Caiuism WIP
Mythology & Lore
Ever since Caius God created the world it has been on a steady decline. The Sinpenta plot against caiuists and attempt to make them forsake caiuism at every opportunity. Less and fewer people worship Caius God and more and more worship evil spirits and false gods. after many thousand years, no one worshiped Caius God anymore, and demons ruled the world of people.
Khem-us was a member of the Amenset people living in Ra-Colt. The Amenset people were amongst the people who held up the worship of Caius God the longest but over the years, even they had forsaken their invisible God for more tangible evil spirits. Only one man in the world remained devoted to Caius God, that man was Khem-us. At that moment, Khem-us was sent on a divine quest to reclaim the world from the evil spirits. in his lifetime he would convert Teqilda, the most sinful and demonic land in the world. With only the clothes on his body and only armed with his hooked staff, he traveled north by ship until he reached Teqilda in year 0. For a while, he integrated with the people and learned their language. He changes his name to Caius and married a woman named Mediana who had escaped from an arranged marriage to a demon worshiping orc noble.
After a few years of establishing many secretive sects of caiuists in Teqilda and providing them with ample instructions for how to spread the word and worship the only true God, Caius set out on his quest to kill his first demon. He was prepared to perish then and there, but he came out victorious. After that victory, he was filled with divine confidence. He went on a journey with only Mediana and God on his side, slaying every single demon in Teqilda. Mediana recorded everything on 20 holy scrolls complete with stories of their travels, poetry, and some illustrations.
Divine Origins
Caiuism is founded by Saint Caius the Prophet who arrived in Teqilda in year 0 after having received a mission from God to convert Teqilda, the most sinful land, to the only true God. Saint Caius was initially rejected by both the public and the nobles but he persisted. Caius performed many miracles in the name of his God and turned more and more people from sin, starting with small villages. He was attacked by many demons and it is said that he always went into battle with the demons singlehandedly with only his hooked staff and his God on his side. The public gave up sin and followed Caius and his God. This gained the attention of the demon-worshiping nobles and guilds who opposed Caius and his people. The nobles committing horrible crimes in the name of false gods for 164 years until King Saint Lario the Holy opposed the evil nobles and converted Teqilda to Caiuism.
Cosmological Views
Caius God created the world we live in and the humans as his chosen people. The first humans came from Ra-Colt and expanded from there. The beast people are cursed by God for past crimes they committed. The Mystical races were once beautiful chosen people created by God but they all decided to cut their ties to God and thus forsake themselves. We live in one of 600 worlds. Most of these worlds that surround ours are inhabited by spirits. These worlds are not as significant as our world or the Ether, the world where God lives. The spirits can be categorized into two large categories, primal and reborn. The primal spirits were created directly by Caius God. However, most of the primal spirits we perceive in our world, have forsaken Caius God, just like the mystical races. The reborn spirits were once, long ago, a person living in our world that died and got reborn into something new. A human (and in some philosophies, a beastfolk or mystical race) who devotes himself to serving Caius God and the ways of the five fountains will be reborn after death as a good spirit in Ether or one of the few other holy worlds. A person who does not follow the tenets of Caius will be reborn after death as a bad spirit, in one of the many worlds surrounding ours. Some of these worlds hold punishments for those who forsake God. What world you are reborn into depends on your karma from your life. If your karma is uncertain, or if you don't know about Caius God, you will be reborn into our world in a new body until your karma is certain.
The Sinpenta
The five most dangerous primal spirits to oppose Caius God are called the Sinpenta. They are sometimes depicted as anti-saints serving the greatest evil, an unnamed ambiguous power. The five spirits of the Sinpenta each symbolize a neglection of the five fountains of virtue.- Morte'rac - Demon of undeath and attachment to material things over God.
- Distaka - Demon of distractions, laziness, and drugs.
- Emawari - Demon of uncontrolled emotions, idiocy, and fear.
- Kruder - Demon of cruelty and selfishness.
- Diran - Demon of chaos, lies, and madness.
Tenets of Faith
Caiuism suggests that 599 other worlds are surrounding ours. Most of these worlds hold unpleasant things of varying degrees. After death, you are either reborn into our world or reborn into one of these worlds. If you want to be reborn into a good world without pain and suffering, you must follow in the ways of Caius.
The five main tenets are often visualized as five fountains of holy water.
- Devotion - Sever your attachments to everything material and serve God above all else.
- Focus - Don't become distracted by short-term pleasures, keep working, and fighting for long-term sustainable happiness.
- Wisdom - Think before acting, don't let your emotions control you, consider all options carefully.
- Mercy - Show kindness and compassion to all others. Give even your enemy the possibility to redeem themselves and change.
- Order - Know how the world operates and find your place in it. Don't abandon your position in the world.
Worship
Each Churchday two ceremonies are held within the churches and temples, one at sunrise and one at sunset. All people are generally welcome to participate in these. The morning ceremony begins with a trusted member of the church relaying the latest news and the church's opinion on it to the people attending. After the news segment, a priest blesses the people attending and preaches about relevant happenings and how they relate to Caius God and the saints. The priest gives advice on how the attendees can emulate the saints and drink for the metaphorical fountains so that their karma remains pure and good. The evening prayer starts with a performance of some kind. It could be a theatrical play, a dramatic reading of a poem, or choir singing. There are many staple performances that get recycled several times a year. After the performance, a priest reads a chapter of a holy text, continuing where they stopped reading the last Churchday. There is usually also some form of a community event held on a Churchday.
Granted Divine Powers
The caiuistic belief that a great majority of the planes are evil has had a strong impact on their view of mages. Magic potential is generally seen as a curse by caiuists. Those who possess the ability to do magic should tread carefully and not act on it. Acting on their magic potential would cause their curse to spread. The power drawn from either an evil plane or an evil spirit should not be wielded by any person and willingly acting out on it is a crime that can only be punished with execution.
With this in mind, few cauists want to show signs of their magic, risking being ostracized or worse, executed. However, if you can prove that your magic comes from a good plane of origin, or is granted to you by Caius God or one of his angels, you could be elevated high in the church. These church mages are called Lecta and are believed to be handpicked by Caius God for a specific purpose. As soon as a new Lecta is found they need to swear an oath to the church under an appointment ritual conducted by a bishop. If the Lecta is under 20 years old, they go through a smaller ritual followed by the propper ritual when they turn 20. These rituals are called The Finding and The Appointing.
A Lecta enjoys many benefits within the church. They receive free food and lodging at temples and churches as well as education in prestigious temple academies. In return, a Lecta is expected to uphold and practice their magic and to accept any request from the church signed by a bishop. The most common task is to ward off spirits and imbue temples and holy locations with magic. Sometimes a Lecta is assigned to party of missionaries or crusaders, also to ward off spirits and evil witches.
"The rift within me is a sign that I have been appointed by God. I [name] will accept my appointment and serve God until my death in this world. I shall let the words of Caius be known. I shall protect this world from demonic influence. I shall drink from the five fountains. I shall honor the orders of the heavenly appointed. I shall do all this until my death in this world."
The Oath of Appointment
Type
Religious, Bishopric
Permeated Organizations
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