The Church of Amon

The Church of Amon, Temple of the Heavenly Flame, Fountain of Purity and Wellspring of Light, has long been a shining example of goodness and virtue throughout the far-flung regions of Ereba. Founded in the Eternal City itself at the end of the Era of the Nine Gods, the Church has stood for hundreds of years against the encroachments of chaos and evil.

When the Eternal City embraced the Light of Amon, the world shifted. The religion of the Nine Gods was cast aside, and the priesthood followed the light. One among their number was chosen to commune with the Light, bathing in the glow of the Divine Child through whose agency alone humanity might enter the radiance of the wellspring. But to be so chosen came with a heavy price, for never thereafter might the Chosen of Amon walk freely among men. And so the Church of Amon was founded, the Chosen as the Embodiment of Amon in the world, and the remainder of the Church, in the person of the Archcleric and the Underpriests, to serve as the link between humanity and the One.

Structure

The Church of Amon is organized primarily around a series of bishoprics, abbeys, and parish churches, with an array of other holy persons including anchorites, hermits, wandering prophets, and hedge priests dwelling on the peripheries of the centers of power. At the top of the hierarchy is the Pontifex Maximus, the Supreme Pontiff of Amon. Below him are the bishops whose authority extends to their individual towns, ordained clergy but often great lords in their own right. The bishops primarily oversee the monasteries and churches under their authority but they are also the spiritual leaders and protectors of everyone in the diocese. The diocese is further divided into parishes, each governed by a parish priest. The parish priests oversee most of the daily lives of individuals dwelling in the parish, performing the rituals that surround birth, marriage, and death, hearing the confessions of the members of their flock, visiting the sick, and comforting the afflicted.

In addition to the social structure outlined above, there are many priests, deacons, and clerks employed by the bishops to run the day-to-day operations of their sees, monasteries, and parishes. Some of the great lords have their own chaplains to see to the needs of their families and those who serve them. More removed from the social structures are home-grown hedge-priests and wandering prophets in villages far from the centers of power.  These are sometimes tolerated but can require the intervention of the bishop to protect communities from heresy or, worse, the ever present cults of the Chaos Gods. Anchorites and hermits are occasionally supported by local communities, known to but left in peace by the bishops who see no threat to the great order from their secluded lives.

Culture

At its core, the Church of Amon holds that all rational beings spring from the divine will, and that within each person there is a desire to walk in the Light. However, the blandishments and temptations of the world have lured humanity into darkness and now the only way to return to the way of the Light is through a strict adherence to the principles of the Law. Ultimately, even those who follow the Law most diligently must move beyond the structured life of the Law and give themselves to the Light if they are ever to be free of the potent illusions with which the world holds them enthralled. Law lays out the path to the Light, but in the end only a Leap of Faith will allow the believer to walk that path.

As a creed of love, the Way of Amon abjures violence. Even the most hardened pagan should be approached as a child of the god, deluded or stubborn though he may be. The way of Amon is to counsel and persuade, not to destroy. This is why members of the Ecclesia Spiritualis are encouraged to use spells of protection, support, and healing over spells that will cause harm-at the very least, physical harm can result in the death of the unbeliever before he or she can repent, and the loss of another soul to the powers of darkness. At worst, physical harm can harden the heart even further and lead to entrenched spiritual harm. Nonetheless, members of the Ecclesia Spiritualis are trained in weaponry and combat, and should the protection of others require it, physical force may be used as a last resort. And when it comes to creatures of darkness-demons, devils, or undead-mercy is best shown by quickly and decisively dispatching the creature, which is unfortunately already lost.

Wealth is to be despised as originating in material corruption, but wealth that is reconsecrated to Amon is another matter. While individual priests should not amass wealth, churches may embrace objects of beauty that lead believers to the Light.

Public Agenda

As a religion of law, the Church of Amon supports those elements of secular society that are in keeping with its own principles. That said, priests of Amon are not ministers of temporal justice, which is an office more appropriate to secular lords. They will not, therefore, assist in the apprehension of criminals. Still less may they administer any form of justice under their own authority, for justice-even that meted out against the enemies of religion,-must only be administered by a secular authority. For this reason, even in cases of demonology or necromancy, a priest of Amon may assist in the investigation of such crime and even the discovery of truth, but never in the punishment.

Spiritual punishment is another matter, of course. A priest of Amon encountering a hardened sinner may urge such a sinner to undergo his own penance, even to the extent of giving himself up to the secular authorities. And the priest is entirely justified in withholding spiritual aid or comfort of any sort from those sinners who are so entrenched in their sins that they do not repent of them. The motivation for a priest of Amon is always to bring the wayward sinner back to the Light by any means spiritually available to them.

Although the Church disclaims interest in most secular affairs, it is strongly opposed to the practice of slavery, especially since the slave trade may result in devout Children of the Light falling into the hands of pagan slave owners. As yet, however, the Church's opposition to the practice of slavery has only extended so far as urgent and strongly-worded exhortations to individual princes to end the practice. Nor is the opposition to slavery an official position of the Church-rather, it is a commonly-held commitment among believers. The practice of serfdom and land-bondage, entered as a free action by bondsman, is not seen in the same light as slavery.

Mythology & Lore

Amon dreamed humanity into existence, and his dream was good. But chaos entered the hearts of men and lured them aside from the Light, seducing them with blandishments of sensuality, filling them with the joy of rage, terrifying them with the thought of disease and death, and delighting them with visions of endless change. For this Amon was passing wroth, and he did shut the gates to his Palace against mankind, who were then made subject to the ravages of chaos.

Tenets of Faith

The basic tenets of the Faith of Amon are as follows:

• The material world has been corrupted by human sin
• The soul of man is shackled to man's fleshly desires and prideful illusions
• The extinction of desire opens man's heart to the agency of the Divine Child
• The Divine Child is the way to Enlightenment

These core beliefs are accepted as axiomatic by believers, who will brook no argument.

Ethics

The mores of those who would follow the Light of Amon are contained within five commandments inscribed on the Tablets of Law:

• Ye shall speak only the truth of Amon, nor shall ye suffer lies to be spoken by another
• Ye shall cast down the altars and images of the Chaos Lords, for they ensnare men's souls
• Ye shall not take life in wrath lest thy life should be made forfeit
• Ye shall shall not lust for the pleasures of the flesh lest ye be shackled and cast into the outer darkness
• Ye shall not covet gold nor wealth lest ye be fed molten gold in the pits of the nether world

Each of these commandments is further elaborated with sigils and glyphs on the original tablets which are kept in the Grand Fane of Amon in the Eternal City, and have been endlessly elaborated by the theologians.

Priesthood

The priesthood of Amon is separated into two ranks-the Ecclesia Temporalis and the Ecclesia Spiritualis. The Ecclesia Temporalis consists of the Church leaders in local cities, towns, and villages. These fall under the jurisdiction of the Collegium Pontificium, although they often hold sway in their individual communities that are far from the oversight of the leaders in the Eternal City. At the top of the hierarchy are the Archbishops and Bishops of the cities. The great abbots and abbesses are often the equals of these great ecclesiastical lords although they may at times be subordinate to them. The bishops are served by a staff of lesser priests as well as a diakonate. Below them are the parish priests who are the leaders of their own communities. These ecclesiasts are, by and large, ordinary men and women with no spellcasting ability.

The Ecclesia Spiritualis consists of those members of the clerical order trained in combat and gifted with spellcasting ability. These go forth to aid and assist members of the Church who are in need of champions. Although their abilities set them apart from the members of the Ecclesia Temporalis, they are expected to remain obedient to the leaders of the Church in the areas they visit. They are accorded certain privileges that other ecclesiasts do not enjoy-they may carry with them some personal wealth, for instance, and they may engage in combat if necessary for the greater good of the Church.

Lux Pro Lucis

Type

Religious, Primacy

Alternative Names

Children of the Light

Deities

• Amon, Lord of Light

Divines

• Amon, Lord of Light