The Covenant of the Archlight

The Covenant of The Archlight is a Ravainian church that worships a deity known as the Archlight, the god of light, the sun, and atonement. The Covenant believes that the world is inherently evil and tainted by sin. They believe that their god was murdered by the Vampyr and trapped in the Divine Realm. Because the Ravainian people aided in this betrayal, the Archlight punished them with the The Bleeding Sun . They believe that Ravainia can only find salvation when the kingdom has been cleansed of dark magic and repents its sins. Followers of the Covenant believe that the Archlight has promised eternal paradise to those who have earned his forgiveness, and that by cleansing their souls, they may one day be worthy of the Archlight's return to the world. The Corruption has made followers of the Covenant nervous that the world is moving farther and farther away from the grace of the Archlight.

Structure

The structure of the Covenant follows a strict hierarchy. The Hierophant, the head of the Covenant, serves as the Vox Aeternis, the speaker for the Archlight on earth. To be appointed Hierophant, a member of the clergy must demonstrate powerful divine magic. The Hierophant is immediately supported by the Magisterium Sacrorum. Magisters decide on the laws and teachings of the Covenant and how to disseminate those teachings to followers. Magisters are also required to be able to weild divine magic. Beneath the Magisterium are two offices with equal standing, the Inquisition and the Hierarchy. The Inquisition is led by Inquisitors who serve by investigating and rooting out heresy and dark magic. Inquisitors have been knwon to masquerade as lower ranking members of the Covenant hierarchy to monitor how the faith is being spread. The Hierarchy is led by bishops who govern groups of churches in a geographical region. Both bishops and inquisitors are required to weild divine magic. Beneath the Hierarchy is the Priesthood, led by priests who watch over an individual church or sanctuary. They are not required to weild magic of any kind and very few priests are divinely gifted. The Covenant also has branches of Religious and Military Orders. They include the Order of Saint of Ophiria, an order of religious brothers and sisters dedicated to healing and the preservation of knowledge, and the Sanguine Order, a military order dedicated to fighting the monsters and dark magic haunting Ravainia. The monastic orders such as the Order of Saint Ophiria often work with the priesthood and lay members of the Covenant. The Sanguine Order often works in tandem with the Inquisiton.

Culture

The Culture of the Covenant is solemn and focused on tradition. Every rite is entrenched in symbols and meaning, taken with seriousness by every member. The Hierophant, who speaks with the voice of the Archlight, is not to be questioned. Those who do question teachings or attempt to change tradition may find themselves the targets of investigation by the Inquisition. Core beliefs of the average Covenant member include the belief that the word of the Archlight is morally good and just and to go unquestioned, that the Covenant will bring a way to paradise and salvation in the afterlife to those who follow it, that the Covenant is the best chance Ravainia has for salvation, and that anyone questioning or opposing the Covenant is at best misguided and at worst in league with dark forces. Core beliefs of the Covenant teaching include the belief that the material world is Fallen, existing in an inherent state of sin and corruption. They believe that this state came about through dark magic and the creation of the Vampyr, who are the reason the Archlight and his angels are gone from the world. They believe this state of sin is also causing everyone living to be punished in hopes that they repent their wicked ways and recognize the good of the Archlight. They believe that the Archlight cannot return to the world until people renounce their sin and destroy all traces of dark magic, including the Vampyr (though this is never explicitly stated). They also believe that the state of Atonement can be reached by confessing sins and undergoing penance (some form of punishment) as an act of contrition, or completing a sacred action that will then allow a member of the higher clergy to grant an Indulgence--a reprieve of penance.

Public Agenda

The public agenda of the Covenant is to save the souls of the Ravainian people by convincing them to repent their sins and renounce any magic not divinely given. Through prayer and penance, they aim to bring everyone into a state of Atonement where their souls can be purified of sin. This purification is a long and difficult process, and the state of a pure soul is a kind of perfection that seems perpetually out of reach for human beings. Despite this, the Covenant claims that their Hierophant and other leaders exist in a state of Atonement and that they can lead others to this state as well. Because they need to save every person in the kingdom, they heavily invest in gaining politcal and secular power as a means to spread their influence. At present, their secular power in Ravainia maintains control over half the country, geographically. Their spiritual influence is even wider.

