Archonism

Indovir is the most common God associated with monotheism in Niorath. Other monotheistic religions can differ in worship and names but they all refer to the same divine being, the Chaosborn, the All-Creator. It is said that in the beginning there was only chaos, energy and matter. The chaos was redirected by Indovir into the elemental and inner realms where the first life was created. From these planes the endless material planes were created. Indovir ruled the multiverse from his own remote realm Chrysoria. After many years Indovir created the other gods. The younger gods often created their own realms and in time most contact with Chrysoria and Indovir was lost although it is said that sometimes his angels do return to observe. Followers of this religion believe that one day he will return and open a portal to his mystical realm.
Though some remote temples can be found across the world the majority of followers are situated on the continent Pavanor where it is the official religion of the Pavan Empire. According to them the first ruler of the Pavan Empire was Archon, the hero who lead the rebellion against the Avaronians more than thousand years ago. Archon claimed that he was visited by an angel from Chrysoria who showed him the way to liberate humans and the other races from the rule of the High Elves. It is said that after his death Archon ascended as the first human to Chrysoria. Archonism is mainly followed by humans but worshipers of other races can be found. The second most common worshipping race are the Half-Elves.

Mythology & Lore

Creation

Even though other religions don't directly worship Indovir they all recognise his existance. The creation myth is therefore in most cases the comparable. In Archonism the myth starts with a primordial energy that existed at the beginning of time known as the Chaos. Eventually this Chaos was molded into the first god Indovir. In the beginning Indovir was alone in never ending chaos and growing in power but he felt that something was missing. He started shaping the chaos into new beings which would become the new gods. But the chaos was still without form and over time other beings came were formed by it. These were however malevolent creatures and not soon after they started attacking the first gods. Indovir could not let this happen to his creations and decided to lock the chaos away from the rest of the cosmos. He created a layer around the chaos center were only certain parts of the chaos were present and could be contained. By doing this Indovir created the elemental realms of fire, earth, water and air. Where the elements met there were fertile layers that combined all the good of the elements.
But in time even the elemental planes got corrupted and new primordial creatures started to arise although less powerfull. Indovir saw that he needed an extra protection around the chaos, one that would act as a defence against the chaosspawn and thus he created the realm of the dead were all evil humanoids dwell, forever being tormented by whatever would spawn from the central chaos. At last there was some peace in the cosmos. Indovir and the other gods liked the life in the divine realms where the elemental realms meet. In time however Indovir decided that he should continue creating. With the divine realms as a blue print he created the many worlds of the material realm. He and many of the gods decided to explore the new creations and departed from the elemental realms. With their divine vessels they travelled through the cosmos until they arrived at the world of Niorath.
When they arrived the gods immediately decided to stay. But the world was still empty and the gods and Indovir created the humanoid races, the animals and the plants to fill the world. They built great cities of divine white light and buildings that reached the skies. This would last until eventually the God War came.

God War

The God War and the related Magic Fall is a myth that occurs in some form in most cultures in Niorath. This is the event that marked the end of the time of gods and marked the beginning of recoreded history. The God War myth in Archonism does not deviate much from the standard myth but is interpreted differently.
Indovir is still betrayed by several of his gods called the New Order Pact in the Archonic version. The war between the gods also goes down in the same manner. The energy from the battles pulled the world closer towards the the elemental realms. Indovir had to correct this but was left vulnerable because of it. From then on the myth differs from the standard.
According to the Archonic version Indovir did not just sacrifice himself but was betrayed. The evil gods were losing the war and decided to use other tactics. One of the lesser gods of the True Order called Anfi had been in love with one of the evil gods before the war called Imana. The ever devious Imana however used this to her advantage and let herself be captured by Anfi. When she was brought before Indovir by Anfi she was sentenced to a long imprisonment. After Anfi brought her to her prison she was able to convince him that Indovir was going to kill her later. For several days Anfi was torn between his vow to Indovir and his love for Imana. Eventually he decided to free Imana during the night which proved to be the worst decision. Shortly after freeing her Imana managed to get near Indovir while he was asleep. She stabbed him with his own sword. She was trying to deal the killing blow when Anfi walked in and saw her in the malicious act. He grappled her and after a while managed to kill Imana himself. Indovir was not able to hold on to his physical form for much longer. The members of the New Order Pact felt the diminishing power of Indovir and decided to attack. Indovir decided that the evil gods should not win and asked Anfi to bring him to his divine vessel. To stop the march of the evil gods they brought the vessel down and destroyed the gods capital together with the evil gods that were attacking.
During the impact both Anfi and Indovir lost their physical form. A gigantic blast filled the world with divine energy as Indovir lost most of his power. This energy created many changes to the inhabitants of Niorath. It was the first appearence of magic and would forever be known as Magicfall. From that moment on Indovir retreated to his realm of Chrysoria where he would remain asleep until the divine energy would eventually return to him.
The other gods were not able to remain on Niorath after the Magicfall and returned to the divine realms. The members of the New Order Pact were banished to the Death Realm where they would live among the other evil souls. With Indovir gone the remaining gods created their own pantheons and realms. True believers of Archonism acknowledge these gods but never worship them since they never approached the power of Indovir. Some even believe that they keep divine energy to themselves that they had stolen from Indovir.
According to the Archonic belief the magic created by Indovir was not given freely. Using arcane powers is not natural according since the power does not belong to the person but to Indovir and should be returned. Only people that are clerics or paladins of Indovir are allowed to use the power in his name. But in the end all magic should be returned to Indovir until he reawakens.

