The Light
No description of Novalis - or Occida - can be complete without mentioning the Light in some detail. But since no Novalian can really be very objective about it, and because I'm going to have to use some game terminology to be clear, I might as well write this up in my own person.
The Basics:
The Light is an emphatically monotheistic religion that could perhaps best be described as "missionary neo-Platonism", with healthy dollops of Aristotelian realism, Jewish awe and anthropology, Christian ideas about grace and love, and even a few dabs of Orphic mystery religions. (All, of course, stirred and half-baked in the cauldron of my agile but slimy mind.
It is not an inspired religion in the usual sense of that term. The writings of the saints are treasured because they are the words of holy men and women, people who were close to Truth itself and therefore bound to be more edifying than any other. But they are not "Scripture" in the sense we mean it, and they are not believed to be, in themselves, inerrant. (The "Prophetists" who thrive in Sirisa and parts of Antiquus are an exception.) What is inerrant is the Light itself, which shines through their writings and even more through their lives, which is perceived with the inner eye of the soul. The ideal is to be a flawless lens receiving the Light and focussing it upon others; sin distorts, warps, and blocks the process. So while there will be individual errors and stains even in the saints, one can piece things together by looking for what they agree on. (A big source of arguments, of course, are cases where one saint says something original and unique that nobody else remarks on or contradicts.)
What is this Light? It is the self-expression of the God. (Always called "the God" to emphasize oneness and uniqueness.) The God is seen as having three... aspects, I suppose, which are compared to the three components of a candle. The Candle itself is the God as the Source and ground of all being, opaque and beyond all human grasp. The Flame is the God's activity in Creation. And the Light streaming from the Flame is the God making that activity known to the faithful. (While this isn't the Christian Trinity of love, by any means, neither is it the rather repulsive - to my thinking - neo-Platonist "trinity" of almost involuntary declensions within the Divine Principle.)
It is a central philosophical point that Light - even ordinary physical light - is itself invisible, though by it we see all else. The only "visible" and remotely comprehensible part of the God is the Flame, but in order to "see" it we must be receptive to the Light in our souls. Thus the Rite of Enlightenment, in which one's "inner eye" is opened. This enables one to sense, by faith, the unity in the various ways in which the True Light impinges on us: when it strikes the retina, ordinary light and color; when it strikes the body, pleasure; when it strikes the senses, beauty; when it strikes the emotions, joy; when it strikes the mind, truth; when it strikes the will, virtue; when it strikes the innermost heart, love. When each of these is raised to perfection, they converge into the God. (The God is more than these things, of course; human beings aren't capable of responding to all the infinite perfections of the God.) Thus to be united with the God is to love all things, to do all good, to know all truth, to comprehend all beauty, to be suffused with perfect pleasure and joy. What we would call "Heaven".
Whereas Darkness is the absence of these things, the negation of them, the "Be Not" that rejects the Light. It is not conceived of as a personal being - that would be attributing to it more solidity and reality than it has - though peasant superstition, of course, does not always pay attention to such theological niceties. "Dark", when used in a certain way, is in fact a curse word, used much the same way we use both "damn" and "hell". (The term "Darknight Devastation" thus has a brimstone, blasphemous feel about it for Novalians that might not be apparent at first.)
A human being is viewed as a seamless composite of body and soul - Cartesian dualism would strike most Novalians as a truly vicious heresy, if they could stop laughing long enough to take it seriously. Astral Projection and other such things are regarded as purely symbolic, different states of consciousness that are experienced in an unusual way, beyond the usual relations with space and time - and frankly, I'm not at all sure they're wrong. (If they thought it was anything but that, they wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, though.) "Body" and "soul" are just different aspects of the human being - different modes in which the person responds to Light and to other persons. What, then, is death? Ah, there's the rub.
Because of sin, the human person is not in harmony. This disharmony grows until it reaches a point where something breaks, you might say, and the person is terribly wounded - losing the "bodily" modes of perception entirely. (They share with Aristotle the idea that we start from a tabula rasa and that the senses are the ground of all reasoning, so this is truly a catastrophe.) The result is utter sensory deprivation - worse, utter loss even of sensory powers like imagination and memory. (Possibly even loss of all emotions, though the theologians still dispute this with vigor.) In a word, partial Darkness.
And if one has not cultivated the other modes, if one has not sufficiently learned to seek the truth, to do what is right, to give of oneself in love, the Darkness will be total and complete. One will exist, in a way, but in sheer oblivion, with no company except one's thoughts, for eternity. (Another theological argument centers around whether demons will inspire ghastly thoughts, thus producing a sort of "hell". But it is generally felt that this is scarcely more terrifying.) Thus, all the choices of one's life converge on a single Choice to open one's inner eye to the Light in death - and since the Light is one and pure, any contact with it will be all that is needed for a perfect existence. Unity with the Light will, as I said, provide all the perfections with which a human being is capable of responding - thus there is, in a certain way, a "resurrection of the body", or at any rate of the senses.
Since that stark, naked Choice is before everyone at all times, what's the deal with priests? A priest is, in this belief, someone who has been given a special channel of perception and transmission of the Light, distinct from bodily and psychic modes. This channel is called "spirit". The Light thus shines upon the priest in this "spiritual" way, and then proceeds outward from him to others, primarily in the Rites, awakening in them (if their inner eye is sufficiently open) an awareness of the Light not otherwise possible, that is awakening "spirit" in them as well. (Why isn't everybody a priest? Ask the God - that's the way things are.) Anyway, when the Light strikes one's "spirit", it produces "glory", an ineffable experience that is the central pillar of theology.
Thus, disciples of the Light (often called the Enlightened) will freely admit that it is possible in principle for anyone to be "saved", to make the right Choice. But not everyone who does has "glory", and thus does not have the fullest possible eternal existence. It is also maintained that "glory" unifies and heightens all of the other modes of perception, making the correct Choice far easier and more likely. (Is it possible to receive "spirit" and "glory" after death? The debate rages. The majority view is that if it were possible, there would be no need for more than one priest.)
Since death is seen almost more like a wound than anything else, and a wound that can be quickly healed, the Enlightened have a vivid awareness of the presence of the deceased. They believe they are being constantly watched and loved and touched by them, just in a way that cannot be bodily perceived. (A dead body is not exactly an "empty shell" - more like a part of the person that has unfortunately stopped functioning. Our hair and nails are part of us despite the fact they are "dead" - well, the same for the body in death.) The abomination of undeath is that it seems to them to be a scarcely-imaginable third Choice - a way to temporarily escape Darkness, sort of, but not to embrace the Light. Perhaps it an option offered to some by demons, a new mode of perception and existence that simply is not meant to be, a mockery of warm, human, personal life.
Hierarchy:
Back to priests. Where do they get their "spirit"? From a Bishop, in the Rite of Ignition. Where do Bishops get the ability to do that? From the Patriarch, in the Rite of Kindling. Where did the Patriarch get the ability to do that? Well, the First Patriarch sends him a torch lit from the Eternal Flame on the Minaean island of Samos. Where did the Eternal Flame come from? Nobody knows. It was there on Samos from time out of mind, worshipped as a representation of the pagan god Samos-Photion. St. Phosphoros the Light-Bringer, a priest of that "god", became the first First Patriarch when he dared to place his hand in the Flame. He learned a lot in the process, but not everything.
All this talk of "ignition" and "kindling" is more than just metaphorical, for the holy symbol of the Light is a candle - a white candle that burns constantly with a pure golden flame. The technical theological term for it is "phokis", that is, "lamp" - it's still the custom in Minaea to enclose the candle in a lantern-like framework, and they tend to see the Novalian practice of not using one as a bit irreverent - but linguistic corruption and Aurelian influence has turned that word into "focus" in Novalis. It's not inappropriate, because it is in fact the "focus" of the priest's spells. But the common folk, of course, care nothing for theological correctness and usually just call it a "candle".
The flame of the focus does not burn or harm material things unless they are evil in some way - placing one's hand over a priest's candle is in fact a recognized test for, if not goodness, at any rate lack of sheer depravity. Its steadiness and brightness reflect the priest's faith - flickering indicates doubt or uncertainty or lack of trust, dimming indicates sin. (And let me just say boy, wouldn't it be nice if life were that easy in this world.
If the priest does something really seriously wrong, enough to lose the use of his spells, it is snuffed out - part of the ritual of the Atonement spell is to relight it from the caster's focus. Any priest can cast the Light spell at will simply by raising his focus above his eye level - it automatically brightens to the level of a torch. He can increase that to the level of the Daylight spell by concentrating. (Spending a Hero Point will cause the Daylight to linger for 10 minutes/level, just as if he had cast the spell.) The flame of the focus can be covered up and hidden if it is absolutely necessary, but this is such bad symbolism that priests will generally refuse to do it except to save lives. In fact, if the thing is covered against the priest's will, the flame will shine clearly through the covering regardless. Taking a priest's focus away is certainly possible, but legends abound about the bad luck that occurs to those who do so. (And the priest can get a new one, he isn't bound to using the same focus forever. When his new one is ignited - he can do it himself from any other priest's focus, he doesn't need a Bishop's help, though that's nice - the old one goes out.) When the priest isn't holding the focus in his hand, he usually tucks it into his belt, which looks quite odd if you're not used to it.
The laity, while they don't have focuses, often wear or display gold-and-silver "candles" (or copper-and-tin, or enameled iron, depending on one's means). Candles with the Continual Flame spell cast on them by a priest are much in demand among the pious. (The priest can't charge for casting the spell, of course - that's simony - but the local church can sell specially-made candles to use for the spell and for other purposes.) And of course ordinary candles abound in worship, devotion, and piety. Another symbol that pops up from time to time is a triangle interwoven with a circle - this "Trigon" figure is traced on the floor in gold around the Eternal Flame on Samos, and is believed to represent the God's three aspects and unity of nature.
A Bishop's focus is a torch that burns with the same golden flame. Often the torch is built into a staff to make it easier to carry around. Even so, it's not always convenient to cart about, so the Bishop can ignite an ordinary priest's focus from the torch to use as well. The torch gives off Daylight if raised above the Bishop's eye level, and if he concentrates he can produce a continuous Turn Undead effect - and if an undead is specifically vulnerable to sunlight, it is automatically destroyed if it is successfully turned, as per the Greater Turning ability of the Sun domain. The Patriarch has a quite-stationary Flammifer, a golden bonfire burning in a large (and highly-enchanted) golden basin in his Cathedral. Let's just say that it's very impressive, and that undead really, REALLY don't like it. (Don't even ask what happens if the Patriarch concentrates.
The Patriarch can, and does, kindle a Bishop's torch from the Flammifer for his own use. The First Patriarch, of course, has the Eternal Flame. One is in a position to guarantee that there are no undead on Samos, never have been, and probably never will be.
For that matter, there aren't really any stories about them on the surrounding islands, either... All of these, except for the Eternal Flame, go out when the priest, Bishop, or Patriarch dies. Other than dying or unfaithfulness, there is no other way to quench them known.
It should be obvious that no schism against the First Patriarch can last long - when the local Patriarch dies, there's no new Patriarch, and thus no new Bishops, and thus eventually no new priests, until the First Patriarch deigns to relight the Flammifer. In theory, the cooperation of seven Bishops can kindle a new Bishop, but this is seen as a desperation measure of dire extremity. (Nobody knows if seven "second generation" Bishops can do this to kindle a "third generation" - no schism has ever lasted that long. Many theologians suspect not - you can't get that "far" from the Eternal Flame.) Schisms between other Patriarchs can last indefinitely, but there's always the possibility that the First Patriarch will get disgusted with both sides and "starve them out" if you will. In general, the First Patriarchs are highly reluctant to do this, though - the conflict between the Sophists and the Patriarchate of the North has been going on for quite a while, for example. (The North has of course been at pains to emphasize that they have nothing against Samos itself, just the Sophists sheltered in ignorance by it in the Protectorate.)
The Orders:
Novalian priests usually dress in a plain white cowled robe, with a belt about their waist. The robe has a colored fringe along the bottom hem and the ends of the sleeves, indicating what Order they belong to. (See below.) Bishops and Patriarchs are seen as transcending the Orders, so they wear plain white robes.
Priests of the Light have initial access to the domains of Good, Healing, Knowledge, Pastoral, Protection, Sun, and War. (I am strongly considering creating a new "priest" class that gets spells like a sorcerer, but it'll probably have domains too, so this will still apply.) They have to take Good as one of their domains (note: replace the 6th level spell Blade Barrier with Banishment), and the other domain determines what Order they belong to. However, a priest can expand his domains using faith-feats (which I'll describe in another document.) Once his Order is fixed, he can "branch out" into certain other domains not on the initial list, as well as the other ones on it. Bishops and Patriarchs, who belong to no Order, can expand into any of the domains any Order can take, if they wish.
