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Approved Lore Church of the Word

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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
  • Organization Name: Church Of the Word
  • Alias: Children of the Enlighten, Herd of the Astrals, Listeners.
  • Classification: Religious Group.
  • Loyalties: Elzeri.
  • Organization Symbol: Here.
  • Description: Every Elzeri is a ‘Believer’, a member of the Church of the Word. A religion that revolves around its own existences, referring from the days of its creation. The cultivation of worship revolves around Astrals the New Gods, those being nine deities with their own forms, names, teachings and moral codes. Each deity represents an aspect of the elzeri character and represents its history and society. Ever since they were but a young species, the Elzeri always had a close relationship with their deities, whom they communicate every hundreds of years or so. Their deities are known by many names to them; Astrals, Divines, Powers of the Beyond, Creators and more. The worshiping of those deities is divided in two parts, the ones that worship the Old Gods and the ones that worship the New Gods, everything is written down in the Elder Scrolls, a series of fifteen books where all mandates and beliefs of the Old and New Gods alike are recorded through verse and entwined with their history. The importance of the faith in elzeri society is best understood when a monarch perishes, for whenever that happens, the Hierarch communes with the Eneagon and seeks the wisdom and guidance of the New Gods, if they wish, they can declare a House unfit to carry on its line on the throne and appoint another of the Nine Holy Houses to take over the elzerish throne and assume the crown. A religion in which their deities speak to the elzeri through something called the Eneagon of Infinity, their enormous holographic forms express their wishes after each generation (or when it suits them), the voice of the gods is also interpreted by the Church's Hierarch, spiritual leader and counselor. With each new cycle, he sets out to commune with the gods and listen to their wishes and will, returning only to declare which of their deities (and their respective House) will rule the elzeri in what are called the Ages. The passage of their time measured through themselves, each era or age, counting back to number 1 again. The Church gained even more presence both in society and in its nobles during the exile of the elzeri in the darkness of space. The cultivation of Old God worship is rarely maintained, celebrated only on certain occasions as a mere formality. Beliefs dictate that if you serve the living gods to accomplish all your purposes, your deeds will be measured by them in the hereafter, where it can be decided whether it is possible to join Atar, on the Valley Beyond or be launched by the great well for Unlight, what is recognized by them as Hell.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
  • Headquarters: Valythor.
  • Realm: Through out the galaxy they can be found preaching over at filthy planets like Balmorra and Nar Shaddaa, but mostly they are kept inside their own cluster.
  • Domain: The Church does not have control or hold over any planets, but they are quite influential over the ones that do carry the crown. A faith that is cultivated by 95% of the general populations on the elzeri planets, the Church does not tolerate any heresy of permanent residents and it is heavily taught to every living being since they are but mere infants. Everything and anything that happens in the daily life is or can be associated to the Astrals.
  • Notable Assets: The Church posses temples, churches, shrines, graveyards, estates, mansions through out the galaxy.

SOCIAL INFORMATION
  • Hierarchy:
  • Hierarch: The elected ruler of the Estel. The Hierarch holds dominion over the Church, doing the rituals and leading the festivals and prays for the gods. He is the only one allowed to commune with the Astrals through the Eneagon, all others must have his permission to do it so. His rule is for life, the Hierarch is usually found to be a easy man that supports the nobles and is involved with the games and political intrigues that surround the ruling of the nation. A influential and powerful political figure, the Hierarch is a public figure that is always found leading some ritual and pray over some temple, or can be found in many commercials and HoloNet programs such as ‘prayer time’ in some stations. The Archigos holds the power to anoint knights and form holy orders of knights and most of them keep close relations with the NAME HERE
  • The Estel: Also called the Holy See. This is the ruling body of the Church, they are the ones in charge of electing the new Hierarch and the ones in charge of its economy and guidelines, they serve at his pleasure as long as he holds the title and are bound to do his bidding as he is the one that speaks with the New Gods and makes interpretations of their will. Those from the Estel are known to the public as Archigos, most are appointed to serve as 'preachers' over some large area somewhere far away from the Eneagon.
  • Auror: The title carried by the common priests and holy man in charge of blessing, collecting taxes for sins, weddings, hearing confessions and other things around the common temples. Some in charge to spread The Word around the galaxy and many other potential planets and civilizations.
  • Paladin Order: The ones in charge of security and protection of the Hierarch, the Estel, the temples and some influential Aurors. Anointed knights by the Archigos or by the Hierarch, those fighters are usually trained and taught to be devote to the Gods and the Church. They carry no title, no fortune and no land, their only work is to serve the faith.
  • House of Divines: Name given to the temples built all around the land where the Word lives. They are usually lead by Aurors, but can be found under the care of one of the Archigos itself.

  • Membership: (IC) Nearly 95% of the population in those planets are believers, a believer must be faithful and pray for the gods. (OOC) Not much really to say really, one does not need to keep making posts praying but ain't fun cursing the gods in public.
  • Influence: Among the governments in the galaxy there is no real influence the Church has on them. They do not control any true power except those of the ‘holy knights’, but they are capable of inspiring their followers to start rebellions, smother the fears they might have and even make the governments look like they are right or following the will of the Gods.
  • Climate: Devotion is the greatest and strongest thing one might feel as he joins the Church. The everlasting quest for heresy is something that all the members are always on the lookout, the fear of heretic thoughts spreading like a cancer inside society is the reason many Aurors preach about the power of the Gods.
  • Reputation: Well loved in the planets they have more control and influence, the Church is known for great acts of charity, feeding the poor, building houses, taking care of orphans and are known for having great schools and helping people in need.
  • Rules: Most rules are interpreted by each of its followers, Aurors, Archigos and others as they read the Elder Scrolls and the many other gospels written by the Church. Above all, carved in stone stands in the doors at the Great Shrine of Elwë:
    “The faithful shall inherit the Galaxy.”

    Not exactly a rule, but often said in sermons and during festivals by many followers and holy servants, “Hear the Word”, The term “The Word” is often interpreted by different opinions, some say is The Word of the Gods they believe among the Divines, others say is The Word of your heart and beliefs, but according to the third Hierarch of the Church, “The Word” is that of the Living Force that surrounds all in the galaxy. Is the duty of the Church to give the 'epessë', or middle name to each newborn in the ways of the faith. Those names are meant to be their secret, known only to the Gods, family and spouses.
  • Doctrines: Despite having many quotes and rules interpreted by many different opinions, what can be said is that the Church teaches and blesses polygamy, for they believe in music, poetry, art and love as a holy virtues. Equally they believe glory, honor, power as holy virtues themselves, for they do not preach about the existence of the concepts of evil or good, the Church speaks much about its 'listeners' to find balance in their lives and earn their place among them gods. 'For it's through the Word that we shall rise.' is one of th most famous chants of this religion. Each deity of their pantheons has a holy text to be read, with beliefs, teachings, history and lore each differing from the other, but never contradicting itself, for all of the eleven books of the 'Spoken Saga' complete the other. The first one are the Elder Scrolls, written by the elzeri and for the elzeri, they are the longest of all, nine are dedicated to the Nine Divines, such as the Book of the Father, the Black Scroll dedicated to Melite, the Scroll of Substance of the god Thanator. Its elevent edition is called the Lost Book, for its dedicated with the wisdom of the Old Ways of the Old Astrals. The Church dictates few rules, such as its children are obliged to be raised and taught about the Word and about the holy books, to obey its laws and pray for the Gods and many of its laws are entwined with the government, such as thieves being unaccounted for their crimes if they escape their captors, the bounding of a person with a animal is considered a maturity ritual done by every listener and the pursue of personal happiness. Heresy is not a crime at the eyes of the law but it becomes something shunned by the elzeri, a species that learn anti-humanism to be a good thing, for humans are considered the worst sort of creatures in the galaxy, for being short lived and ever hungrier for power. During rites and sermons, a pyre is lit and the speakers talk around her, it is believed that the flames can show much of the past, present and the future for those that seek the grace of the Astrals and are blessed for being force sensitives. Every member of the species can have one or multiples tattoos, paintings, scarification and burned marks adorned in their flesh as symbols of devotion to Atar the Will of Destiny.
  • Goals: To spread the Word.

MEMBERS
Iedolas Aldercapt Solidor
Lunafreya Solidor Lunafreya Solidor
Ashelia Solidor Ashelia Solidor
Daedalos Solidor Daedalos Solidor
And anyone else that desires.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION


(Loosely based over the
Tolkien Mythology, the Chantry of the Dragon Age Series and the Aedra and Daedra Worshiping of the Elder Scrolls.)

It is said that as long the elzeri have tongues, they worship the Astrals. As everything in their lives is related to spirituality, in their oldest texts they say that the elzeri were brought into this plane of existence as spirits born directly from Atar the Living Force, or the Living Power. An energy that came to being long before anything existed in the universe, it created everythere there ever was through the Grand Theme, by filling the emptiness of space with musical themes, creating stars and planets, filling them with deities and life, Atar gave those creatures meaning in their existences and spoke with them by touching by speaking to their souls, all were Atar and Atar was all, his will was known as the will of Destiny, for he was their birthplace and it was their inevitable fate. And its said to this day that to ignore the will of Destiny is to aspect the worst of this life, for chaos will come. But in those days, the elzeri were not bound by this, for they were the same as Atar, beings of energy, but with wills of their own, and as spirits of the Force, they filled the stars with their essence, lighting their icy cores, bringing life to deserted places in the galaxy as they searched for a place to call home, they were given dominion under the forces of light and darkness alike, its existence was immortal, beyond good and evil. To guide the elzeri in their role, Atar manifested his willpower in the form of what they call the Old Gods. To keep them at bay, the ancient texts say, forever bound to do their bidding and forever at their side.

The Old Gods were all beings of two forms, one which they appeared as more 'humanoid' beings with compositions described as those 'made of stardust' and the other were shapes they could assume that of huge 'monstrous' like creatures, they were called; Ramuh the Wise King of Niennor, leader of their pantheon and represented by huge male with green skin and a long wild beard, he represented order and justice. There was Queen Andruil Vahl the Flaming Heart, protector of the Elzeri and the one that taught them about fire, she is regarded by the Vahla as their goddess and is worshiped by the Ember of Vahl to this day, she was never married to Ramuh, although some texts disagree, she represented desire and the night. Prince Meraxes and Princess Viranax were both brothers, equal in shape and might, they were presumed to be the sons of Ramuh although there is no evidence of that, they are both said to be able to shape their bodies into huge dragons capable of flying through the stars and breath light from their mouths, they both represented light and darkness alike and last but not least, there was the noble Dagoth the Great Serpent of Pesegam. He represented balance of all things in the galaxy and was married with Mythal, the Gentle Mother or the First Mother, she who represented love and kindness, and ruled over all that was green.

For eons, the elzeri worshiped them as their deities, they made offerings and paid attention to their warnings, interpreted by priests and shamans of great importance, but they had no distinct organization as a sole religious body. The Old Gods did not meddle in the way the elzeri lived their lives in the elder days, it is said that ever since they committed the Primal Sin, they were 'free' of rules and dogmas, but it was not the dominion of the Infinite Empire over the elzeri species that religion became a unified force. They call themselves Listeners in those days, for they listened to the promise of the Return of the Old Gods to bring about their liberation and freedom, which eventually happened when an event called the 'Chanting of Light' was sang by all the tongues in ancient Valythor. This brought about their freedom when the Old Gods came from the stars to liberate their children and eventually caused the destruction of the Infinite Empire. (or so they believe)

