Temple of Light

The Temple of Light is a organized religion with its roots in the beliefs of the Dakarians before they migrated south and was heavily influenced by the dwarves of Stoneheart Hold. The Temple is led by the Patriarch and has worked since the coronation of Reiner IV to spread the liturgy beyond the borders of Dakar.

The Temple of Light teaches that the will and nature of the gods is difficult to understand and only its priests, after years of studying, can truly understand the word of the gods. As byrne rules the gods, man rules the house, so to does the Temple of Light rule the laity. The Temple provides shelter, comfort, and intercedes with the gods on the behalf of their worshipers.

The temple is led by the Bishop of Celinus who is elevated to the position of Patriarch, which makes him the leader of all temples in communion with Celinus. The current patriarch is Joseph Klein II who was named the bishop of Celinus when Philipp Schuster retired after the death of Prince Corwyn.

The office of the patriarch is called the Primacy. His jurisdiction includes not only the Celinus Cathedral, but the holy city of Kitzingen as well. He is served in his position by the versammlung, which consists of the administrators that service the day-to-day duties of the church. By tradition he is the head of the solen_order, but no patriarch has actually served on the field of battle in generations; instead a Kommandeur Solen is typically selected from the ranks of senior priests to lead the Order upon the field of battle.

Following the death or resignation of the current patriarch all of the bishops gather at Kitzingen to elect a new patriarch. While they can elect any member of the priesthood as the next patriarch, in practice all of the patriarchs have been elected from the pool of bishops. The election of the next patriarch is done in secret, with only the bishops allowed inside temple proper, and the final vote is always unanimous.

Regardless to any other titles (Patriarch, Kommandeur, etc.) the senior bishop has the title of Archbishop. In addition to his normal duties as bishop he also has the responsibility for serving as the Chief Magistrate in religious matters. In truth he only serves directly on sensitive writings, but all religious legal writings require his seal.

Pantheon

See Also: temple_of_light_pantheon

The Temple of Light serves a pantheon of gods each with their own worshipers and liturgy, while each cathedral is capable of serving the needs of each of the gods the smaller temples typically only serve a smaller selection that have similar philosophy. Thus a temple dedicated to mara will also serve the followers of aesir. The smaller shrines and holy sites almost exclusively serve only a single god or saint.

Saints (Heiliger)

Heiliger are members of the clergy that have been sanctified after their death. They are believed to dwell with the gods and serve as intercessors between the laity and the gods. In order to be sanctified a bishop will promote their cause before each of the councils until each of the councils approved the sanctification. When this happens the bishop goes before the Patriarch and with his approval the new saints name is recorded by the Archbishop. Each Saint intercedes only on those matters for which they were sanctified, thus you would not call for intercession in a matter of law with a saint of the favorable winds.

Bishopric, Parishes, and Religious Orders

Individual areas, called Bishopric, are served by a single cathedral which is governed by a Bishop. Each of the bishops in a regional area are formed into a council whose responsibility it is to communicate with the Versammlung in Kitzingen. The clergy who serve on this council are called called Rectors and take care of all administrative duties of the bishopric. Typically these duties involve administrating church lands and holdings.

Each bishopric can be further sub-divided into different Parishes which are overseen by a ranking member of the clergy called the Vicar. The Vicar is responsible for all of the priests and monastics within his parish. If a parish is particular large or populous then a vicar may have one or two rectors assigned to assist him in his duties.

There are several smaller orders within the Temple of Light many of them focusing upon a single god or divine belief. Examples include the Solen Order, der Liebe, and the Muerites. Each of these orders confirm their desire to follow the tenets of the church and accept the rule of the Patriarch over them. These orders do not fall under the direction of any bishop and stand as true independents within the church's structure.

Solen Order

The Solen Order is the highest knightly order within the church. Comprised of strong knights of unerring discipline and honor, they fight for The Light.

Brotherhood of the Sun

The Brotherhood of the Sun are knights of the sun goddess Vash. Dedicated to rooting out the corruption of life and destruction of all undead from the world.

Within the church there exists numerous forms of worship and liturgical traditions exist, called “rites”. In many cases this results in the wide variance of the gods, but in a few cases individual parishes often have their own variance of a common rite that reflects their own history and tradition. This is more true for those parishes that are far from the bishop that rules them.

Ersten Blüte

This rite celebrates when the dwarves of Stoneheart opened their southern gate and allowed the Dakarians to enter the southern lands. This also represents the election of the very first Patriarch over the church. This rite typically involves a small festival and takes place after the spring crops have been put into the ground.

Vatertag

When the central cathedral had finished construction in Celinus the Patriarch declared a holiday for all Dakarians to eat, drink, and be merry. Over the years this holiday has become on of the biggest within The Kingdom of Dakar. Smaller temples hold their own festivals, but it is big festivals at the Cathedrals that draw the people. Wealthy individuals attempt to outdo each other with elaborate shows and charitable gifts to the church. The festival ends with a grand mass and a gift of charity to the peasantry from the church.

den Ritterstand

This is the most martial of the festivals it is either held by the Order of the Guardians or one of the lords within the bishopric. Knights, squires, and yeoman from far come to the festival to match their skill at arms against their peers and win both prizes and fame. When held by the Guardians the festival also includes an induction of new members into the order as well as demonstrations of their skill. The solen_order often recruit new members into their ranks during this festival as well as many of the nobility. In Celinus is held the Grand Tournament and only opened to the strongest knights of the realm. The ruler of Dakar (see Queen Aurora I) bestows vast gifts upon the winners and any of the knights may be selected into the Royal Guard.

Creation

The gods came into the being when the world was born from the body of mir when she was slain by the great serpent kalasshak. From her body sprung the gods and angelic host, while from the poisoned wounds crawled for the devils and their demons. A great war between the gods and devils was fought upon the body of Mir and only ended when nar-doek switched sides and helped the gods defeat his kin. gemen fashioned a prison from the body of Mir and chained the devils in the deepest pits of the new world.

Upon this prison the gods celebrated the life of their mother, they created firmament and the heavens and all the water between. They created the beasts in the field, the fowl in the air, and the fish of the sea. byrne looked down upon this tribute to Mir and was pleased, but mara had one more addition to the world. Upon this world she gave life to the Sha’rek’ta often called the “First Race” who became the favored of the gods and whom Byrne gave the breath of life. The Sha’rek’ta were given command over the beasts, fish, and fowl.

Byrne looked upon the world and was no longer pleased. The Sha’rek’ta grew as arrogant as they were powerful and created a slave race to attend their duties while they constructed great_machines of power that drew upon the life of Mir that remained upon the world. Byrne sent lom to the world to punish the Sha’rek’ta, but unbeknownst to the gods the Sha’rek’ta had freed the devils who attacked Lom and his angelic host. Angered by their treachery Byrne commanded the gods into battle led by vayne and karash. So terrible was the war that the earth cracked, the seas boiled, and blood fell from the heavens.

All of existence would have been sundered if not for the re-birth of Mir. The great machines of the Sha’rek’ta had drawn all of the life form her body and she was reborn as the “Lady of White”. She stopped the war with but a single word and banished both of her children from this world. She stripped the Sha’rek’ta of both their power and mind, leaving them little more than great beasts upon this world (see phoenix, sphinx, kraken, etc).

To heal the land she created the many races upon this world, such as the dwarves, hashan, kithkin and many others. Finally she created a race of beings to serve as the rulers of this world, a race above all other races, which she named humans. Her world once again peaceful she returned to her body and slept.

Seven Worlds

When Mir cast out her children from this world she divide existence into seven worlds, each one a home to one of her children. She created the outer worlds (Zwielicht, Himmelreich, Ulag) for the gods and devils, while the inner realms (Flammehemir, Eisernhemir, Kaldehemir) was the home of the many beings the gods and devils created during their war (giants, fae, and their ilk).

Outer Worlds

The outer worlds are those worlds that exist outside of Miranda. Through each of these world flows the Guld Floden. From her own heart she created the Guld Floden (River of Gold) that would bind each of these worlds and all inhabitants too her for all of time. Should the river ever be destroyed, so will all of existence.

Guld Floden

This river, which runs through each of the outer realms, of is said to run with gold so pure that even as it winds its way through the Ulag it cannot be corrupted. The wellspring of the river is in the Himmelreich, while the estuary is unknown. Many people, upon finding the river, have attempted to find where it ends, but none have returned. Along these waters are found small flat-bottomed rafts operated by Fährmann. A Fährmann can take you anywhere along the river for a price.