The four Orders are those of Service (Healing or Pastoral), Inquiry (Knowledge), Union (Sun), and Guard (Protection or War). All of them are really umbrella organizations - there are all sorts of communities with their own rules and ways of life under them. Each has its motherhouse (at any rate, for the Patriarchate of the North) in Lucia. (In most other places, things are much more informal and priests of different domains don't separate into such rigid groups. It's a Northern thing, and Novalians are sometimes seen as a little bit stuffy about it. The idea seems to be catching on in Parma too, though.) The leader of each Order is called simply the First Servant, the First Inquirer, and so on.
The color of the Servants is red, for the inner flame of love and charity. They are the most numerous Order, and even apart from that, they supply the lion's share of pastors. Most Bishops and Patriarchs started out as Servants. Naturally they are often found tending to the sick, and leading local communities. Priests of the Order of Service can branch out into the domains of Luck (they've got plenty of good karma, so to speak) and Plant (for blessing crops and the like), but usually take first whichever of Healing or Pastoral they didn't have already. (Note: Remove Disease is treated as an extra 3rd level Healing domain spell. And I'll probably end up tweaking Luck some too.)
The Pastoral domain is of my own creation, and has spells of use in leading and preserving a community:
Granted Power: Once per day you can add an enhancement bonus equal to your level to one use of a social skill. (However long that takes.) This ability applies to all Charisma-based skills except Disguise and Use Magic Device, and to Innuendo and Sense Motive.
1. Command
2. Calm Emotions
3. Create Food and Water
4. Discern Lies
5. Break Enchantment
6. Geas/Quest
7. Control Weather
8. Greater Planar Ally
9. Miracle
The Inquirers' color is blue, a symbol of knowledge and wisdom. They seek the truth in all its forms - they are among Occida's finest sages and even scientists. They also handle heresy investigations (which most of them find a crashing bore, an unpleasant but necessary duty). Don't think of them as the Spanish Inquisition, though - they don't use torture (though the Detect Thoughts spell they get would tend to make it unnecessary anyway) and they have no authority to punish anybody... though what the secular state will decide to do with somebody declared a heretic might be another matter. Inquirers are in love with the God's Creation and are always seeking out beginnings and the roots of things, and so they can branch out into any two of the elemental domains (but not opposites, like Fire and Water.) You'd think Fire would be the most popular, but they just don't seem to think that way, tying it to the Light - it all depends on the individual Inquirer's personality and interests. (Note: Replace the "Detect Secret Doors" Knowledge domain spell at 1st level with Comprehend Languages.)
The Uniates' color is gold, because they are above all seeking union with the Light. They are the Light's mystics and contemplatives, the dreamers and zealots. Some of them gather in monastic communities, but there are also wandering Uniates. (They, along with Servants, make good missionaries.) They can branch out into Animal (animals respond to the love of the Creator streaming out from the Uniate) and Travel (they begin to transcend space and time as they contemplate the Timeless). (Note: Replace the "Heat Metal" Sun domain spell at 2nd level with Continual Flame. Replace Fire Seeds at 6th level with Planar Ally.)
The color of the Guardians is green, for the life they seek to defend. Guardians, unsurprisingly, often multiclass as fighters. Their job is to defend the faithful from all threats, natural or supernatural. They can branch out into Strength and Wrath. (The "hand" of the Bigby spells is invisible, mimicking the motion of the priest's hand. It is a force effect.) "Wrath" is used to destroy the enemies of the God, as follows:
Granted Power: The same "smite" ability of the Destruction domain.
1. Inflict Light Wounds
2. Inflict Moderate Wounds
3. Inflict Serious Wounds
4. Inflict Critical Wounds
5. Flame Strike (golden focus-like flame - note that the divine half of the damage affects incorporeal creatures, though the fire half doesn't)
6. Harm
7. Disintegrate (golden flames leave a pile of ashes)
8. Fire Storm (golden flame, half of the damage is divine like Flame Strike)
9. Consuming Fire (just like Implosion, but instead of imploding, the victims burst into golden flames that leave merely a pile of ashes. Also, it affects incorporeal critters.)
Wrath spells are of course saved for "special" occasions, never for arbitrary use - in fact, they CAN'T be used arbitrarily. The Inflict and Harm spells do not consist of necromantically sucking the life out of people, of course - that would be an abomination - rather, they represent smiting the target with the wrath of the God. (If the target honestly doesn't deserve it, the spell simply will not work and the priest's focus will probably be snuffed out.) Therefore these spells work normally on undead and do NOT heal them. Their "special effect" is a golden glow about the priest's hand and a flare of golden light as the target is struck.
Innocent people caught in the area of Flame Strike or Fire Storm take no damage from the divine half of the spell, and automatically save for half damage on the rest. If all of the people in the area are innocent, the spell just won't work. However, do note that soldiers of an invading or occupying army are not usually considered "innocent", though they may be nice people who like puppies and children. Some individuals may be spared if they have truly good hearts or if they are there unwillingly, but...
Finally, there is a Missions domain that any priest can branch out into, though nobody starts with it:
Granted Power: The same as the Pastoral power. Not many priests are both pastors and missionaries! If one is, though, he can use the power twice per day.
1. Comprehend Languages
2. Enthrall
3. Tongues
4. Redemption (Atonement, usable with the Redemption option only - you offer someone a chance to change their allegiance instantly)
5. Greater Command
6. Greater Dispelling (The God is much stronger than your witch doctor / druid / shaman etc.)
7. Resurrection (Let's see your pagan god top THIS!)
8. Sympathy (Gather a crowd and keep them there a while - either anybody, or just those with the right allegiances.)
9. Miracle
Laity can also join the four Orders, and are called Cooperators. They wear a white robe with a belt like a priest, but have no cowl and of course no focus. Cooperator Servants are usually healers, but anyone who is willing to do good in the community is welcome. Cooperator Inquirers are somewhat rare, but tend to be students and sages. Some also are simple souls who want to handle mundane affairs for the Inquirers so they can get on with the studies they love. Cooperator Uniates are people who want to devote their lives to prayer, and to help support the Uniate communities. Cooperator Guardians are often knights and men-at-arms. There are also Cooperators of the hierarchy, who help the Bishops and Patriarchs run things and act as messengers and so on. Cooperators are expected to serve their Order with great singleness of purpose, and therefore, depending on the precise community they join, they may be asked to take vows of celibacy and obedience and possibly other things. They are of course naturals for faith-feats. ("Paladins", in my game, are simply fighters with faith-feats. Possibly Cooperator Guardians, or even full-blown Guardians if they have levels of priest, possibly not.)