Death

Followers of Archonism believe that after they die that they will arrive in the realm of Indovir, Chrysoria. This realms is said to have golden buildings, wonderful gardens and a never ending twilight sun. On the highest place of the realm lies Indovir, asleep on a gold and silver altar. The believe is that once enough devout followers arrive at Chrysoria who give their borrowed divine magic to Indovir that he will finally awaken. When this happens Indovir will finally return to the material plane and restore his divine rule over Niorath bringing prosperity to all. He will then bring all the devout followers that had died before back to life, creating a new Chrysoria like realm accessible to all.

Divine Origins

The religion of Archonism was a change from the Mackevism that came before. It all started when a Human named Archon, who was a slave at the time, was send to the mines near the current Pavan capital. Here he fell deep into the earth but was saved by the grace of Indovir. Indovir told him that the religion that Mackevor had started had become  tainted over the years the longer Mackevor was in power. Indovir asked Archon to redirect his faith into the correct direction and gave him part of his divine power to rid the world of Mackevism. With his new powers he managed to start a slave uprising in Pavanor. For 250 years Archon waged war in Pavanor but in the end Mackevism was removed from it's lands. After freeing the continent of the Avaronian rule he made preparations to continue his work in Farlis. However not shortly after reconquering Pavanor he disappeared without a trace. The faithful believe that it was time for him to ascend to Chrysoria where he remains to this day. The rule of the freed lands and the Archonic church was left in the hands of the descendants of Archon who still rule to this day.

Cosmological Views

Most religions and scientists agree at least partially on the cosmology. The core of the universe is the Primal Chaos. A realm where elemental forces are constantly at odds with eachother. There is almost no stability to be found in this realm besides the occasional mote of land flying through it. It is the home of demons and aberrations which makes some people think that it is somehow linked to other dimensions. 
The Death Realm, called Veles in Archonism, forms a globe around the chaos and acts as a protection. This is where religions differ however. According to Archonism it exists out of multiple layers around the core Chaos with each lower layer being more hostile than the previous. Depending on how bad the crimes you commited in life were you get send to the lower areas of Veles. The higher layer is a barren wasteland with twisted vegetation but the lower layers become more an more chaotic. The lowest layer is realm of violent primordial storms and constant dangers due to it's close proximity to the Chaos. Even in Archonism it is said that the evil gods of the God War have been banished to this realm. Each layer of Veles has varied subregions. These subregions are often what other relgions refer to as their own realm of death. Since no one has ever travelled to Veles or it's subregions it is impossible to determine which religion is right. 
Around Veles one can find the Divine Realm a place where all of the gods have their own realms. The placement of this realm is rather strange since it is actually the inner part of the Elemental Realms. The Divine Realm therefore looks like the inside of a globe with in the middle the flying globe of the Death Realm surrounded by many floating islands. The only way to Veles from the Divine Realm is via two gargantuan mountains. The top of these mountains are connected to Veles via a energy bridge. The entrance to Veles however is heavily protected. 
Getting to the Divine Realm however is an ordeal as well. The Elemental Realm form a globe of which the Divine Realm is the inside. Getting to the Divine Realm can only be done through  one place. The gods have also made it so that anyone who wants to get to the Divine Realm needs to first travel a very long distance through an Elemental Realm. Where the realm of fire, water, air and earth meet the entrance to the Divine Realm can be found. According to Archonic belief this entrance is guarded by angels chosen by Archon himself. The other side where the Elemental Realms meet was originally also an entrance to the Divine Realm but was closed and changed into a forest realm called the Wildlands. Where only two Elemental Realms meet a transition realm exists. These are often less hostile than the main Elemental Realms.
Outside the Elemental Realms globe the rest of the material universe can be found. The Material Realm exists out of many stars and many worlds. Niorath is just one of these worlds. The Elemental Realms can be seen from Niorath during certain times of the year depending on the location. It looks like a nebula and can be seen with the naked eye.  The solar system in which Niorath is located exists out of 5 planets of which Niorath is the second.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion