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The Church of Orus is official state religion of the Tarantine Empire. Only a few other faiths are tolerated and then only those which are officially tolerated by the church. This is not to say that the church is one monolithic body, though it may seem that way to some. While all worshippers agree on the basic tenets, there are numerous splinter factions which disagree with the orthodox view in one way or another. In this way, there are significant differences of opinion from worshipper to worshipper.
Worshippers of Orus believe that he is the one, true god, and that all other gods are merely a shadow of his greatness. Orus is the most powerful being in the universe and cannot be directly challenged by any being or combination of beings, including any of the so called "gods". Despite this power, he is neither omnipotent or omniscient and even the lowliest of his worshippers can perform useful service. Orus existed at the beginning of time and created both the universe and everything in it. Even for Orus, the act of creation was tiring and he desired rest. He created caretakers to watch over his work while he rested and created assistants to aid them in their efforts. The caretakers were immortal beings trained to watch over creation and keep things operating in accordance with Orus' master plan. The assistants were mortal, living and dying in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth established by Orus. The caretakers became the gods and the assistants, the mortal races, were the ancestors of humanity, dwarves, elves, halflings, and gnomes. According to the holiest writings of the faith, the caretakers sought to take creation for themselves and presented themselves as gods. They deceived the mortal races and enticed them to worship the caretakers as gods. Soon, memory of Orus was almost gone and the mortal races truly believed the caretakers were gods. This was a dark age for the mortal races as the gods were often cruel and often fought among themselves using their worshippers for warriors. In the course of their wars, the gods did many horrible things to destroy the worshippers of other gods, to frighten mortals into worshipping them, and for their own sadistic pleasure. When Orus awoke, he was enraged by what had been done and the gods sought to destroy him. He destroyed some and captured others. The rest fled. Before pursuing them, Orus sought out prophets on earth to spread the word about Orus and establish a church to aid him in his mission. Then he set off in pursuit of the various fleeing gods. Not all caretakers were found guilty of treason against Orus. A few gods strove all of the time to maintain caenum as Orus had ordered. These gods were spared and it is these few religions, mostly those of demihumans, that the church tolerates. When Orus captures the final traitorous caretaker/god, he will punish all of the survivors and bring to fruition his plan for a utopia on caenum. When the Golden Age comes to pass, the mortal races will enjoy a world free of want, suffering, disease, starvation and war where all mortals will live in harmony. The instructions Orus left for the church were twofold. They were to aid Orus in his search by opposing the worshippers of the traitor gods on caenum. These gods draw the power they use to hide from Orus from worship and reducing the number of worshipers reduces their ability to hide. Also, the church was to strive to achieve a utopia on earth. Although this will not be accomplished until Orus has captured the last traitor, the groundwork must be laid that all will be ready when the day finally arrives. Additionally, Orus does not wish any of his faithful to live a life any less pleasant than it must be before the advent of the golden age. The role of the church is to organize the worshippers to achieve these things. Any worshipper can help do Orus' work by participating in the above activities. In addition, every worshipper is effectively an extra set of eyes and ears for orus so the simple act of being somewhere can potentially aid Orus in his work.
Orus gave his prophets twelve rules to guide the lives of all of his worshippers. These rules, known as the Twelve Precepts, are the basis of all church law. Obviously, very little detail can be given in twelve lines. Thus, volumes have been written interpreting the precepts and applying them more exactly to everyday life. These volumes are collectively known as the Monographs on the Precepts.
The Twelve Precepts
 The Church of Orus uses three primary symbols. The first is the Oruoboros, which symbolizes Orus' creation and the eternal cycle of life he established. The second is the pair of crossed forearms and hands. This represents the worshippers willingness to be a tool to advance Orus' will. The third symbol is the eye, which represents the status of each worshipper as the eyes of Orus and of the faith. These symbols are used seperately and in combination. The most commonly used symbol is the Ouroboros. It is frequently used as a holy symbol and Oran wedding rings are often shaped in this manner. The other symbols are more frequently used in religious art, but are sometimes combined with the oruoboros as part of a more elaborate holy symbol.
