The Church of the World Alter

Description

The Church of the world alter was an organized attempt for change. However, one day right before the war, a divine being came to the church and offered them the power to change the world, a pact if you will, and with that, the true form of the church of the world altar was born. With the start of the Last War. The church mobilized efforts to bring forth social change in Aruldusk (Thrane). They sent empowered paladins (aka Warlocks) to fight on the front and preached in the streets worshiping this entity for their newfound power. However, after the last war, the church was disappointed with the nation's petty attempts at change and still sought more social reform. Recently, these attempts have become increasingly violent as the church spreads its efforts out of Thrane and is growing rapid support among those currently suffering.

Structure

The church of the world alter has a system that consolidates the power within the leadership rather than the followers. The pope has absolute power in all matters unless it comes to changing the church's doctrine. Here is the list of the positions of power within the church and what they entail:

1. Pope: The pope is the absolute leader within the church. His power is only properly checked by those in the World Alter Council which contains the Apostles. The pope has full power in matters except for those pertaining to church doctrine, church expansion, and champion selection. For a pope to be selected, a special ritual is conducted after the last one dies to choose the next one. The highest ranked positions partake in this ritual which is often the apostles, but there has been times where Alter High counselors or Bishops have done the ritual. When a pope is selected, new apostles are also selected either through the ritual or by the popes decision.
2. Apostle: position of Apostle is the second highest in power only second to that of the pope. They serve as a council of advisors to the pope allowing them to exert their influence on him and have some say in decisions regarding church doctrine, church expansion, and champion selection. They have the power to assign the positions of Bishop, War master, and Alter High Counselor. They can technically assign even lower positions, but it is often tedious and left to bishops handle those positions.
3. Alter High Counselor: High Counselors serve as administrative workers and advisors both to the Apostles and the church. They help run finances, logistics, and planning for the church and its various activities as they continue their progressive movement.
4. Bishop: Bishops operate as heads of operation for the various churches set up for worship. They answer directly to the Apostles and can assign the roles of Elder, Pastor, and Acolyte who all answer to them.
5. War Master: War Masters are assigned their role directly from the World Alter Council as they fill both a crucial and niche role. War Masters serve as combat instructors, trainers, and generals. They assign the roles of Paladins, War Casters, and Templars. They also have a say in the decision in declaring a champion for the church which is more detailed in the Organization functions section.
6. Elder: Elders are assigned typically by bishops and assist in the welfare of the church's followers. Elders often operate the various charities that the church funds and lead public protests for social reform. They typically work in pairs and do wellness checkups on followers for reports to better assess what kind of consumer goods are needed to increase the quality of living.
7. Paladin: Paladins are chosen by War Masters as powerful soldiers to fight in the name of the church. they receive their power through a ritual that occurs in the temple at Aruldusk. They received more extensive training than Templars and typically serve as commanders over regiments. The church during the last war was willing to give their paladins to any nation that seemed to be enacting social reform for their citizens.
8. Divine War Caster: War Casters are also assigned by War Master's. If young ones seem to show the potential to have spell casting, they are often sent to Aruldusk to take advantage of this power. The church also had a ritual to grant spellcasting to individuals if they are deemed worthy. However, the church wasn't too picky when it came to War Casters as they were a commodity and were even willing to hire spellcasters. This led to many of the church's War casters simply being adventurers looking for coins and can quite often not align with the church's ideals or even believing in the faith.
9. Pastor: Pastors, also assigned by bishops, are in charge of congregations of worship for the church. They also preach in the streets as the position can become very competitive of whom can convert most of the masses to the faith. This is often incentivized secretly by those in higher positions and can result in "special" privileges for those good at their jobs.
10. Acolyte: Acolytes often serve the role of maintaining church buildings and traveling among the nations to preach and survey for new church locations. The church allows people to self-proclaim themselves as Acolytes and go out preaching, but those actually ordained of the church receive funds for their efforts.
11. Templar: Templars are recruited followers of the church who had previous military experience, are hired mercenaries, or volunteers that War Masters trained. They often serve under a paladin commander or a War Caster.
12. Follower: Followers are everyday individuals who believe in the church. they attend religious gatherings and are crucial in the funding of the church.