Assets

The Covenant preaches a message of charity, humility, and generosity, yet they maintain their position as the second wealthiest entity in Ravainia, outside of the Vampyr monarchy. Aside from nobility, they are the largest single landowner and gain a large amount of their income through obligatory tithing of their followers. This wealth can be seen in the gilded, opulent shrines, the grand cathedrals towering over city landscapes, the income given to their leaders, and the vast amount of resources they hold to achieve their ends. The faithful are encouraged to donate even more than their 10% tithe and the wealthy often give lavish donations as a show of piety. In some cases, the clergy grant Indulgences to those willing to donate toward Covenant causes. Because the wealthy then have an easier route to salvation, their continued support of the Covenant helps maintain its politcal and secular power.

History

The Archlight was once worshiped as a minor god known as Solaris, whose cult was not particularly popular during the days when gods and angels walked the earth. His murder and the creation of the first Vampyr, followed by the sun fading and turning the daytime sky a bloody red caused a panic in the humans of Ravainia. As Vampyrism spread among the nobility of Ravainia, claiming control of much of the land, a young human woman saw the fear in her people and took action. Saint Ophiria claimed to hear the dead god promising salvation to those who repented their sins and turned away from dark magic, people flocked to her and claimed her as a prophet. She was the first Vox Aeternis, and her son, Saint Zathrian became the first Hierophant after her death. Zathrian turned what had been a passionate but disorganized movement into a church, and his convictions against the Vampyr nobility caught the attention of wealthy humans and powerful merchants who were unhappy with Vampyr rule. These benefactors gave Eamon land and money, and with the new influence, the church quickly grew. By the end of its first century, the Covenant had garnered a powerful following. However, the Covenant's preaching in the early days was not subtle about its desire to eliminate any magic it considered heretical and to destroy all Vampyr in Ravainia. At first, the Vampyr had believed the Covenant would die out and did not bother to expend their energy on stamping out the new religion. Yet as it grew in number, the Covenant's rhetoric became more militant and the Vampyr soon took notice. The King of Ravainia, rumored to be the first Vampyr himself, outlawed worship of the Archlight and made examples of its leaders by publicly executing them for treason. This only made the leaders martyrs, and though they faced persecution, the Covenant survived by hiding and amassing more followers. Soon they far outnumbered the Vampyr rulers, and began living openly as a show of force. When the Vampyr again tried to destroy the Covenant by capturing its leaders, several young soldiers formed a makeshift army and stormed the Vampyr capital to free their leaders. They were too late to save the captives, yet one soldier managed to kill the Vampyr king. Though he was captured and killed, his fellow soldiers remembered his valor. The Sanguine Order was founded in his honor.
To the Covenant's horror, the Vampyr king was not permanently killed. He rose from the dead, stronger than before, and they realized that despite their numbers, fighting the Vampyr in a war was suicide. Likewise, the Vampyr realized that they could not rule a kingdom of people always on the verge of rebellion, and the two sides came to a reluctant truce. The Vampyr maintained their rule over Ravainia in name, though the Covenant would rule in practice over the Western half of Ravainia. They would give a tithe yearly to the Vampyr, and the Vampyr would not intercede in their rule. The Vampyr would rule the Eastern half of the kingdom, and though they would not police the religious practie of individuals, the Covenant would not attempt to convert or take control on an organized scale. Per the truce, neither side can attack the other unprovoked, though minor border skirmishes do break out and threaten this tenuous peace. The recent appearance of Hollow Undead has only served to heighten tensions between the two groups, and many fear that the peace will not last much longer.

Mythology & Lore

In the days when gods and angels walked the earth with mortals, the Archlight was known as the god Solaris. He was a little known deity of light, the sun, and atonement. He opposed the more powerful goddess of night and magic, whose name has since been forgotten. One of her servants, a mortal king, wanted to attain divinity, and he chose a god he saw as weak to be his target. He murdered Solaris and drank the blood of the god, becoming the first Vampyr. As he died, with one last act of power, Solaris created a blast that instantly cursed all divine and celestial creatures on earth, twisting them into hideous monstrosities and dimming the sun and turning the daytime sky a bloody red with a pronouncement that without his divine nature, there is no salvation for Ravaina.