There are four different sets of works that make up the accepted holy writings of the Church of Orus. They are the Sanctus Exemplar, the Monographs on the Precepts, the Essays on Faith and the Collected Decrees of the Pontifex Maximii. For most worshippers who own them, they take the form of a collection of scrolls. Sanctus Exemplar -- This is the foundation of the faith. This book contains the history of the world up to the founding of the church and Orus' instructions for the future as told to the prophets by Orus himself. It is from this work that all others are derived. The Monographs on the Precepts -- Monographs are short writings about a particular precept attempting to examine exactly what each one should mean to the devout worshipper based on the precept itself and the writings in the Sanctus Exemplar. While there are thousands of monographs, for the purposes of assembling an official set of holy writings only a few are selected. These monographs are those which were selected by the Pontifex Maximus and the Archbishops as being especially insightful in some way. The Essays on Faith -- The essays are much like the monographs, save they address some other thing besides a precept. There are essays on virtually every subject, but only a few were included. The essays included are those which explain the theology behind some complex topic. The Decrees of the Pontifex Maximii -- This volume contains a collection of significant decrees by various Pontifex Maximii. They cover a wide range of topics and serve both as a guide to official positions on important matters and lay out proper church procedures. It is in this volume that clergy find official instructions for performing various rites and ceremonies.
Weekly -- The church has decreed that there shall be one day per week set aside for the worship and the works of Orus. The church encourages all worshippers to do at least one thing to advance Orus’ work during the course of the day. This generally takes the form of some sort of good deed, as there are not often any heathens around to convert or fight. In most places, the faithful gather in the morning for church services and do their deed afterward. The good deed can take many forms. In the countryside, the local priest typically gathers the entire congregation to do some task as a community. Since there are many people, even large tasks can be accomplished fairly quickly and with surprisingly little effort. Often works of this sort will involve helping someone in need of a great deed, such as building a new home a family that lost theirs to a fire or something of that nature. Sometimes, they work to maintain their local church. Other times, they break up to do individual deeds of various kinds. For instance, a young man might chop firewood for an elderly lady while his girlfriend weeds her garden. Perhaps the old lady, in turn, is watching a young couple’s new child so they can help someone else and have some time alone together. Craftsmen may donate their efforts to helping support various church efforts. A tinker, for instance, might spend part of the day repairing pots for a church orphanage while a baker delivers some treats he made for the orphans. An increasingly common practice in many areas is to encourage young men to practice at arms if there is no good deed to be done or instead of one. The reasoning is that the empire and the church need soldiers and fighting the heathen is as much a duty as working towards the Golden Age. Some groups within the church are opposed to this practice, saying such should be no substitute for a good deed. Others only approve of encouraging it along with the traditional good deed. Monthly -- There are twelve months in the year and there are twelve monthly religious holidays. Each of the four seasonal equinoxes is considered to be a religious holiday celebrating the gift of life given by Orus and the progression of the eternal cycle that sustains it. The remaining eight months each have a day devoted to one of the eight prophets.
These ceremonies mark important events in the course of ones life. They are generally performed only once and generally only at a specific time in life. Some, such as Holy Affirmation, can take place later in life for those who were not born into the church. With the exception of the ceremony marking death and closing the life of the deceased, these are joyous events and are celebrated by the individual, their family and friends. In rural areas, this often involves a party for the entire village. In urban areas, the celebration is generally more limited. Birth – The Dedication of Life -- This ceremony takes place immediately after birth. Its purpose is to dedicate a child to Orus and his works from birth. This protects the child from evil influences and weighs in the child’s favor should he or she die before Holy Affirmation. A priest presides over the ceremony, though the mother performs most of the actual ceremony. In cases where either a priest or the mother is unable to participate, another may step in. Typically, midwives are trained to perform either role in a pinch and carry the necessary items with them. It is preferred that a relative or close friend takes on the mother’s role if at all possible. If a priest is not present, the person acting in their stead must go to a priest as soon as possible to tell them what happened and to have their act confirmed by the priest. The actual ceremony is simple. Immediately after birth, the mother takes her child in her arms. The priest presents a bowl of holy water for her to dip her fingers in. She dips her fingers and uses them to draw a circle over the child’s heart. As she does so, she speaks words dedicating the child to Orus and his works. She then takes a cloth, dips it in the holy water and uses it to clean the child’s face. As she does so, she declares to any evil beings that may be listening that Orus protects the child and that he or she may not be turned to evil. The Priest then takes over for the mother. Either the priest or the midwife finishes the ritual bath in holy water. The priest speaks a prayer confirming that Orus has heard the mothers’ declaration and protects the child. As the ritual bath continues, the prayer switches to declaring that the bath washes away any evil that the child may have done in a previous life that it may start anew. Finally, as the ritual bath ends, the priest declares that the child is dedicated to Orus and protected from evil. Adolescence – Holy Affirmation -- This ceremony takes place at age 13 for humans and an equivalent age for other races. It is a ceremony where the youth is expected to affirm the dedication to Orus that their mother made for them at birth. Should someone be coming to Orus later in life, this ceremony serves as dedication and affirmation. The ceremony presumes that the person to be affirmed has been taught about Orus and what will be expected of them as a worshipper. The ceremony takes place in a consecrated chapel to Orus. The youth attends with his family and friends to act as witnesses at minimum and the entire congregation often attends the ceremony. The ceremony begins with the priest calling for the youth to come forward and affirm his faith. The youth steps from the body of worshippers and kneels at the altar across from the priest. The priest asks if the youth is ready to proceed. When an affirmative answer is received, he calls for Orus’ blessing on all present and begins the ceremony. First, the priest speaks a few words explaining the purpose of the ceremony. The priest then begins to recite the key tenets and beliefs that define the faith. These come in the form of questions where the priest asks if the youth believes and will uphold each. The youth is expected to answer each in the affirmative. When the questioning is done, the priest announces that the youth is prepared to take his or her full place among the ranks of Orus’ worshippers and goes on to ask the youth if he or she wishes to do so. The youth is expected to recite the ritual response. “I affirm my dedication to Orus, his teachings and all of his works. I will do all within my power to defend them, uphold them, and advance them. I will obey the church as Orus’ agents on earth and do all I can to aid the church in its sacred mission.” The priest then draws a circle on the back of each of the youth’s hands and says, “May your body do good deeds in the name of Orus”. He draws a circle on the youth’s forehead and says, “May your mind be free from unclean thoughts.” Finally, he draws a circle over the youth’s heart and says, “May your soul be forever protected from evil.” The priest presents the youth with a holy symbol intended to mark their acceptance as full members of the congregation and says, “May this holy symbol serve as a symbol of your faith and a reminder of the commitments you have made today.” The priest then dismisses the youth back into the congregation and the ceremony is concluded. Marriage – Weddings -- This ceremony ties a couple together in a holy union before Orus. The ceremony is fairly simple. The couple appears before the priest and declares their intent to marry. The priest gives a short sermon about everything that will be expected of them as a married couple and asks if they understand and still wish to marry. If they answer in the affirmative, he goes on to ask them to kneel in a prepared circle. As they kneel, he presents their rings and reminds them that their rings, as circles, are symbols of Orus, of his blessing on their union, and of their willingness to do what is expected of a married couple. He asks them to extend their hands and blesses each of them as he puts a ring on their finger. He then blesses their union and the ceremony is ended. There are quite a few secular customs that accompany these weddings, but they have no religious component. Death – Closing a Life -- For a worshipper of Orus, their death is not quite the end. After they die, there is typically a ceremony closing their life. Immediately after death, a priest is called to perform rituals that are intended to protect the soul of the deceased until it is reclaimed by Orus. A date and time for the actual ceremony is set as well. Typically, this date is three days after death. On the appointed date, all that knew the deceased and who wish to attend appear at the local chapel. At the appointed time, the presiding priest blesses the ceremony and says a short prayer opening the ceremony. The ceremony itself is intended to review the life of the deceased and finish any unfinished business. It is very freeform, but typically includes people comforting the family and a reading of the will. Other unfinished business may be discussed and taken care of as it arises, though often this unfinished business cannot be so simply resolved. In those cases, the business is passed on to another to complete in the name of the deceased. In almost all cases, the attendees do not speak ill of the deceased. Instead, they confine themselves to remembering finer points and good deeds done. When the priest is satisfied that all unfinished business has been resolved, he calls for the cremation or burial.
Since its founding, the church has grown into a large and widespread institution. Long ago, the church grew to large for any one man to administer effectively. Over time, an organizational hierarchy grew to allow the pontiff to effectively lead the church. The church has two hierarchies. There is the mainstream hierarchy that all clergy is subject to and each holy order also maintains its own hierarchy that only its members are subject to. Pontifex Maximus The Pontifex Maximus, sometimes known as the pontiff, is the ultimate head of the church. He resides in the sprawling Basilica of Saint Valerius the Prophet attached to the Cathedral of the Holy Prophets in Tarantium. From there, he directs the entire church. He makes church policy, acts as the final theological authority, oversees the church hierarchy, leads the holy orders and he appoints the archbishops. In addition to all of this, he also serves as an advisor to the Emperor. The pontiff serves for life, though it is not unknown for a living pontiff to step down when debilitated by advanced age. When the Pontifex Maximus dies or steps down, his successor is the current Archbishop of Tarantium, though there is no formal selection process that enforces this. Since the pontiff selects all of the archbishops personally, he effectively selects his own successor. The pontiff himself only personally oversees the archbishops that govern the archbishoprics, his staff of bishops and vicars, the masters of the holy orders, and his honor guard. He oversees no land and no chapels himself. These, like all other members of the church, are part of an archbishopric and under the authority of one of the archbishops. He can indirectly control these assets by issuing orders to the archbishops and he can enforce these orders by removing any archbishop who does not carry them out. The Pontiff has a bureaucracy of archbishops, bishops, vicars, and clerks to see to it that the church runs smoothly. This bureaucracy is organized into departments headed by archbishops. The Archbishop of the Holy Treasury oversees financial matters for the church. The Archbishop of the Holy Basilica oversees the pontiff’s personal correspondence, the archives, and the operation of the basilica. The Archbishop of Divine Justice administers church law. The Archbishop of the Holy Inquisition is responsible for making certain that the archbishops are operating as the pontiff wants and that they are being honest with him. They also work at ferreting out heretics and those who would subvert the faith. There is a Holy Legate in charge of the pontiff’s personal bodyguard and, nominally, serves as the commander of all church forces. The Archbishop of the Imperial Court advises the pontiff on secular politics and serves as a liaison with the emperor’s court. The Archbishop Militant acts as a liaison dealing with the needs of clerics who are part of the military. Each department has a number of bishops, vicars and clerks who do the day to day work of the department. Additionally, the pontiff has a staff of individuals of varying ranks who are officially attached to the Holy Inquisition. The pontiff uses them for various tasks that do not fall neatly under the jurisdiction of any of the departments or which he deems sensitive for another reason. A council composed of all of his archbishops and the head of each of the holy orders advises the pontiff. When an archbishop cannot attend, as is often the case with the more distant archbishoprics, his Bishop of the Archbishopric represents him. Most holy orders have made similar arrangements for their heads when they cannot attend. Archbishoprics -- The archbishopric is the most important administrative division of the church. Aside from the personal staff of the pontiff, everything and everyone in the church is assigned to an archbishopric and answers to the archbishop in charge of it. It is at this level that practical control of the church apparatus is exercised. This arrangement is intended to free the pontiff from the tedium of day to day administration and allow him to focus on matters of broad church policy and theology. Whenever possible, archbishoprics follow local political boundaries. Within the empire, these archbishoprics have the same boundary as a province. Outside of the empire, they often cover an entire nation. In the case of unorganized territories, they may cover huge tracts of land until such time as the area is organized into proper provinces or nations. In the case of borderlands, an archbishopric may, in fact, be in charge of