The Guardian Faith Organization in Sartova | World Anvil

The Guardian Faith

The Stories are the elements of the world in excess, and the Guardians protect us from starvation or overflow, and keep the proper amount of that Story in our world.

  It is said that thousands of years before the Burning of Erinion, all of the Guardians' spheres were convergent in their power, simultaneously. It was then that the crux of their powers was made manifest, and the Humans were formed at the very top of The Peak of Evandyr. Through the years, observing the convergence of the Stories, the peoples of Sartova created explanations for these events. The mannish explanation is of the Guardians.   In the Guardian Faith, there is Simon the Storyteller, recounting the Stories (the universe). Sartova is named the God's Chronicle, and there are the Themes of the Story, that influence the world in great ways. However, as this influence can be chaotic and deadly in it's excess, the Guardians form the gates, and control how much of each Theme enters Sartova. Each deity's sphere takes the shape of the Theme that they guard against, in moderation.   They are not seen, except for when planes converge. They're aurora boreali in the sky, "protecting" against the harmful effects of the other plane converging. They more or less are seen as the protectors putting a shield in the way when they budge up against eachother. They protect against the overt overlap of the Story and the overpower Themes, or at least the major harmful effects. Their spheres are the 1% power of it, morphed in some way by their "personality," or the desires of the Divine.   In the denomination worshiped in the Bay of Evandyr, each Guardian has a Commandment. In the Bronze Seas' faith, they are instead Lessons.  
    Father Verti, The God of Psychopompy. He guards against The Sutëir[sue-tair], Source of Negative Energy. LN
"Ends shall always come, be ready and welcome them"

Mother Jaliara, the god of Birth and Paths. She guards against Fôlifi, Source of Positive Energy.NG
"The living cannot understand death, and the dead cannot comprehend life. We are all on the Path, and are not destined to understand every step or every piece... we must simply play our part, and revel in it"

Olo, the god of alchemy and herbs and tea. He guards against Medicopia, the Endless Earth. CG
"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is benevolence where none intrude, and by the deep sea, with music in its roar; the subtle magnetism by which nature, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright."

Yel-Tor, the god of music and art. He guards against The Torfield, the Center of Thought. TN
"Crude matter is not the end of the Path. The luminous star which emanates from the mind binds us together in sentience."

Heivar, the god of Construction. He guards against Stygia, the Primordial Chaos. LN
"Make of the world a canvas upon which to craft your lineage"

Kolryut, the god of victory/conquest/war/rule. He guards against The Lyrian, the Tranquil Order. LE
"Law protects civilization from the priomordial forces that would destroy it, obey it and prosper"

Tarahn, the god of valor. He guards against Mihaan, The Light in the Dark. LG
"A lamp drowned in sorrow and memory shines brightest. Be the unextingueshed in the world of darkness"

Old Shivan, the god of fairness. She guards against Deia-rei, The Center of Balance. TN
"As the Guardians hold chiral opposites, spread Change in equal measures, lest unbalance flood the world with calamitous extremes"

Idios, the Breaker of Chains. He guards against Asphodia, The New World. CG
"Do what thou Will shall be the whole of the Law, peel back thy veils and holde witness to the Worlde of Ideals"

Amandrella, the god of improvement. He guards against Edinhomn, The Forge of Clarity. LN
"Become the blade which cuts the world into better shapes"

Mendecios, the god of theft and vengeance. He guards against Limoseht, The Hungry Abyss. NE.
"It is not selfish to look after oneself, it is one's only true given task"

Dombus, the god of gifts and hospitality. He guards against Oliana, the Fountain of Accords. NG.
"When all are one, every action done to another is done to thyself"

     
  The last four Guardians are the following, and are known as the Fallen Four to the sects located in the Bay of Evandyr:   Valefor, the Guardian of Temptation and Black Hearts. He guards against The Typhen, the Horrors in the Night. LE
"Fear keeps us strong, helps us know who the enemy is. Fight the darkness."

Braxen the god of Greed. He guards against Narhiim, the Dark in the Light. NE
"There is something at work, within each of our souls. Watch it and be mindful, lest the Rot of Greed spread through each of us".

Koinos, the Lord of Unreality. She guards against Kaligara, the Veil of Lies. CE.
"Half-finished truths are the limit of our understanding, infinite veils cover the forbidden Truth. Know that false existence does not preclude true life, nor true meaning"

Zizyx, the god of Chance and Gambling. It guards against Z, the Unexpected Element. CN
"The fire of Perfect Knowledge is the burden of only One. The chaotic mystery of the future Path is that which allows true lives"

 
  In the Golryon version of the Guardian Faith, the Commandments must be followed to please the Guardians, and earn their protection. Going against the commandments is sinful.
The Circle of the Heart enforces restrictions on faith, now that they have seen the pure power that worship of dark deities can provide, as well as fictitious deities.
In the Third Ward of Golryon there is the Chapel of Light, where the Circle of the Heart resides, a large beautiful temple of three golden domes with four faiths each.
In Golryon, there was a religious catastrophe that led to a drought that lasted a dozen years, after which the Circle of the Heart in Golryon was formed, a sort of coalition/agreement made because of it. A meeting was called, between all the faiths of the Guardians in the city, and they spoke of the tenants of their faith. How could the benevolence of the Guardians allow this? How could the Guardians grant the power of fiery murder of innocents and the drying of the Bay?
The resolution was, of course, that it doesn't, and those that did allow such heresies were devils in disguise. So they named the Four Guardians that held harming others as a core tenant of their faith, the Fallen Four, and their worship became stigmatized and demonized over time, before outlawed. These Fallen Four are worshiped equally in the Bronze Sea, as required aspects of life.  
  Dinlirys was formed after this religious catastrophe, and when restrictions on all faiths that arent the Guardians, and even some that were formerly respected Guardian deities, and many people desired free worship. These people left Golryon, being excommunicated from the Chapel of Light, and over hundreds of years, formed their own great city. Here is the city of a hundred Cults, the Guardians being the largest, but every small church has a difference stance upon them.  
  Sofer follows the Guardians exclusively, but relates each of them to a common animal, and worships them in a shamanistic faith. They invoke the names of the Guardians and thank them for every hunted kill, and call upon their power when in a situation that calls for it. Heivar when building. Tarahn when protecting the city. Mendecios when robbing. Totem shamans are the wise men that give the wisdom of the gods to the Sof Highlands.  
  Tharsis, in the Bronze Sea, worships the Guardians in the old original way, as the way of Old Reivanta taught. Instead of looking forward and considering actions in order to not perform sin, and worrying about the future, the Olde Faith is purely about the good you have done in your life, and bringing the Book of the Dead in order to prove that your Story upon Sartova was well lived to earn a good afterlife. Sins are not spoke of, only the good deeds. Death is an ever-present factor in these deadly lands, so many are accustomed to it and live with it as a constant possibility. All dead are entombed, and their vital organs removed, so that the spirit may have a body to use in the afterlife.

Comments

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Aug 25, 2019 01:25

you mean "mannish" here to be human...?

Aug 30, 2019 04:23

yep, just like tes