Divine Origins

In the wake of the Curse of the Bleeding Sun and the growing threat of the Vampyr, humans began to despair. Solaris was destroyed, yet a god cannot die as long as they are worshiped, and from the realm of the divine, the god of the sun gave himself a new name and made himself known to a prophet. He found a young human mother named Ophiria of Aetheris and spoke to her, calling himself the Archlight. He revealed to her his divine vision of a world free from sin, free from dark magic, and free of the Vampyr terrorizing humanitiy. A world that would only be possible if all people listened and atoned for their sins, underwent penance to cleanse their souls, and dedicated their lives to renewing the Archlight. If this happened, he promised that he would return to the earth and bring about a paradise to those who follow him. And he promised that those who died in a state of Atonement before his return would be granted paradise in the realm of the Divine for eternity. And so Ophiria became his prophet, the first Vox Aeterinis, and her son Zathrian established the formal Covenant from her teachings.

Cosmological Views

Followers of the Covenant believe that the Archlight, as lord of light, the sun, and atonement, is a god whose teachings are morally righteous and will lead to a benefit for all of the world if followed. They see themselves as opposition to the Vampyr, those who practice any magic not granted by the Archlight, and the Nameless Goddess who created the Vampyr. Their belief system is very black and white. Either someone is a follower of the Covenant and will obey its tenants, or they are an enemy of the Light and all things good and holy. In their belief system, the angels and other gods became twisted monsters to be hunted or incorporeal spirits bent on tempting them into sin and turning them toward damnation. The Vampyr represent the greatest of these demons.

Tenets of Faith

The commandments of the Archlight:

• Deliver the light to those who dwell in darkness, for it is thy duty to spread the hope of salvation.

• Be ever vigilant for the evil that lies in the shadows, seeking the ruin of souls.

• Repent thy sins and purify them with cleansing fire so that all might dwell in the light of the sun

Obey the word of thy God with all thine heart. For only when all peoples have been cleansed from sin will the Light truly return.

Ethics

There are many rules governing the faithful of the Covenant. The clergy place an emphasis on purity and repentance, with fear of damnation and the Corruption driving individual actions along with the Church's narrative that the world is being punished for sin. Sinfulness is generally interpreted as being any kind of disobedience to scripture or the clergy, which can follow under any number of specific actions. The most general and most common sins include: 1. Disobeying the authority of the Covenant (directly going against the orders of the scripture or clergy). 2. Sexual Impurity (sex outside of heterosexual marriage for the purpose of reproduction) 3. Greed (hoarding of wealth and resources, includes theft) 4. Jealousy (coveting that which another has) 5. Deceit (lying, hiding the truth, deception of any kind) 6. Hubris (believing oneself to be more important or better than the Covenant) 7. Intentional physical harm of another (physical assault, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping). 8. Temptation of others (immodesty, convincing others to sin, bringing impure thoughts to the minds of others). The faithful must confess their sins to a member of the clergy who has magic and the power to cleanse their sins through prayer. In order to pay for this magic, they must embark on an act of penance which varies according to the sin. Clergy have books called pentientials that list various sins and recommended penance for each sin. There is one sin considered unforgiveable: heresy. It may take several forms such as apostasy (turning away from the Covenant), Idolatry (worship of another god), sacrelige (defiling the sacred) , major blasphemy (spreading lies about the Covenant), and Maleficarum (the use of magic that is not given by the Archilight). Heresy cannot be forgiven in this lifetime, and as heretics are believed to be extremely dangerous spiritually, their punishment is death by burning at the stake. There are also many acts considered pious. In the Covenant, pious acts do not cancel out sins but a pious act may be done as penance for a sin. Virtues are often considered character traits as well as actions. They are generally things like spreading the faith, acting with honesty and integrity, chastity, acts of charity, and essentially going beyond simply following the rules of the faith by avoiding doing certain acts.

Worship

Worship is conducted through daily prayer at dawn and dusk that includes the lighting of sacred candles. This is done in the churches themselves or in the homes of ordinary folk with a candle made by the Covenant. Once a week the lay faithful are expected to attend a ritual service that lasts from dawn until dusk. It begins the night before with fasting, continues at dawn with a communal prayer and lighting the church's candles, confession of sins and communal penance for the kingdom's sins (personal penance is done outside this service), a sermon, and finally a large communal meal. There are also many holy days where the faithful are expected to attend to particular rituals and services.

