The Holy Church of the Sainted Martyrs

In most of Kelnor, the concept of religion is one synonymous with the veneration of the dead. This is not, in most cases, a matter of ancestor-worship or a general reverence for the deceased, but the exaltation of a particular list of individuals—men and women of high and low birth but great accomplishments who sacrificed their lives in the name of a good and noble cause, and who as a result have been elevated after death to a position of mastery over a broad or narrow portfolio of their remembered skills. These exemplars are known collectively as the Sainted Martyrs, and to those of particularly faithful inclination, all things good and ill may be accorded to their will and their design.
There have been dozens of such remembered individuals, sorted into Pantheons based on the manner of their martyrdom.
Saints of the Pantheon of the Blue are those who gave up their lives to protect the innocent and powerless: the defiant victims of tyrants, those who drown saving others from shipwreck, those who treat the victims of plagues only to fall victim themselves.
Saints of the Pantheon of the Green are those who gave up their own lives in the pursuit of knowledge: those who perish exploring the unknown, or devote their lives so wholly to study that they forgo all other things.
Then there are the Saints of the Pantheon of the Red, perhaps the best known, who fall in battle for an honourable cause and to meaningful ends, in a moment of utmost martial heroism.
Other Pantheons exist as well, but the Saints of the Blue, Green, and Red are the best known, and the Orders devoted to their examples are by far the most numerous and well-established. There are theologically classified subgroups to the religion, stemming from religious disagreements of the particular sorting of certain Saints into certain Pantheons.
Nevertheless, the Saints are ultimately worshipped through emulation, through a desire and an demonstrated willingness to live the virtues which have led them to martyrdom. For those who would devote themselves further, there are the Knightly Orders, institutions established in the name of a given Sainted Martyr, whose members not only seek to copy a Saint's good works in life, but their manner of death as well. For example, those who join the Orders of the Blue, or the Orders-Succorant, devote their lives and deaths to alleviating the suffering of the poor through charitable works. Those who join the Orders of the Green, or Orders-Aspirant, devote their lives to the pursuit of knowledge above any obligations to fortune, family, or even safety. Those who join the Orders of the Red, or the Orders-Militant, seek glorious death through battle.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion