The Hallowed Faith
The Hallowed Faith is the dominant of the central kingdoms where their influence stretches from the lord's palace right down to the peasants' hovel. The faith revolves around the worship of a pantheon of gods who are the creators and determinators of man. When a baby is born, they are subject to a ritual called the "Ascription" wherein a herald of the hallowed faith will convene with the gods and their signs (these being the weather, moon and stars) before assigning a guardian god to the baby. From this point, the ascribed will be obliged to pay tribute to their guardian god (along with the other gods to a lesser extent), for this the gods shall be content and bring good fortune and prosperity to the faithful. Those who are not ascribed are known as orphans and due to having no guardian god are not privileged to the protections society usually affords to the faithful.
The religion is headed by the High Augur who is elected by a lengthy ritual, this individual is considered the ultimate messenger of the gods. Below him are the Elocutes who spend much of their lives tuning themselves to their god, when they are deemed to have reached a suitable level of connection, they can then be sanctioned a diocese in which to practice and serve the people and their guardian, sometimes being allocated a particular religious building such as the Church of Our Mother Aimo for example. The especially gifted/connected are granted bishoprics in which they are the Grand Herald of a large house of worship and hold authority over other heralds within their bishopric. Some heralds, once granted a diocese, choose to attend a monastery to gain a greater connection with the gods, others may choose to work in healing or educational institutes.
Heralds and property of the Hallowed Faith can be easily identified as they are invariably adorned with the sigil of the faith - a blue globe with a copper bar across its centre, a silver bar across the top quarter-point, above the globe but connected by a gold bar is a black diamond with another gold bar across its centre - this is to symbolise the creation of god upon the world (copper), the descendant of gold (the nobility in silver) and the gods above in the domain (gold in the black diamond).
The nobility are often considered the descendants of the gods, as such, they are often given many exceptions to the tenants of the faith. Due to this connection, the heralds of the Hallowed Faith are overwhelmingly from noble backgrounds. This often leads to corruption within the organisation and the playing of the rules by those crafty noble houses looking for a leg up on the competition.
Public Agenda
The Hallowed are disciples of the gods, who bring to the populace the ability to connect and easily please the gods, bring properity to their lands and fulfillment to their lives. The means through which they achieve this goal are numerous, ranging from guardian god ceremonies, purging of omens and vices (for a fee of course) to the establishment of religious place of worhip as well as charitable foundations such as hospitals and educational institutions.
Assets
The Hallowed Faith accrues most of its wealth through land that it owns, much of which has been parcelled off to bishops and clerics at the behest of rulers in order to gain favour or possibly even short term profits for themselves. On these lands, the hallowed church function rather similarly to how a secular noble might run their estate, tenants are often granted holding in return for work and rent, the land being used to produce goods to sell at market. The hallowed church also receives many offerings and gifts on behalf of the gods, most chapels and larger places of worship containing alters at which the common man as well as noble will give their vassalage to their guardian gods as well as those with whom they seek favour. The church may also receive fund on a more individual level, wherein a bishop may receive gifts from their overlord as a means to keep them onside, not only for the purposes of war (many clergymen do not actively participate in their overlords wars) but also for favour in more commonly secular services such as law where many lower clergy may take up practice.
Mythology & Lore
The Hallowed Faith revolves around the worship of a pantheon of gods. Though there are disagreements as to the lineage and hierarchy found within the realm of gods, the vast majority of followers of the Hallowed faith do agree on a particular historic background to the creation of the gods. This begins with the primordial gods of Tuono and Suna who reigned amongst the abyss that came before creation. Tuono and Suna would congregate with one another to create the first generation of devised gods, known as the Alkutari.
The firstborn of the Alkutari was Jala the sky god, he would be considered the most powerful of the Alkutari and would routinely disobey his father in an attempt to seize his position as the patriarch. Aimo was the next to be born of the Alkutari, goddess of fertility and creator of humans. She would prove to be the most gifted of the gods in her physical creations. Mukko was next, the god of the underworld, he was not especially gifted in creation so instead created his own realm where he would covet and hoard the beings created by his kin. Mukko was perhaps the most aligned of the Alkutari with their father Tuono, seeking to destroy the physical creations of his siblings out of jealousy and steal them to his nether realm. Then came Korpo, the god of the moon and dreams, he was not particularly interested in the creation of matter, instead, he preferred to manipulate the creations of his siblings for his amusement and to further his goals. Kasta was the next born of the Alkutari, she would be the goddess of the mountains. She is perhaps most well known for her incestuous relationship with her brother Korpo, from which the golems were born, the source of metals and precious gemstones. Tarta would become the god of the forests, known for his creations of fauna and flora which were dense in his physicals realms. Autas would be the guardian of the seas, born of the blood of Tuono, and the rivers. He is thought to be the guardian of Tuono's heart, keeping it safe from the demons, making his allegiance to his father closer than his siblings. Lehto would be the god of the grasslands and the fens, his creations often the larger and more dependable of the gods, making great creatures of husbandry for humans. Finally, Sykli, goddess of time, not interested in creation per se, rather the manipulation of creatures and their reality.
The Alkutari
The Alkutari were the first generation of gods brought into existence by the primordial gods Tuono and Suna. This first generation of gods would gain prominence within the Hallowed Faith due to their creation of the physical universe and the primary elements within it. Those born of the Alkutari would anger their father, Tuono, due to their assistance on the creation of physical matter, for which Tuono would punish them by first destroying their creation and then murdering his children, forcing them to reform in the pre-physical reality of the abyss.The firstborn of the Alkutari was Jala the sky god, he would be considered the most powerful of the Alkutari and would routinely disobey his father in an attempt to seize his position as the patriarch. Aimo was the next to be born of the Alkutari, goddess of fertility and creator of humans. She would prove to be the most gifted of the gods in her physical creations. Mukko was next, the god of the underworld, he was not especially gifted in creation so instead created his own realm where he would covet and hoard the beings created by his kin. Mukko was perhaps the most aligned of the Alkutari with their father Tuono, seeking to destroy the physical creations of his siblings out of jealousy and steal them to his nether realm. Then came Korpo, the god of the moon and dreams, he was not particularly interested in the creation of matter, instead, he preferred to manipulate the creations of his siblings for his amusement and to further his goals. Kasta was the next born of the Alkutari, she would be the goddess of the mountains. She is perhaps most well known for her incestuous relationship with her brother Korpo, from which the golems were born, the source of metals and precious gemstones. Tarta would become the god of the forests, known for his creations of fauna and flora which were dense in his physicals realms. Autas would be the guardian of the seas, born of the blood of Tuono, and the rivers. He is thought to be the guardian of Tuono's heart, keeping it safe from the demons, making his allegiance to his father closer than his siblings. Lehto would be the god of the grasslands and the fens, his creations often the larger and more dependable of the gods, making great creatures of husbandry for humans. Finally, Sykli, goddess of time, not interested in creation per se, rather the manipulation of creatures and their reality.
Divine Origins
The Hallowed Faith has existed for as long as trustworthy historic accounts have existed, the mythology of the religion itself is widely regarded as the factual history of the world as it is known.
Cosmological Views
The believers of the Hallowed Faith believe that the world that they inhabit is, in fact, the material remnants of the patriarch god, Tuono. The features of the terrain are long decayed features of the god, the sea a long diluted solution of the gods blood. The sun and the moon are other godly entities, Suna the embodiment of the sun and the moon the material being of Korpo. The black sky during the night and the stars are in fact the presence of Dartovoss, a slain primordial serpent whose devoured souls shine in the sky.
Tenets of Faith
To murder is to murder the voice of the gods, such is forbidden.
To steal is to deprive an envoy of the gods, such is forbidden.
All gods are equal, therefor envoys of the gods must be equal.
Speakers of the gods must be respected like the gods themselves.
Worship
Upon the birth of a child, the parent/s acquire the services of a local hallowed priest who, after many convenings with the signs of the gods (such as weather, phase of the moon, position of the stars) will return to the parent/s to reveal and convene unto the child their guardian god. This is often known as the child's Decleration Day. A person's guardian god should be treated with specific reverence by the individual by offerings to their shrines and institutions. However, all gods are to be respected and as such, their representatives are equally protected under this doctrine. Celebrations for the gods should be respected by all and the hallowed places offered immunity from destruction and plunder.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Hallowed Church is an ever present force within the central Kindoms. Any town or city worth its salt will have a church dedicated to the faith to which the pious locals will donate generous sums of their money to maintain. The grandest of all these institutions can be found in the grand city of Brondholm, the Bolumn Cathedral. This enormous structure is the epicentre from which the church spreads its influence.
The Hallowed Faith is a much corrupted one, the heralds often use the supposed will of the gods to amass great wealth as well as use the Ascription of Guardians as a means of influencing the people en masse and will readily accept payment from those who wish to do likewise.
Sects
There are many sects that branch off from the main heirarchy of the Hallowed Faith, the primary disagreements between these sects and that of the original faith tends to be within the rule and beliefs regarding heirarchy of the heralds as well as society in general. Crastanism is perhaps the most widespread of the heretical sects which disregards the widely held belief that those of noble birth have any lineage to the gods, instead believing that all beings were created equal by the gods and seperate too them and that the heirarchies that have emerged developed seperately to the will of the gods. The sect of Crastanism is most often observes within the republics of the central kingdoms as well as in some institutions such as specific monasteries, free towns and guilds.
May we please them, fully, eternally
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
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