Inner Sea

Although the time since the Occultation of the Archons has seen many religious disputes both within and between the various Archonal Churches, not even the most radical freethinker ever thought to doubt that the Archons were the key to divine power and freedom from Malik Nous.

This changed during the early years of the succession war. An Archimandrite of Toulou named Martin of the People began preaching that just as the Imperial order had broken down, the Churches of the Archons needed to revisit the writs granted after the Occultation. After three years of preaching, during which he gathered a group of followers from across the different Churches, he claimed to have been gifted a vision by the Archons assembled in which they led him to a set of holy texts concealed in the Marlian wilderness. The Archons told him that these texts, withheld until such a time as they were needed, taught the people that they no longer required the Archons' guidance, and that true divinity now rested within the free people of Aeol. The texts described this reservoir of divine power as an "ocean of the soul, infinite and deep and breadth, within each heart", giving the movement its name, the 'Inner Sea'.

Needless to say, the Archonal Churches rejected the followers of Martin. The Churches of Vaad and Yassa were particularly strict, with several purges organised. The violence of the early war between Marlia and Vortigern also lead to the deaths of many members of the Church, particularly as some refused to serve in the armies of their lords (although Martin did not specifically preach this). Martin himself was an early victim of the war, killed in a skirmish in western Vortigern after having been refused safe conduct by the Captains of Sudgewen. Despite these persecutions, the movement continued to grow, aided by its assistance to refugees, deserters and other people harmed by the war.

The Church was able to access divine magic due to several Clerics and Paladins defecting to the Church and retaining the powers derived from their divine forges. However, towards the end of the war, several members of the Church began to manifest divine powers despite never having entered a divine forge. The Church was extremely secretive about this development. This development caused some to view the Church more favourably, believing that they had been given some form of blessing by the Archons, while others believed that they must be conduits, witting or unwitting, for the power of Malik Nous.

Despite many atrocities, the Church managed to survive the war. While the Church was not mentioned in the Treaty of the Accord, the general end of violence and focus on rebuilding in the wake of the wars has meant that its members have not struggled simply to survive. Purges and violence against the Church remain common, however.

The Church has no official leader, and is notable for often having non-divine casters in roles of authority over local communities. It is notably successful among merchants and scholars - cynics claim that merchants like it because the Church does not ask for tithes as often as the Archonal Churches. The largest single Church community is in Othery, where the Church receives a grudging tolerance.

The Church is most accepted in Othery, where its members are legally free from prosecution but still often stigmatised and the target of extra-legal violence. In Prester and Marlia members of the Church do not have to fear for their lives, at least officially, but face a wide range of legal disabilities at the discretion of local leaders forbidding them from working in certain businesses or living in certain places, or requiring them to pay special taxes. In Suliaro, Knagel and Vortigern, the Church is illegal and functions underground - its members are treated as unmen.

Among the Archonal Churches, the Churches of Yassa, Vaad and Radu advocate the harshest sanctions against the Inner Sea, seeing it as a front for Malik Nous. The Churches of Toulou, Wessling and Unknown Archon advocate tolerance and even accept that some of the teachings of the Inner Sea are valid, even if the Church as a whole is a heresy. The other Churches take a relatively middle-road position.

The holy weapon of the Inner Sea is an axe