Church of Serkatha
The Goddess Serkatha is worshipped by almost all Sumraki-Ashaī in the Deeplands but the Church of Serkatha is the institution of her worship in Styx.
Long ago the Church was led by the Tsarina Bogovna, the God Empress of Styx aided by her High Priestesses but following the Great Revolution these positions were abolished and the Church was reformed into the New Temple.
Now the Church places emphasis on its many Saints (13.000 are counted) and makes up the formal government of Styx. The Code of Serkatha is the holy scripture and legal text of Styx. Ancient History
Legend speaks of a time when draukind came to the Deeplands from above, speaks of the darkness far darker than the depths of the world and the light that elvenkind found in the glow of Greenbright.
The caverns of Aman-ya saw the founding of the towns and cities that would eventually grow to be Styx and saw the rise of the Temple that would then be refounded as the New Temple of the People’s Republic.
Since the days that the Sumraki-Ashaī came to the Deeplands, guided there by Serkatha, the people of Styx had their Tsarina Bogovna, the Divine Empress, living manifestation of Serkatha and ruler of all Aman-ya.
A long dynastic line of the noble Bezsvetowna family that united the squabbling clans of the caverns under their rule had ruled the city of Styx for millenia.
High Priestesses under their ordinance sturctured Sumraki-Ashaī society along matriachial lines and controlled every aspect of society strictly according to their whims and the Code of Serkatha.
The High Priestesses and the Divine Empress were the only ones who had the authority to interprete the will of Serkatha and therefore were in complete control with the common people toiling in the fields and paying tax to the noble family and the temple.
This lasted until economic hardship in the form of crop failure aligned with technological advances like the invention of Steam Power and mani-and-magifactury, the workers toiled ceaselessly on the machines and were fed not even enough to keep them alive.
Many died of starvation and exhaustion until the workers united and took up arms against nobility and the Old Temple.
The Revolution succeeded and the rule of nobility and high priestesses were abolished in favor of a Republic ruled by the people of Styx.
The temple itself was restructured heavily but not abolished, the people of Styx clung to their faith and any attempt at removing the worship of Serkatha from the Republic was doomed, therefore the temple’s doctrine was appropriated and adapted to the new values the Stygian Republic sought to stand for: equality for all, to each according to their need and from each according to their ability.
The biggest change for Styx brought by the New Faith Temple was the formal recognition of men and nonbinary people as equals to women, though bigotry dies hard in the caverns of Aman-ya the state officially considers every citizen equal and seeks to root out prejudice in any form.
The switch to the New Faith also brought the recognition of the Thirteenthousand Saints in addition to Serkatha herself.
The Saints had always been a part of the temple but were cast aside in favor of the High Priestesses and the Tsarina Bogovna as direct manifestations of Serkatha.
Some of most important of the Revolutionary Saints are even recognized by a dedicated day of the week.
Among them are Saint Sharrkan the Tempest-Fisher, Saint Matrynka the Magick-Weaver, Saint Astararyn the Far-Seeker and Saint Gramscion the Hopeful Prisoner as well as Saint Parvis the Merciful.
The Temple also holds feast days for many of the major Saints at certain days of the year, these are always held on Templenik and celebrated widely among the people of the Stygian Republic.
The Code of Serkatha, the religious law according to the Scripture of the Ancients dictates many aspects of private and public life of the population of Styx, certain commandments are binding even for non-believing citizens but other aspects are only required to be upheld by the faithful.
One of the most widely debated fineries of the Code in recent times concerns itself with the recently invented technology of airships: some of the faithful believe that Serkatha’s command for the people of Styx to never leave the hallowed ground of Aman-ya strictly forbids stepping onto an airship and travelling that way, others consider this to be preposterous as even the most orthodox do not restrict their movement to always remain with at least one foot on the ground, they say if jumping is allowed why would airship travel be forbidden.
This line of argument however only enrages the orthodoxy, with some calling for a federal ban on jumping now.
Long ago the Church was led by the Tsarina Bogovna, the God Empress of Styx aided by her High Priestesses but following the Great Revolution these positions were abolished and the Church was reformed into the New Temple.
Now the Church places emphasis on its many Saints (13.000 are counted) and makes up the formal government of Styx. The Code of Serkatha is the holy scripture and legal text of Styx. Ancient History
Legend speaks of a time when draukind came to the Deeplands from above, speaks of the darkness far darker than the depths of the world and the light that elvenkind found in the glow of Greenbright.
The caverns of Aman-ya saw the founding of the towns and cities that would eventually grow to be Styx and saw the rise of the Temple that would then be refounded as the New Temple of the People’s Republic.
Since the days that the Sumraki-Ashaī came to the Deeplands, guided there by Serkatha, the people of Styx had their Tsarina Bogovna, the Divine Empress, living manifestation of Serkatha and ruler of all Aman-ya.
A long dynastic line of the noble Bezsvetowna family that united the squabbling clans of the caverns under their rule had ruled the city of Styx for millenia.
High Priestesses under their ordinance sturctured Sumraki-Ashaī society along matriachial lines and controlled every aspect of society strictly according to their whims and the Code of Serkatha.
The High Priestesses and the Divine Empress were the only ones who had the authority to interprete the will of Serkatha and therefore were in complete control with the common people toiling in the fields and paying tax to the noble family and the temple.
This lasted until economic hardship in the form of crop failure aligned with technological advances like the invention of Steam Power and mani-and-magifactury, the workers toiled ceaselessly on the machines and were fed not even enough to keep them alive.
Many died of starvation and exhaustion until the workers united and took up arms against nobility and the Old Temple.
The Revolution succeeded and the rule of nobility and high priestesses were abolished in favor of a Republic ruled by the people of Styx.
The temple itself was restructured heavily but not abolished, the people of Styx clung to their faith and any attempt at removing the worship of Serkatha from the Republic was doomed, therefore the temple’s doctrine was appropriated and adapted to the new values the Stygian Republic sought to stand for: equality for all, to each according to their need and from each according to their ability.
The biggest change for Styx brought by the New Faith Temple was the formal recognition of men and nonbinary people as equals to women, though bigotry dies hard in the caverns of Aman-ya the state officially considers every citizen equal and seeks to root out prejudice in any form.
The switch to the New Faith also brought the recognition of the Thirteenthousand Saints in addition to Serkatha herself.
The Saints had always been a part of the temple but were cast aside in favor of the High Priestesses and the Tsarina Bogovna as direct manifestations of Serkatha.
Some of most important of the Revolutionary Saints are even recognized by a dedicated day of the week.
Among them are Saint Sharrkan the Tempest-Fisher, Saint Matrynka the Magick-Weaver, Saint Astararyn the Far-Seeker and Saint Gramscion the Hopeful Prisoner as well as Saint Parvis the Merciful.
The Temple also holds feast days for many of the major Saints at certain days of the year, these are always held on Templenik and celebrated widely among the people of the Stygian Republic.
The Code of Serkatha, the religious law according to the Scripture of the Ancients dictates many aspects of private and public life of the population of Styx, certain commandments are binding even for non-believing citizens but other aspects are only required to be upheld by the faithful.
One of the most widely debated fineries of the Code in recent times concerns itself with the recently invented technology of airships: some of the faithful believe that Serkatha’s command for the people of Styx to never leave the hallowed ground of Aman-ya strictly forbids stepping onto an airship and travelling that way, others consider this to be preposterous as even the most orthodox do not restrict their movement to always remain with at least one foot on the ground, they say if jumping is allowed why would airship travel be forbidden.
This line of argument however only enrages the orthodoxy, with some calling for a federal ban on jumping now.
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