Faith in Tal Avalin

Formed from among the sentient races that feel a need for worship there have slowly emerged a number of deities. The precise origin of these deities is varied and often shrouded by the mists of time and memory. Most religious customs in Tal Avalin are strongly influenced by the now destroyed Opal empire, which had strictly defined religious doctrines, prescribing which gods one was allowed to worship and in what manner. Their influence is still felt in the current day, though many nations are now less restricting.

There are three pantheons known in Tal Avalin. The imperials favored worship of the pantheon of Aekyr. Other forms of worship were considered primitive or sinister, and were discouraged through laws and customs. In time, worship of anything else became considered to be foreign, so interwoven was the Aekyrian temple with imperial society.

The pantheon of Aekyr

The Aekyrian pantheon are named for the empyrean palace of Aekyr, the sky-home, in which they are said to reside. From there the gods observe the mortal realm, feast, and endlessly quarrel with one another. There are regional differences between which gods are the best known, and how they are worshiped. There is much less differentiation in the outline of how a temple is built, which follows a traditional model.
Formalized and highly structured since the days of the Empire, the Aekyrian Temple survived when the Opal Empire did not. It moved its central Temple, the Hall of Hallows, to the island city-state of Weft. The Aekyrians then re-established their influence in the following years, offering people guidance and stability when they were needed most.

Temple architecture

An Aekyrian temple is modeled in a long rectangle, with side naves that contain shrines to individual gods. They tend to be as majestic as the local community can afford. They contain few natural elements, but greatly value light and space so they tend to be built as tall as possible.

Holy book - the Aurelion

The Aekyrians consider the collected writings of Althea and her disciples to be the canonical work from which all other scripture flows. This book is called the Aurelion.

Hierarchy

The Aekyrian temple has been organized for over a thousand years, and as such it has a well developed bureaucracy.

Exarch

The Exarch is the spiritual leader of the Aekyrian faith. Seated in the Hall of Hallows in Weft, their decrees carry great weight with temporal rulers. The current Exarch is the half-elf Valathea IV.

Aureas

The Aureas college are the uppermost priests apart from the Exarch, who is chosen from among their number. Typically dressed in cloth-of-gold, they operate the various branches of Aekyrian bureaucracy and determine and refrine doctrine.

Archon

An Archon is the highest Aekyrian spiritual leader in a geographical area, typically within a kingdom or several smaller nations. They concern themselves with the temples and flocks within their grounds, though they are often scholars and politicians as well.

(Senior) Priest

Priests fulfil many functions. They minister to the sick, perform weddings and funerals, and offer spiritual guidance. Senior priests are sometimes scholars who perform various duties for the temple.

Acolyte

An acolyte is effectively a priest in training, tutored on a variety of subjects.

Monastic tradition

Small communities of men and women have secluded themselves in order to find peace and spiritual contemplation since before the rise of the Aekyrian faith. Adopted by the Aekyrians, their monastic tradition has given rise to multiple religious orders over the years.

Religious Orders

A religious order is a subgroup within the Aekyrian faith whose members take additional vows, such as the Order of the Leaden Scales, who are dedicated to Kytho.

The Chthonic deities

Chthonic deities are associated with the Aekyrian pantheon, but modern theologians don't consider them to truly be part of it. They're the redheaded stepchildren, the cautionary tales, the embarrassing mistakes. They are believed to be held in the prison-catacombs under the Aekyr palace, the Malinyx. And so it is taught that the gods keep people safe from the most dangerous and dreadful beings that were ever born.
Priests often disagree on the exact nature of the Malinyx. Some think it is an endless hellscape, with new tortures around every corner for the most wicked of souls. Others think it is a literal prison, with bars and rats included. Still others believe it is a graveyard, where slain souls are buried.
Perhaps it is all those things. Perhaps none. Whatever the truth, the Chthonic deities still reach through their twisted bars to touch the world. Some of the wicked or desperate souls who pray to them find that their prayers are answered. They are given gifts. They would likely argue that whatever strings are attached them are no firmer than those of the Aekyrian faithful. Which, by and large, is true. Praying to a Chthonic deity doesn't make one spontaneously combust.
A spontaneous witch-burning on the other hand, is a distinct possibility. Especially in the lands of the Halcyon league, and other realms with a strong imperial influence where Chthonic cults are feared and forbidden. Fearful commoners certainly are not likely to inquire after the precise nature of a mysterious cult's worship before lighting the pyre.

Mystery cults

Chthonic mystery cults are dedicated to a single deity, often striving to further what they perceive this deity's agenda to be and seeking to embody their virtues. They can be large or small, and their degree of organization is greatly varied.

The Primordials

Lastly there are the most diffuse and difficult to define kind of deities, the primordials. These deities mostly represent elemental and other primordial forces. Whether or not the primordials created the elements they represent or were birthed by them is a chicken-and-egg discussion that few worshipers are interested in. The primordials themselves are certainly not telling.
Imperial inquisitors spent a long time stamping out Primist worshipers, often mistaking them for Chthonian cultists, if they even cared to notice the difference. Thus, primists are now mostly found in lands that have experienced limited imperial influence. Most lands are now more relaxed towards Primist worshipers, with the exception of the Halcyon League where this is still considered heresy, considering Primists to be quaint but mostly harmless.

Forms of worship

Primordial worship is looser and less structured than that of the Aekyrians, mostly relying on old stories and local holy places and traditions.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion