Church of Deus (Arathorian)

A placeholder for a perspective on the historical and long-destroyed Arathorian Monotheists.

## History

### Rise

Among the many and varied cults in the pre-imperial period were a number of proto-Deists, belonging largely to the predecessors of the Tyrite sect. These warriors believed in an 'angelic' being with great power; this being, referred to as Tyr in reference to folkloric tales passed down from the earliest human memories, served in the role of the 'patron god' of the soldiers.

This Tyrite sect gave the seeds of the Deist church when believers in a deity known only as 'Deus' (lit. 'God') acknowledged the Tyrite account as essentially valid, but placed Deus above Tyr and cast Tyr in the role of one of many servants of their God. This syncretic henotheism swiftly spread following the Troll Wars as the Tyrite belief grew among the nascent Arathorian state's soldiers and veterans, with Deist priests persuading many Tyrites to pray to Deus for everything but warfare. Other cults were likewise subsumed through syncretic henotheism, largely with the aid of Tyrite governors and generals who saw this as a means of controlling the nascent kingdom. It was the influence of these figures that would lead to the imperial patronage of the Cult of Deus.

### Council of Oenomaus

Unified scripture attempt in response to fringe sects forming, held in 209AD, with the Church of Deus merging with its two main splinter sects at the time (the Tyrites and the Torchbearers) under the guidance of Oenomaus. Some controversial introductions and doctrinal shifts like the striking of the verses condemning slavery, the introduction of a tithing system, and the doctrinalization of a previously apocryphal perspective on Hell and the demons therein. Oenomaus named first Cardinal of the United Church of Deus.

### Dualist Schism

487 AD. Elements of the church declare themselves independent in response to the anathemetization of belief in an evil counterpart to Deus, sparking a crisis in the faith which is resolved primarily through bloodshed over the next three centuries and which proves significant in the later fracturing and decline of the church. Elements of the Dualist beliefs survive in apocryphal writings which later influence the Clerics of Northshire - especially the core belief in a war between Angels and Demons in the service of God and the nameless 'Lord of the Black Pit'.

## Modern Inheritors

Anything from the Age of Chaos that deals with them.

* Clerics of Northshire (Antebellum Deist)
* Quasi-theistic interpretations of the Church of the Holy Light
* Church of Northshire (Kastonite)
* Reformist Church
* Traditional Observance Church of Deus (Rejects both Kastonism and Reformism, adhering strictly to traditional Antebellum Deist teachings, found only in a handful of isolated areas of Redridge and Eastern Elwynn)
* Gilnean Deism, found primarily among the Hardrew people.

## OOC Disclaimers and Discussion

* While the idea of including a monotheistic religion in Warcraft can be controversial, I find it interesting to explore the WC1 to WC3 God to Light retcon process. It creates a fuller history of both the setting and the dominant religion of humanity, and allows the use of resources that might otherwise need to be completely disregarded.
* This article should not be considered in any way binding, restricting, or authoritative. It is one particular perspective on an unexplored period and subject of Azerothian history.
* The distinctly abrahamic feeling of the dualist schism is based on text from WC1's manual and one of the novels, which refer to the divine war and to the 'pit of darkness'. While largely retconned, refer back to point 1 for the reason why it's in use all the same.