United Temples
The United Temples is a pantheistic church of Eshtem origin that wields tremendous influence within the Kalmasan Samraj. They are the servants of the devas, particularly the seven High Ones, Evran, Shalyam, Inosh, Vasila, Denalesh, and Onalem, but also hundreds of minor devas, such as the patron devas of powerful families, professions, and aspects and avatars of the High Ones.
The Temples are led by the Pavitra, who is also the high priest of Lord Evran. Under the Pavitra is a vast beaucracy of priests and officials who both maintain orthodoxy within the many temples and operate as the judicial branch of the Samraj. Orthodoxy is maintained according to the compiled scripture of the devas, known as the Adej.
The organization is composed of three main branches. The most powerful, headed directly by the Pavitra, is the Great Temple, located in Alesh, the oldest Eshtem city in Kalmasa. Subordinate to the Great Temple are the Right Eye of Evran, known also as the Shining Spear, a militant and judicial order and the Left Eye of Evran, an order of occult investigators and arcane warriors trained in the Vidvanya jen Dharmu.
History
The United Temple's origin lies in the pre-cataclysm past of the Eshtem, when the seven powerful Eshtem coastal city-states of southwestern Utanar and their patron devas warred among themselves for supremacy in territory and trade. Over decades of strife between the warring merchant princes, the temple priests acted as diplomats and messengers, their status granting them protection from attack. In this manner, they formed relationships with their counterparts in the other city-states and often succeeded in keeping tempers cool to the benefit of all.
At the same time, ashrams of the Dharmati began spreading south into Eshtem territory, fleeing war in the border kingdoms to the north. The Dharmati masters realized that as a matter of survival, they would need to integrate with the customs of the Eshtem. Over the course of this integration, they assiduously collected the disparate scriptures of the many devas, stories of their exploits, laws and customs. These were compiled in what would become known as the Adej, 'the Heart' in old Eshti. It was meant to be a primer of sorts for their people to understand and adapt to the culture. As part of this ingratiation, copies of the Adej were gifted by the ashrams to all the Eshtem temples. Though some hardliners decried it as a blasphemous document, other priests, particularly those of the diplomatic beauracracies, read it enthusiastically and leveraged the knowledge to aid in their diplomatic efforts. These priests communicated in turn with the Dharmati, offering corrections and suggested additions to the compilation, particularly those that would assuage the indignation of the hardliners.
Eventually, a new, updated version of the Adej was being copied in every temple scriptorum. Pavitra Roshan bas Uskalem, leader of the Temple of Evran in Eshkar, called for a convocation of the pavitras of all seven city-states. It was hosted at the oldest Dharmati ashram in the countryside of Tulkar, eldest and northernmost of the ashrams and a neutral place. At this convocation it was agreed that the temples would join into a single entity and build a great Temple dedicated to the Seven as well as the lesser devani. This organization became known as the United Temples.
After the cataclysm that caused the Eshtem of Eshkar to flee across the sea to Kalmasa, most of the survivors acknowledged that their salvation as due to Evran, patron deva of Eshkar. Due to this and the numerical superiority of Evrani priests at the time, it was formally recognized that Lord Evran was chief of the High Ones.
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