territory no clerk has ever seen. This is because the common practice is to draw the borders of border archbishoprics to take in vast swaths of unexplored territory and charge the archbishop with sending missionaries to convert the natives. Each archbishopric is further divided into bishoprics in the charge of a bishop. These are purely administrative districts that divide the responsibility for overseeing the thousands of individual churches into manageable units. The bishops all have their own church and administrative headquarters located somewhere in their bishopric. They are assisted by a small staff of clerks to take care of the record keeping and a small group of vicars to take care of the legwork. The archbishoprics themselves are typically administered from the provincial or national capital. If none is available or it is unsuitable, another location will be chosen. Each archbishop has a bureaucracy to see to most of the work of administration. This bureaucracy is organized into a number of departments with a well-defined area of responsibility. The Bishop of the Holy Orders serves as a liaison between the various holy orders and the archbishop. The Bishop of the Holy Treasury looks after financial matters. The Bishop of the Chapel looks after the archbishop’s cathedral and the attached buildings. The Bishop of Holy Justice administers church law in the archbishopric. The Bishop of the Holy Chamber oversees the archbishop’s personal staff as well as the archives. There is a Holy Tribune who is responsible for the archbishop’s guard. Finally, the Bishop of the Archbishopric represents the archbishop in Tarantium when he is unable to attend. To prevent confusion, such bishops are known as the Bishop of their archbishopric’s name. Thus, the Bishop of the Archbishopric from Aquitania would be known as the Bishop of Aquitania. The holy orders are generally administered independently from the bishoprics in which they reside. They report to the archbishop himself through the Bishop of the Holy Orders. In some cases, the archbishop feels the need to give bishops more autonomy in his bishopric and grants him direct control over the holy orders in the area. Semi-Autonomous Bishoprics -- There are times when an archbishop feels the need to grant a bishop more autonomy in his bishopric. This typically happens in frontier areas or in isolated areas that lack swift communications. When it happens, the archbishop gives the bishop authority to operate his bishopric like an archbishopric, including control over the holy orders therein. The bishop will then establish an administrative bureaucracy like an archbishopric has save each official will be one rank lower. Thus, the Bishop of the Holy Orders becomes the Vicar of the Holy Orders and so forth. Holy Orders -- Each of the eight holy prophets has an order devoted to him. In addition, there are numerous orders not related to an individual prophet. Most of the orders are devoted to some sort of charity or are devoted to some principle. The orders of the prophets are devoted to specific things that the prophet is symbolic of. Holy Inquisition -- The Holy Inquisition exists for two purposes. The first is to watch in the archbishoprics and ensure that the Pontifex Maximus' orders are being carried out. The second is to investigate and stamp out those who would undermine the faith or seek to convert the faithful to a false religion. They generally prefer to listen and observe and only act when absolutely sure of wrongdoing. Despite this, they have a slightly sinister reputation that causes common folk to step lightly around inquisitors. The holy inquisition does not answer to local authorities. It has its own hierarchy headed by the Archbishop of the Holy Inquisition who answers directly to the Pontifex Maximus. Holy Embassy -- The Holy Embassy generally operates outside the structure of Archbishoprics, Bishoprics and Monastic Orders. Its purpose is to provide a place in the religious hierarchy for those priests who have no other place in the hierarchy. Most priests who are members of the Holy Embassy are either missionaries or wandering priests. Missionaries are formally charged with going forth and converting the heathens. Wandering priests is a catchall for priests who see to the needs of the flock at large and watch out for the churches interests from outside the more structured hierarchy of the regular priesthood. Many wandering priests are in the service of nobles, merchants and other rich men and assist them in their endeavors, though their duty to the