The New Testament

The Supreme Gods and Goddesses

### Locations

Balkan States {Roma, Portia, Pars, Minority in Tyrinia and Ethos, Minority in Umber States, Minority in the Free Cities}
Sternlands {Westernlands, Minority in the Vale and the North, Minority in the Eastern Watch and Eastshire, Grymore, Roman Isles, Hampshire, Greenlands

The **Faith of the New Testament**, also commonly referred to as the **New Gods**, is the one of the three main religions followed in the Eight Kingdoms of the Sternlands. It is majorly practiced in Sternlands and the Balkan States. The Faith is dominant in Westernlands, Greenlands, Grymore, Hampshire, and Roman Isles in the Sternlands, while the Faith is dominant in Roma, Portia, Pars, Western and Southern Tymeria in the Balkan States.

The Faith, its influence and following were all greatly damaged due to the destruction of its center, the High Temple of Pantheon when it was butchered and and buried by the Great Fire of Talmar.

However, following the **Rise of the New Order** with the accession of House Connington, a new holy stronghold, The Ten Towers was constructed by the Third King of the Eight Kingdoms, King Aegor Talmar, also commonly known as "**Aegor the Great**".

## Beliefs

The Faith holds that there are **Ten Immortal Beings**, or the Ten Supreme Beings, **Masters of the Universe**: Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Dionysus. Each Being represents one part of life or existence.

* **Zeus**: **King of the Gods** and **Ruler of Mount Olympus**, He is the God of the Sky, Weather, Thunder, Strength, Law, Order, and Justice. He is affiliated with the **Great Eagle** and the Lightning Bolt. He is the Judge of Strength, Order, and Justice. His Sacred Animals are the Eagle and the Bull. He belongs to the Star of Jupiter.
* **Poseidon**: God of the Sea, Rivers, Floods, Droughts, and Earthquakes. He is the Brother of **Gods** **Zeus** and **Hades**. He rules one of the three realms of the universe, as **King of the Sea and the Waters**. He is the Judge of the Sea, Floods, and Droughts. His Sacred Animals are the Horse and the Dolphin. He belongs to the Star of Neptune.
* **Demeter**: Goddess of Grain, Agriculture, Harvest, Growth, and Nourishment. She is the Judge of Agriculture, Harvest, and Growth. Her Sacred Animals are Pigs and Snakes. She belongs to the Star of Ceres.
* **Ares**: God of Courage, War, and Bloodlust. He represent the Chaos of War in contrast to his half-sister, the Goddess Athena, the Goddess of Military Strategy and Skill. He generally represents the chaos of war in contrast to Athena, a goddess of military strategy and skill. He is the Judge of Courage, War, and Chaos. His Sacred Animals are Vultures, Venomous Snakes, Dogs, and Boars. He belongs to the Star of Mars.
* **Athena**: Goddess of Reason, Wisdom, Intelligence, Skill, Warfare, Battle Strategy, and Handicrafts. She is the Judge of Wisdom, Intelligence, Reason, Battle Strategy and Skill. She is the Patron of the City Athens (from which she takes her name) and is affiliated to various inventions in arts and literature. She is commonly known to be accompanied by her Sacred Animal, the Owl. She belongs to the Star of Minerva.
* **Apollo**: God of Music, Wealth, Art, Knowledge, Healing, Poetry, Manly Beauty, and Archery. He is the Judge of Music, Poetry, Knowledge, Beauty, and Archery. He is often accompanied by the Muses. His Sacred Animals are Roe Deer, Swans, and Pythons. He belongs to the Star of Mercury.
* **Hephaestus**: God of Fire, Smithery, and Crafts. He is the Smith of the Gods and the Husband to the **Goddess** **Aphrodite**. He is the Judge of Smithery and Craftsmanship. His Sacred Animals are the Donkey, the Three-Headed Dog, and the Crane. Among his Notable Creations is the **Armor of Achilles**. Hephaestus is equivalent to the **God Vulcan**, who is feared for his destructive potential and affiliated with the Volcanic Power of the Earth. He belongs to the Star of Juno.
* **Aphrodite**: Goddess of Beauty, Love, Desire, and Pleasure. She is the judge of Beauty and Love. Her Sacred Animals are Doves and Sparrows. She belongs to the Star of Venus.
* **Hermes**: God of Travel, Trade, Communication, Language, and Writing. He is also responsible for protecting livestock and presides over the spheres associated with Fertility, Music, Luck, and Deception. Hermes is the Messenger of the Gods and a Psychopomp {One Who Leads Souls of the Dead into the Afterlife, Equivalent to the **Egyptian God Anubis**}. He is the Judge of Travel, Trade, Fertility, and Deception. His Sacred Animal is the Tortoise. He belongs to the Star of Mercury.
* **Dionysus**: God of Wine, Fruitfulness, Festivals, Hospitality, Madness, Chaos, and Ecstasy. He is affiliated with the Thyrsus, a drinking cup, the grape vine, and a crown of ivy. He is often in the company of his Thiasos, a group of attendants including Satyrs, Maenads, and his old tutor Silenus. He is the Judge of Ecstasy, Fertility, Hospitality, and Festivals. His Sacred Animals are Dolphins, Serpents, Tigers, and Donkeys. He belongs to the Star of Aurora.

Following the Fall of the Titans, the Principal New Gods were the Olympians, residing on Mount Olympus, under the **Eye of Zeus**. Besides the Olympians, the Faith of the New Testament is also worshipped various gods of the countryside, the Satyr-God Pan, Nymphs {Spirits of Rivers}, Naiads {Who Dwelled in Springs}, Dryads {Who Were Spirits of the Trees}, Nereids {Who Inhabited the Sea}, the Drowned God or the River King, the Eye of Three, the Muses {Nine Sister Goddesses of Music, Dance, and Poetry}, and others. In addition, there were the dark powers of the underworld, such as the Furies {or Erinyes}, said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood-relatives. In order to honor the Ancient Pantheon, poets composed the Homeric Hymns (a group of thirty-three songs). Lord Gregory of Golden Grove regards "the larger Homeric Hymns as simple preludes (compared with ***Theogony***), each of which invokes one god."

The **New Testament** revolves around the basis of Polytheism, which is the belief of multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with Monotheism, the belief in a singular God, who is, in most cases, transcendent. In religions that accept polytheism, the different gods and goddesses may be representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles; they can be viewed either as autonomous or as emanations of a creator deity.

## Practices

### Styles of Worship

Unlike the Old Gods of the Forrest, the Drowned God or the Summer God, or even the Temple of Jove, whose worshipers are looked down upon by members of the Faith of the Six as savages who worship Fertility, Plunder, Strength, or Pleasure, the **Faith of the New Testament** is based on a number of holy texts and complex social rules, which make them recognized in the Eight Kingdoms of the Sternlands, the Holy Roma Empire, the Duchy of Pars, Tyrinia and Portia.

Temple of the Faith are Ten Great Towers known as "Septs", with each tower dedicated to one of the six primordial beings, while there are Four Temples of the Faith that are six-sided buildings known as "Pantheons", with each wall of the greater halls dedicated to primordial beings and each wall of the lesser greater halls dedicated to the pantheon gods and goddesses. Followers of the Faith gather in septs for group prayers, which frequently involves singing hymns of praise to the Supreme Beings, especially the Primordial Kings and Queens, and the Sacrifice for the Greater Cause which are performed in the Lower Halls of the Imperial Courtyard. One such hymn dedicated to the Mother is "*Gentle Mother, Font of Mercy*". There are also Monasteries, otherwise known as "Convents" in some regions, where smaller number of worshipers gather who have taken a monastic oath. Convents often have "**Vows of Silence**" or other requirements, and are Places of Quiet Contemplation.

### Social rules

Along with the Old Gods, the Faith of the New Testament share several basic social rules against incest, kinslaying, and bastardy. The New Testament, along with all major religions, also upholds the Laws of Hospitality, which hold sacred the good behavior of a guest and host towards each other.

The **Faith of the New Testament**, much like the Faith of the Six considers homosexuality to be a sin, albeit on of lesser severity than incest or kinslaying. Therefore, homosexuals in the Eight Kingdoms must keep their true sexual and romantic behavior secret, or else face significant social consequences.

There are no different denominations within the Faith of the Six and the New Testament, as all adherents are part of one universal organization. However, different regions of the Eight Kingdoms may interpret and apply its rules more or less strictly than others, particularly the Umbery Isles, the Highlands, the Griffin's Horde, and the Southern States. When the Easternlings and the Tamriel migrated to the Southern States, Easternlands, and Greenlands centuries ago, they brought with them their own social customs from the river-based city states in the Umber States and the Free Cities, and the **Pirate Islands** of Al-Saan. The Easternlings and Many of the Tamriel converted to the Faith of the Six and the New Testament, but in many ways they picked and chose which parts of the religion they liked and simply ignored the parts they didn't want to follow. Thus, the present-day Tamriels, Easternlings, Highlanders, Griffinites, Grymores, and Umbers who descend from them follow the rules of the Faith somewhat loosely. In particular, the Tamriels were somewhat tolerant while the Easternlings were quite tolerant of sexual behavior including homosexuality, and thus homosexuality or bisexuality carries little if any social taint in present-day Highlands, Griffin's Horde, and the Southern States, even though they are still nominally followers of the Faith of the New Testament.