The Church of the Mother
The Church of the Mother, or more simply known by its adherants as the Faith spread across Atane and is now the dominant religion of the Elessarian Empire and the New Kingdoms.
Mythology & Lore
It is said, that in the wake of the Collapse, a celestial being in the shape of a women, appeared to a group of starving High Elf and Human refugees fleeing Old Hadia to Ellesar. Just by looking at the celestial being, the hungry refuegees immediately felt nourished and were able to make it to Ellesar safe. Those refugees referred to the being as the Mother and established the first temple to the Mother in Ellesar, the Temple of Divine Mother.
Other appearances of a angelic woman in various forms, beleived to be the Mother, have been recordeded helping both the indigenious survivors of the Collapse and the human tribes who came from the east rebuild after the Collapse.
Since the collapse, the Mother has appeared to only those considered to be the most pious and deserving of her blessings. As a resut of rare appearances, the individuals who the Mother has appeared to are venerated by the Church long after their death. Items possessed and/or associated by the Blessed during their lives are considered holy relics and are highly cherished by the Church and collecters.
Cosmological Views
The Mother takes many forms referred to by the priests of the Faiths as aspects.
Each aspect corresponds to distinct areas of the mortal experience. For example, those seeking bountiful harvests might pray to mother in the form ofthe "Maid", the aspect of the Mother associated with fertility, life and natural abundance while those heading into combat might offer sacrrifices to the Mother in the aspect of the "Warrior" for help in war or other moments of great physical challenge.
Aspects of the Mother
| Domain | Aspect |
|---|---|
| Arcana | The Mage |
| Death | The Ferryman |
| Forge | The Smith |
| Grave | The Crone |
| Knowledge | The Scholar |
| Life | The Maid |
| Light | The Torchbearer |
| Nature | The Shepard |
| Order | The Judge |
| Tempest | The Sailor |
| Trickery | The Charlaton |
| War | The Warrior |
Worship
The Mother rejects sacrices made in her name. However the Faithful often make offerings to individual churches.
The Church expect the Faithful to engage in regular veneration of the Mother both in private and in public ceremeonies led by priests.
Priesthood
The organisation of the Church of the Mother is hierachichal.
At the bottom of the hierachy is the priest. Priests are trained to worship one aspect of the Mother. Small villages will often only have the one priest and the dedication of their temple is often dependent on the main economic driver of the town. For example a farming village will likely have a temple and priest to the Maid, as that aspect of the Mother is most commonly associated with fertility and bounty whereas a fishing village will more likely have a temple dedicated to the Sailor who is associated with the sea and fishing. In larger towns and cities it is quite common for there to be multiple temples each venerating a different aspect of the Mother.
The next most step in the Church's hierachy are the perfects. The Perfects are incharge of a diocese, which tend to include a large town or city and the surrounding villages. The Pefects role oversee the running of the temples in that region. Perfects serve in their position for life and when a vancy arises a new perfect is elected by the priests of the Diocese in a gathering call a Conclave.
Above the perfects are the arch-perfects whose role reflects that of a regular perfect except they oversee all the perfects of a there arch-diocese which for administrive effeciency reflect secular borders like provinces. Arch-perfects are elected for life by the perfects of their arch-diocese by the perfects of their arch-diocese in an Arch-Conclave.
The Metropolitans are the chief memberrs of the clergy in each nation of faithful nations of Atane with the resposibility to run the administration of the Church in that country. As such through their role they often enjoy a working if not close relationships with the respective rulers of the nations they reside in, often acting as the soveriegns chief spiritual advisor. Metropolitans are appointed by the supreme head of the faith.
Lastly the supreme head of the Church is simply known as the Divine. The Divine resides at the Temple of the Devine in Ellesar. The Divine serves for their life with a new Divine being elected from amongst the Metropolitans. The Divine is ideally a wise and compassionate cleric however as a position that controls great power and wealth, some of the Divine's of the past have been incredibly corrupt.
In addition because Metropolitans are appointed by the Divine, the Divine has the ability to guide who their successor is. This has caused serious tension as the Divine's tend to be High Elves. Some in the New kingdom's particularly Eskia resent this. They believe the Church should be headquarted in New Hadia the capital of the Kingdom of Eskia.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Faith has immense soft power and influences the politics of the Ellesarian Empire and the New Kingdoms.
Permeated Organizations
Deities
Divines
Notable Members
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments