Religion in Occida

Religion in Occida Sentierism Sentieric Beliefs God in Sentierism Sentierism and Relation to the Divine Sentierism and Perfection Sentieric Scriptures Death and Eschaton in Sentieri Sentieric Worship Sentieric Sacraments Symbols of Sentierism Holy Sites in Sentierism The Colossi The Archonic Sanctuary History and Origins of Sentieri Sentieri and the Archons The Archonic Controversy and Schisms Sects and Organizations in Sentierism The Grand Church Archonic Restorationists Reformers Senteirian Monastic Orders The Witch Hunters The Yenisarii The Knights Palatine The Hellesian Church Sentierism and Other Faiths Hassam Hassamic Beliefs God In Hassam Hassam and Relation to the Divine Hassam and Perfection Hassamic Scriptures Death and Eschaton in Hassam Hassamic Worship Hassamic Sacraments Hassamic Symbols History and Origins of Hassam Hassamic Sects and Organizations Fomorian Folk Religion Fomorian Beliefs Fomori and God Fomorian Relation to the Divine Fomori and Perfection Fomorian Scriptures Fomori, Death and Eschaton Fomorian Worship Fomorian Sacraments Fomorian Religious Symbols History and Origins of Fomorian Folk Religion Fomorian Religious Sects and Organizations Paganism Pagan Beliefs Pagan Gods Pagan Relation to the Divine Pagans and Perfection Pagan Scriptures Pagan Death and Eschaton Pagan Worship Pagan Sacraments Pagan Symbols History and Origins of Paganism Pagan Sects and Organizations

 

Most religious life and thought in Occida is dominated by one great religion known as Sentieri (The Path), though the organization of Sentieri's one Grand Church is not so monolithic as it might at first appear. This is not the only religion that is practiced in Occida, and other faiths are as powerful in other continents as this one is here.

 

Sentierism

Sentierism is a monotheistic religion centered on the teachings of an ancient spiritual teacher and miracle worker now known only as The Prophet. The division of reality and the workings of Fate into the Thrice-Three Principles is a distinctive feature of Sentieri, one not followed by the older pagan peoples. This division does appear to be older than Sentieri itself, and the Prophet himself claimed that this system had been revealed to him by God as he was contemplating and meditating on top of the massive structure now known as the Colossus of Vision...

 

Sentieric Beliefs

 

God in Sentierism

Sentierism holds that there is only one god, and only one being that could ever be worthy and mighty enough to be referred to as such or to be worshiped in his own right. While Sentierism does acknowledge that there are a considerable number of other spiritual beings of great power, these are generally held to be vastly inferior and in many cases subordinate to the one almighty Creator, and usually these other beings are divided into various hierarchies of demons, angels, saints and the like. The singularity, omnipotence and uniqueness of God are greatly emphasized in Sentierism, as are his supreme goodness, ineffable mercy and, almost paradoxically, his capacity for righteous indignation and awesome wrath which he visits upon the wicked and unholy.

 

There are many names for this god, but in most cases this text will (like the inhabitants of Occida) refer to him simply as God or The Lord, or whatever equivalent to that term exists in their native langauges. Next to this generic title for him, the most common term used as the name of deity is the more reverent, Alannic-language name Ysah, which means roughly "The One." This is actually a usage-name that is considered relatively less sacred than a number of more refined and specific name-titles in whose place it is used - these higher names or titles are used rarely, only in very sacred circumstances and with the deepest of reverence.

 

The precise nature of God has been a matter of much dispute and disputation among Sentierian scholars and priests over the centuries. The current prevailing teaching is that He is not a physically manifest being, but instead is an infinite and omnipresent spirit. One common dissenting view is that He is a spirit in the form something like a mortal being and resident in the Highest Heaven, but that His power and influence are present in all of creation. All surviving major sects of Sentierism agree, however, that God is the eternal Creator, that he made all things, that he is pure and incorruptible, omnipotent, omniscient and is sovereign over all of the universe and every plane of existence. Also, he is usually held to be a personal being in that he has a distinct will and personality as well as transcendent above any possible changes as well as even time itself.