After the event called the Death of the Old Gods, those religious believers became what is now known as the Church of the Word, uniting their faith into a single organization that spread fast among its govern, becoming prized counselors of monarchs and princes. Their goals in those days was to spread the belief of the Old Gods and spread their words and beliefs, bathed with promises of a distant prophetic doom. Around those days they created the mythology of the creation of the universe that still lives to this day. It is said as in the Elder Scrolls:

"In the beginning there was nothing, no stars, no galaxies and no life. Out of the primal, soundless and shapeless darkness in the void came and started to fill the galaxy, that was the Word of Atar, the Cosmic Power, the Living Power and now called the Living Force was that which ruled over all there was before the Beginning, everything there ever was and ever will be until he burst notes of what became 'the Grand Theme', where he began to sing with strange and different tones that caused explosions in the voidspace, known as the First Note, that gave birth to the first stars in the nothingness, with nebula's and rocks, black holes and empty planets, but Atar was a shapeless being of power, for he existed in all time and space, and to fill it up the silence of his creation he once again allowed his slower tone to fill the firmament when he sang the Second Note, giving birth to the Gods of All, the firstborn creature to inhabit his creation, and not just the ones that would be known as the Nine Divines, but all the gods in all the planets of all races in the galaxy. Some he gave pairs, others he gave friends, foes, enemies, brothers, children and pets, but noticing how lonely some deities were in the planets they lived, Atar, also called The One in All and All in One by the ancient elzeri, and sang the Third Note, the final gift he could give to the universe, he filled the stars with life, sentient and non sentient, in the skies, in the seas, beneath the land above the land, before he, [There is some debate about it in the Church to this day] he:

1 - Left to create other galaxies beyond this one, like the one the Yuuzhan Vong came from. Leaving his presence as ‘The Force’ behind and the many worlds created by him in charge of his deities, his firtborn sons, meant to watch over his creations.
2 - After his great theme, Atar the Cosmic Power went dormant and decided to watch all from his place of existence called the Beyond. And impose his will, called the will of Destiny, over his children as the voice inside their hearts to be listened or ignored at their own peril. So its said that everything in a elzeri's life is already decided by Destiny, for Destiny will provide it, if given the chance.

Many believe that a Fourth Note is to happen in the end of All things when Atar comes back or wakes up and declares that all life will end and will start all anew, for this life is but a learning process towards it, where all the galaxy will be healed and reset like in the beginning. Fair and wild. For thousands of years the Old Gods of All lived in the galaxy, those being the gods that existed before the Church was made. Some were killed by the followers they had, some destroyed themselves for not all of them were granted with followers, others fought long and harsh battles until this day by using their own ‘populations’ to engage the others. It is believed that if a entire species faces extinction, a God would wither and die, for he would not have any more followers and no one to remember who he was. Life flourished in the galaxy and many lived and died under the rule of the Gods they served or lived alongside with and for that, and when the Doom of Ramuh came to meet them and the New Gods arrived to fill their shallow souls. The Church was the first to declare them as deities, they are said to inhabit Aer the Sphere Palace, last redoubt for the souls of the dead are to be judged and decided whether to join Atar in the Beyond, or be cast into the Unlight to spend eternity in darkness being teared apart by the Forgotten Ones. Here the Astrals, Lords of Aer, also known as 'New Gods' are listed:

  • Cénzi the Translucent: Known as Highfather, Great Dragon, Magnicent King, Dragon of Time. He is the chief deity of the New Gods, represented by a dragon of immense might and majesty, he represents what the Wise King once did: order and perfection, but Cénzi is said to reign over the domains of time. He represents logical order and deduction and has taken account of every detail of the world he watches over from Aer, long before they actually happen. As a result, he believes in certainty and determinism, and that the concept of individuality is an illusion, the Church believes Cénzi to be kind and good. He believes in perfection above all things, even above order and all which is considered imperfect and ugly is said to be despised by him.
  • Melitele the Sinful: Called by her followers as the All-Mother, Wyvern Queen and Witch-Queen of Aer. She is said to be the goddess that rules over beauty, passion and lust, of revelry and debauchery. She also has domain over the darker natures of people, such as lust, sin, sloth, gluttony, and greed. Melitele is the one the legends say that taught the elzeri the secrets of magic and power, she taught them secrecy, gave them wits, made them cunning, rules over all snakes and wyverns, and holds her domain over nightmares, worshipers will often pray to her just before sleeping, likely in hopes of warding off any. Even among the Astrals she has the most followers, they associates their flaws and desires to her and her alone.
  • Baal the Keeper of Precepts: Patron of the Arts, Baal is also known as the 'Drunken Lord' and as the 'Living Pleasure' to his followers, he is said to hold dominion over all matters of art such as epic poetry, history, music, lyric poetry, tragedy, hymns, dance, comedy and wisdom. His very presence is said to inspire all those around to find the best within themselves to create 'art' worthy of this god's name, and so his favors are highly sought by singers, dancers, artists, poets and writers through out the galaxy. Baal is a common name in many stories of old, offering his help to adventurers, weary travelers and others, some say that due to being the god associated with wisdom that it was his duty to do it so, others say that it was to watch the future events unfold closely before his eyes so that he may use them to write his plays, in which he performs in front of the New Gods in Aer.
  • Nulla the Darkening Cloud: Thought to be the twin sister of Elbereth, she is referred to as "Nightsister". She is the very embodiment of the dark side of the Living Force, Nulla is said to bring about the night at the end of each day and rules over all shadows and darkness, he is meant to serve as a warning for all the elzeri about the darkness that live inside each of us, and is to teach them to respect that darkness and learn how to control it, because the elzeri do not believe that the words 'dark' and 'light' represent the same as 'evil' or 'good', they believe that Nulla is as necessary as the night that she brings about. Nulla believes in darkness but is not evil, she believes that the primordial dark and the endless void in the galaxy are the natural states of creation, and also of destruction.
  • Elbereth the Sun Rider: Thought to be the twin brother of Nulla, he is referred to as "Daybrother". He is the very embodiment of the light side of the Living Force, Elbereth is said to bring about the dawn at the end of each night and rules over all light, and to all those that live in such period he is meant to serve as a warning, the elzeri about are meant to understand the natures of light and are taught to respect it but also to see how flawed someone's morals and ideals can be if he walks solely on this path, and most importantly, how lonely it can be. The deity is known for caring for all living things, but unlike his sister he does not interfere in the affairs of mortals, for he believes that all life is sacred and sees that sentient being do not care for the non-sentient, and by doing it so, he turns his back on them due to the fear of inflicting pain to others by his deeds. Elbereth believes in light, and that only light can create life into the galaxy, he is also known to be the most elusive deity of the elzeri and hardly has any interaction with them.
  • Garuda the Death Seraph: She has too many names to list them all, some are the most famous like "Queen of Storms" and "The Harpy". Garuda is said to be the first Astral to have descended from Aer to the elzeri planet, bringing thunder and lightning, she holds control over the powers of Death, and is said to control misery, anxiet, grief and depression, and although elegant of form and graceful in motion, the capricious and ruthless nature of this bloodthirsty being engenders mindless terror even amongst her devoted worshipers. Garuda also holds control over "Fortune" and "Healing" something that she may bless upon the ones she finds more suited to her favor whenever she feels like it, and she is said to cure by simply gazing upon the injured one, but there is little records of her doing it so. Due to representing death itself, her name is often used as a curse by the elzeri, and sentences like "Going to Garuda's talons", "May Garuda find you", "The Seraph is coming" are quite commonly said by the elzeri species.
  • Astaldo the Huntsman: Also called 'The Huntsman of The Lords', Astaldo is represented by a proud warrior that delights in nothing more than all maters regarding the martial arts. He enjoys hunting the most wild and powerful creatures while riding his mighty stallion, Valaroma, and is said to do it so even to this day, prefering the company of animals and the wild life than that of sentient beings, Astaldo is called Prince of Hunters for this exact reason and is said to be the most powerful in matters of arms than all the Astrals. The only thing Astaldo relishes more than hunting is war itself, for he believes that is only through war that the galaxy will remain endlessly changing, and he is favored as a figure of courage, strength and valor for all soldiers of the elzeri species.
  • Zeromus: He has no names or titles, the Church made sure of that. For Zeromus is deemed as one of the most sacred deities the elzeri hold in their hearts and probably the one with the most followers, for he represents the "balance" on their lives and how they should learn how to keep their light contained and their darkness controled, always trying to find their center through their deeds in this life. He is said to be the one that judges all those who die, judging them for their sins and their deeds, deciding if they worthy of entering the Beyond or being torn to piece through all eternity by in the Unlight. Zeromus is said to not being evil, for he holds the domain of life in his hands, and by understanding it better than anyone else he knows how she is valuable and what she needs to be considered complete.
  • Thanator the Smith: To all the works done by the mind and hands, Thanator is thanked. He is said to be the weaponmaster of the Astrals, he forged the Eneagon of Infinity and made all that is related to the Astrals, and taught the elzeri all of his talent so that he may impress him with their own doings. Of all the Astrals, he is said to be the closest one to the elzeri species, for he is the keeper of knowledge and secrets, which he is famous for sharing with with the ones around him, having taught the elzeri the basics of their technology to advance their civilization and its development. The elzeri hyperdrive is considered a knowledge given by Thanator, and much of all the hard work that pays off is thanked to him as well. Thanator is the deity with the most followers among the elzeri species, and he is one of the least dominant gods of the pantheon, the Scroll of Substance carries of the 'Spoken Saga',

