In the days before the coming of the comet there were the old magics of the Skagriagaard and the Zoranethi, the Giant Kin and the Angelus. When the comet came it bought with it the first of the changes, the new magic, the source of magic; source magic. From source magic through the belief of others the three Gods of old were born – The first was Kalarin a goddess founded in the forges of War, battle goddess; The light of the Heavens. The next was Malice the made being created of spite and sin wickedness founded of one man’s ambitions to rule the lands – The Dark One. The last was the balance, weaver of order and bringer of the peace, founded by need and necessity and a call for common ground – Tremalian the Grey. As they rose to the heavens so they gave Focus to the power of the Source. Focus Magic was created and so, powered by the belief of their followers and a pact made with Fae of Eidelos they prospered.
For many hundreds of years they ruled the heavens and the stories of their followers, the Angels and Archangels and indeed even the Gods themselves are many. Epic Legends when all powers strode the lands and did battle, causing so much devastation that the great Tharinos’ was called in which all powers were as equal and the Gods could be called to answer for their actions. Eventually however the eyes of Malice, inspired by the will of the Torakaylin family line, turned to the control of the lands of the Basin and beyond and it called upon its General Gabrak to lay waste to the other great churches in its name. It was in these great Pantheonic Wars that the Gods of this time were destroyed and the Gods that we know and venerate today where born.
Power and belief of that time are mysterious forces to the modern day Priest; the fall and rise of Gods and Goddesses, that seems so alien to us now, was a real threat to the followers of the faith in that day and age. It is almost impossible for us to imagine seeing the raw power of our God overshadowing a city and being cut to pieces by the power of Daemons and enemy casters. Yet this is how the deities of the past were ended but it was not the end of the belief nor the power and portfolios that they represented. It was almost as if the Gods had prepared for the final days of their mortality and had chosen new vessels for their powers but rather than the simplicity of the three deities their power was extended to meet the demands of a larger, growing base of Priests. Seemingly normal folk were raised up and became the new powers of Gods and Goddesses beyond the boundaries of Soul Anchor.
One of these Gods was called Tiberius; representing honesty, duty, valour and honour; Tiberius is the epitome of the chivalric warrior bringing a certain sense of grace to warfare and to battle. In mortal life Tiberius was the foremost Holy Warrior of the Goddess Kalarin and was responsible for many heroic deeds that set him apart from many of his comrades in arms. Rather than the no nonsense policy that she operated regarding the branding of any Source User as a potential Daemonic host or the burning of entire towns if one heretic was found within it he was more than lenient in these cases. Many of the folk that understand the teachings of the church of Tiberius today would be horrified to see the way that Kalarinites operated and proud of the man that became their God for bringing the Church to the place that it finds itself in today.
When the Pantheonic wars were over the followers of Kalarin were many, the faith was shattered by the changing formations of politics and the rise of the new Gods. From the ranks of the Kalarinites soldiers and warriors were gathering together under the force of several personalities, specifically the more stringent Kalarinites, such as Tolvek of the Shining Blade, Dieron the Blessed and Tuquine; The Silent Lady. Dieron himself had travelled with Tiberius before he rose to the heavens and the others had been blessed to fight alongside him. They were the most militant of the Kalarinites and took much of the faith that they had carried straight to the Churches giving the early doctrine its clear formation. That of battle and duty and the destruction of that which was considered dark and evil. As the years went by the Church would come to change and soften its approach but at this time it was a bloody and by extension Kalarinite Church.
The earliest efforts of the Church was to establish, via conversion of existing buildings, centres of powers at both the centre of the burgeoning Kingdom and at the very edges of the civilised borders of that society ostensibly to keep it safe from the darkness at its door. As the years went by the Tiberiusite Church cemented its place within the Basanic Clergy but caused tensions between the Church of Notelexus and itself with its dogmatic hatred of Unnatural creatures, specifically the Undead that walk in the service of the God of the Dead. As Notelexus fell from Basanic graces and its champions became such creatures, bent on conquest of the fertile Basanic lands so did heroes of our faith, leaders, rise; Dieron the Blessed himself, the greatest of the line of the Battle God, Catagore Cotageish of the Rice Empire and Seshepenmehit of the Egarian City States all came together during this time. They fought back the darkness and bought concepts such as Honour, Valour, Chivalry and Sacrifice more directly into the mainstream of the doctrine.