 

It is taught that in the ancient past, many centuries prior to the rise of the Prophet, Ysah sent a shard of his own infinitude to the earth in mortal form to dwell as a man and experience mortal frailty and thus truly comprehend the perspectives, pains and fears of finite mortal beings and to obtain compassion. This mortal avatar, whose name is lost but who is traditionally known as the Son, retained divine wisdom and moral perfection, and shared ineffable truths with humanity. He taught, healed and engaged in good works, and it is said that at His word even the Colossi themselves did obeisance. It is said that even the teachings of the Prophet were as a child's ramblings beside his words of wisdom, and many of the Prophet's greatest teachings were drawn from visions of this being's discourses. Unfortunately, no verifiable direct record of this great teacher's own words are currently extant. He eventually allowed himself to be slain, torn into nine pieces in order that He might taste of death and then rejoin Himself, opening the door for the souls of the righteous to dwell with Himself in the Highest Heaven. Naturally, the precise nature of The Son is under as much dispute as any other aspect of the nature of the Divine.

 

Sentierism and Relation to the Divine

 

Sentierism and Perfection

 

Sentieric Scriptures

The words of the Prophet were many, and his followers preserved many of them along with certain older writings and those of a few subsequent Archons as well a collections of sacred prayers and hymns within a collection of books now known as The Codex. Most of the Son’s words that are now available are within the Codex, preserved and compiled by the Prophet and his immediate followers. The Codex was assembled in its present form over a century after the Prophet’s death, though its core writings can mostly be dated to closer to his own time. This canon has not been expanded since a few generations after its initial compilation.

However, there are numerous other sacred writings in existence as well, of varying age, degrees of authority and regard. Some purport to be of equal standing with the constituent books of the Codex, but were rejected from its canon for one reason or another such as unverified origin and divergent doctrine - these apocryphal works are (naturally) much debated and discussed, and in fact some Reformers argue that certain books within the Codexical canon ought more appropriately to be grouped with these rather than given the degree of heed that they are. Within the past generation, the numerous writings of Mordamund have come into much demand, but the Church has taken great pains to stress that there are most of these are of uncertain provenance and to take as many of them as possible into their own custody for examination - ostensibly for the purpose of verifying their authenticity or falsity. The Restorationists claim that this is in fact an attempt to suppress the late Archon’s supposed prophecies about the fall and return of the Council of Archons.

Most extant copies of the Codex and the more significant sacred writings are in the Old Alannic tongue, though there is an increasing popular support for it being made available in the local vernacular. A number of these translations are now available, though the Great Sunedrion has declared the translators heretics and seen to it that several of them have been put to death. Accordingly, these new translations, both those that are complete and those that are fragmentary, are primarily associated with the schismatic Reformist and Restorationist movements.

 

Death and Eschaton in Sentieri

 

Sentieric Worship

 

Sentieric Sacraments

 

Symbols of Sentierism

The primary and best known symbol of Sentierism is the enneagram, a nine pointed star that represents the Thrice-Three Principles. There are several different forms of enneagrams that have different associations, most notably a starburst-like figure that is used as the emblem for the faith as a whole (and most especially the Grand Church) and the more esoteric symbol (incorporated into the iconography of this game as a whole and repeatedly found on this wiki) that is the emblem of the Council of Archons itself. The Restorationists have taken to using this latter symbol to distinguish themselves from the Church, much to the Sunedrion’s annoyance. The dissolved order of the Yenisarii used an emblem consisting of two progressively smaller triangles nested inside a larger one.

 

Holy Sites in Sentierism

 

The Colossi

There are nine great monuments spread across Occida that are of deep and abiding significance to Senterism, collectively known as the Colossi of Sentieri, the Colossi of Occida or sometimes simply the Colossi. These nine monuments are colossal (sic) statues taller than any other structure ever built by mortals and older than history itself. In fact, it is generally believed and taught that they were built by angelic rather than mortal hands when the world was young. They are said to be a sort of anchor for the skein of Fate that helps keep the material world intact and healthy, and maintain the proper relation between it and the Otherworlds. The Colossi were considered holy long before Sentieri was taught and brought forth by the Prophet, but studying them and their structure was a major part of the process by which he came to understand The Path. Each of the Colossi is said to represent one of the Thrice-Three Principles, and the mystic symbol of each Principle was derived from the decorations on the associated Colossus. Fables hold that they are aware and watch over the world of mortals carefully from their stationary vantage points, which have been major sites of pilgrimage for time out of mind.

 

The Archonic Sanctuary

Another of the most important holy sites in Sentierism is the Archonic Sanctuary in the Episcopal Dominion's Palatine District...

... Here, within the holy Basilica of the Sanctuary, stands the Holiest of Holies, the Inner Sanctum of the Council of Archons. Here it was that the Archons gathered in their most solemn assemblies to seek communion with the divine and one another in contemplating the most serious of issues, and also the place where they sat to be enthroned in a sacred ritual confirming their identities as the true Archons. The very thrones upon which the Archons sat are said to have been placed here after being taken from inside the Colossi themselves for the Prophet and then the basilica built around them, and were the conduit through which the Colossi would connect with their Archons and signal the acceptance of these holy messengers, while also being a link through which the Archons could draw upon the vast wellsprings of power and wisdom that could be drawn from their patron Colossi. Whatever the function of these nine stone thrones, they are effectively lost to mortal men behind barred doors. The great doors of the Inner Sanctum have been magically sealed ever since the night of Mordamund's death and no known being has been able to breach this chamber by means either mundane or arcane since. It remains a site to which pilgrims will still come to pray to the saints of Archons past, especially because the Basilica stands over the tombs and relics of many of the Archons of old.

 

History and Origins of Sentieri

 

Sentieri and the Archons

 

The Archonic Controversy and Schisms

In the absence of the Archons, the Church has soldiered on fiercely, holding tightly to its traditions and layers of symbolism and ritual as a bulwark against the darkness of the times and the uncertainties that face the faithful. Behind the walls of abbeys, universities and cathedrals, however, the leadership of the Church has undergone massive upheaval. The vacuum of power has not been easily filled, as some have staunchly resisted allowing anyone to claim supreme authority even as mere stewards to hold the Church for the Archons’ return, while others have argued at length that the time for Archons has passed and that the Church must move on or it will fail entirely. By now the latter view appears to have carried the day at least among the thinkers and Sunedria, and dissenters have been either silenced or ejected from the ranks of leadership. Accordingly, new supreme leadership has fallen upon the Great Sunedrion, the central council that has long governed the Ecclesiastical Dominion where the Archons were long headquartered.

 

The Grand Church's critics have also unsurprisingly begun using a variety of different and derogatory names for its adherents and leadership. Among the more polite of these would be the Sunedrists, Apostates, the Anti-Archonists, Usurpers, the Episcopals (alternately, Episcopalians) or even the Medeckites (after Archbichop Flauren Medecke, the current leader of the Great Sunedrion). Some of these same critics have begun going so far as calling Archbishop Medecke the Anti-Archon, a title that they sometimes extend to his fellow members of the Great Sunedrion.

 

The Church has splintered into an array of different bodies, which are individually detailed under Sects and Organizations in Sentierism, below.

 

Sects and Organizations in Sentierism

 

The Grand Church

This institution is the largest body of the faithful in Occida, and can be considered the default religious affiliation for most characters unless specified otherwise. Though the Church traces its existence back to the times immediately following the Prophet and while his teachings were the inspiration for its foundation, he did not in fact actively create a detailed hierarchical organization. That task was taken up by his disciples as a means of propagating his words. While the Church has always (until lately, of course) officially held that its leaders have been the Archons from the time of its founding until the fall of Mordamund, the Archons’ relationship with the organization sworn to their service has often been much more complex, and much more uneasy, than that. For most of its history, most large scale management of the Church has been by councils, known as Sunedria, made up of bishops and other ranking clerics. The most prestigious and influential of these councils was what is now known as the Great Sunedrion. All of these councils, local bishops and abbots et cetera were ultimately answerable to the Archons.

 

A millennium and a half of tradition has piled up in the worship and teachings of the Church, which has grown increasingly elaborate and ritualized as time has gone on. To encourage conversion and speed up its spread throughout the world, missionaries and priests have long made a policy of appropriating elements of the religious and cultural practices of the heathen peoples among whom they were sent. This is one of the major factors for the the rise of the veneration of Saints within Sentieric worship, which has become increasingly prominent as time has gone on and by now is deeply entrenched. Many of the Saints now worshiped bear elements of iconography borrowed from the gods and heroes of pagan peoples, and to a learned scholar might appear difficult to distinguish from their predecessors apart from their subordinate position towards the One. Frescoes, murals and statues of Saints, archangels and of course both the Prophet and the Son are to be found throughout churches, shrines and cathedrals, and ancient holy relics are enshrined such that pilgrims can pray before them. Within the past several centuries, there has also been a trend of building churches and cathedrals ever taller and more spacious to allow for magnificent stained glass windows to awe the mind and fill Occidan holy places with divine light.

 

 

Archonic Restorationists

The disappearance of the Archons sent a shockwave throughout the Church, and contrary to the will of the Great Sunedrion not all of the Church's members have reacted by declaring that the Council of Archons shall never return. One of the major thorns in the side of the Church is a movement that prays and hopes for new Archons to be found and their council's primacy over the Church restored. Interestingly, apart from this shared desire for the Archons to return and their opposition to the rise of the Great Sunedrion as the ultimate spiritual authority, the Restorationists appear to agree on little else among themselves. Some groups and subsects of the Restorationist movement are made up of extreme religious conservatives or reactionaries that only want to change who the top leadership of the Church will be, while others are on the opposite extreme in calling for a complete overhaul to the structure and beliefs of the Church to match their own perception of the true teachings of the Prophet and the late Archons. Some of these latter have a certain degree of overlap with the Reformers detailed below, though there remains opposition against that group on the subject of the Archons themselves. Perhaps needless to say, these disparate elements actively compete with one another to determine the future direction of the movement even as they resist Sunedrian hegemony together.

 

Reformers

Some short while before the Council of Archons fell completely, methods for mass printing editions of the Codex using presses and movable type were introduced, greatly expanding access to holy writ. Mordamund and Kedrick, the only remaining Archons at the time, were given the first and second proofs of these new printed Codices as gifts by the printer. They did not issue a public statement on whether or not this was an acceptable practice before the Council completed its fall, and with the patronage of wealthy noblemen and merchants the printers determined that they would proceed apace despite the protestations of more conservative elements within the Church. This combined with the work of certain scholars (sometimes at the cost of and almost always in peril of their lives) to translate the Codex from Old Alannic into the popular tongues of the faithful throughout Occida helped pave the way for the Reformist movement.

 

The Reformers (or Apostates, as the Great Sunedrion has labeled them) are those Sentierian thinkers, leaders and adherents that call for a reform to the practices and structure of the Church itself. Looking on the elaborate rituals, incredibly impressive and ornate places of worship, and of course the sumptuous and often hypocritical lifestyles of many of the upper clergy, many observers see decadence and insensitivity to the needs of the poor, and call for a change. Exactly what degree of change these Reformers call for varies tremendously: some call for the veneration of saints and angels to be abolished entirely and for all clergy to be sworn to poverty, others call for the clergy itself to be done away with outright and for all religious practice to be personal and private, while yet others simply want the Church's excesses and the potential for corruption by its leaders to be reined in.

 

Most reject some or all of the tradition that has built up within the Church, seeking to return to a purer form of worship, closer to that true sentierism first practiced by the Prophet himself. Just what that 'true sentierism' entails will vary greatly from one Reformer to another, however, and a number of rival schools of thought on the subject have sprung up that are often almost as hostile to one another as they are to the Church that spawned them. Most instead hold the Codex as the ultimate source of learning about the truths of God, and point to the mortal conscience as the guiding force in worship and scriptural interpretation rather than the rulings of the Great Sunedrion.

 

While some branches of the Restoriationist movement have much in common with the goals and beliefs of the Reformers, there is one major divide that is incredibly difficult for these two schismatic groups to reconcile between them in the face of Episcopal opposition: the Archons. The Reformers accept the reasoning that the Archons are gone and that there shall never be any more of them, while the Restorationists do not. This has been a sticking point that, more so even than the many rifts within each movement, has kept the two broad movements from being able to join together as a cohesive alternative to the Grand Church.

 

Senteirian Monastic Orders

(fill in the Orders of St. Horvic and St. Ferexus at some point)

 

The Witch Hunters

The Church has for some time maintained an order of witch-hunters based out of the Episcopal Dominion tasked with the persecution of black magic and Autumnal threats. More recently and with the rise of reform movements and splintering of the Church, this body has been tasked with assisting the Church's inquisitions in helping to apprehend and prosecute nonmagical heretics as well since the inquisitions themselves are not directly authorized to employ either torture or the force of arms.

 

The Yenisarii

Officially named the New Order of Poor Knights of The Path and the Sanctuary of the Archons but more commonly referred to as the Yenisarii (literally meaning "New Warriors"), this disbanded organization was a military order dedicated to the propagation and defense of the Sentieric faith and specifically given charge over the personal defense of the Archons and their hallowed Sanctuary. They sought to merge military and religious life, being both monks and soldiers. Because of their doctrines, recruiting practices, patronage from the Church, training and aims, the Yenisarii became known as an order of sorceror-knights - while not all of them had magical abilities, they certainly had a much higher proportion of magical ability than any other military organization.

 

The fortifications about the Sanctuary were their special charge, but they maintained fortresses across Occida as well to facilitate protection of locations important to the faith and to Occida as a whole. From these fastnesses, they launched numerous crusades against the enemies of the faith and of the Archons whatever form those might have taken. They were renowned across and even beyond Occida for their valor and skill in opposing incursions and threats from the Underworlds as well as mortal foes, and the episcopal witch-hunters would often call upon them for assistance if their investigations revealed powerful threats.

 

The organization was not entirely military nor entirely male in nature, for it had several support arms that maintained charitable institutions such as hospitals and there were a number of convents of nuns attached to the Order as well for assistance in principally noncombatant tasks. There have been instances of nuns taking the field along with their monk brethren however, though primarily in cases where the sisters were endowed by Fate with particularly martial magical abilities.

 

After the order failed to prevent the deaths and de facto disbanding of the Council of Archons, they rapidly fell from favor. Mistrust of their potent combination of arms and magic, their political influence within the Church, lust for the Orders's coffers and holdings and perhaps most of all their fervent support for the Archonic Restoriationist movement led to the order's eventual fall. Secular forces applied pressure on the Great Sunedrion as they moved against the order's holdings themselves. Accusations of infernalism, sensational tales of alliances with demonic forces and even of having purposefully betrayed the Archons to their deaths flew, stripping away much of what popular support the order possessed. Before long the newly-minted Archbishop Flaurean Medecke, whose position as permanent successor to the Council of Archons the Yenisarii themselves called illegitimate, declared the order excommunicate and officially disbanded it. Though they would not go quietly nor accept their official rejection lying down, from that time the order's days were numbered. Eventually their principal fortress was taken and their other holdings siezed, members were arrested, tried on trumped-up charges and forced into confessions under torture. Escaped Yenisarii have been hunted across the continent, and now the order cannot be said to exist as an organized body. Individuals and small groups of Yenisarii remain at large now some ten years after their order's dissolution, but they remain fugitives desperately seeking a return to grace and the identities of the successors to the Archons' thrones that they insists must exist somewhere.

 

The Knights Palatine

The Order of Poor Knights of the Palace, better known as the Knights Palatine or simply the Palatines, are another military order of monastic knights. Where the Yenisarii were the personal guardians of the Council of Archons and executors of their will, the Palatines stand to protect and defend the Great Sunedrion and the priesthood of the Great Church itself. This order was tasked with protecting the palatine district of the Episcopal Dominion, a duty that overlapped somewhat with that of the Yenisarii, who guarded the Sanctuary itself within that district. This sparked a rivalry but the Palatines existed perpetually in the shadow of the Yenisarii given that the Sanctuary's protectors had a more prestigious charge and greater influence. Also, the Palatines never had nearly as many magically endowed members as their rivals. Eventually they turned this disadvantage into a deliberate distinction...

 

The Hellesian Church

 

Sentierism and Other Faiths

The followers of the Path have an uneasy and generally antagonistic relationship with all other faiths, partially since they maintain that theirs is the only true path to heaven and partially because of power politics. One of the cardinal commandments of Sentieri is to share the good word with all of the world, and for some strange reason every other religious establishment seems to object to their doing so.

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Hassam

Hassam is the dominant religion to much of the south and southeast of Occida, being the official religion of the Ubayyad Empire as well as the sharifates of Corsada and Almaraj. Like its cousin Sentierism, this is an aggressively monotheistic religion...

