Church of Rahn

A manicula, the symbol of the Church of Rahn.

The Church of Rahn is one of three religions worshipping Rahn, the god that created the humans and is the primary deity worshipped by humans in the Realms. The Church is the biggest Rahndom religion, has its base of operations in Capitoleum and in Kingdoms all over Midrealms. Members of the Church of Rahn are called 'Churched', and most Kingdoms in the Midrealms are Churched Kingdoms.

The Church of Rahn uses an upside down teardrop on the top of a straight and shaped line as it manicula. This symbol is very similar to our world's ankh, but without the horisontal line. In some ways it may be the religious symbol of Rahn least like a physical hand, but it symbolises the holeness of Rahn and encapsulates good in the world, protecting it from evil. In this shape it could be an open hand or a fist: Rahn has many aspects.

The Church is very powerful in terms of money, military power as well as support from the people. It is seen as synonymous of being a good person with being a follower of Rahn. The conflict between the churches is mostly a political, ideological or religious difference between clergy and most regular believers in Rahn collectively appreciate other churches' members' faith without question.

• Religion#Rahndom - More religions

Important glossary

Word	Meaning	Our world equivalence
Amplector	"Embrace" - The Bishop's throne from which he runs his Diocese.	Cathedra
Amplectoral	"The house containing the embrace" (the Bishop throne), head of a Diocese.	Cathedral or Grand Temple
Guidance	A single holy text part of the Guidances	Testament
Guidances	The holy texts of followers of Rahn	The Bible
Manicula	"Hand of Rahn", the ahnk-like symbol of the Church of Rahn	Crucifix
Pietist	Religiously important person from history, often governing, protecting or supporting some realm under Rahn	Saint

Hierarchy of the Church

There are four main categories of church-affiliated people:

• Episcopate - bishops
• Presbyterate - priests
• Diaconate - deacons
• Laity - all other ("lay people")

There are ranks or honourary titles under each of these:

• Episcopate
  • Patriarch of Rahn - Head of the Church and Rahn's hand in the Realms
  • Cardinal - A honourary rank to especially theologically gifted Bishops (primarily) and Priests (rarely) granted by the Patriarch
  • Archbishops - A Bishop of an ecclesiastical province (consists of several dioceses)
  • High Bishops - A Bishop of a prominent city or location diocese, sometimes a small ecclesiastical province
  • Bishops - Head of a diocese (consists of many parishes) with his seat on an Amplector in an Amplectoral
• Presbyterate
  • Priorae - A form of "High Priest"; a honourary title given by a Bishop, similar to the Bishop equivalence of a Cardinal
  • Priest - A leader of a parish, an assistant to a parish leader or a travelling priest. Also known as "Father".
  • Paladin - Some select holy warriors can receive most of the functions and duties of a Priest, their actual title is "Paladin" or "Templar Knight"
  • Acolyte - A Priest in training
• Diaconate
  • Deacon - Assist priests in their pastoral and administrative duties, but often report directly to the bishops of their diocese. Notably, higher ranked officers of the Church of Rahn Army are Deacons
  • Brother - This is the official term and is a secondary assistant role to priests or to Deacons
• Laity
  • Layman or laywoman - Any person employed in the service of the Church of Rahn that is not one of the other ranks. Notably, the Church if Rahn Army foot folk falls under this branch

Priorae, Priests, Deacons and Brothers are all ranks that serves in dioceses under a Bishop and they are also collectively referred to as Proctors.

Jurisdiction

The Rahnite Jurisdiction is the (mostly) geographical areas where the church of Rahn imposes its own Holy Laws in parallell with local Regents, usually without major friction.

• Ecclesiastical province - A jurisdiction including several dioceses; led by an Arch Bishop
• Diocese - A jurisdiction including many parishes; led by a Bishop
• Parish - Both the jurisdiction of, as well as the group of people of, a church; led by a Priest

Godly Dictums

Found from reading holy scripture, the Godly Dictums of Rahndom is a set of rules or laws on how to go about your lives. It includes everything from how to make sacrifices to several different gods (unusual for being in scripture to mention non-Rahn topics) to how to pray, work, eat, sleep and talk.