Church Justice:
Ecclesiastical crimes are tried by a tribunal of three priests. They gather at the three points of a large Trigon, with the defendant in the middle. The three priests hold the offices of Truth, Justice, and Mercy and take a solemn vow (reinforced by spells) to carry out their duty without partiality. (In Novalis, Truth is usually an Inquirer, Justice a Guardian or even a Bishop, and Mercy a Servant, but there are no hard and fast rules about this.) You can *approximately* translate these into our terms as prosecutor, judge, and defense attorney, but that isn't really accurate - this is not an adversarial system. Truth's job is to get to the bottom of what actually happened. He calls the witnesses and asks the questions, though Justice and Mercy have the right to speak up at any time. Mercy's job is to think about what's best for the defendant. Justice's job is to think about what's best for everybody else. Determination of guilt must be reached as a consensus of all three - if consensus cannot be reached, the defendant goes free. Determination of punishment is ideally reached by consensus too, but if Justice and Mercy concur, Truth's concurrence is not necessary. Otherwise, there are certain minimum penalties enshrined in precedent for different crimes, and those are used. The discussions are held openly in front of the defendant and any witnesses. The system works well enough that some secular governments have adopted it, asking the local Bishop to supply priests for civil trials. However, there is no Fifth Amendment - the Detect Thoughts spell can be freely used, and Discern Lies and Zone of Truth are used even more freely. There is also no forbidding of double jeopardy, if new evidence arises.
Heresy is a special case. It can't be tried as a crime until a Bishop formally declares that the position somebody is expressing is, in fact, heretical. Usually he hands the job of figuring it all out to a group of Inquirers. Once they're done, and the Bishop has made the declaration, the only real step in deciding guilt and innocence is whether the person recants or not. The worst Church penalty that can be applied by the tribunal is Exclusion from the Rites, but, as mentioned, the secular arm might have its own ideas. (Generally a priest's focus goes out when he is Excluded. If it does not - and this is extremely rare - it is taken as prima facie evidence that something very weird is going on.)
The Rites:
The Rites of Enlightenment, Ignition, and Kindling have already been mentioned. Enlightenment consists simply of being touched with the flame of a focus, though there's usually a good bit of ceremony leading up to that point. It's generally first done shortly after birth, but it can be repeated whenever desired - especially if one has sinned seriously. (Part of the ceremony is confessing those sins, but the purpose of Enlightenment is not exactly forgiveness, but to reopen the inner eye, or to open it wider.) It's also repeated on special occasions, like formal coming of age, and so on. Please note that, in general, one can't Enlighten oneself just by reaching out to a priest's flame - he has to touch it to you, usually to your forehead, and will it to happen. (St. Phosphoros was a special case. It even has a name - "First Light". And even he was hoping for some great spiritual experience.) Ignition consists of having your focus lit from a Bishop's torch, and Kindling of having your torch lit from the Flammifer. The ignition of a Flammifer is a tremendous event with much ceremony, but is not considered a separate Rite from Kindling. (Probably because you can't carry the Eternal Flame around, and so the Flammifer is lit with the equivalent of a Bishop's torch sent by the First Patriarch. It's the elaborately enchanted golden basin of the Flammifer that makes its flame so much stronger.)
The Rite of Evensong is an invocation of the Light for protection from evil. It figures in a number of spells, and in turning undead, but it can also be done in a full-blown ceremony with a congregation. (Which may at times give benefits to those spells, or to turning.) Generally it involves raising the focus and concentrating on brightening it, while chanting a beautiful hymn about piercing the Darkness.
The Rite of Mingling Flames is the marriage ceremony. Bride and groom each hold a candle and mingle their flames within the flame of a focus - this makes them One in body, soul, and spirit. Even death cannot part them, unless one makes the wrong Choice and thus tears away from the union. Therefore remarriage in the fullest sense is not possible. A second marriage is done in a simple ceremony that does not involve the Rite - no adultery is implied, for the death of the first spouse is a sort of abandonment (and also because the first spouse is hopefully enjoying total unity with the Light and thus has no need or desire for sexual congress), but it is accepted that the first spouse retains a unique relationship with the person. Marriages between a widow(er) and a previously unmarried person are possible, but strongly discouraged. By the way, if someone should be heinous enough to try to repeat the Rite of Mingling Flames with a second person (without the priest's knowledge, of course), something bad will probably happen.
In most places, Mingled couples also exchange Circlets, twisted ropes of gold worn on the head that represent the bonds between them. They aren't worn daily, only on special occasions. But in Novalis these are clasped about the neck instead - perhaps a reflection of Kelhic torcs.
There is a lesser ceremony similar to Mingling Flames but not directly involving the focus, which is a ceremony of blood-brotherhood, if you will. It's often used in adoptions, but it can be used by anybody if they can convince a priest to conduct it. There may at times be special magical consequences from such a mingling.
The Rite of Purification is for cases of injury, illness and even death, invoking the Light to overcome the disharmony stemming from sin that causes the body to fail. It figures in many healing spells. Usually it involves Enlightenment, followed by having the sick person hold the focus and apply it themselves to the injured part of the body. If they are incapable, the priest can do it for them. Raising the dead is rare - in fact, the general presumption going in is that it won't work. (Somebody in Darkness probably can't be reached, and somebody in Light probably has no desire to come back.) Success generally is taken to imply that the person was sent back because they still have something very important to do. It is therefore incumbent upon them to do the best they can to find out what it is and do it. Priests usually will not even attempt such spells unless they have some evidence the person died in untimely fashion - by violence, for example. (This isn't usually too much of a problem for adventurers.
Disease doesn't cut it, that's a "natural" death.
The usual funeral rite of the Light is burial. Cremation is acceptable, but uncommon except in Parma, where it has long been traditional.
Finally, the Rite of Illumination implores the Light to shine on a person and strengthen the fruits of truth, joy, virtue, glory, and so on. This is the usual weekly service. There are readings from the saints, a sermon, and then people approach and cup their hands about the flame of the focus as if warming themselves while the priest blesses them. Illumination also figures in a few spells.
The Patriarchates:
The exact procedures and ceremonies surrounding the Rites vary somewhat between cultures. This is one of the purposes of the Patriarchs - to oversee the development of customs surrounding the Rites in a given culture and language.
The First Patriarch presides over the Minaean Rite. Previously this was used in Parma too, but they received their own Patriarch a century or so ago when it was finally decided that their unusual customs (most notably having a bonfire in every temple) were 1) permissible and not pernicious and 2) sufficiently distinct to warrant a new Rite. The First Patriarch handles things mainly in Minaea, the Protectorate, and a few other places. He also has the thankless task of dealing with the Prophetists in Sirisa. Minaean priests wear beards (Novalian priests are typically clean-shaven), enclose their focuses in lanterns, and often dress in black robes embroidered with a focus, and other gold-and-silver patterns. Bishops and the First Patriarch have more elaborate patterns - in the First Patriarch's case, you only see bits of black here and there.