The river itself can be very dangerous to any that touch its waters. A simple contact is enough to begin draining away the strength of one's soul into the river itself. If too much of your soul becomes ensnared in the waters then you will forever be doomed to serve as a Fährmann. For the strong, or the foolish, who drink the waters insight greater than the gods can be gained, but the risk of madness or becoming a Fährmann is too great.

Zwielicht

Upon death all mortals of Miranda go to the Zwielicht, which exists between Miranda and the underworld. It is here they await the judgment of Taur upon their worth. Those found worthy will be ascend into the Himmelreich where they will live in paradise with their gods, while the unworthy are cast into the Ulag. Taur was given this monumental task by Mir for he was the only one of her children that refused to partake in the war that nearly destroyed all of existence. While Taur is one of the gods, his duties bind him in a way that no other god could hope to understand.

Those souls neither raised into the Himmelreich nor cast down into the Ulag stay in the Zeielicht until they have proven their worth. So many have gathered her over the centuries that a great city now surrounds the seat of Taur's power.

Himmelreich

This the home of the gods where they may look down upon the world and watch the lesser children (mortals) of their mother. The gods were given the task of teaching the mortals, but were given the freedom to choose whom and how to teach. while the gods are forbidden from entering Miranda, they could send a small measure of their power, or an angel in their stead.

Ulag

Main Article: see ulag

Those souls so corrupt they cannot hope for redemption will be cast into Ulag, “The Pit of Eternal Darkness.” This is a place of unending pain and misery where only the Guld Floden divides the land from the underworld. The demons and devils that live in this tortured place take pleasure in caring for these lost souls.

Miranda

This “middle” world is the world upon which all of the existence rotates around. This is Mir from which all life sprang and into which all life must eventually return.

Inner Worlds

The inner worlds exist deep within Miranda itself and are the home of the many creatures created by both the gods or the devils during their war. These creatures, although possessing life, are not the children of Mir and thus will not return to her. Many of these creatures are allowed to walk upon the world, but must always return to their own world or cease to exist.

Flammehemir

The world of fire is the home of salamanders, Ifrit, and great serpents. A land of vast deserts, powerful volcanoes filling the air with ash, and great lightning storms. This land defies any who would seek to control or rule it, even the powerful genies can do little more than protect their own desert kingdom from the land and those who live upon it. The people of this world are not only at war with the land itself, but also with each other. The only constant is change upon this world.

Eisernhemir

This world or iron and stone can be as beautiful as it is deadly. It is a bleak world filled with very little life except for the great machines built by the Sha’rek’ta whose true purpose has been long lost. There is life in this world, dark and shadowy life that moves among the great machines doing work they have been doing for generations. Very little except for the machines and those that care for them can live in this world, not even plants survive for long as the machines consume all living things.

Kaldehemir

Upon this world of ice and snow live creatures as cold as the world around them. Giants, Faeries, Dragons, and other fell creatures make this world their home. Life is harsh and unforgiving upon this world where only the strong or powerful are not devoured or entombed forever in the ice.

The Temple of Light originally expanded as Dakar expanded, but under Patriarch Philipp Schuster they began to spread their influence outside their traditional lands. This has brought them into conflict with the paganism of the Brund to the powerful Irrishites of Irill. Under the direction of the current Patriarch Joseph Klein II the temple has become even more aggressive.

Other Religions

The influence of the devils can still be found in the world as many of the gods children have turned away from their divine light towards the darkness. Being mortals, they do not see the devils for what they really are, but anyone whose life is guided by the gods can see the corruption around them. However, the gods understand the strength of their enemy and have given the Temple of Light the responsibility for purifying the children of all influence from the underworld.

To accomplish this task, the Temple of Light sends forth missionaries and traveling priests to other lands so that their people can be shown the true path. They are there to educate the heathens, construct new temples, and spread the glory of the gods to the corners of the world by converting all people to the teachings of the Temple of Light. This doctrine has brought them mostly into direct conflict with the Irrishites more than another other. Like the Temple, the Irrishites leave no room for other religions to coexist with them.

Magic

Magic is not evil nor is it the providence of the devils, but it is a temptation that can corrupt all but the most holy. Even the Magi, the most power human wizards were eventually corrupted by their own magic and abandoned their own kind to live far from Mir. The Temple has worked aggressively to drive out wizards that do not work their magic through, and for the betterment, of the church. Those that show a strong talent for magic are identified as soon as possible to ensure their soul is not corrupted and brought into the temple.