Religions

There are three primary religions in the Fatherland, although all three purport to worship the same Living God. They are collectively known as 'Ortueism,' from the Romanum word for origin, beginning, source, and uplifting. Most, however, identify far more strongly with their specific branch of Ortueism than with the overarching family of religions.

## History

### Primal Ways

Before the Era of Kings, the Era of Chieftains saw the worship of an ever-shifting pantheon of powerful-yet-flawed beings frequently (though not always) depicted as immortals. Occasionally they were portrayed as humans who ascended to godhood through heroic deeds, but usually they were the divine first Chieftains of the great (and likely anachronistically portrayed) tribes of yore. The Old Gods were given varied domains from which their powers and abilities flowed, and they were given sacrifices and prayer for help and guidance in relation to their domain. Later stories of the Old Gods grew increasingly fantastical, with projections for future events or tales of adventure largely unrelated to explaining natural phenomena.

### Ortueization of Uropa

Word of the Living God first came to Uropa from the Island Nation of Umbria on the scrolls and lips of humble missionaries spreading news of the Holy Revelation on the Mount. Telling the tale of the almighty deity Ortues (alternatively spelled Ortyus, or Ortüs) who is present in the world, one they called Living to differentiate Him from the inactive 'dead' gods of other religions. Not only had He shown Himself but sent a messenger to demonstrate the Right Path of life to best help one's own people and personal development and wisdom.

The missionaries managed to gain some small influence with villages but progress was slow until they caught the ear of a few smaller nobles. From there the word went up to the highest of courts and even Kings could see the Truth in their message, far more spiritually resonant than the tall tales about the Old Gods that had become ever grander and unconnected from daily life. One by one the rulers of the nations of Uropa bowed their heads to the Living God, and for a time their realms flourished and prospered in spite of the harsh weather and crippling diseases. Even as their faith splintered into new branches, the overarching shared religion of Ortueism provided a common bond that kept large-scale diplomatic relations fairly civil. Until recently, that is.

The symbol of Ortueism is the Sword of Life, also known as the Planted Sword. It is represented through images and icons depicted in many different styles throughout Uropa. Nations are claimed through the sword, and grown through putting it to the ground to till and sow, all through faith in the Living God.

## Branches of Ortueism

The three branches of Ortueism vary largely in many areas, but first of them is the theological understanding of how the Old Gods relate to Ortues.

### Synenolicism, a.k.a. Reverence of the Paragons

> *The Old Gods are Paragons of Virtue, subservient to the Living God.*
>
>

The oldest of the three branches, Synenolicism was the original form of Ortueism that came to Uropa. Also known as the Reverence of the Paragons, this branch treats the Old Gods and any other virtuous individuals as uniquely respected individuals blessed by the Living God. It places heavy emphasis on ritual and rites, and significant focus on prayer to the Paragons for intercession with the Living God on behalf of the one praying. Synenolic hierarchy is rigidly structured and tightly controlled, with an ultimate religious authority and multiple levels of ranks below him all the way down to individual priests.

### The Church of Unity

> *The Old Gods were personifications of different aspects of the Living God, before He was known.*
>
>

The second of the branches of Ortueism, the Church of Unity arose out of a conflict that had been simmering under the surface within Synenolicism for many years. Many saw the veneration of the Paragons as spiritually dangerous, seeing the creation of individual cults for the Paragons that threatened to split off and spawn their own independent religions. To stave this off, a council of priests came together and decreed that the Old Gods were in fact simply facets of the Living God, anthropomorphized representations of various elements of Ortues' infinite being. This caused a great deal of controversy that eventually lead to a traumatic split in the faith, with the Church of Unity forming as a result. The difference in theology created conflict that grew and intensified over the centuries, so that now a significant amount of animosity exists between Synenolicism and the Church of Unity.

In the Church of Unity, worship of the Old Gods is often considered outdated, though not forbidden. It is only said to be off-limits if it is proving distracting to a worshiper, splitting off their devotion from the Living God onto the avatar of His Spirit rather than an appreciation of His whole Being. Due to the more grassroots nature of the Church of Unity, the hierarchical structure is much looser, with elders meeting in councils to discuss issues. Rituals are loosely standardized and doctrine is set but with room for some interpretation or implementation differences between local Churches.

### The Heavenly Tree

> *The Patriarch of the Old Gods is actually the Living God, and the rest of the Old Gods are his Heavenly Lords and Ladies.*
>
>

The latest of the branches of Ortueism to appear, Heavenly Tree started off as an attempt to reinvigorate the cultural heritage quashed during the Ortueization of Uropa. It first began with the renewal of tribal celebrations as a means of community bonding, but soon spawned a movement that sought to augment worship of the Living God with ancestral worship of the Old Gods. Over the years, the Heavenly Tree was formed, based around an understanding that Ortues is actually the Romanum name for Votun, the Patriarch of the Old Gods. And the rest of the old pantheon are said to be His attendants, created first in His image.

In the Heavenly Tree, all of the Primal Ways are seen as valid methods of worshiping the Living God and His Lords and Ladies. There is very little emphasis on unified structure and protocols, and more on local/tribal traditions. Practitioners of the Heavenly Tree hold great reverence for forests and nature in general, and they are recommended to pray and conduct ceremonies in their family or tribal "Sacred Hurst," a hallowed grouping of large trees planted by ancestors many generations ago.

## Other Religions

Besides the three branches of Ortueism there are several other religions in Uropa, but only three of them are particularly common: The Eminence of Man, Yhassuatism, and the Unnoticed Life

### The Eminence of Man

> *Neither kings, nor gods, nor monsters shall impede the exaltation of Man.*
>
>

While Ortueism is by far the most popular religion in the Fatherland, to the West the young religion known as the Eminence of Man is rapidly growing in strength. Although it has only existed formally for just over half a century, it has already been appointed as the national religion of the François Republic, and has a growing influence in the Commonwealth as well. Recent attempts at making inroads in Ortueist leadership in the Fatherland has been thwarted by official Imperial Decree, leading to increasing international tensions.

The Eminence of Man is the secular religion that arose as a direct descendant from the period of violent revolution now known as the Ascendancy of Man. The Eminence of Man is an effort to maintain ethical and philosophical continuity in the absence of anything supernatural, spiritual, or eternal. It preaches the inborn supremacy of humanity and importance of Rationalism, and denounces what it calls the destructive influence of paranoid superstitions and irrational mythologies. Increasingly, the Eminence of Man has also brought into question the legitimacy of social classes and the "artificial nature of arbitrary divisions" between groups of humans.

### Yhassuatism

As much a system of history, philosophy, and culture as it is religion, Yhassuatism is the worldview of the nomadic Cassumite people who originated out of what is the modern day Osmaniyan Empire. Difficult for outsiders to understand or analyze, it is divided up among many different written and oral components. As such, it has been described as the most fluid and changing of religions, and devoted practitioners invest countless hours studying and reading and debating the tenets and finer points of Yhassuatism over many years, if not their entire lives.

Claimed to be the originator of the tenets of Ortueism, Yhassuatism has little in common with the religion it is said to have preceded. Even the monotheistic notion of a singular, all-powerful deity as presented in Ortueism is debatably absent from Yhassuatism, which posits in many instances the inherent divinity distributed throughout the souls of the Cassumite people themselves, making it more akin to ethnotheism.

### The Unnoticed Life

Not much is known to the people of the Fatherland about this fatalistic religion of the harsh East beyond that it puts an evil deity in charge of the world. Responsible for the deadly blizzards of Winter, the Dark Tyrant has nothing but hate for fire and heat and light and day. The majority of the religious rituals and teachings revolve around how best to avoid his attention and how not to wake him from his icy slumber. The harshness of the Winter is said to be determined by how well he is appeased during the year; not enough worship and sacrifices and he'll wake early, dimming the sun as his power grows.

#### Austericism, a.k.a. Ancestral Veneration

Even in the remotest parts of the Rossiya Federation, the Unnoticed Life has competition in the form of a splinter branch of Synenolicism that recognizes a separate cast of Paragons based on the local folklore and historical figures of the Rossiyan people. The difference in character between this group and the Western canon based around the Nation of Umbria is noticeable, with more emphasis placed on the merit of suffering and hardship, and the schism is an uneasy one due to the distance and cultural divide.

#### The Holy Winnowing

Taking refuge in the attraction of extremes, the Holy Winnowing seeks to bring about the awakening of the Dark Tyrant through excessive indulgence in gluttony, lechery, and all other forms of debauchery. The official stance is that through rousing the Dark Tyrant, mankind can enter a period of harsh cleansing, and the brutal Winter will strengthen the moral character of those who remain. They speak of being ushered into the halls of the Living God after surviving the Winter, but only rarely- most of their teachings focus on forcing the ire of the Dark Tyrant.

Previously a secretive mystic school, the Holy Winnowing is technically an offshoot of Austericism, purporting to provide a synthesis between the Unnoticed Life and Ortueism. For most of its history however, its practices were harshly denounced by the Austeric Church of Rossiya as a cult promoting heresy, and supported its historic suppression by past Itors, until Itor Mikhail welcomed the mystic Nicolai Rubashkin into the Federal Council.