Cooperators wear plain black robes with a single focus embroidered on the chest.
The Minaean Rite, by the way, is rather more ornate than the younger ones. It's an almost laughably bad fit for the Protectorate, in all truth. They'd probably be happier with something else, but try telling THEM that.
The Patriarch of Parma oversees, as mentioned, the Parmese Rite. The Parmese are very proud of their Patriarch - even after a century, the novelty of doing things in their native language and so on hasn't worn off. He has the duty to conduct missions among the horse-nomads of Orienta and the dwarves. Since that's "the dwarves" without restriction, that means that Parmese priests and Cooperators can be found all over the place - in the Novalian Worldspine, in the Southern Sentinels, and even in the Northern Sentinels. (Before, the First Patriarch handled the dwarves, and he probably was relieved to shuck it off on somebody else.
Yes, this is incredibly inefficient. Yes, it would make more sense to divvy it up among the Patriarchates. Yes, maybe Samos will get around to that in a few centuries.
These things take time. Anyway, the Parmese don't seem to mind, and do the job with a will. Parmese customs are still shaking out. Priests usually wear beards and are starting to dress in white and red, red being the traditional color of Parma. Most of the priests have stopped using the lanterns, but the Bishops and Patriarch tend to be more conservative in this regard - this will probably end up being how they are distinguished from the priests. That, and they wear more white than red. Parmese Cooperators are gravitating toward dressing all in red.
The Patriarch of Aurelia handles the Restored Empire and the Shards. His life is not an easy one! Several holders of the office have in fact been martyred. His missionary duties were transferred to the Patriarchate of the North when it was created, and it's just as well, because dealing with the Undying Emperor is hard enough. Aurelian customs are much like Novalian ones (rather, the reverse) except there is no distinction of Orders and priests wear plain white. Bishops and the Patriarch wear a Circlet the way married people do, as a sign of their dedication to the people. Like Novalians, the Cooperators have no cowl.
The Patriarch of the North handles Novalis. The creation of the office was very controversial at the time, as it was seen on stepping on the toes of the Patriarch of Aurelia. But the Kell and Thuler cultures were considered sufficiently distinct from those of Antiquus to warrant it, though the Patriarchate still uses the Aurelian Rite with few changes. There is occasionally pressure applied to create a true Northern Rite, but getting people to agree on the details, especially the language it should be in, has proved too difficult. Nor has the First Patriarch been willing to create separate Hadron and Tullia Patriarchates. (And what about Melendor?) For one thing, there simply is no procedure for *suppressing* a Patriarchate, so what happens to the Patriarch of "the North"? It's a mess. (During the time of Nova Imperium, by the way, the title was often given as "Patriarch of New Aurelia", but that is considered rather painfully obsolete.) The Patriarch of the North is responsible for missions to Thule, the Rovers, and the Stepstones. In theory to the Elfwoods too, but... (Like the Parmese, this means that Novalian priests can be sent anywhere elves turn up. Imagine the joy.
By the way, nobody knows WHAT the dark to do with the Wastelanders. In theory they are in the territory of the Patriarch of the North. In practice, they like humans... Parbroiled and fricaseed.
And the Terrino have sort of quietly slipped through the cracks. They're good at that.
Finally, mention must be made of the Patriarch of the Twilight. ("Twilight" is sometimes used by theologians to mean "those regions that have not accepted the Light".) He's kind of a Patriarch-without-portfolio, whose primary job is to oversee missions in far-flung lands not covered by anybody else. He has the authority to develop whatever new Rites are needed elsewhere, though they need final approval from the First Patriarch. In other words, this guy is constantly laboring to make his own job obsolete - it takes a special kind to do that, though the office has too often been used as a sinecure. His Flammifer is on Kalia ("Glory"), an island not far east of Samos. But he's rarely home, for he travels constantly if he's doing his job right. (It's real handy for him to have the Travel domain so he can get around, but how many Bishops have the time to engage in extensive navel-gazing?)
Yes, this is a rather strange Patriarchate that does not really fit in. Why, then, does the position exist? Because when the Patriarchate of Aurelia was created, it was a truly monumental step - before, the First Patriarch (he was just called "the Patriarch" then) had handled *everything*. It was felt to be just too weird to have just two Patriarchs, one the First and the other... not. So they made a Patriarch of Everywhere Else. The Patriarch of the Twilight has a few Bishops all over the place with their own priests, but he usually reserves at least some of his own priests to go to and fro in Occida and up and down in it, drumming up support for the missions. Plus, he has the right to help out in any sort of missionary work, so he can relieve some of the pressure on the Parmese when it comes to the Northern Sentinels, for example. Twilight priests use the local Rite, wherever they are. They dress like the local priests too, but are distinguished by a golden sash they wear from right shoulder to waist. Ditto for the (rare) Cooperators. The Twilight Patriarch himself usually dresses like a Minaean Bishop (with the sash) on special occasions, but more casually in Aurelian attire at other times.
The current Twilight Patriarch is one of the best the office has seen in a long time. He's from Hadron originally, one of the rare Bishops who started out as a Uniate, and so competent that Theophilus III had to have his arm twisted to let the guy go. (Yes, the Hadronese are getting swelled heads - well, more than usual, as the Visians would say - about one of their own being promoted so far, but it's generally conceded that this guy is even worth it.) He has tirelessly promoted work in Kathei and Indra, and has even tried to organize journeys of exploration to southern Sirisa, of which almost nothing is known. So far there have been few takers, but recently one of his (fighter-) priests returned with an unusual dark wood called "ebony" that is causing some ears to prick up. Also some intriguing spices, and quantities and qualities of ivory that have never been seen before (the creatures that produce it are being called "land-walruses"). Perhaps some full-blown expeditions may be in the offing after all...
The formal precedence of the Patriarchs is in order of establishment: First, Twilight, Aurelia, North, Parma. (Twilight outranks Aurelia because of the breadth and vital importance of his office.)
Details:
Each Patriarchate occasionally gathers all its Bishops and more-distinguished priests in a Grand Synod to set policy, pick new Bishops (or a new Patriarch) and so on. (An ordinary Synod is a gathering of all of a Bishop's priests and a few Cooperators for similar purposes.) A First Synod, when all the Patriarchs get together at Samos with a selection of their top Bishops, is an epochal world-shaking event. It's only been done a few times. The last time was when the decision was made to erect the Patriarchate of Parma.