 

Hassamic Beliefs

 

God In Hassam

 

Hassam and Relation to the Divine

 

Hassam and Perfection

 

Hassamic Scriptures

 

Death and Eschaton in Hassam

 

Hassamic Worship

 

Hassamic Sacraments

 

Hassamic Symbols

 

History and Origins of Hassam

 

Hassamic Sects and Organizations

 

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Fomorian Folk Religion

This is a fairly broad umbrella term, though perhaps less broad than Paganism below. The Fomorians come from a broad and diverse background, but have manged to forge a tradition and culture of their own. While this culture is not exactly homogenous, it does have certain commonalities across much of the continent. The most common belief system among the fomorians is a syncretic faith merging aspects of Sentierism and the old pagan worship of beings like the Lords of Winter. The fomorian folk religion is something that would likely confuse many of those outside the traveling fianna of the fomori. It combines many sentieristic elements, beliefs and practices alongside a more shamanic tradition of venerating spirits, their own fey cousins and the Lords of Winter themselves in varying degrees and extents...

 

Fomorian Beliefs

 

Fomori and God

This folk religion often merges saints, angels and Autumnal spirits into a pantheon of sorts. Sometimes the God of Sentierism is held up as a "high god" presiding even over the Courts of Summer and Winter, sometimes he is not worshiped at all, and in other instances he is still revered but held to be in his own and entirely separate celestial hierarchy...

 

Fomorian Relation to the Divine

 

Fomori and Perfection

 

Fomorian Scriptures

The fomori rely on oral tradition in preserving their religion and legendry, and so there is no accepted canon of holy scripture distinct to the folk religion of these fey wanderers.

 

Fomori, Death and Eschaton

 

Fomorian Worship

 

Fomorian Sacraments

 

Fomorian Religious Symbols

Again, there is no one symbol that is taken to represent all fomorian religious  practice, though there are numerous symbols that figure prominently within their religion and rituals. Particularly prominent are the glyphs that are taken to represent the various Lords of Winter and other spirits or gods that they adore - especially Balor and The Horned One. The fomori are very fond of charms, fetishes and trinkets bound up with spells and wards against the displeasure of Winter and Summer, to protect against the evils of Man or intended to bring about good luck or fertility. Also, they will commonly daub themselves and their equipment with mystic patterns or the signs of Winter's Lords when they are about to engage upon some particularly important or dangerous task.

 

History and Origins of Fomorian Folk Religion

The fomori have a very old shamanic tradition that centers mostly on the Lords of Winter and various tiers of fey spirits, but their tradition is orally transmitted and thus subject to considerable drift and to the mutable nature of the fomorian population itself. The syncretic mess that is fomorian religion now came from the nature of the nomadic and tribal culture of the fomori, and from the practice of taking in many of the Lost that flee from human, alannic and durgan society. Thus they have absorbed elements of the beliefs of surrounding peoples. In previous times, there was in fact some effort to send missionaries to the fomori but this tended to end badly for the missionaries in question and eventually the practice was abandoned. However, the teachings of the Church have through these early teachers’ efforts in part but mostly through cultural contact and osmosis penetrated even to the outcast fomori.

 

Fomorian Religious Sects and Organizations

Fomorian religious practice is pretty much completely decentralized. There is no formal religious hierarchy at a higher level than the individual fiann. Thus, there cannot really be said to be true sects or fomorian religious organizations. Each fiann's resident shaman (and the rugh to whom that shaman answers) can lead his fiann to worship whatever and however he sees fit. The nearest thing to a unifying religious force that exists is the network of filidhean. The filidhean are talesingers, lorekeepers and shamans that are free to travel either between the fianna or without a fiann at all, and whose duty it is to transmit and preserve the oral tradition of the fomori. An individual filidh may be held in particular esteem and his word held as authoritative by his peers, but this is a voluntary arrangement: apart from the relationship between mentor and pupil, every filidh is theoretically an equal to every other apart from whatever renown and prestige he has managed to win by his own wisdom and charisma.

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Paganism

This is not to be considered one system of religious belief, but rather a broad category comprising most polytheistic religious belief in and around Occida. These...

 

Pagan Beliefs

 

Pagan Gods

 

Pagan Relation to the Divine

 

Pagans and Perfection

 

Pagan Scriptures

 

Pagan Death and Eschaton

 

Pagan Worship

 

Pagan Sacraments

 

Pagan Symbols

 

History and Origins of Paganism

 

Pagan Sects and Organizations