church is never forgotten. Other wandering priests simply wander about seeing to the faithful wherever they find them. They are particularly common in places where the faithful are spread out or where people are isolated. In some places, wandering priests are the only presence the church has. The Archbishop of the Holy Embassy is in charge of the Holy Embassy. He, in turn, answers to the Pontifex Maximus. Below him is a staff of Bishops who are generally assigned to an Archbishopric to oversee the activities of the various members of the Holy Embassy in the Archbishopric and to coordinate missionary activities with the local Archbishop. . The Bishops report directly to the Archbishop of the Holy Embassy. Those priests outside of an established Archbishopric report either to the Bishop in the closest Archbishopric or to Tarantium, whichever is more convenient. They command a number of Vicars Apostolic, who are Archpriests in charge of some effort involving multiple priests such as a missionary expedition. This is the extent of the Holy Embassies bureaucracy. All other priests of the Holy Embassy hold one of four ranks: Priest, High Priest or Archpriest. Priests are the lowest rank and are equal to the priests of individual churches. High Priests are generally held to hold the same status as someone on a bishop's staff. Archpriests have the same status as a bishop. Primates have the same rank as an Archbishop. Higher ranks come with no additional rights or duties aside from the right to command priests of lesser rank, but rather serve as rewards for service. Because of this a rank holder can often command obedience and cooperation beyond their actual authority simply due to respect for past deeds. All members of the Holy Embassy besides the Bishops and Vicars Apostolic are known as "Brother" or "Sister" just as priests with an established congregation are known as "Father" or "Mother".
There are four basic types of church building. The simple church is the most common. Large cities have grand cathedrals. The more peaceful holy orders have monasteries and the more militant ones have holy fortresses. Churches -- The most common sort of church building is the basic church or chapel. Countless numbers of them exist in every quarter of the cities and in almost every rural village. The actual design varies significantly, but follows a general pattern. Churches are circular, rectangular or square buildings with a domed roof over the area where the altar sits. Directly under the dome is where the priest stands while conducting services. Most churches are decorated with religious art on the walls and the inner surface of the dome. Some have decorative columns near the edges of the circle. The actual circle is often filled with a mosaic. Typically this mosaic will be bordered by an oroboros and filled with an eye or a religious scene appropriate to the chapel. Most chapels feature religious art pertaining to a local saint or a sponsoring prophet. On the exterior, richer churches tend to be made of or faced with marble and feature peaked roofs as well as stairs and colonnades. They are generally the same in style as the old pagan temples of pre-Orusian Tarantium. Indeed, many of the oldest are converted pagan temples reconsecrated in the name of Orus. Poorer or rural churches tend to be made of fieldstone or even timber and are generally more modest. Typically, they lack much of the decoration seen in the urban temples. Cathedrals -- Cathedrals are the simple churches built on a grand scale. They are intended to impress and awe those who see them. They are intended as a bold statement of the grandeur and power of Orus and his church. Most communities that host one consider them to be points of civic pride as well. Unlike those simple churches, however, many cathedrals have numerous outbuildings. These are necessary as cathedrals generally serve as administrative centers in addition to places of worship. Monasteries -- Monasteries are buildings intended to serve as self-contained communities for members of the more peaceful holy orders. They tend to be located outside of cities or towns and away from large groups of people. They contain all of the buildings necessary to the community. There will be one or more churches for prayer, meditation and so forth. There will be store rooms, kitchens, living quarters, baths, and every other type of building needed for an isolated community. Since most orders stress some degree of rejection of material comfort for the spiritual, these buildings tend to be very spartan.
