Nberezt Church

The Nberezt Church is the religious authority of Nberezt. It is a semi autonomous part of Senfid Aidarii always led by the eldest sister or female cousin of the Syanostri Family Matriarch, given the title of Mouth of Bera. The current Mouth of Bera is Ros Syanostri.

The separation between the Senfid and the Nberezt Church comes from the very early days of the churches. However, the main two reasons for it are an early adoption of a version of Ben Aidarii by the Nbereztians which placed gave a more prominent role to Bera, the Mother Goddess and the need in early Nbereztian society to divide a further modicum of power to the Syanostri family for the sake of social stability.

As a compromise between the Senfid and Nberezt, reached after numerous conflicts centuries ago, the Nberezt Church is officially part of the Senfid and answers to it. The Nbereztians also hold a guaranteed seat on the Consode Electia in the form of an Electii from the Syanostri family, the only hereditary seat on the Consode.

For the Nberezt. For the Nbereztians themselves, the Church, locally known as Maiya (Mother's Room), is one that provides both faith and services in the form of rooms for the homeless, food aid to the poor and free knowleadge in the form of the vast library at the church itself, The Maikosht. It is also a significant political power unto itself within Nberezt society even though it has no representation of its own on The Council of the Skyminded.

History

The history of the Nberezt Church (originally known as Maiya in the local language) started over 300 cycles ago. First a religions site for he Maiya upon which a grand abbey, The Maikosht was constructed as a place of permanent worship. Later with the city of Nberezt was established around the grand abbey. At the time the six ruling families of Nberezt had already adopted a budding Ben Aidarii religion, and most likely affected the location of the cities founding. The then still young Senfid Aidarii did not yet possess an agreed upon canon nor the strength to enforce one. It was during this early window that the Nberezt Church was formed. Where the Nberezt Church took its own path was on the question of the role of Bera, the Mother Goddess. Because the Syanostri Family, itself matriarchal, was the first family to convert to Ben Aidarii, the Nbereztian clergy was female from the beginning and this was reflected in the beliefs of the city state. As such, the Maiya took the position that because Aidar, the God of Light could not have existed without his Mother to birth him, Bera had to be the more important of the two. Hence the Nbereztians began to worship Bera as their primary deity and kept clergy hood as a female endavour headed by the Mouth of Bera. To the Senfid, the Nbereztian take on Ben Aidarii was heresy and as a result numerous wars and skirmishes were fought by the two over the next 150 cycles, collectively known as The Spousal Wars. With the advancement of Lumatek the Senfid began to overtake Nberezt in military power but nevertheless, the strength of Nberezt also remained such that at the end of The Nine Cycle War, a particularly brutal war between the two, both sides agreed to a compromise in the form of The Salt Sea Treaty. Ever since the Salt Sea Treaty took effect the Maiya and the Nberezt The Council of the Skyminded have kept up their, sometimes uneasy, alliance with the Senfid. Neither side is entirely happy with it but it has been accepted as a necessary evil by both.

Type

Religious, Parish

Predecessor Organization