Kaolite Faith

Introduction

Unlike The Church of Order, the Kaolite Faith is a heavily decentralized religious system primarily followed by Eastern Continental peoples. Before the The Church of Order began to dominate The Continent, this was the most widespread religion on the landmass.

As its name suggests, the Kaolite Faith view Kaos as its primary deity, but its pantheon is basically identical to that of The Church of Order.

Structure

Similarly to most forms of Chaos worship, there is no centralized Kaolite church or religious leader. Its followers form smaller groups called covens that can include members of their family or even their entire region. Usually, joining a coven is not mandatory, but certain covens do force individuals in their sphere of influence to join.

Often times a coven has a female cleric of Kaos as its leader, which led to the belief amongst followers of the Order that witches form covens. These female clerics embrace celibacy as according to their faith, Kaos is their husband. For this reason, they are often called Altar Wives. Each Altar Wife dedicates their life to the coven and maintains the altar in its temple, which can be any sort of building or location designated for this purpose.

Architecture

Because there is no definitive style that all Kaolite temples follow, it can be very hard to distinguish them from regular buildings or religious sites. When constructed specifically for this purpose however, Kaolite temples tend to be circular to allow the faithful to gather around the Altar Wife and pray together.

Equipment

As each Kaolite coven differs slightly, no specific item exists that is shared amongst all of them, but Kaolite people often carry a holy symbol with them, which can be any small item or jewel that the individual received as a gift from a stranger. Often times, this stranger is the Altar Wife whom they meet on their first common prayer and receive a gift from. This practice often leads to a specific holy symbol that is more or less unified for each coven.

Behavior

By default, Kaolite teachings revolve around self-determination and individual betterment, so most of its followers allow others to practice their beliefs, but that is not always the case. Certain covens forcefully attempt to convert others and with the expansion of The Church of Order, these groups rose to prominence, stubbornly clinging to their religion.

Rituals and Ceremonies

The Kaolite Faith is less focused on group prayer than the Order is, but there are certain smaller rituals that people are expected and sometimes demanded to perform every week or day. There is a weekly group prayer led by the Altar Wife.

Rules and Laws

In most Kaolite realms, the ruler and the religion is separated as the ruler would answer to their coven leader. For this reason, nobles and high ranking individuals rarely partake in covens and religious laws are rarely implemented on a coven's authority. Within covens, there are various rules to follow and these are all passed on by the Altar Wife.

Faith

Kaolites primarily worship Kaos as the Life Giver, who blessed everyone with souls, giving them free will and the ability to fulfill their own purpose in life. Besides Kaos, the Kaolite Faith acknowledges most of the same deities as Kaolites primarily worship Kaos as the Life Giver, who blessed everyone with souls, giving them free will and the ability to fulfill their own purpose in life. Besides Kaos, the Kaolite Faith acknowledges most of the same deities as The Church of Order albeit in a much more different interpretation.

• Kaos - The Life Giver: Their primary and most revered god who gives and takes care of souls.
• Sinistos - The Ambitious Child: The god of ambition and wits who helps the faithful in achieving their goals.
• Semernos - The Grim: The God of time, consequences and death. He punishes the sinners and separates the souls of the dead from their mortal coil.
• Enequila - The Judge: The goddess of judgement, who decides who is worthy of paradise.
• Perviga - The Guardian: The Watchful Goddess who watches over the mortals and guides their souls away from dangers.
• Ostinatos - The Builder: The Worker God, who helps those building their fortune and a close friend of Sinistos.
• Elevalos - The Helper: The god of empathy and cooperation, he helps those who help others and the savior of Kaos.

Afterlife

According to Kaolite Faith, there is no current afterlife. Everyone is given one chance to live by Kaos and they must make the most of it. When someone dies, their soul is returned to Kaos who welcomes them. When the world ends and paradise comes, Kaos will return all souls to Trutina to experience it.