[Accepted]The Church of the Holy Light

[enkas]

Type (e.g. Planet, Faction, System): Faction

Founding/Settlement Date (if applicable): 2237

Region of Space: It's headquarters, the Cathedral of the Light, is set on Martian soil, but the religion itself has spread through various planets.

Controlled by (if not a faction): They consider themselves independent, though they are still legally under Sol

Other Snapshot information:

A religion, worshiping what they call ''a divine force'', rather than a deity.

Founder - Archbishop Alfonsus Faol

Current Leader - Archbishop Ignasius Permato

Long Description:

Fluff

The Church of the Holy Light, was founded by a young miner, after an accident in the shaft, was buried under rubble, but survived in a rather narrow niche, with a rather long piece of rebar, conveniently stuck just above his head, barely holding the rocks from crushing it, and a lantern, which kept the place illuminated. While it was quite a traumatic experience, he was rescued with relatively light injuries, such as shattered leg, a broken arm, and several cracked ribs, a light concussion, as well as a rather high fever, which also caused him some hallucinations, making him believe, that he was saved by a divine force... He was blindly believing, that it was him, staying in the light has saved his life.

He has quit his mining, sold his apartment, bought a sleeping bag, some cheap supplies of food and water, and begun traveling the outskirts of Mendell city, helping those, whom seemingly need it. Constantly joining construction works, and putting his hand to the fields, whenever he would come accross the farm. When people offered him some money for his help, he refused, preaching the religion that he believed to be real, and teaching the ways.

Through the years, this has become somewhat of a cult and in 2243 it had about 400 members with a large tent to live, and preach in, with lots of their members continuing to travel around, and help pretty much anyone they can, thus, creating a chain reaction, and drawing more good samaritans into their ranks, as well as getting donations. Eventually, they built a chappel, which was later turned into a church.

Despite the rather pacifistic tendencies, they realized, that sometimes, using force is neccesary, as they have seen violence being used against them, and the ones they tried to help. Thus, they begun training the members of their order in mellee combat, mostly with staves, or hammers, as they would seek to stun an opponent, instead of killing one.

in 2311, after Faol's death, catacombs underneath the church was build, and Alfonsus was burried there. A year later, the church was turned into a rather large cathedral. The rebar staff, was split into several parts, each piece, being reforged into a different relic, and being passed down to the noteworthy members of the church.

In 2423, this religion has spread through multiple systems, and even gotten some non-human followers.

 

The mission

 

The Church sends its people all over the world, spreading the wisdom and comfort of the Holy Light. They also do what they can to help people with more practical matters, from building homes to settling family disputes to scaring off enemies. It is all very noble, of course, but that fits with the Holy Light's teachings of making the world a better place and making oneself better by helping other people. The Church has everyone's best interests at heart, and they really do their best to help everyone. It is a religion that is all about making people truly happy, not to mention a religion whose practitioners show clear evidence of divine blessing.

The Holy Light is a strange philosophy (it is really more a philosophy than a religion) because it doesn't involve reverence for a person or even a being — the Light is more of a force, and honesty and good deeds are more important than money or wine or any other form of sacrifice. There is also a lot of study and contemplation involved, particularly on how to make oneself a better person in order to commune with the Light more completely. They likely had libraries before they had churches, and the one simply grew out of the other. Eventually all those churches started working together, and then wound up with the Church of the Holy Light.

 

The four relics.

 

The staff was split into three parts, that were later reformed into three relics, that would be joined by the fourth one - the lantern.

The Lightbringer - Faol's original lantern, the one that kept glowing, after he was near-crushed under the rubble. It is being held above the altar in the Cathedral of the Light

Faol's resolve - It is a holy symbol, created from the top of the shaft, resembling a shape that was symbolized in banners of the order. It is currently held by Bishop Hartam Belorin

Faol's wrath - A hammer head, created from the shaft of the staff, adorned with several symbols. Currently held by Bishop Azeal Silvermane

Faol's hope - a sun-shaped necklace, created from the bottom tip of the staff. Currently worn by Bishop Gabriel Thantos.

 

Organization

 

The Church has an archbishop which is in charge, and he has a council of bishops to advise him. Usually the archbishop was a bishop himself before he was selected, and once he's been chosen he's in charge until he dies or chooses to step down. Priests work for the bishops, and they do most of the actual community work: preaching, tending to the wounded, teaching the children, and so on. They lay priests as well, who aren't ordained and cannot preach, but handle most of the daily chores around the temples and monasteries.

The Church of the Holy Light can only get so much through donations. In order to feed the priests, the religious institution has to make money. It has farms all over the countryside, most of them housing monasteries, and the priests there raise crops and cattle and whatever else the Church needs, and sell the surplus. In some regions the Church owns land and rents it to farmers, merchants or businessmen. They don't keep much of the profit, though — and the Church is always giving food, clothing and tools to the poor. It also teaches people about prayer, about health and farming, and generally how to be a good person.

 

Membership

 

Anyone can follow the path of the Holy Light, and anyone who follows the Holy Light is welcomed by the Church. Most of its members are human, but the Church does not discriminate.

Though anyone can become a member of the Church, becoming an actual priest is a long and difficult process. First come various classes, taught by lay priests, all about the Church's history, principles and activities. If the applicant does well in class he graduates to the next level, taking personal instruction with a priest, learning prayers and other devotions. Most applicants become lay priests, working for the Church while studying. They can spend several years in instruction, until the priest feels they're ready. Then there's an audience with the bishop, and a stay in one of the Church's monasteries — several months to several years away from everyone except other faithful. During this time many of them experience true communion with the Light for the first time. If the applicant maintains his faith and still seems suitable, the monastery's head priest sponsors him for ordination. Once a priest is ordained, his life belongs to the Church. The council decides where he goes and what he will do, whether that's working a farm or preaching in a city. Most priests stay with the Church until they die, though as they get older they do more studious and clerical work and less physical labor. A few lose faith and break away, forsaking their vows. Those who do stay, and who distinguish themselves spiritually and politically, can rise through the ranks and eventually become a bishop.

 

The Three Virtues

 

The philosophy of the Holy Light boils down to the three teachings, called the Three Virtues. These virtues — respect, tenacity and compassion — are each defined into a principle and a lesson.

Respect

The first virtue taught is respect. While the Holy Light teaches that awareness of the self and the universe is a goal, one must also see the connection between others and the universe. Destroying other's happiness and severing other's connections with the universe is not serving the world's well being, and therefore not your own. The practitioners of the Holy Light are not naive, however, and understand that trial, conflict, war, and suffering do happen; but they strive to make the universe a better place in spite of these hindrances.

Tenacity

The second virtue is tenacity. The adherence to this virtue is, incidentally, the part of training under the Holy Light that weeds out the unfaithful, as true dedication takes years. Fresh-faced acolytes often lose hope and the true meaning of the Holy Light when they realize that it takes a lifetime to serve the philosophy. The universe is much bigger than one lone soul; and while the universe can change a soul in a day, it takes much more time to change the universe. Only through tenacity can a servant of the Holy Light hope to affect the universe. If some young students feel like this is an impossible task, others take heart in the realization that if you truly believe there is a connection between the self and the universe, one cannot help but affect the other, no matter the size. Affecting the world can include anything from teaching and instilling hope in others to joining with other like-minded individuals to work together to create a bigger change.

Compassion

After the first two concepts are mastered, the student can take on the final virtue: compassion. The connection between the self and the universe is strong, but it still is only one connection. If a follower of the Light serves another to increase his happiness, his bond with the universe grows stronger. The happiness he receives by helping someone also strengthens himself and the universe, and he is able to affect the universe even more.

However, if someone is too compassionate, he can give help where none is needed — or wanted. This oversight can hinder one's growth and happiness. For example, one may help another with a seemingly impossible task, when such a task is not actually out of the abilities of the one making the attempt. Thus, Compassion (However well intentioned) has resulted in that person's inability to grow as the task was essentially "done for them", hindering their growth and happiness.

This is why compassion is taught last; only the wise and those fully understanding compassion may identify who is truly in need and who can grow on their own

 

OOC Notes: So yeah, after some persuation by one person, I did finally make this. While I do admit that a big portion of this was copy-pasted from WoW-wiki, I still managed to create some mary-sueish stuff. So ye. Feel free to judge c;

[Guest]

Terribly sorry for the later response, I've been busy with school.

1. Would you be willing to play as Chaplain more frequently to help spread this religion and gain it some limelight?

2. Would you be willing to type up some religious texts? Short scriptures, concept art, etc etc.

3. Do you know how many people are currently followers of the Holy Light besides Hartam Belorin and Adalaide Maladaxis?

[enkas]

1. I am willing, though I am usually wilted away at playing chaplain by seeing how ignored they usually are.

2. While I am more willing to make art, rather than write up texts, I can be hit by a strange mood once in a while to actually write something as well.

3. I don't know, but... I remember one Rebecca Inn being somewhat interested in this religion, as well as one ERT trooper saying '''May the Light be with you'' to Hartam during one cult round. Aside from that, I also remember Jenna asking if she could make the chaplain of this same religion once.

[Guest]

Alright. Looks good to me.

Accepted. Locking and archiving.