Pietists

Men and women of extraordinary piety and belief are Raised to the status of Pietist within the church, for example Piet Sabeni the Trusted. The norm is to shorten the title "Pietist" to simply "Piet" for everything other than specific church ceremonies. This is a status very similar to that of a Saint within the Catholic Church. Individual Pietists can become patrons of particular areas such as seafaring or the household and there are shrines and temples dedicated to these figures. Since this infringes on many other people's beliefs on what governs what areas of reality, this has put the Church of Rahn on edge with just about every other religion in the world.

In order to be recognised (Venerated) as a Pietist a person must perform Major Miracles alive as well as after death's grasp. In some cases a person may have done extraordinary work as well as have channeled Rahn directly, and can be Venerated. It needs to benefit the Church of Rahn as well as people in general. Cardinals hold the power to select a person for Veneration, which starts a long investigative process and the Patriarch holds a final hand in concluding the process, oficcially elevating the person in the eyes of mortals to Pietist.

Military

The Hand of Rahn is the Church of Rahn's military arm. It is lead by General Brand Hinburg, a nobleman of medium power turned Paladin. Officers of the Hand of Rahn are members of the Knights of the Hand, an chivalric order created by the Church.

• Grand Master
• Paladins/Templars (Holy knights)

Paladins are mainly tied to peacekeeping forces and join sides in conflicts based on which side is the most pious house. "Pious" here means "paying the most money".

Some part of the justice is that the battle decides who is right. Even if the Paladin side loses, it does not mean the winner has the church against them; Rahn "changed his mind".

Religious Orders

Chivalric Orders

There are many chivalric order within the Church of Rahn, often referred to as "Templars". One prominent is Knights of the Hand which is the order for knights who act as officers in the Hand of Rahn. Many other chivalric orders of temple knights (templars) support more than one church or none, though most support the Church of Rahn if they operate within the Midrealms.

• Grand Master
• Paladins/Templars (Holy knights)

Ecclesiastical Orders

There is just one ecclesiastical order within the Church if Rahn and it is the actual Church if Rahn. This order contains the Patriarch and all religious orders that are not either associated with other churches or are just separate are generally considered heretical. There are exceptions for movement orders like the

Military Orders

There is really just the Hand of Rahn as an order of military within the church though there are military orders associated with the church but outside it.

Monastic Orders

The Church has everal monastic orders that consist of individuals who has eschewed their material possessions in order to strive for spiritual cleanliness. There are both male and female orders as well as one mixed gender order. Generally, monastic life is full of prayer and hard work, but monks and nuns usually have the freedom to oursue personal interests in terms of doing work for the King of Kings.

Hierarchy of Monasteries:

• Abbot (Father)
• Monk (Elder)
• Monk (Brother)
• Acolyte

The hierarchy varies slightly from order to order, but generally, this is the monastic hierarchy.

Hierarchy of Convents

• ..

Monastic Orders:

• Sabenius Order - Focus on work to purify the soul
• Himnasi Order - Only mixed gender monastic order, currently criticised by the Church.

Monasteries:

• Sandon Hill Monastery - Located in southern Artipellin; Sabenius Order

Other Monastic Activities:

• None yet

Mendicant Orders

Also known as "beggar orders" they are closely related to monastic orders but part of the people and travelling as beggars.

• Friars (traveling monks)
• Cleric/Barefoot priests

Within the Church, proper connected individuals feel strangled by the politics and end up as "Clerics" - walking priests. Most who channel power from the deity also channel the emotion of disproval from their God when they observe the corruption, which is another reason they leave for the road or sets up local churches.

Succor Orders

Sometimes locally called "the People's Help". These are often retired, ex-clergy, Templar veterans or uninitiated religiously trained individuals that run establishments solely to help others in the name of Rahn. These are not represented within the Church but usually receive some monetary assistance in their work if they seem worthy.

• Held Hands Orphanage - in Capitoleum - Mixed orphanage in Westfield, north of Caldon.
• Orphanage of Grace - in Gwennport
• Renfast of Bywarren - in Bywarren
• Trusted House Orphanage - in Capitoleum - Boys' orphanage, run by nuns; Sabenius Order

Churches

The Church of Rahn conveys worship and ceremonies primarily through their physical buildings, and then mainly churches. As a rule, monasteries have some sort of building called a "church" within their cloister walls as well, even if it at times is more lika shrine.

All churches have in common that they are build on Touched (concecrated) lands and has some sort of altar to Rahn in them, some also have relics of Rahn or Rahnites of note (usually Pietists). The general rule is that shrines or relics are placed close to their historically important location (such as the site of a Major Miracle, a battle or the birth/death place of a Pietist), but there are some exceptions where relics have been moved to other churches (mainly to Amplectoral and then mainly to the Great Amplectoral in Capitoleum).

Amplectoral

Amplectorals are the administrative and ecclestiastic centers of Dioceses and almost exclusively a "Great Church" building. They are namned after the Amplector (the Bishop's throne) residing within it. It is the primary place of worship and ceremonies for a large amount of parishes but mostly doesn't have its own parish.

Holy texts

The texts that make up the Church of Rahn canon are a multitude of fragments from the time Rahn walked on the Realms as well as prophecies and allegories from ancient Pietists reciting the word of Rahn. Each collection (or "book") is called "A Guidance" and toether the collection of holy texts is commonly referred to as "The Guidance" for the collection or "The Guidances" in reference to the collection of books. These can be used almost interchangably, but "the Guidances" usually indicates the fact there are many (or ALL relevant) "guides to life".

Places

The Holy Places of Rahndom is mostly shared between the three main religions following Rahn. Categories of locations:

• The Hearths - The universally "most holy" sites like Holy Hladhǫnd and the Grand Amplectoral
• The Core Locations - 101 sites of great importance spread across the Northrealms
  • The Ten Essentials - the ten essential locations in Northrealms
• The Shrines - 257 locations spread around Midrealms
• The Glimmers - A growing number of locations in the Southrealms of religious importance

Hearths

The Hearths are universally the most holy sites, shared between the Rahndom religions. Not all of these are within all of the definitions used by the Church of Rahn specifically.

The Grand Amplectoral

Located in Capitoleum, the Grand Amplectoral is the second holiest place in Rahndom, the headquarters of the Church of Rahn, and the tallest structure in the Realms. It houses the Oracle Rock, the most holy relic in existence. The Church of Rahn freely allows Orthodox and "nondescript" (True Faith) followers to enter on pilgrimage, though some arguments may arise.

Holy Hladhǫnd

Located in the very pious Hladhǫnd capital of Holy Hladhǫnd, this was the site where Rahn's Avatar both emerged on Earth and later ascended into Heaven. On the main hill of the city, a solid rahntr obelisk called Rahn's Embrace reaches for the sky similar to a semi-cupped right hand. When excavated a few hundred years ago, the obelisk gained further fame as it protrudes straight out of the bedrock under the hill the city rests on.

Rahn's Embrace is considered the holiest place in all of Rahndom, eclipsing even the seat of the Oracle Rock in the Grand Amplectoral and this extends to the rest of the city, which houses numerous churches and shrines. The city is considered so holy it is a mortal sin to defacate within a hundred yards of a holy site; laws that have been in effect for thousands of years. This makes the entire central city (and much of its sprawl) waste-free and makes the prospect of visiting or living in the city rather complicated.

The defacation laws were no issue when people first started settlements near Rahn's Embrace, but as more holy sites developed, it created several square miles of area in the central city where sick people could not be housed and it became almost impossible to live. The Elders of the True Faith and the Church of Rahn found a solution by allowing lead pots be used to house the unwanted substance long enough for it to be carried away from holy soil. Fortunately, animals are excempt from this practice as long as any owned animals swallow a small lead bullet upon entering the Holy Hladhǫnd and their owners dutifully pick up any "produce" from said animal. Naturally, the lead ingested tends to kill off animals if they spend too much time in the city.

As part of the "compromise" grew a profession of "Carriers" who were allowed to cary the led pots out of the city. These are technically a very low form of clergy, but they are in practice just carriers of shit. If one would drop a lead pot, they have the pleasure of thoroughly cleaning it up from the ground before being burned on a pyre at the Thing's End. When not carrying human feces they work hard to clear the streets from manure or to just wipe them clear of dust.

