Halfing, and Gnome pantheons.
They proceeded to wage a gruellia warfare targeting key leaders of the Arulean branch of the Pantheon of Fury. They were supplied with information, goods, and shelter by the king of Arulean in secret in an effort to avoid a civil war breaking out in his country. This was mildly successful as it did prevent a split for a while but as the years waned so too did the patience of the Pantheon of Fury demanding the heads of these men and women be brought before them. This inevitably split the nobility leaving about a third of the nobility with the king, a third against the king, and another third taking no sides at all. In short, an open war followed with the forces of what was being called the Church of Benevolent Gods and the Pantheon of Fury soon spread throughout Arulen and its neighbor Malasazh.
The final battle to expel the Pantheon of Fury's influence from Arulean came at the Battle of Avo Pass. This battle secured the future of the Church of Benevolent Gods in the year 200. After this, it came to pass that their influence grew until even Malasazh chose to expel the Pantheon of Fury and before long the Church of Benevolent Gods crossed the Valarnamora Sea and found acceptance in all the kingdoms of northern Valamar except for the elf kingdom of Malayiah and the Minotaur kingdom of Narsirs.
Military
The Church of Benevolent Gods has a large standing of Paladins and Clerics that are sent on missions for the church or are called upon in the case of crusade such as it was when the Drow Invasion threatened the entire region. The Paladins themselves are arranged into different companies that are usually made up of paladins of different faiths to encourage unity and cooperation. In the times of a crusade, the Head Priests and the Council of Priests appoint Cleric and Paladin commanders and work on providing supplies and troops to their commanders and leave it to the commanders to decide on how to organize their troops and to draw up war plans usually with the approval of the council.
Notable Companies:
Garland's Knights: This an elite group of Paladins of different faiths that recruit the best Paladins from all the temples to train and grow the order. They are usually are responsible for protecting the council and are the vanguards for any crusade. Helm's Fist: This a company of clerics, paladins, devoted fighters. bards. and sorcerors that are sent to deliver justice on behalf of the Stormfire citadel and work as temple guards in many cities as well. The Light Healers: A company of clerics that focuses on healing, protecting, and supporting their fellow clerics, priests, and paladins. The Divine Twelve: This is the name given to the commanders that are appointed by the council during times of distress or a crusade. The Hellish Five: This name is usually given to groups that specialize in hunting down fiends and other extraplanar threats and is given so because these groups often comprise five members.Tenets of Faith
Good: The Church believes that if any deity seeks to benefit mortals by encouraging acts that help other mortals beyond themselves they should be accepted and respected in the entirely of the church.
Honor: The Church believes in honoring the tenets of the individual gods and for the followers of these gods to honor each other. This in turn promotes an atmosphere of tolerance in which theological debates are encouraged but never to attack a fellow worshipper of how they are to worship their god.
Faith: The Church believes that faith in any god is important and that if you have a faith in a god that encourages good actions should be welcomed different believers of faith should help grow their faith.
Protection: The Church believes in protecting religious freedom and protecting believers of all faiths that are a part of the greater church.
Priesthood
The Structure of the Church of the Benevolent Gods allows individual religions and pantheons of gods to decide how one progresses in their faith but in general, each temple has a council that is usually made up of different levels of clerics that are elected or appointed by the head of the temple. The head of the temple is an internally elected position that all the head priests of a pantheon at the temple vote on who is to be the head priest of a temple.
A temple then chooses a representative to the grand council of the Church of Benevolent Gods whose Grand Temple resides in northern Arulean known as Stormfire Citadel which is near the original caves that the founders used to meet in. The council then selects that Grand Priest among themselves who then oversees the resolutions that come before the Council of the Priests.
Usually, temples solve their own problems themselves but in certain cases, they will send their grievances to the Stormfire Citadel who will then decide the best way to solve the issue at hand. They will create what is known as the Citadel Codex that will be sent out to the various temples to inform them of the council's decisions and to keep all the temples current on all the prevalent information they think is needed for them to know. These elections or appointments to the council usually take place every 3 years.
Political Influence & Intrigue
Every Country in the Valarnamora Sea region except for Malayiah and Narisrs does not permit the Church of Benevolent Gods to operate within their borders. The church depends on the country has greater or lesser influence with the ruling bodies but it is usually universally accepted by the people of the land due to the fact that their local deities are usually accepted into the pantheon and their community work resonances with the struggles of the common people.
In general, the Church stays out of the different kingdom affairs unless they see a need to protect the Church or to respond to the people's needs by bringing their concerns directly to the rulers. They are not always successful but thanks to their efforts slavery in many of the kingdoms has been outlawed.
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