Which reminds me - Bishops of particularly distinguished locales are called Archbishops; they have a few perks and minor oversight over neighboring Bishops, but the position is mostly honorary. The Archbishops of Novalis are those of Loresong (not Waymeet - basically because the Church isn't entirely comfortable with the whole Meeting Stone business, and this is their way of saying so), Vis, Leonis, Alaron, Oriflamme (a Hadronese city that's the headquarters of the Order of the Flame, among other things), and Chrysos (a Desmesne city that has grown up around a major shrine painstakingly created by the saint of the same name in honor of those who died in the Darknight). Priests who have served with distinction can be made "archpriests", a purely honorary title. You can tell an archpriest by his larger focus and, in Novalis, by the fact that his sleeves are pure white, with his Order marked only at the bottom hem. (In Aurelia, where they don't use the colors, an archpriest instead wears a Circlet like a Bishop.)
There are no level requirements for becoming a Bishop or Patriarch, except they have to be able to cast Atonement. (9th level.) It is quite possible for an ordinary priest to be of higher level than his Patriarch, or even the First Patriarch - you can be saintly and experienced without being a good administrator, much less a politically suitable choice. Use of Atonement for restoring priest powers and faith feats is limited to Bishops, Patriarchs, and priests of exceptional holiness. Forbiddance and the *initial* casting of Hallow are likewise restricted. (Any priest can renew a Hallow effect.) Commune is limited to Patriarchs except perhaps in the case of once-every-few-centuries saintly types. On the other hand, the spells Atonement (with the restriction mentioned), Bless, Bless Water, Bless Weapon, Consecrate, Detect Evil, Detect Undead, Dismissal, Gentle Repose, Hallow (with the restriction mentioned), and Prayer can be freely used by any priest. (If I stick with the cleric, they'll be able to default to them like healing spells; if I go with a sorcerer setup, all priests will know them when they get to the appropriate level.)
Canonization of the saints works like this: If people are still talking about your holiness decades after your death, or if there is a huge public outcry for it upon your death, the local Bishop conducts an investigation into your life, words, and writings. If he is satisfied with what he finds, he declares you a Servant of the Light (abbreviated Srv.) and dedicates a church or chapel or shrine in your honor. Every so often the Patriarch has the list of Servants combed through. Is your shrine being visited by many? Does spontaneously wonderful stuff happen there? Do your writings continue to inspire and impress the theologians? Do any or all of these things consistently happen over a long period of time? If so, he picks you, along with a few others, and uses the Commune spell, asking if it's for the best that he proclaim you a saint. (The list is kept strictly secret.) If the answer comes back yes, there's a big ceremony by the Flammifer, a day is set for commemorating you, and the thing is done. (If the answer comes back no, that doesn't stop you from ever going on the list again, but it'll probably take a while. And the exception to the above procedure is martyrdom. If an investigation shows that you were, in fact, martyred for the Light, you become a Servant instantly and go onto the sainthood list first thing.) Patriarchs of other Rites can then decide if they want to add your day to their calendars too. (At times this can get down to something amusingly like horse-trading - OK, we'll take yours if you take ours.
It is customary for all the Patriarchs to add those saints that the First Patriarch does, however, which is one reason why there are so many saints with Minaean names. (The other being that priests and Cooperators - prime candidates for holiness - often choose a new name, and Minaean ones are popular.)
Just in case you were wondering, Leo IX the Pious of Hadron is a Servant of the Light, and the Hadronese government sponsors pilgrimages to his shrine, but somehow he's never managed to get canonized. Possibly because he was a bit of a nut-job.
(The Hadronese line is starting to strike me as a little inbred...) The Light, by the way, has not usually gone in for heavy ascetical practices like those that were so beloved in our own world's medieval and Renaissance eras.
Cosmology:
They hold a heliocentric view of the solar system. This had been roundly mocked by the pagan Minaean philosophers, who were geocentrists, but St. Photion the Astronomer silenced them by producing concrete proof - an early triumph of the Light that is commemorated during Light-Bringer (see Calendar below) as the Feast of the Demonstration. (He used what we would call a Foucault pendulum. Shortly afterward, gestalt-circles of espers were able to make out mountains on the Moon, which destroyed the old theory of the aether to boot.)
The planets are Eschaton (ie, Minaean for "Fulfillment", because it's almost lost in the glare of the Sun), Phosphoros (it was always called that even in pagan days, because it's the morning star, but of course now it has a special meaning), Terrima (the campaign world), Martyrius (because it's red, the color of love and sacrifice), Imperium (it used to be named after the ruling god of the Aurelian pantheon, and espers have spotted a great red Eye on it), and Matrimonia (so called because espers have just barely managed to make out its Circlet). The planets used to be named after pagan gods, but they were renamed in St. Lucis' day. Magical and esper investigation have also managed to prove the existence of a seventh planet, which only the keenest-eyed can see. The Minaean astronomers who discovered it called it Telegonus (Far-Wanderer). Peasant superstitions about this "invisible planet at the edge of the Dark" abound, and it is known in some quarters as Skotophoros, or Dark-Bringer. (To call it that in public is to invite a heresy investigation, however.) The old "science" of astrology was largely discredited by the Demonstration, but it has come creeping back in new Light-based heliocentric forms. The theologians haven't been willing to condemn it (maybe the movements of the planets DO mean something significant) but are on the watch for superstitious developments.
It is taken for granted by everybody that all the planets are inhabited - why would the God make them if not to put them to use? (There must be something special about Terrima, though, because it is the only planet known to have a Moon. Apparently the God provided it to reflect the Sun's light during the night, so that creatures of Darkness would not have it all to themselves.) No way of getting to them is known, though there are still dreamers who talk about huge circles of espers managing to get good enough teleport coordinates for mages to use. And there are plenty of legends of free-standing Gates leading to the other worlds.
Mystically, the entire universe is seen as a focus, or even a Flammifer basin, of which the Sun is the flame. The planets closer to the Sun move faster (in perfect circles - they haven't had their Tycho Brahe yet) because they are more greatly moved by proximity to the Sun's Light. Each planet therefore has an angelic Intelligence that keeps it moving correctly. The stars are angels called Dancers, dancing in mystical rapture, for beyond the stars space and time cease to exist and the God dwells in invisible perfect Light. (That's why it's so heinous to talk about Dark-Bringer - none of the universe is far from the God.) Everyone thinks that the constellations have to mean something significant, which is one reason why astrology keeps coming back. There is a poetic belief in the "music of the spheres" for the Dancers to dance to.
It is firmly believed, by the by, that only the God is without a physical body of any kind. Angels are beings with bodies made of (ordinary) light rather than matter. The Dancers are the greatest of them, shining bright enough to be seen from incredibly far away - none of these has ever been known to visit Terrima, as their radiance would blast us out of existence. (Demons are simply angels who are evil. It's ridiculous to talk of something made out of Darkness, though it's true that an angel's light-body doesn't have to be visible to us, and can even block or absorb other light, thus appearing black.)
The Intelligence of the Moon is regarded as the Guardian of the Night, and the Intelligence of Phosphoros (often confused with the saint) is regarded as the Guardian of the Dusk - but it is considered superstitious to invoke them for aid, just as it is to do so with saints. (See "Hagiolatrist Heresy", below.) This doesn't stop many people, however. Some theologians have asserted that the Intelligences ARE great formerly-human saints, but this is generally regarded as whacked-out. The Intelligence of Terrima is believed to manifest in the auroras and in the brightness of the daytime sky (espers have shown that space beyond the atmosphere is black - not Dark, just black
but frankly is often forgotten because of the presence of the Eternal Flame. Anyway, all the astronomical theory, while believed, is mostly in a different universe of thought than daily faith - it's all very interesting, but it doesn't have much to do with prayer and the Rites.
Other planes are regarded as different energy-states of being, or even different states of consciousness - seldom-used modes of perception and interaction that magic and psionics can temporarily supply or enhance. The Otherworld - Faerie - well, it's confusing.
Most think it's simply This World perceived through a mode of perception called "sorcery". Everybody has it to some extent, but not many enough to do anything interesting with. The same goes for "psionics". Some think that one of these, or both, is an unnatural and perhaps even evil mode, like undeath, but cooler heads have prevailed. Usually. (See "Mundanist Heresy", below.) Anyway, assuming they're OK, the Light produces "puissance" in "sorcery" and "communion" in "psionic talent". "Puissance" is the unique experience of actually altering the world by the application of will. Yes, it can be badly misused, but then so can beauty and pleasure and joy and even truth and love - it's a sin to do so. (Piously orthodox sorcerers are very scrupulous about using their magic only from the best of motives.) "Communion" is the experience of oneness and unity with the thing being altered, or among cooperating psions, that makes psionics possible. (How the Thulish word "gestalt" ended up being often used as a synonym for "communion" is a long and unlikely story, the sort of thing that only happens in real life. Briefly: Folkheim mercenary. Foreign Legion. Citizenship. Psionics study. Telepathic communion. Delight in the aptness of the word.)
How is it that wizards apparently experience "puissance" while usually having negligible "sorcery"? They use technique to bootstrap what they have in controlled ways, much like using a lens to focus light.
Calendar:
The liturgical calendar for most of the Rites goes as follows: Starting on the autumnal equinox, there is a period of mourning for and memory of the benighted times before the Light. In Novalis, there are extensive commemorations of the Darknight as well. This time of repentance and fasting gradually deepens as autumn does, and is called Twilight. (The equinox itself, however, is a celebration of Creation, called Dawning. Yes, Dawning comes before Twilight - don't worry about it, they don't.
The winter solstice is the joyous celebration of First Light, and leads into the Light-Bringer season commemorating the early days of the Church. St. Phosphoros is, of course, specially remembered during this time. Light-Bringer ends a couple weeks before the spring equinox, and the brief Cinders season commemorates the martyrs. The equinox itself is the day of Enlightenment (of St. Lucis, who legalized the Church in the Aurelian Empire) and during the following Noontide season people give thanks for their own Enlightenment and make contributions to the missions. The summer solstice is the day of Eternal Flame, and the following season is called Gloria - this is a time of quiet prayer, and contemplation of the mysterious gift of glory. The last two weeks before Dawning are the season of Fulfillment, in which the hoped-for consummation of the universe in Uttermost Light is anticipated. The whole sweep of the calendar is peppered with days commemorating specific saints (usually the day they died) and great events of the past, which break things up a bit. For example, St. Chrysos' day falls in the depths of Twilight, and gives a bit of feasting to relieve the rigor of it all.
The "week" consists of ten days, named after the believed order of Creation: Lightday, Starday, Sunday, Fullday (for Eschaton), Forsday (corruption of 'phoros', ie, Phosphoros), Terrsday, Flameday, Marday, Ruleday (Imperium), and Wedsday (Matrimonia). Lightday and Flameday are usual days for religious observances. Only Lightday is a complete day of rest, though everyone has to be allowed to attend church on Flameday and to have at least some space for prayer - typically people work a half day. At times, of course, special feasts may fall on other days. For example, the Fulldays of Fulfillment and the Mardays of Cinders have special observances. Usually such feasts are treated as Flamedays, but sometimes as Lightdays.
The solar year consists of exactly 365.25 days. The synodic month is exactly 30 days long. (Though there's a bit of eccentricity, inclination, and perturbations to prevent eclipses from occuring with monotonous regularity.) Each month consists of 3 weeks; the equinoxes and solstices are considered to lie outside the weekly and monthly cycles, as does Godsday, which occurs between Fulfillment and Dawning, and commemorates the eternal being of the God. Godsday is formally considered to lie outside the yearly cycle as well (thus it is the beginning and end of the year, as he is the beginning and the end of the universe), but for dating purposes it is treated as the end of the year. The leap day every four years is placed just before First Light and is called Marvel. It is a day for the unexpected, the strange, the unusual, the unlooked-for. It also raises the tension before First Light almost unbearably, which many people release by playing harmless practical jokes. If King Arthur or Robin Hood had been followers of the Light, everyone would have been forbidden to sit to table on Marvel until something happened.
(Actually, I think I'll make Marvel an annual occurrence. But when it falls on the leap day rather than on a Wedsday, it'll be of special intensity and be called Mirabilis.)
(There are other calendars used in Occida, of course - Melendor uses a lunisolar one borrowed from the elves for some purposes, for example - but I won't go into them here. Do note for now, though, that celebrations from the old religions still retain a certain spooky or racuous feel, much like Halloween.)
The era used is usually Anno Lucis, from First Light. When I work out what year it is A.L., I'll let you know.
Probably about 2500. Two other common ones in Novalis are A.N.I. "Anno Novus Imperii", from the founding of the Nova Imperium, and A.D. "After Devastation", from the Darknight. It's probably about 300 A.D. Note that the sun and moon come back into phase every 40 years, and so this is a much-used time divider - it's called a "cycle" or a "generation".