As in any organization, there are those in the church who disagree on various things. Though the church goes to great lengths to establish an official stance on everything, not everyone is happy. In some cases, sufficient numbers of people hold the same differing opinion to form a distinct faction and exert influence on events, though no faction has yet gained much power. Despite these differences, the members of the factions tend to remain loyal to the church itself. The only exception is the fundamentalist movement, which has grown further and further apart from everyone else and threatens to separate soon. The Orthodox Church -- The Orthodox Church is not a faction so much as the baseline against which all factions are measured. They generally follow a fairly middle of the road approach to most religious issues. They have complete control of the church and the great majority of worshippers of Orus follow the Orthodox Church. There are three factions that agree with the Orthodox Church in virtually all ways but how to achieve the goals set for the church. They are the visionaries, who want to focus on building the golden age, the crusaders, who want to conquer the heathen, and the evangelists, who want to convert the heathen. The orthodox path is to take the middle ground between the three. The Orthodox Church is sometimes conquering, sometimes converting and always building towards the golden age. The Fundamentalists -- The fundamentalist stance is that the Orthodox Church has strayed too far from the teachings of Orus. They point to the vast numbers of dialogues and monologues that have shaped official church policy as evidence of this. They believe that the Orthodox Church has become too corrupt and is influenced far more by temporal expediency than spiritual purity. They abhor the position of the church in the state. Finally, they oppose the official Orthodox stance on some key issues. One specific issue is the relationship with the good gods. Scripture clearly states that Orus has acknowledged them and made their stance official and the church has made this the basis of a policy of tolerance towards many of these religions. In practice, many priests of these religions do not recognize Orus or the truth as believed by his worshippers. The fundamentalists believe that tolerance should only be extended to priests of the “good gods” and their worshippers if they acknowledge Orus and their deities’ subservient position to him, acknowledge the truth of the scripture of Orus, and submit their religious hierarchy to the authority of the Church of Orus. Their position is that any that do not do this should be treated no differently than any other heathen. The treatment of those who go wrong is another area in which the fundamentalists believe the Orthodox Church has gone astray. They believe that anyone who commits any misdeed should be punished harshly. While the Orthodox interpretation of the seventh precept is used to encourage harmony and understanding in society by encouraging people to teach wrongdoers better, the fundamentalists believe that only fear of terrible punishment will keep people from going astray. Fundamentalists rankle under the position of the church in the state. They believe that the secular state should be abolished in preference to a global religious state run by fundamentalist clergy and governed by strict interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. They cite as proof of the corruption the secular state’s tolerance for what they see as terrible evil. For instance, they believe that no heathen should be allowed within the state, yet the government allows heathens to visit and trade. It allows merchants to trade with them instead of punishing them for consorting with heathens. It refuses to make laws that punish people for acts that they see as sins against Orus and them prevents the fundamentalists from punishing those evildoers themselves. Thus, the Fundamentalists are devoted to establishing a theocracy wherever the church exists. Their extreme views make the fundamentalists unpopular with all of the other factions and the worshippers in general, though they do have a small but very devoted following. They have not yet broken with the church, but are losing hope of ever effecting change from within. In the secular arena, the Emperor is considering declaring them illegal and arresting their leaders on charges of treason because they advocate overthrowing the government in favor of a theology. The Evangelists -- The evangelists differ from the orthodox viewpoint only in one important way. It is their belief that the church should be much more aggressive in its efforts to convert non-believers. They hold that the Orthodox Church does too little in this regard and should send out many more missionaries to bring in new converts. In their view, conversion, as opposed to extermination, will bring about a Golden Age far faster as there will be that many more worshippers to work enthusiastically towards the Golden Age. In light of this belief, they send out many missionaries to convert heathens and continually urge church authorities to do more to bring in new converts. At the same time, they pressure secular authorities to do everything in their power to do the same. They are currently lobbying for the government to give more benefits to foreign merchants who worship Orus as a way of enticing them to convert. Their biggest opponents are the crusaders and the visionaries as they both favor policies that would put even less emphasis on evangelism. The visionaries are the greater enemies, as they would virtually abandon it. The crusaders are “merely” wasteful of opportunity as they favor force over reason and deprive Orus of another potential worshipper with every enemy they kill. The Visionaries -- The visionaries believe that too much effort is being expended on the heathens. The true task, in their view, is that of building the Golden Age. They believe that the focus should be on building this golden age in order to be ready for the day when Orus captures the final traitor. At that point, the heathens will be weak, disorganized and deprived of their god’s power. At the same time, the worshippers of Orus will have a great and powerful state ready to enter the Golden Age. It will be no trouble for such a state to build an army vastly more powerful than any that can be built today. Such an army would have no trouble conquering the dispirited worshippers of the traitors. Indeed, most heretic armies would probably surrender when faced with such an invincible force sure in its faith while demoralized by the loss of their own gods. If battle comes at all, the holy warriors of Orus will certainly win with little loss of life on their side. Only a few heretics would not immediately convert once shown the truth of Orus’ teachings and the rest can be dealt with quickly. By focusing on preparations for the Golden Age and only going to war when it is at hand, a great many lives will be saved and no time will be lost in trying to finish preparing for the Golden Age. They oppose the evangelists and the crusaders due to differing goals. The crusaders, they believe, would cause great loss of life for little or no gain. The evangelists will needlessly delay the advent of the Golden Age with their misguided plans. Even if they do bring the advent sooner, their efforts will mean that the mortal races are unprepared. The Crusaders -- The crusaders believe that the shortest path to Orus’ Golden Age is through the field of battle. It is, in their opinion, very simple. Build strong armies. Conquer the heathens. Convert the ones you can, and kill the ones you can’t. The loss of worshippers helps Orus find the traitor gods as he intended. Use the captured wealth and slaves to build society towards the Golden Age of Orus. Keep doing this until you run out of heathens. Once that has happened, Orus will soon find the last traitor and the advent of the Golden Age will come. Everything will be ready as the wealth and sweat of the heathens will have been used to prepare for that day. Therefore, the Golden Age will be realized as soon as Orus punishes the last traitor. They oppose the visionaries and the evangelists. Where, they ask, will the visionaries get the gold or the manpower to build their paradise? It will simply take too long to achieve the golden age their way in their opinion and it is better to conquer. The evangelists would expend great effort to convert. This is admirable, in their opinion, but impractical. They will expend a great deal of effort trying to convert those who will not be converted. They believe that it is better to let such fanatics die throwing themselves against the holy armies of Orus in a vain attempt to stop them than to waste effort trying to convert them. The Utopians -- The utopians try to recreate the life Orus is said to have intended for the mortal races at the dawn of time. They know they cannot do so perfectly, but they try to the best of their ability. They typically leave civilization to live in the wilderness somewhere and set up societies that mimic those of the elves as closely as possible. Many attempts at utopian societies fail because of the dangers of nature. Most who seek this lifestyle are not prepared for monsters, barbarian raids, not to mention lacking basic survival skills in many cases. Some few succeed because they are in protected areas or because they had the right mix of people to defend themselves and teach the rest how to survive in the wild. This faction also has a following among wealthy youths. They tend to set up what they think of as utopian encampments on someone’s country estate, have food delivered by servants, and pretend to be early mortals. Their idea of early mortals involves a lack of clothing, heavily accented elvish, lots of alcohol, and a wild party. The fundamentalists view them as fools and believe that their goals fly in the face of Orus’ teachings. Everyone else is content to let them have their experiment, even if they see it as futile. Many moralists among the factions, however, reserve special scorn for the young nobles who play at utopianism. Splinter Faiths -- There are many splinter groups in the faith. Most are devoted to one particular issue or another where they differ from orthodox teachings. Few have much of a following and the Orthodox Church is content to let them be as long as they do not get to numerous of influential. Everyone but the fundamentalists follows their lead. The fundamentalists believe that these splinter faiths should be forcibly be dragged back into the fold.
Last Updated:
Sunday, 03-Aug-2003 23:36:15 CDT
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