Inumerable Cults of Goena
Structure
The "church" was a vast and far-reaching organization that comprised individual cell-like cults within many major cities across Ekrune. Each cell kept the location and activities of their group secret to others, often leading to conflicts between individual cells. Each temple was led by the "most powerful" local priest or antipaladin, each of whom subsequently established a hierarchy as they saw fit. Rivals often vied for power, often leading to regular and disruptive changes in leadership and overt feelings of paranoia among these leaders. There was no single head of the Goenaist religion, though several influential head priests believed themselves destined for such glory. Goena's church had only a select few true priests, individuals that referred to one another as "the Sworn". Titles within the clergy included Dark Master, Hand of Goena, Watchful Skull, and Dread Death.
Culture
Goena was viewed by her devotees as the only true divine sovereign in all of Aralla. They believed that her holy word— the One True Way—must be spread across all the planet by any means necssary. Authority figures were only to be obeyed so long as they maintained order, otherwise should slain in Goena's name. Anyone that opposed the One True Way, especially the faithful of any other deities, were to be exterminated and strife sown amidst the circumstances of their deaths. Like Goena herself, the followers of the One True Way regularly expressed extreme narcissism, psychopathy, misanthropy towards the world around them. They were often prone to paranoid and antisocial behavior, especially when trapped in pointless "competition" with one another. They spoke of Goena in absurd exagerrations and referred to other gods with disparaging terms, saving the worst vitriol for her enemies Baara ("the Thief"), Mehena ("the Whore") and Harrus ("the Betrayer").
Public Agenda
In brief terms, the church's collective aim was to accumulate more power for themselves and Goena, and destroy any groups or individuals that they perceived as rivals or threats. Agents of the faith were directed to infiltrate political bodies and power circles in cities across Ekrune, especially those led by tyrants and despots, in order to spread mistrust and internal conflict within. To grow and foster devotion to Goena's dogma, the priests took these actions without going so far as to plunge each kingdom or empire into outright chaos, lest some other deity reap the benefits of their work. In practice, however, many priests of Goena merely spent their time vying for greater power within the church and plotting against the leaders of rival cells. This discord within the church was intentional and not a malfunction of its operations however, as Goena herself offered conflicting directives and often self-destructive orders to her own followers.
Worship
Goena's clerics pray for spells at night, after dusk ends, when the Dark Sun's radiance is at its height.
