The Temple of Eight (Faith)

The Temple of Eight is the dominant religion on Telar. A polytheistic religion rising to power in the early days of The Empire out of central Kentrikoria. The faith spread due to the publishing of The Book of Eight, written by Vidal the Seer claiming to be a great prophet. Vidal himself traveled from various towns around central Kentrikoria gradually convincing people of the faith, eventually gaining enough momentum to spread to Kentri cities, and eventually other countries through trade routes. Eventually, over hundreds of years, the Temple of Eight became the dominant religion on Telar, and manages to hold this position largely due to it's persecution of other faiths as heresy and the services it provides to the common people.

## Core Beliefs

The Temple of Eight believes in eight Gods, each of whom control an aspect of the world and represent an ideal to strive for, known as a Virtue. Followers believe that worshipping and honoring the Gods is the best way to prevent disasters related to said Gods, and that attempting to emulate them in thought and action is the best way to live an ideal life and the best way to earn a place in the Promised Afterlife. The Promised Afterlife is unique to each God, and each person is to join the God that most closely aligns with the Virtues they showed in life. Failure to follow the Gods, or worse following the Dark Aspects, will lead a mortal into one of the Planes of Damnation, populated by demons and devils to be tormented for all eternity, or to escape and come back as the Tormented Dead, one of the undead.

In addition to the Gods there exists the Dark Aspects, an inverse of the Gods that tempt mortals into committing vile acts, known as Vices. Believers teach that the Dark Aspects can be subtle and deceiving, often tricking mortals into committing heinous crimes while believing to be exemplifying virtues.

## Practices

Believers will often choose a God they wish to most closely emulate and will visit the appropriate Temple or priest of that God. Often visits to said Temples will happen once a week, though more frequent visits aren't uncommon. Smaller and more rural communities will often make do with a smaller shrine or a traveling cleric. Visits will usually consist of readings from the Book of Eight, confessing sins to clerics, and speaking with devotees on how to best reach their God's Virtues.

Prayers to the various Gods are common throughout daily life, from asking Meros to protect them in battle to petitioning Nallas for a bountiful harvest.

A General Practitioner is the name for one who doesn't pick a specific God to follow, but instead tries to exemplify each God's Virtue equally, believing that the Gods would accept whatever Virtue they best emulated in the process.

## Gods

Gods are believed to be the ultimate rulers and controllers of various aspects of life and the world, though each has their own specific domain many are prayed to and are believed to rule over other aspects of the world related to their domains. Seyos, though ruling over the domain of Knowledge and Information, is also believed to be the God of magic, study, and messengers, as they all relate to those domains.

Seyos, God of Knowledge and Information

Veyas, God of Medicine and Healing

Flatos, God of the Sun and Nobility

Nallas, God of the Hunt and Harvest

Metos, God of the Forge and Fire

Karaktas, God of Sky and Storms

Merios, God of Battle and Honor

Tyrra, God of Law and Death

In addition for every god their is a Dark Aspect that mortals are taught to avoid as best they can. A Dark Aspect is considered an evil inverse of a God, and for every good the Gods do their respective Dark Aspect tries to undermine and destroy that good. Dark Aspects are usually not thought of as fully sapient, more forces of nature that are inevitable, but should be combated. Those who worship the Dark Aspects are considered heretics and are summarily executed by the Temple, forcing worshippers into secretive cults, often far away from civilization. All Dark Aspects are depicted as formless masses of darkness, often swirling like a fog, clouding the heads and vision of mortals.

Yoses, Aspect of Deception

Sayev, Aspect of Illness

Stofal, Aspect of thievery

Slanal, Aspect of selfishness

Motes, Aspect of ruin

Raskatak, Aspect of restriction

Riemos, Aspect of slaughter

Ratry, Aspect of chaos

## Holy Book

The Book of the Eight was written by Vidal the Seer following a series of visions given to him by the Gods over the course of several weeks. The Book is divided into several chapters, each one detailing the Gods, their Virtues, and the stories they told Vidal. These chapters are:

The Book of Virtues, in which Vidal directly meets with each God in turn, introducing him to their roles as ultimate controllers of Telar, how they reward service and prayer, and which Virtue they represent and how mortals can best follow these Virtues.

The Book of Legends, in which the Gods show Vidal various tales of mortals either following the Gods and being rewarded, often showing a desired Virtue, or of mortals rejecting the Gods and being punished for it and being sent to a Plane of Damnation. These tales all take place in "The Ancient Days", depicting people with only bronze tools and other primitive technology.

The Book of Prayers, in which the Gods tell of the best ways to worship and respect the Gods and how to ask for boons and aid. Each God has their own preferred methods of prayer and invocations, often requiring years of study, practice, and worship in order to get correct.

The Book of Sins, in which the Gods warn of the Dark Aspects, what the signs of their influence is, and how best to avoid them and their Vices.

Each copy of The Book of Eight is hundreds of pages, often weighing quite a lot. As a result most traveling priests and specialized worshippers will only carry select portions that are relevant to their chosen devotion.