The Unlight. A dire and horrible place where all the unworthy go, where no light shines, this horrible hellish inferno is where all the souls of every sinful creature, every heretic and everyone deemed unworthy by the New Gods are cast. To burn at the endless pits and being torn to pieces by creatures of the Void, those creatures are said to be the The Forgotten Ones, demons that were supposed to be deities when created by Atar, those very deities having gone mad or simply choose to walk the path of darkness, being trapped forever in the Unlight, given new purposes into punishing the dead for all eternity. The names of few are mentioned in legends, such as Nuada, The Formless One, Xevek and Tauron. It is said the Astarotium were their servants and were cast into the Unlight by the New Gods shortly after the Doom.

Condemned to live eternity in darkness, this creatures always plot to take over the light, to pierce through and take this galaxy by themselves, to feast upon the dead and devour their flesh as the Unlight takes hold of everything there ever was. To worship the Forgotten Ones is considered a very serious crime in the eyes of the Church and is punishable by death.

After the Doom, the New Gods gave the elzeri five items that became sacred to them. The first was when they awaken the Angelus Seraphium, or simply called as 'angels', to guide them into the perils that the future held stored for them. There were nine angels, nine impressive machines like no other in the galaxy with sentience of their own, that followed the species to exile and were their only way to speak with their deities as they were forced to abandon the Immemorium behind. These angels unfortunately perished by the time the elzeri returned to their planet, time and wars destroyed the machines and only the three that remained hardly speak to anyone instead the leader of the Church.

The second was the Suncryst Throne, a carved piece of crystal into the shape of a throne, where the Hierarch of their government is too seat and rule over its people. The third one was the jeweled crown given to the first Hierarch of the elzeri, this one long lost in time and tradition. The fourth, was the scepter carried by the Primarch's and leader of their religious body, and as for the fifth gift being their very words expressed in the 'Spoken Saga'.
 
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