Religion

[almostinsane]

Here we will expand upon the religions at play in Byrdain, Europa, and beyond.

[almostinsane]

The Church of the Triune God

The Church of the Triune God is the official church of the religion of much of western and southern Europa, Artemesianism. The religion is based on the life and teachings of Artemesia whom the church worships as the second Aspect of the Divine Trinity: Father, Daughter, and Spirit. According to the Chronicles of the Faith, Artemesia lived in a distant land in the oriental regions of the world called Nephilim. She showed up out of nowhere, teaching others of the true God and performing miracles such as healing, signs in the heavens, and surviving hardships no human being could. The story goes that she revealed herself as the Daughter Aspect of the Divine and preached against the cruel Imperium of Hafnium which occupied those lands. When said Imperium attempted to arrest Her, Her followers rose up and she led a grand rebellion against Hafnium.

She was all things: healer, teacher, warrior, and mother for she conceived a child with no father in the midst of the rebellion which was not divine but a child pure like the first human beings according to the Church. One of Her followers disbelieved and handed over the child, Nerias, to the Imperium and Artemesia willingly exchanged Herself for Her child and she was nailed to a stake and burned before Her Enemies and Her followers scattered and Her home burned and salted, but the faith survived for She appeared in dreams encouraging Her followers and teaching that this was fated to happen. Eventually, Artemesianism became the dominant faith in the remains of an Imperium that fell to encroaching barbarians, chief among them the Valmagne.

And it is here where the Church of the Triune God was founded. The Chieftain of the Valmagne along with his closest warriors and family converted to the faith as he claimed a large portion of the former Imperium in the West. He soon proclaimed himself Emperor of a holy empire and raised up the dominant faction of the religion as the official religion of his people and married a woman whom he and the Church proclaimed to be Artemesia's descendant, connecting his line to Artemesia Herself.

Valmagne prospered and the Church codified her teachings among them the teachings of the Nature of the Triune God. Among its core teachings is that there's a time and place for everything: a time to sow, a time to reap, a time to live, a time to die, a time for peace, and a time for war. There is also a defined place for both men and women. Despite Artemesia being a warrior, the prevailing doctrine is that She was a warrior by virtue of Her unity with the other members of the Divine and that she is the exception that proves the rule that women cannot be warrior, a view championed by the majority of the Holy Fathers of the Church. However, the opposite view that She showed women could be warriors, though frowned upon and with little support, is not considered outright heresy at the moment. It is regarded as the mistake of wistful thinkers only, but there are whispers this might change if a hardliner comes to Holy Chair.

The priesthood alone is regarded as the occupation where both men and women are both competent for as there is both masculinity and feminity in the Divine. At the head of the Church is the Holy Father who defends the Church from heresy and guides it according to God's will and below him are the Cardinals who vote for the Holy Father and run the affairs of the Church as a whole. Alongside them are the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs, heads of the Church in their particular kingdom and who are usually designated as Cardinals as well, though there are exceptions to this rule and not all Cardinals are Patriarches and Matriarchs. Below them are the bishops who oversee the local clergy of priests, priestesses, nuns, and monks. In theory, the Holy Father could be female and termed the Holy Mother, but this has only happened twice in its 800 year history.

The Patriarch or Matriarch is often an important fixture in a royal court and unofficially one of the monarch's advisers, though there are some who whisper they represent the voice of Valmagne at court for the Church of the Triune God is headquartered at the Holy Chair in the holy city of Scippii in the Valmagne Empire and the Valmagne Emperors have often influenced the Church according to their desires. The Church remains a powerful influence over the faithful even with Byrdain is at odds with Valmagne.