Church of Arterium

The Arlight is, to put it simply, a major political and moral figure in the politics and wider world of Evantian and Eturia. The power of the Arlight is decreed by the Lightbringer and the Lords of Arterium themselves, and below the Arlight is a powerful institution with great sway over the people of faith of Arterium. The power the Arlight and the Church of Arterium is not one you cross lightly, and those who do challenge it often find themselves in grave danger.

_{Johan Rurik, Power and Politics, Arnin City Press, Arnin, 1641}

Structure

The Church of Arterium has a strict hierarchy, where religious leaders have to train at a centre of learning at the bare minimum. This means that generally, figures in the Church are intellectuals or well learned people. While there are many ranks, the mostly stay within three areas of ranking, normally referred to by the most prominent rank of thse sections.

Arlight

The Arlight is the head of the Church of Arterium, and is regarded as the Light-Bringer's most trusted mortal being. The position is for life and elected by the House of the Cardilors, however every eight years, the Cardilors can vote to repeal the mandate of the current Arlight, and begin the process of replacing them.

Cardilors

The Cardilors are the top men of the Church of Arterium, every Cardilor is chosen by the Arlight to represent an Ecclesia, a region of the world as defined by the Church. When they have been given, and have accepted the role of Cardilor of an Ecclesia, they join the House of the Cardilors.

Abbatis

The lowest of the three main branches is the Abbatis. These men are the vast majority of the members of the priesthood of the Church, as they various religious figures for towns, villages, ect. While these men have the smallest power within the hierarchy of the Church, their position as a direct link between the Church and the follows of Arterium can give them much influence in local affairs.

Public Agenda

The public goal of the Church of Arterium is simple, to convert and make sure the people of Eturia adhere to the teachings of the Church. To this end, they demand respect to the members of the Church, and a tithe to the Church from every follower, a move that doesn't go down well in some regions.

Assets

The Church of Arterium is one of the single most powerful entities in Eturia, using its religious authority to build vaste financial, military, and civic assets across the world, especially in Evantian.

Financial

The Church of Arterium takes a tithe of a tenth of all followers income, this gives the church significant wealth. This wealth helps source many of the assets the church has, most importantly is the civic aspect. These are the churches and administration buildings of the church, one of which can typically be found at some level in every settlement in western and northern Evantian.

Civic

These civic assets are what extend the influence of the church onto the masses, the church is a vital structure in many smaller settlements, serving as unofficial town halls and meeting places for towns. This influence of the church building is less so in larger settlements, however many larger settlements will have administration centres that will allow influence in other forms.

Military

The Church of Arterium has increasingly militarized in recent years, in reaction to the rise of tensions from the Arterium Divide. The Lightbringer Guard, as the military force the church controls is called, was formed under the idea of making sure Clergy and important centres of the Church of Arterium were protected. However, as the War of Arterium has taken place, the Lightbringer Guard has become less of a protector force and more of an elite force in the Loyalist armies.

Mythology & Lore

The central aspect of the Arterium faith, and therefore the Church of Arterium is the End of Chaos, the event that let to the creation of the Lords of Arterium. Beyond this story, many stories teaching the morals of the faith and church are found in the Book of Arterium.

Granted Divine Powers

Those of the Clergy of Arterium are said to be the only ones who can directly communicate with the Lightbringer themself, and have the strongest connection to other Lords in the land. Most priests are found to have magical properties that manifest in differing ways, normally healing based magic but not always.

Founding Date

312 ME

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

Arterium

Demonym

Arterians

Deities

• Adamidas
• Quill

Divines

• Kīmiyā
• Vigo