Priesthood

Priests in the Covenant are often chosen from among the lay population based on the interest of an indivual or their family. Second or third children from wealthy families often are sent to join the priesthood, and in poorer areas those who can afford the education to become a priest often choose to do so for the steady income it provides. As members of holy orders often teach the faith to children, any children demonstrating an aptitude for divine magic are encouraged by members of the clergy to become priests. For those with magic, scholarships are afforded for those too poor to attend training. The Covenant does everything to ensure that those gifted with magic are brought up in the clergy, and members of the Magisterium often test children for any sign of magical aptitude. The talent a member of the clergy has for magic will determine how they rise in the ranks of the Covenant. Those with stronger magic or magic that presents in rare ways will rise faster. Those with powerful or rare magic are often perceived of as blessed and chosen by the Archlight for a special purpose. The members of the priesthood are distinguished from the laity by their robes of white, gold, and black with the occasional accent of red. The robes become more elaborate as rank climbs, and those ranked as Inquisitors, Magisters, and the Hierophant wear metallic masks hiding their entire face. Members of the priesthood who are outside of those ranks but perceived of as particularly blessed or holy may be singled out by wearing a veil or headdress to disguise their features.

Granted Divine Powers

The higher ranking clergy are those gifted with magic (though some merely contend that only those gifted with magic are allowed to ascend into the higher ranks). The clergy generally demonstrate magical abilities of healing, purification, blessing, light fire, and divination. The Sanguine Order is also gifted magic through their own unique ritual. This magic is tied to blood and is used to fight monsters both offensively and defensively. Their powers include making a magical shield, poisoning their blood, blessing weapons, purification of evil, and destroying weaker monsters.

Political Influence & Intrigue

The Covenant is very involved in the political life of Ravainia. It acts as a political entity as well as a religious one, almost ruling certain portions of the kingdom with sovreignity in all but name. They are the wealthiest organization in the kingdom and use that wealth as power to control the other guilds and common folk through tithing and indulgences. Elected officials and human nobles do not maintain power long without the Covenant's approval, and doctrine is often used as a tool to oust unpopular rulers with accusations of heresy. The exception to this rule is the Vampyr, whose rule is unaffected and untouched despite the Covenant's best efforts. In many ways, the Kingdom's political fabric is split between the Covenant and the Vampyr.

Sects

The Covenant tends to harshly discourage deviation in dogma to the extent that any change could be seen as heresy so there are no sects with differing beliefs. However, there are several religious orders under the Covenant's banner who attend to specific duties within the infrastructure of the religion. Both orders are stationed primarily at the Abbey of Saint Zathrian.
The Order of Saint Ophiria is a monastic order of scholars and healers. They are made up of men and women who learn the healing arts as well as translation, transcription, and other scholarly skills. Their focus is on keeping the populace healthy as well as copying scripture, recording Church history, preserving and storing Church history, and creating eductational material for those who teach the faith. It is hidden from most, but the Order also specializes in rewriting history in the Church's favor, quickly hiding and stamping out any contradicting narratives.
The Sanguine Order is a militaristic order of holy knights charged with the destruction of the Vampyr and other horrors that stalk Ravainia's population. They are granted special magic through a secretive ritual that makes them more than human before they undergo rigorous training to learn how to fight monsters. They are also employed to hunt down and kill heretics on orders of the Inquisitors. While many see them as heroes defending humanity from the darkness, others see them as the Covenant's brutal enforcers. They are colloquially known as witch hunters.
There is a third sect operating within the Covenant, though very few are aware of its existence as it has been kept secret from all but the highest Covenant officials. They are known as the Malleus . They operate in secret from the rest of the Covenant, dedicated to a special and precise mission: to bring about the Archlight's return. Though there have been rumors of the sect's existence, the Covenant has denied everything.

Light Will Purify the Darkness

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

Church of the Archlight, The Covenant

Leader

Hierophant Aurelian VIII

Leader Title

Hierophant

Location

Aerathis

Related Species

• Humans