Organization Functions

Congregations. The followers of the church congregate for religious worship once a week on Sar (Sunday). This weekly meeting typically is two hours of worship followed by two hours of either community service or protest.
Ritual of War. These take place at the temple(s) in which a War Master and at least one Apostle take part in a ritual that bestows war magic on a choosen individual. The ritual typically starts with a prayer of thanks to "the divine one". Following that, the person to recieve the magic is covered in magical markings of eberron dragonshard dust and are laid on a stone slab that is inlaid with gems and markings. Those performing the ritual circle around the slab chanting magical words that are incomprehensible to the typical person as an aura of a random color surrounds the target of the ritual. This typically takes 5-10 minutes depending on how powerful the War Magic that is being given.
Council Meetings. There is a mandatory Council meeting every two months to assess the state of the affairs of the church and to deal with any problems that may have arise. The pope can also declare emergency meetings at any time to deal with urgent problems. When it comes to voting on decisions, each Apostle gets one vote while the pope gets two. This is what makes the pope the center of conflicting intrests as he can easily turn the tide of a vote.
Ritual of Divine Choosing. Whenever the pope dies, a divine ritual is held to choose a new one. In the temple a magic circle is drawn. Then the highest positions within the church gather around and began to chant in an unknown speech. While this happens, followers congregate at the various churchs and pray. The ritual takes an hour in which ends with a blinding light as who ever is to be the next pope is teleported to the circle. Sometimes the ritual also appoints some of the apostles as well, however, more often the pope is allowed to choose.
Power of the Divine One. This ritual is enacted through War Masters and either apostles or even the pope himself. This ritual contains a font filled with mysteriously red tinted water. The ritual begins with both individuals enter the font. The enacter of the ritual states a divine prayer with encantations and then submerges the individual. The water begins to glow as the person remains submerged for 1 minute. Afterwards, they can begin their progression as spellcaster. Types of spellcasters from this ritual are typically sorcerers, warlocks, and clerics.
The choosing of the Holy champion. In times of dire need or when a great leader is desired, an emergency measure can be voted upon to select a holy champion. The World Alter Council must vote on this, but the pope does not get to vote. Instead a War Master of the pope's choosing takes his place and has a vote count of two. Once the measure is agreed upon, two seperate rituals are casted. One is to find a worthy champion, and the other is bestow incredible holy powers upon the choosen. Very few know how these rituals work as they have only been used once before long ago.

Values and Beliefs

General

In general, the church beliefs in social reform in particular about individual rights. The church pushes for the right to assembly as well as the right to religious freedoms. They also push for better standard of living among the lower class and are beginning to push for the removal of monarchies in favor of theocracies or even democracies and oligarchies.

When it comes to the holy being that has granted them this power, they belief that they are the true god. They do not deny the existence of the other gods, but they belief that the divine one of the world alter is the god most powerful compared to the rest and rules over them. The church forsees that if they are able to better the societies of the world, then the divine one of the world Alter will be able to grace the world with his presence. This will allow the world to prosper, free of turmoil, fear, pain, and suffering.

However, in order to conduct it's activities, the church needs money and able bodied people. To achieve this, there is a 10% tithe among all followers, pastors, and high counselors, and bishops. Also 10% of the followers are trained in combat to be recruited as templars and paladins.

Church of War

here are some key beliefs of the church of war that differs from the other factions:

• They see the warforged as weapons of war that can benefiit them in their cause. They sometimes see them as either comrades or weapons.
• They belief that the Mourning is an event that can aid the church in it's crusade. If the Mourning was infact caused by a weapon, then if they could harness that power to force the nations to submit and cause rapid social change.
• The church of war that the best form of change is through violence, conflict, and temporary suffering. Violent protests can force the nations into bettering society and war can topple the governments and pave the way for better ones.

Church of Peace

Here is the key beliefs that makes the church of peace different from the others:

1. The warforged are weapons from the previous war. The creation of more is abbhorent and they should not be used for anymore conflict. The church tolerates their existence, but they may be subject to change quickly.
2. The mourning to them is a clear sign there has been too much fighting. Because of these petty squables, they nations have had millions killed and many are suffering now because of it
3. The church of peace that violence is not the answer. Through civil protest, reasonability, and time, the church can make everyone's lives better. Charity for those that are currently suffering is absolutely crucial in helping the world rebuild from the devastation. Only together, can the nations be better.

Church of Reform

Here are the key beliefs that make the church of Reform different than the other factions:

• The warforged are equals just like any other race and should be treated as such. They have feelings too and are entitled to the same rights.
• The mourning was a devestating disaster that was horrible for many. We should not strive to recreate it and enact reforms to ensure it doesn't happen again.
• Social change should be are upmost goal for society. This petty bickering cannot continue and we must unify our efforts to create change. We must also focus on bettering ourselves as followers of the divine one of the world alter. We should enact policies that help the people and make us better at our jobs.

Church of Faith (Neutralists)

The faction of Neutralists are the most zealous about the original ideals of the church. The opinions of some topics may differ between believers in the church of Faith, but they still belief in the base values of what the church stands for. Their main goals are to help the people, unify the church, and fight evils of the world. They are also the smallest faction out of the four.

Current State of Affairs

The church has been divided into major factions in light of the end of the last war. There is the Pacifists, Militarists, Neutralists, and Reformist. They are often nicknamed as churches such as church of war, church of peace, church of reform, and the church of faith (Neutralists), but very few outside of the church know of the power struggle. Followers are being lead into confusion as various pastors preach different variations of the original doctorine. The factions are comprised of different positions of power as well based off their beliefs.

Followers of the church of war consist of many of the War Masters, Paladins, and Templars. Followers of the church of reform are often elders and bishops. Followers of the church of peace are secretly many of the Alter High Counselors and take a large portion of the pastors. The church of faith often has it's followers spread out through all of the positions, but not taking any of them dominately. Each church has at least some followers in each of the positions, but not when it comes to the apostles.

There is currently three apostles on World Alter Council with all the factions being represented except the church of faith. However, the pope is more unintentionally aligned more so with the neutralists. This gives the apostles the chance to fight over influencing the pope as the pope is oblivious to the power struggle.

The church has a couple thousand followers currently. They have a temple set up in Aruldusk and many churchs spread throughout thrane. They have begin to spread their influence greatly in the nations of Breland, Aundair, and the eldeen reaches. They are currently seeking a new location to set up another temple.

to change the world

Founding Date

892 YK

Type

Religious, Holy Order

Demonym

change seeker

Leader Title

Pope