Eternal Father
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To sub Panatha's central religious institute
- Image Credit: Click - John Dunivant
- Role: The Adherents of the Faith are the men and women in Epicanthix society who research, interpret, and preach the beliefs of Epicanthix Polytheism that has existed since before recorded history.
- Links: N/A
- Group Name: The Adherents of the Faith
- Classification: Religious Institution
- Headquarters: Qocia, Panatha
- Loyalties: Truthfully the Adherents have no one true loyalty to anything material, for their faith belongs solely to the deities they worship. They do, however, pledge their loyalty to the ruling monarch of Panatha, although many only do so out of tradition. There are those few who put their loyalty in their king above their loyalty to the faith, serving as the king's eyes and ears within the institution.
- Group Sigil: [x] The official banner of the Adherents is a white unicursal hexagram centered on a field of azure blue.
Sigil Image Credit: Click - Unicursal Hexagram
[*]Description: The Adherents of the Faith have existed for many untold millennia, always guiding the Epicanthix people through worship and praise of the eternal gods who crafted them in the primordial eons of the universe. It is they who endlessly pour over the countless texts of the forebearers of creation and discern the meaning of each and every passage in the grimoires of the gods before passing that onto the faithful people of Panatha. Covered from head to toe in dark hues of blue and gray cloaks and tunics, they are a common and welcome site amongst the populace where they offer guidance and wisdom to those who ask of it. Their reach and influence is second to none except perhaps for the crown's, and they have been embroiled in a balancing act between themselves and the kings and queens of Panatha ever since their inception. One cannot exist without the other, but that hasn't stopped one from eclipsing the other and making their agenda the dominant policy on Panatha.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Hierarchy: The Adherents are loosely organized, with a hierarchy defined by power and experience. Novice acolytes work at menial tasks, while a single deacon serves as spiritual leader for a Panathan community, and archdeacons work to spread the gospel of the faith over wider areas and on other planets. At the top of the pyramid is the council of twelve archimandrites who oversee all activities of the clergy that serves under them. They are led by one of their own members (the Grand Archimandrite) elected to the position every fifteen years, typically the most senior and experienced of them all is appointed to such a lofty position. The Grand Archimandrite also sits on the King's advisory council.
- Membership: To become a member of the Adherents one must be inherently Force Sensitive, as the ability to manipulate the energy field that binds all creation is considered to have spiritual significance as a mark of the gods. One must also be a pureblood Epicanthix, no half-bloods or non-Epicanthix are allowed to reside within their hallowed ranks.
- Dogma/Doctrines:
Absolute reverence to the Epicanthix Pantheon - Lifetime dedication to the clergy
- Pledged Abstinence
- Forgoing of all titles, inheritance, and lands
- Members of the Adherents, both male and female, must cover their bodies and hide their faces when in public
[*]Curios: Members of the Adherents can easily be identified by their blue-colored garments and covered faces, and are often seen at main thoroughfares preaching the gospel of the gods to the masses. Those who are loyal to King Kaine wear a piece of purple cloth on their person, symbolizing the union of the blue colors of the faith and the red cloaks of the Zambranos.
[*]Goals:
- To uphold and maintain the faith
- To convert the ignorant, forcibly or otherwise
- To serve the ruling sovereign of Panatha diligently, but not be totally beholden to him/her
- To stamp out heresy and annihilate those who preach it
MEMBERS
- Saeth Zambrano - Grand Archimandrite
Ever since the proto-Epicanthix freed themselves from the shackles of their oppressive Rakatan overlords, there had been primordial faith uniting them with common purpose. The reverence of a mighty pantheon of warrior gods and goddesses has been a firm staple of Epicanthix society even when they were a thousand different tribes of different cultures and different languages, always warring and always killing each other but still connected by their shared faith. Over thousands of years the power of the faith and its clergy had only increased, from humble beginnings as individual shaman to a planetary institution that had a direct hand in governing and influenced the daily lives of millions of Epicanthix.
The Adherents of the Faith truly became a global power during the rise of Canthar the Great. Canthar saw the potential and power in faith as he united his own tribes and those surrounding the Highlands, every tribe no matter what language they spoke or what customs they indulged in all believed in the same pantheon of deities. He helped organize the tribal shamans into groups that would help preach the faith in various districts as his empire expanded across the continent, with his pious daughter quickly becoming the leader of the united shamans at his behest. After the Great Unification the shamans had been thoroughly spread to every village on Panatha, and when the cities began to rise they build towering monoliths to profess their faith in the gods. The city of Qocia would possess the highest concentration of religious clergymen on all of Panatha, and over time would become their religious capital second only to the city of Canthar itself.
From there on out the clergy and the crown would be permanently intertwined, each working simultaneously to impose their own doctrine upon the people of Panatha. The scales of power would shift every couple of centuries or so, but both institutions found that neither could exist would the other. Even in the modern era with the rule of King Kaine I the clergy has not been overly tampered with, save for the appointment of the King's own sister to the position of Grand Archimandrite.
