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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lackhand" data-source="post: 4353231" data-attributes="member: 36160">Religions:The Bright God of the Ternovans is by far the most popular deity in the campaign. His church (and the anthropomorphic image of that deity is certainly male) spans multiple nations, with well respected priests everywhere.Its modern form was created during the rise of the Ternovan people from bronze-age hunter gatherers to iron-wielding nation-builders during the Dverning incursion two thousand years ago. Before this time, it was a mostly unformed solar worship; afterwards, the Bright Host and the Sun Spirit were co-identified and a more human face was placed on the religion; similarly, churches and cathedrals were some of the first buildings whose stones were laid atop one-another. It is a religion with a very large number of archangels, saints, martyrs, and semi-divine beings, but only a single (solar) deity.It is currently undergoing a several decade long upheaval; the Khendish Archives contained many prophecies of the Falling Star, and the event of its fall created a schism in the church.The more pastoral members, removed from the Templum Ops, have dropped the Book of Visions from their liturgy, and instead begun to extemporize or otherwise customize their sermons to their parishes.The more rigid members, the Vetus lacuna, hold that the book is not yet fully discharged, prophecy has not yet fully come to pass, and that the vigil is not yet ended. This is the position which the orthodoxy of the church has taken, and it views dropping the book as a grave error, though admittedly the prophecies are significantly less interpretable and immediate after the singular event; there are no interpretations which are clearly true and have obviously come to pass post0-caedo.Naming conventions are Latinate (which I don't speak -- blame the mistranslations on the software I'm using!), with the hierarchies being byzantine but, ultimately, three parts.The Orders of Judges are the enforcers of the Law, and includes the ranks of Templar (squire, Templar, High Templar), the soldiers of the Bright Host (noviate, knight, captain, commander), and the Monks of the Inquisition (ranks, titles, and honors are held in secret -- most are addressed as 'brother' or 'father'). This is the most male-dominated branch of the church, and is below the council of Bishops and the Prince of the Church.The Orders of Grace are the teachers and caregivers of the Law, and include the convent and abbey schools and hospitals (with their attendant novices, sistren, and abbesses), the pastoral village priests (generally passing through Laity, Parent (Father or Mother), Reverend Mother/Father, and finally Bishop), and the Blessed Ones, those saints and martyrs outside the strictures of the church who, nonetheless, seem to be holy or divine in some way.The Orders of Law are the unifying caste around these and are proper to care for temples and relics of the faith; the orders of Exorcist are drawn from these ranks, as are the Council of Bishops which elects Archbishops. There are also a variety of functional titles within these ranks, which an individual might hold regardless of other position. Mastery of rituals is required for advancement within these ranks.The Prince of the Church commands all Bishops, as do Archbishops and the collective decree of the Council of Bishops, which itself commands the Orders of Judges and the Orders of Grace, with certain regulatory duties meted out to its members specifically.</blockquote>

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