Faith of the Aman
The Dominant Faith of the Realms of Man, Dwarf & Aelves
Orders of the Faith
The Holy Order of The Protectorate
Originally serving as protectors of Aman'Yok, since their death, the protectorate has been transformed, devoting their order towards guarding the final resting place of Aman'yok, and holding back the spreading corruption that now emanates from the shrine.The Order of Open Palms
The brothers & sisters of the Order of Open Palms travel from village to village offering healing services to the ill, funeral rites to the dying and alms for whoever the needy.The Sworn Knights
The militant order of the faith, the Sworn Knights are the enforcers of the faith's decrees, in particular, they ensure strict adherence to the Year's End Edict is being followed and have been known to take provisional roles as executioner, outside the knowledge of any Lord of the land. Due to their recognizable black cowl, and violent nature, they are referred to by some as the Blackmasks.The Interpreters of Udron
The Members of the Interpreters of Udron act as impartial legal interpreters who do not travel from town to town, but have a presence in the chapels and temples of most cities where the faith is practiced. These members are almost always made up of the local faithful who, knowing the laws well can act with accordance to any decrees. In spite of this, there have been occasions where there has been complications, where a truly unjust adjudicator might preside.The End Times Heralds
Preachers of the End Times, the members of the End Times Heralds are those that spread word of the edict to all those who would hear it. The members of the order have largely been drawn from former members of the Good Wayfarers. They travel outside of the cities that hold to the Faith and preach on city streets, roadside inns and in any village that allows them.The Mendicants of the Aman
A long discontinued order, in the early years of the faith, before they had reached their position of power among the many faithful kingdoms, The Mendicants of the Aman were an order dedicated towards the collecting of coin for the faith in order to pay for the provisions necessary for the wayfaring preachers to travel from village to village.Mythology & Lore
The Gilded Domain
For the worshippers of the faith, a life lived well and in keeping with the tenets commanded by the High Supplicants, a life after death awaits those within the Gilded Domain. A heavenly realm believed to be the birthplace of the Aman.
For those who do not live their lives well though, those who have lived a foul life and have disregarded the tenets of the faith, they will find in the afterlife, they are barred from the gates of the Gilded Domain. When they fail to pass through towards that most blessed of realms, they are engulfed utterly in a terrible nothing, a shroud of darkness in it's infinties. Eternally concious, but alone in a void.
Prophecy of the Life Unravelling
One of the core tenants of the Faith is the belief that each of the Aman hold within them, a tether to aspects of our reality. That without Aman'Yok, the world was barren and inhospitable and that no life could live there, that without Aman'Udros, there would only be anarchy and civilizations would all be taken to the chaos that existed in the time before the Aman, never to rise back up again. That, without Aman'Origan, the very skeins of fate and prophecy would burn away and all that there could be, would no longer be. This is the Prophecy of the Life Unravelling.
As the high supplicants have interpreted the words, when Aman'Yok was felled, the aspect of being that they had inhabited would once again come undone. A corruption would taint the land, seas would go dry, the healthiest fields made unfertile, the mountainholds would collapse in on themselves, that the western wastelands would spread east and devour the whole of the world. There would be famines and wars fought over bushels of wheat and the rivers and their tributaries would flow with blood not water.The Year's End Edict
As rumors spread of the Amandeath across city, town and village, a great panic took root among the faithful who, knowing of the Prophecy of the Life Unravelling began to see the end times in every wilted flower and puddle of brackish water. The Order of the High Supplicants convened in Aminum,beneath the catacombs of Cathedral of The Aman a declaration to the smallfolk was prepared.
When, at last, the members of the High Supplicants walked outwards onto the balcony to address the crowds that not only filled the cathedral, but the whole of High Heart's Hill, they read their proclamation together in unison. There was truth to the prophecy, that there was truth to the rumors, that Aman'Yok had been slain, that the prophecy meant death for life itself and that from the place of their internment on the coast of the Hessian Peninsula a rot had been begun to spread. They continued, again in unison, speaking of inevitibility and ruin, and the virtues of persistence in the face of powerlessness. They spoke of the need for order, peace and calm against the coming centuries of inevitable cataclysm. They addressed the anxieties of the end's approach and the dread of a drawing near. They proclaimed, so as to let the dread centuries pass in silence that hereforth an abandon to the practice of the observation of the passing of years, that from now on, the days and weeks were as one. An allowment was made for the seasons, so needed to track harvest but that the Year's End Edict would be followed under threat of death and threat of disbarring from the Gilded Domain.
Divine Origins
Tenets of Faith
Autonomy Of the Lesser Supplicants
The Lesser Supplicants are granted a degree of autonomy to shape the tenets of the faith in accordance with the local culture and customs. This was a power was granted by the High Supplicants during the reign of House Ulanala.
When the Lord of Donoriam forced the practice of ritual sacrifice upon his court, a common practice in the Wastes of Illalon but banned by the Faith, tensions arose between the remaining Human retainers at court and the Aelven Lord with the replacements they had brought with them. For several weeks the issue escalated until the arrival of several members of the High Supplicants and the Interpreters of Udron who travelled from Aminum to discuss the matter. A dispensation was granted to the exectuioners who had been forced into already carrying out these sacrifices and a councilf of the High Supplicants was called to Donoriam to debate the matter. Ultimately the decision was made for the allowance of a local interpretation of the tenets where cultures differed.
Ethics
The Expulsion of the Orcs
In spite of the respect that the faith puts upon living creatures, there has always existed lingering tensions between the Aelven members of the faith, whose interpretations differ, and those who are not of the Aman-born. Notably, it is said that during the earliest years in the Age of the Aman, when the only civilized races of the world were the Satyrs who hid away in their forests, the Orcs in their holds, and Aelves who clashed endlessly with the Orcs over dominion in the Hunolduran Plains that it was during these conflicts, that the Orcs were expelled from the mainland. The martial prowess of the Orcs being no match for the magics of the Aelves.Priesthood
The Order of the High Supplicants
The highest level of the faith, it is an order of the High Priests whose members have gone on pilgrimige to seek out the Aman and to live amongst them for a period of time. The High Supplicants, having lived among the Aman are said to have a richer connection to them and as such are capable interpreters of their will.The Order of the Lesser Supplicants
Numbering in the hundreds, the Lesser Supplicants are the common preachers who, from their churches and cathedrals preach of the Aman who gave to them life, order and destiny. The Lesser Supplicants tell stories of the Aman's visitations, of their virtues and the radiant light that their very presence inspires. Ascension into the Order of the Lesser Supplicants can only granted through the approval of a Lesser Supplicant, or High Supplicant. This is generally done after time is spent among the Good Wayfarers.The Good Wayfarers
While not an official order supported by the Faith, the Good Wayfarers are the wandering priests who travel from village to village preaching to those who would have them. The origins of the Good Wayfarer have their start in the members of the Mendicant of the Aman who would themselves, travel the mainland offering alms for small sums of coin if not for free outright.It was from the Good Wayfarers that the many memebers of the End Times Heralds have come from.
Sects
Yokist Sect
The largest sect of Amanite worship, the members of the Yokist Sect worship Aman'Yok, The God of Binding first among the Aman. The seat of this sect is in the city of Aminum in the Cathedral of the Aman.
Udrosan Sect
The worshippers of the Orderbringer, Aman'Udros are known for their ideals of fairest temperment and judgement in reverence to their patron Aman. The original center of congregation for the Udrosan was in the Aelven city of Tel'Allore in the Hurrian Basin, since the corruption reached across the Tourmaline Sea however, the city has fallen and with it pilgrimage to the holy site.
The Temple of the Udrosan
Origanite Sect
Origanite Worshippers can be found among some of the furthest reaches of the mainland, from the distant Aelven Kingdom of Kelth'Anore to the villages on the eastern shores of Khenthiad. The former Orc Hold of Thogboldan holds the Temple of Origan, constructed overlooking the lake.
Satyric Sect
As with so much of Satyric society, little is known of their religious practices on Scarletsilt Island save for their shared worship of the Aman. In the Sorceror Cities of Acropolita, rumors speak of glass cathedrals formed from sand are summoned during times of worship and disolved back to the soil when the final prayers conclude. It is said the Satyrs view each of the Aman with equal reverance.
Others Sects
A curious development among the Orcs that live in the forests of Amandale, they have taken to worship the Aman despite there not being Amanborn. From the valley grasslands where theyroam the Orcs have erected totems in the likenesses of each of the Aman. The High Supplicants have speculated that these Orcs, hostile to outsiders, share in the jubilation the Aman are said to radiate.
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