Ouranic Church

The state religion of the former Rexan Empire, the Ouranic Church is the vehicle for the veneration of the pantheon of Ouranic Gods primarily worshipped by the Rexan and Eknoi peoples. The Ouranic Church continues to be recognized by the Aeriscan League, the Eknon Empire, and a majority of nations in Western Tel as the one, true religion for Humankind.

Tenets of Faith

The Ouranic Church believes that they have been given the mission to spread knowledge of Ator's laws throughout humankind and to establish universal adherence to them. It is taught that these laws were revealed to the ancestors of what would become the Rexan and Eknoi people sometime after the Dracomachia. Ouranic faithful believe that through obedience to Ator's laws, they are combatting the spread of chaos and maintaining cosmic order.

The primary moral precepts that the Ouranic faithful are expected to follow are expressed in the Lex Atoris:

Do not close one's eyes and ears to my Law
Do not steal
Do not rob with violence
Do not murder
Do not steal offerings intended for the gods left on altars
Do not steal property consecrated to the gods
Do not lie
Do not curse
Do not commit adultery
Do not commit warti
Do not defraud others for gain
Do not steal land cultivated by another
Do not listen to speech not intended for you
Do not investigate matters that do not concern you
Do not disrupt the harmony of one's community and sow strife
Do not slander
Do not live a life full of wroth
Do not poach animals on the lands belonging to your lords
Do not imprison or enslave another contrary to the laws of the land
Do not debauch a woman under the protection of another
Do not pollute yourself
Do not terrorize the innocent
Do not transgress the law of gods or men
Do not live a life of violence
Do not blaspheme
Do not act without prudence and discretion
Do not exaggerate when speaking
Do not work goety
Do not deny bread, clothes, or shelter to the orphan, ill, or widow
Do not deny the dead proper burial
Do not tolerate those who violate these laws to live amongst you without punishment

Worship

Ouranic faithful are expected to pray up to six times a day. The Elders of the Church instruct that prayers should be offered to various gods upon rising out of bed, the third hour of the day, at midday, the ninth hour of the day, at sunset, before bed, and at midnight. This schedule of prayer has evolved to serve as the framework for the reckoning of time in Ouranic lands.

Canonical Hours

Aurora (Eion, Aelos, and Cireus) - Sunrise 6 am
Cibalis (Bira, Ikatrus, Rena) - 9 am
Caelestia (Aelos, Cireus, Xumus) - Noon
Vitalis (Ator, Maya, Lamos and Ka'ais) - 3 pm
Vespera (Eion, Edius, Aelos) - 6 PM or Sunset
Conticinium (Ator and Maya) - 9 pm
Intempestum (Xidohros) - 12 midnight

The Academy by Etienne Hebinger

An Ouranic Temple

Priesthood

Duties of the Priesthood

Know the liturgy of the Codex.
Defend and advance the Ouranic Faith by preaching the Codex and educating the faithful in virtue and doctrine through parable, homily, and sermon from the Mythos and Axiomata.
Gather tithes, burn candles, give the communion of Blessed Meals, attend Synod, scold those rude and idle chatterers who disrupt the sanctity of the Ouranic Church.
Observe personal offices of prayer at the appointed hours each day, and lead the Faithful in prayer and ritual during Church services.
Baptize those who do not know the Law and bring them into the Faith.
Avoid sin. Honor the Jus Atoris.
Admonish sinners and direct them away from their wickedness before Ator's vengence be upon them.
Abstain from superstition and sorcery and forbid illicit pagan practices.
Give obedience to your superiors in the Ouranic Church.
Do good works to honor Lady Maya: comfort the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit prisoners, harbor the homeless, and bury the dead.
Make confession to Lady Maya and do penance for the sins that she interceeds on your behalf from Ator's righteous vengence.
Fear Lord Ator's Judgment and the torments of Abythos.
Look forward to death in Maya's mercy, and the bliss of eternal afterlife.

Sects

Porta Aperta

The largest sect of the Ouranic Church is termed the Porta Aperta or "open door" by its ideological opponents, the Porta Clava.

Porta Clava

Porta Clava (Locked Door) is the name given to a faction within the Aeriscan branch of the Church that believes entrance to Ourana has been closed to the souls of the dead since the events of the Refugium and the occupation of Mount Ourana by the necromancers of the Cult of Nexra. As a consequence, the Porta Clavan sect teaches that the souls of the Ouranic faithful are held "in sinu Maiae", or "in the bosom of Maya, where they are held in a limbo as shades, protected from wandering aimlessly across the surface of Tel until such a time when the path to the true afterlife in Ourana is opened once again.