The Basilica

The Ignacious Basilicus Throva is the general church and doctrine under which the most influential religions in the galaxy reside. Created by the Cressida in Genesis, the Basilica is less a church and more an umbrella organization to which all the sub-sects following Basilican mythos belong and draw from. The Basilica is also where the Neruse is housed, their headquarters in Everywhere Town being the base from where they facilitate and organize with the other sects. No one individually worships the Basilica itself, though many go to the HQ to worship their individual sects divines and such. Despite not having any direct followers, the Systems Alliance recognizes the Basilica as one of the most powerful organizations in system space with far reaching influence.

Structure

The Throne is the head of the Basilica, elected from eligible individuals who performed outstanding feats from outside the church. It is a requirement that the Throne not be affiliated with any of the individual sects, as such they often come from positions with no religious affiliation such as the Elektra or the Militants. Underneath the Throne are the various representatives of the sects. The more populous a sect is, the more representatives they get within the Basilica, and as such there are often power imbalances within.

Mythology & Lore

The Basilica's main stories are those of Last Pantheon, Adje and Solis, and finally the Harbinger's End. Despite housing the original stories of the Neruse, the Basilica in and of itself doesn't acknowledge any of the myths outside the base of the Last Pantheon and the Abyss, as to coincide with the many different sects and their various beliefs around the roles of Adje, Solis and the divines. The Basilica also doesn't acknowledge any of the various divines, taking into acount neither popularity or might of the sect to which the divine belongs. Chief among the beliefs of the Basilica is total and clear neutrality.

Divine Origins

Following the induction of the Cressida into the Systems Alliance, a young woman named Yu Yan Shih created a group known as the Neruya to tackle the new world laid out before her. However, quickly she found the disparate yet similar religions scattered across the human territories. While the Home World Theory would not be published for a few hundred more years, the idea was becoming commonplace. As such, Yu Yan gathered up as much as she could about the various sects that worshiped Adje, Solis and regarded both the Last Pantheon and the Abyss and put it into a single document that would be then known as the Neruse. From there, the Neruya became the first Basilica, and she became the first Throne of the Basilica.

Political Influence & Intrigue

In the Systems Alliance, the Basilica is the front of all Basilican religions; every single sect has a representative in the Basilica. As such, most people, if they have need of religious input or otherwise, go through the Basilica as opposed to the individual sects. Due to this, the Basilica holds more power than many would like. The individual sects as a result don't have as much pull in intergalactic politics as they'd like, many defaulting to the Basilica as opposed to the other sects. A big point of contention between the sects and the main Basilica is the representatives themselves - often as a result of the power the Basilica holds the representatives interests stray from that of those they represent. Their goals evolve from furthering their sects interests to furthering their own, cementing their position within the Basilica and intergalactic politics. In order to combat this, for several hundred years in the later years of Genesis and for the majority of Noct representatives tended to be swapped out by their sects once every few months. It wasn't uncommon for a single sect to have over fifteen representatives in a year, each one replaced the second the sect suspected disloyalty. At the end of the Noct Era, the Systems Alliance introduced the Omri Act in regards to the Basilica and intergalactic law - every representative had to serve a minimum of five years. As such, as the ages passed it became generally accepted that the representatives in the Basilica served themselves.