Erythrius' Orthodoxy of Light
Few things stratify a society like nearly unendingly long life. A pius elf can spend a century sculpting a statue, painting a fresco, or studying a single piece of scripture. Many clerics of the Orthodoxy of Light have held their positions for over half a millennium. Changes in the leadership of the church are a rare affair and typically only follow some sort of catastrophic event. The elves have built elaborate houses of worship, not hesitating to undertake a project that would take dozens of human lifetimes to complete. Orthodox Cathedrals are monuments to the great dragon Erythrius and the Light of Aurora. Sweeping arches and flying buttresses are ornamented with filigree that mimic branches, vines, and leaves of the surrounding flora. Elven architecture favors high ceilings with bright, open spaces filled with copious amounts of natural light. Every pillar, doorway, window, and sconce is expertly decorated by the hands of master craftsmen to stand as a piece of art in its own right. And beyond the themes of leaves, branches, flowers, and fruits the other most common image is Erythrius’ own blue arrow drawn across an ornate bow. The greatest of these holy sites is the Cobalt Cathedral, located atop the Tarnished Tower. The Tower is a marvel of architectural design and engineering in its own right, a city complex of interconnected buildings sitting atop a steep hill, spiraling up level by level until it reaches its zenith at the Cathedral. The entirety of the top tier of the Tower is occupied by the Cathedral, with its series of successively larger dome structures flanked by four slender minarets. The exterior plaza is centered around a massive statue of the dragon lord Erythrius, with his elven form, the Patrician standing in front and welcoming the faithful with outstretched arms. The statue’s cobalt-copper alloy has long since oxidized into a whirl of blues and greens and is the namesake of the city as a whole, symbolizing the elves weathering the ages and only becoming more beautiful as a result.
Elven services are an elaborate affair. Blue robed priests pontificate on the virtues of patience, resilience, and dedication as well as the necessity to remain vigilant about the evils both outside their borders and those which would seek to wrest control over one’s heart. Where sermons in other nations might include select readings from holy scriptures, an Orthodox priest is likely to read the entire book or creed aloud to the audience. It is not uncommon for a service to last hours, with breaks for meals and community building by parishioners, and on high holidays sermons might last days or even weeks. Generally there are multiple speakers addressing various topics, with the most sought after positions being the opening call to worship and the closing benediction. This benediction, being the last thing heard before the congregation disperses back to their normal lives, is saved for high ranking, senior church officials. At the Tarnished Tower this is always the leader of the Orthodoxy, Archpriest Malitar Ashroot. The Archpriest is truly ancient, and speaks with the gravity of ages at his sermons. While no elf would ever admit to dozing off during hour six of consecutive speeches, everyone is held at rapt attention when the Wizened One speaks. All in all, these lavish ceremonies are perhaps the most direct remnant of the wood elves’ heritage as high elves of Syridia. The high elven refugees who fled to Aeria find the rites to be a familiar comfort, save all of the iconography dedicated to Erythrius.
But not all who dwell in the Forest of Aeria favor this rigorous, structured brand of worship. Many elves, particularly the younger ones, prefer to climb to the canopy cities of their Aven countrymen and worship alongside them. Aven services are typically held outside, so that those in attendance can bask in the glory of the sun’s light. Perhaps most similar to the Friendly Communities, anyone who wishes may speak to the group, though village elders will generally prepare some sort of sermon or scripture lesson as well. Aven culture, being much less accustomed to remaining still for long periods of time, dictates that their functions continue on until the group decides enough has been done and said, at which point everyone disperses and gets on with their day. Marriages, funerals, high holidays, and the like might still be multi hour affairs, but normal gatherings rarely surpass an hour before everyone starts fidgeting and plucking at their feathers, eager to move on. The young elves in attendance seem to enjoy this practice, as they have their own passions to get back to working on which they may have started mere months or years ago, instead of decades like their elders.
The third group of worshipers is the oddest in the view of the Orthodoxy. Elves who choose to leave the shelter of the forest and farm the open plains like simple humans certainly provide a necessary service to their woodbound brothers, and yet the practice feels so alien to most elves. These plainsfolk are much more likely to consort with the humans as well, occasionally producing half elf children. These rural agricultural communities meet together and worship like the Aven, though their gathers and sermons tend to be longer winded almost to the level of the wood elves. A sufficiently remote farm might perhaps worship only as a family, without the presence of others and most notably without an ordained member of the cloth. This concept is anathema to many of the oldest and most devout, almost tantamount to atheism or agnosticism in their eyes. But to the elves of the plains it is a perfectly normal means of worship. They see it like most aspects of their lives: making due with what they have on hand and carving out a life with their loved ones.
Worship
Elven services are an elaborate affair. Blue robed priests pontificate on the virtues of patience, resilience, and dedication as well as the necessity to remain vigilant about the evils both outside their borders and those which would seek to wrest control over one’s heart. Where sermons in other nations might include select readings from holy scriptures, an Orthodox priest is likely to read the entire book or creed aloud to the audience. It is not uncommon for a service to last hours, with breaks for meals and community building by parishioners, and on high holidays sermons might last days or even weeks. Generally there are multiple speakers addressing various topics, with the most sought after positions being the opening call to worship and the closing benediction. This benediction, being the last thing heard before the congregation disperses back to their normal lives, is saved for high ranking, senior church officials. At the Tarnished Tower this is always the leader of the Orthodoxy, Archpriest Malitar Ashroot. The Archpriest is truly ancient, and speaks with the gravity of ages at his sermons. While no elf would ever admit to dozing off during hour six of consecutive speeches, everyone is held at rapt attention when the Wizened One speaks. All in all, these lavish ceremonies are perhaps the most direct remnant of the wood elves’ heritage as high elves of Syridia. The high elven refugees who fled to Aeria find the rites to be a familiar comfort, save all of the iconography dedicated to Erythrius.
Priesthood
The cobalt robed priests of the Orthodoxy are spiritual leaders for the elves of Aeria. They may take on any number of other hobbies, passions, interests, and so on, but once they take up the cloth they will forever be priests. The priesthood is so stratified within elven culture that essentially every clergyman knows their exact place in the hierarchy, and a significant amount of deferance is expected to be paid to every member higher in the order than one's self.
The Aven sect, on the other hand, is much more similar to that of the Mountainborn or the Friendly Communities. Services and worship are much more fluid, not the stringent, highly ceremonial affairs of the elves. So to is the clergy, where Aven of the cobalt robes are professionals in some other field in addition to their clerical duties to the community.
Sects
The elven sect is extremely organized, rigid, extravagent, and excrutiatingly slow to inact any sort of change to traditions.
Meanwhile, the aven sect is very fluid, informal, and accomodating to the wishes, wants, and beliefs of individuals and communities.
Patience and Perseverance
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Alternative Names
The Orthodoxy
Demonym
Erythrians
Leader
Leader Title
Founders
Parent Organization
Location
Related Species
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