Core Locations

Spread mostly across the Northrealms are a hundred and one Core Locations where a rahnite object can be found or where Rahn performed some sort of feat. Most of these locations are owned by dedicated Followers who do not want Church of Rahn influence in the North. Almost all of the sites allow pilgrims to visit them without much hassle, but it can vary with the weather.

Among the core locations are the Ten Essentials, which includes Holy Hladhǫnd, though that site has large Church of Rahn and Orthodox influence.

Religious movements

• Rectifying Movement
  • Signum: War hammer in front of a horizon with a rising sun right behind the hammer.
  • Rectifiers are a bit like Tea Party movement. Very right wing, wanting to bring back traditional ideas into the culture.
• Revisionists
  • Signum: The Guidance on the side (diamond) with a golden frame on top of an open silver hand.
  • Movement to rewrite history to show Rahn is only god. Have support in certain areas/houses. Mostly because promise of riches. Often kept relatively silent. Presented as further studies/divinations that some current myths may be a bit wrong. It also has antagonists in church, and the Register is sceptical though some religious individuals within the Register have shown an interest.
• The Redemption
  • Symbol: Two hands in prayer
  • A small covert movement within the grander belief in Rahn to revolusionise the church and follow as message closer to the actual deity. Attempts to gather and network "barefoot priests".

Characters

To include

• Patriarch of Rahn
• Arch Bishop of Capitoleum
• Bishop of Westfield
• Bishop of Sagese

Historic/Mythical

• Rahn - Naturally
• Harnim the Benevolent - Pietist - Saved a city with Rahn's blessings
• Sabeni the Trusted - Pietist - Inspired the Sabenius Order
• Rihntva Smith - Paladin who weilded the Hand's Gauntlet. Generally seen as a heretic by the Churches. A prophet by gnostic cults.

Military

• Grand Master Brand Hinburg - Paladin and leader of the Hand of Rahn

Monastic

• Sabenius Order
  • Abbot Hintru Oktax of the Sandon Hill Monastery

Succor

• Renfast of Bywarren

Notes

This stuff needs to be incorporated.

The church is strictly hierarchical. Monasteries are more democratic with several Elders and based on age/experience more than ranks and politics. Corruption is about the same as our Catholic Church.

Real clerics feel the deity. Compared to the real world, it's like a strong religious experience, but as everything, it becomes routines. They have a connection. Adepts are 100% arcane OR divine. It's just they do healing a bit innately in arcane and since it's so studied by Divine it's not a prioritised study.

The Church if Rahn, which had seen diminished following during the Prosperous Times, bound to new heights after the full extent of the Ruiner became apparent. Together with the newly initiated Governors, they managed to pick up the slack and turn Capitoleum around, but lost the empire. This was of course partly due to the fact that the Governor families had been too headstrong in assuring their own, personal, powers. However, power of Capitoleum and the Resplendent Fields (or the Fields) dissipated into the individual kingdoms.

The result was that the Governors kept control of Capitoleum and its immense trading riches, the Church of Rahn acquired a strong position in the lives of people everywhere, the Sickle lost significant portion of power and started accumulating an army as well as trying to cement what they could of their influence.

The biggest winner of both the Prosperous Times, the Ruining, the Tumult (also known as the Capitoleum wars) and the Restoration is the Register which was lucky enough to be useful to all types of factions through good times and bad. By the end of the Restoration, the Register was less a service than an obligation and decrees made by it even overturned Governor decrees at times. Despite this, they were always seen as a useful service that could be trusted in all things and never interested in power. This was recognised by Register elders during the Tumult, and unbeknownst to most, became an important facet to Register rulings. Besides the fact that most Administrators are mostly interested in the facts anyway, effort was made to obscure the amount of power they had, in essence trying to become an invisible hand guiding civilisation.

catechist - teacher who teaches by example

WOTM

• WOTM: Science & Religion are Mortal Enemies, Part 2

When our leaders speak,
the thinking has been done

When they propose a plan,
it is God's plan 

When they point the way,
there is no other which is safe

Some things that are true are not edifying or appropriate to communicate.

The Lord made it very clear that some things are to be taught selectively and some things are to be given only to those who are worthy.

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