It is always the way of the great to be attacked by the weak however and it was the power of the Devourer that crept into the utopia of the rising Church of Tiberius and spoke its lies. Dieron the Blessed was at this point at the height of the Church and its powers, Catagore and Seshmet had returned to their homelands and the Churches of Dusk had been outlawed due to their switch in tenets and beliefs, again a ploy attempted by the Devourer. Resting on its glory and politically powerful the Church of Tiberius fell rapidly when supposed heresy was bought against it. Great tumult throughout the clergy was met with various responses as the senior Priests of the faith battled the main clergy in various arenas. As the heresy was inevitably proven to be a lie so had the Church schismed into three clear sects – The Council of Tiberius rallied under the great Dieron the Blessed, trying to uphold the ideals that had been carefully gathered over 1,400 years. The Swords of Tiberius believed that the White Blade of Tiberius; Eryk Stromm would lead them to purity through war whilst the Brothers of Tiberius clung to Chivalry and Derring under Sarah King a Redeemer of near legendary faith.
As the years have passed the Churches have developed new outlooks as they strive to meet the demands of the people that they serve. It has been a mainstream struggle between the old guard and the new thinkers and in recent years the new thinkers have won through. Whilst many would point to the actions of the old “Dark” Churches that brought us together it is clear that the new order of the Clergy, the Churches of Dawn, Day and Dusk would not have become prevalent had it not been for the Holy Order. The Dawn Churches, Yarrianne, Naed and Tiberius represent the dawn of life when we are fresh and full of life, naivety and energy. The Day; Bethylak, Terref and Ekimelahw, represents the middle of our lives when we have become wise and wealthy and live more ordered lives. The Dusk shows us as we approach the end of our lives, when our burdens have weighed heavily upon us, we are wearied and tired and death is but a corner away on our journey. This aspect of our faith is represented by the Churches of the Kraken, Notelexus and Rayvahn.
The years have passed but the schism remained, the duties of the Clergy have remained heavy upon us but we have kept ourselves the shining example in the field. Regardless, however, of the widespread return of the Churches of Dusk and the slowly burgeoning unity of our faiths the Council remains a place of deepest darkness. In Watersdown of the year 2013 the world in its entirety faced one of its darkest moments – Deep in Soul Anchor, between the Heavens and the Mortal Realm, a being known as the Red Sultan had waged a bloody war across all reality to rebuild the world in his own image, wiping all else that lived from the its back. Despite the efforts of so many souls, hundreds of thousands perishing in the tumult he had succeeded and the time for the end of all life was at hand. In the ultimate sacrifice our Lord Dieron the Blessed cast his own essence into the nothing of the past to save all our souls. There have been a number of candidates that have been considered to stand forward since that day as leader of our faith but none can ever emerge from that shadow. Instead a great council has been elected to rule the Church, interpret the will of our Lord and to hold the reins of power until the return that all expect one day for no challenge, no matter how great can lay low the mighty Dieron and he shall come back.
The Clergy have long been the ruling body and government of the faiths of the Royal Basin. At times it has been severely understaffed, particularly in the periods when the Churches of the Devourer, Notelexus and Rayvahn were left awash in the wilderness. In recent years the Clergy has been in constant debate and argument but in 2014 the decision was made to appoint a full head and re-establish the Azure Table to sit with the Golden Table of the Royal Basin. Initially the vote seemed likely to be in favour of Sebastian Blackthorn to rule the table in the name of the Church of Rayvahn but it was Yarrianne’s Mirelle Silverlight who won the majority vote and became the new leader of the Azure Table. Now the Azure Table/Clergy begin a time of rebuilding and unity that will bring a new and prosperous time for all faiths and a togetherness that we hope will endure a thousand years of Basanic life.
Holly Goodall
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