Heresies:
As already mentioned, there are a number of controversies that have reached the point of being full-blown heresies. To wit:
Prophetic Heresy: The Prophetists believe that some individuals are, in effect, given yet another special channel of Light that enables them to "feed" people through their inner eye, building them up in truth and other inner perfections. These are the Prophets, and they communicate the Light to people primarily through their words and teachings. (The channel they use is and produce in others is often called "wisdom", and the effect produced in it by the Light, "clarity".) And since the Prophets are of course still with us invisibly, they can continue giving us wisdom and clarity through their writings, if these be properly and accurately preserved and read. The result is a downplaying of the priesthood and of glory that scandalizes just about everybody else. For their part, the Prophetists don't call anyone else heretical, just "inaccurate" (preservation of the saints' writings), "deprived" (of the Writings of the Prophet), and worst of all, "unclear".
Theological careers have been built and lost in the arguments about how the Prophetist temporary "priests" can manage to cast spells and perform the Rites with apparently ordinary candles, or sometimes even Trigon pendants, rather than focuses. (The Trigon is used more often in Sirisa than in Occida.) Are they *really* communicating spirit and thus glory to people? Worse yet, how much do they really care?
Sophist Heresy: Protectorate thinkers, influenced probably by Agathism, strongly emphasize the unknowability of the God, the unlikeness of the God to any created thing, the impossibility of participating in the God's inner nature. If pressed, they will admit that the God does have a positive nature and character (to lack this would be to be Darkness), but they state that there is no way for us to know what this character is. Novalians, on the other hand, while they admit that the God is beyond human comprehension, nonetheless believe that they do get some faint communion with the God, some notion, however imperfect, of what the God is like. How else, after all, would we come to know good and evil, that the God desires this and not that? The Sophists would reply that the God's choices in giving us created modes of perception - including conscience and virtue - do not truly reveal his inner nature; that our perception is not the reality... the two sides can go back and forth over this for years, and have. Protectorate theologians, by the by, refer to Novalian belief as the "Anthropomorphic Heresy". (If you ask me, both sides are right and both are wrong. They aren't using the same vocabulary and are talking at cross purposes. This is probably why the First Patriarch hasn't condemned either side, though that doesn't mean he's sure about what's going on.)
Predestinationist Heresy: This one pops up in Novalis every couple centuries, usually among Thuler. There are a lot of different flavors, but they all basically agree that the "Choice" isn't. While orthodox Novalians admit that the initiative always lies with the God, who after all isn't being forced by anybody to create or to send out the Light, the Choice to open the inner eye is still free. While Predestinationists aren't Calvinists - the Light has no idea of original sin, exactly - they maintain that some people just aren't built to receive the Light - they don't and can't have an inner eye, whether open or shut. (In fact, there's no such thing as a "shut" inner eye, only the absence of one.) In effect, there are two human species - one of clever animals, the other of eternally glorious beings. Nobody thinks it a tragedy that animals die and stay dead, so neither is it a tragedy that these human animals do so. (It may be asked how a Predestinationist explains the Raise Dead spell, and so on. The hardnosed ones will flatly point out that the spell doesn't always work. Others will just point out that the God is quite capable of restoring animals to life if asked.)
How can you tell what kind of human you are? Most Predestinationists say you simply can't - you find out when you die. (These are the "Agnostics".) Others claim to be able to tell the difference, and these tend to be far the more dangerous. (The "Gnostics". They and the Agnostics tend to dislike each other at least as much as they dislike orthodoxy.) A milder form of "semi-Predestinationism" says that the "real" humans do get a real Choice, but shares the belief that some people are "fake". It therefore approximates to orthodoxy as the number of "fake" humans goes to zero. Any flavor of Predestinationism can also add the twist of *hereditary* realness and fakeness. ("Generational".) Predestinationists don't agree about the priesthood - some say that priests must always and necessarily be "real" people. (Add heredity to that, and you get a frantic searching of bloodlines to see if there's any priests in your family. If there is one, then you can relax and get down to some serious sinning.
Some have said that the God can choose to use animals as instruments if he pleases - that they can benefit others without being themselves benefited. And some have gone so far as to deny the priesthood entirely, though it's a little hard for most people to hear that with a straight face. Finally, some "quasi-Predestinationists" think there might be some way for "fake" humans to become "real" - usually by Mingling Flames with a "real" person, more nastily by joining a particular cult. The term usually given by Predestinationists to orthodoxy is the "Libertist Heresy" - ie, the assertion that free will exists, or at least that everybody has it. Another term, usually given by semi-P's, is "Pan-Anthropic Heresy" - ie, the idea that everybody is "human".
Dualist Heresy: Darkness is alive and actively evil. Not seen much in Novalis, it turns up in Parma every so often. It's too easily refuted by clear thinkers to last long. While it lasts, though, it's had the potential to produce in reaction some truly nasty Darkness-worshippers, something just not normally seen otherwise. There is much disagreement about where these get their spells - probably from powerful demons. They call orthodoxy the "Monadic Heresy".
Hagiolatrist Heresy: Worship of the saints as embodiments of the God. It's perfectly OK in orthodox belief to "talk to" the saints, and some people get positively chatty. It is also quite accepted that the saints can act as instruments of the God's power. It's when you think they can actually change things in the real world, on their own, that you step over the line. Hagiolatrists usually don't try to condemn orthodoxy, just claim that their usages are not improper.
Mundanist Heresy: Those who think that sorcery, or psionics, or both, is an evil mode of perception, much like undeath. Mundanists thus deny that ordinary people have any degree of sorcerous or psionic talent whatever - those who do (even a little bit, like wizards) must be in league with demons. Or something. Sorcerous Mundanism rears its head periodically in the Protectorate and Minaea. The official line in those places, though, is that magic is not evil, just too dangerous to be put to use. (Minaea's gotten to a point where they don't mind wizards too much. Uncontrolled sorcery, though - no.) Psionic Mundanism rarely appears in an organized form except in the Restored Empire - usually whipped up by the Undying Emperor's spy network to get the populace in a froth against the Protectorate - though it's true that many Novalians get superstitiously nervous about psionics, and this sometimes boils over. Total Mundanism generally appears as a grassroots movement against "those as has no right to be better than honest folk". The last major outbreak was in the Visian League a decade ago, more of a protest movement against the Academicians than anything else. It was put down with great resolution - let's just say that resentment in parts of the League is "smoldering" in more ways than one.
(Theophilus III actually Excluded the entire First Circle over the unnecessarily vicious - and not always very discriminating - response. Most of them ended up resigning and doing public penance.) The event is known - in whispers - as "the Burning".
I can easily think of a bunch of others, but I suspect they're all fairly uncommon, so I'll stop now.
