The Sovereign Host

The religion of the Sovereign Host is one closely tied to the Empire of Rhovesia. It is a religion whose primary conceit is that the Rhovesian people are backed by the gods of civilization, law, and justice. Therefore the Rhovesian empire has the right to bring this civilizing force to all people who do not understand the beneficent rule of law that is the empire.

As far as religion go, this one is a traditional hierarchical pantheistic religion. It has nine gods, called the Host by the parishioners of the religion. The Sovereign Host is believed to live in a spiritual realm, called the Realm of Perfect Harmony, a city in the sky that can be home for the spirits of all sentient peoples of the world. The religion is led by the Prophet of Nines who rules from the High Temple in the Rhovesian capitol of Adaba.

Historically, the church is a separate entity from the empire, but the establishing of the role of the prophet was done at the unification of the empire some 600 years ago when a great miracle was performed at the Battle of the Golan Heights, leading to the ascension of the Amhara ruler of Hallie Salasse to the role of Emperor after the battle. Since the church has formalized it's structure, forming a strict hierarchy determining who will rise in the order of the church. Various sub organizations exist among the priesthood including templars, hospitalers, priest, bishops, high priest, and the like. The current High Prophet is Bakara Jumaya a skilled miracle worker having said to repeat many of the miracles of the prophets of the past including restoring the blind to sight, smiting heretics, and commanding the beasts of the field.

lay worshippers, including the emperor himself are expected to give offering and prayers to each of the nine. When asking for the intercession of a specific gods a follower is expected to offer something of value to them based on their profession and desire.

## **The Gods**

As discussed above there are nine gods in the Sovereign Host pantheon each representing a different component of civilized life. Followers are encouraged to follow the edicts of every god, but obviously given the stratification of society some people will more closely identify with one sovereign than the other. Each god has an associated moral virtue that a follower is commanded to try and exemplify. All priests, and Emperors are assumed to practice these virtues.

### **The Champion: war, physical fitness**

Associated Virtue: Honor

All warriors of the Rhovesian empire are encouraged to invoke the Champion to aid them in battle. The concept of honor contains ethical notions of being honest, being brave, being merciless in combat, but kind in personal life, and maintaining one's mind and body to purpose. Those who follow the Champion believe they must become examples of phsycal prowess and personal honor above even the petty calls of race and nation. An individual of merit is one who holds his personal ethos above all other concerns. A true warrior is one who seeks perfection even when all around him are content with mediocrity.

### **The Justicar: Justice, rationality, duty**

The Justicar is the favored god of guardmen, judges, and lawyers. A virtuous follower of the justicar follows

the law to the letter, where the law is wrong it must still be obeyed but a Justicarian would work to change the law through legally correct channels. One abides by the law, but also understand the ethical and philosophical underpinnings of the law. One doesn't follow the law blindly, but with a deep sense of understanding and obligation based on peace that the law can bring. The Justicar also teaches that the whole of the world works on a balance between law and mercy. A just society considers these things in equal measures, as does nature, to prevent one from cutting themselves off from what makes them human.

### **The Chaplain: Marriage, spiritual life the process of life and death.**

The Chaplain is the favored god of all those seeking marriage, doctors, philosophers, monks, and those who worry about the deep consideration of the nature of man and the world.

Many foreigners think of the Chaplain as the god of death. Really, he is more of a god of transitions. He is the one invoked at a child's thirteenth birthday to celebrate their adulthood. The chaplain is meant to help a person understand the natural processes of life, and encourage them to contemplate the deeper philosophical mysteries of the universe. He is invoked at funerals, marriages, and is often thanked by scholars and philosophers upon completing major texts. His face adorns gravestones, and his visage is often invoke that others consider their actions within the greater context of creation.

### **The Moneychanger: Wealth, Business, Economic Growth**

The Moneychanger is the favored god of all those engaged in the business of making money. Criminal and legitimate business man alike venerate this entity for is not the making of money worthwhile in it's own pursuit?

Many foreigners argue this god is really a god justifying human greed. But Rhovesians know that truth, that wealth is the useful consequence of imperial power. It gives people a good standard of living, a reason to obey the laws when morality fails, and the drive to improve one's business which improves society as a whole. Virtuous followers of the god believe in entrepreneurship, sound investment, calculated risk, and giving back to the society that enabled it. For the poor, the money changed is an encouragement to pick themselves up by thier bootstraps and do better. To stay with a business, to learn a trade,

### **The Maiden: Feminity, Childrearing, love, chastity, hearth, and home**

The Maiden is especially venerated by almost every woman in the empire. To them she is the model of perfection, not so beautiful as to warrant jealousy, but beautiful in a strong earth way. She is a woman, proud, strong, the bearer of every emperor, soldier, or businessman that the emperor has ever had. She is mother, she is love both plutonic and sexual. She is the defender of children, the home, the innocent. She is the human spirit personified into feminine form. Followers of the maiden are asked to be careful in sex, to love strongly in marriage, to be proud but not arrogant, and to take care of one's appearance but not be defined by it. A Rhovesian woman is not a second to any man, nor is she above any man. The Maiden represents equality in the home, the definition of roles, the care taking of children, and the defender of sex.

###

### **The Seedsower: Agriculture, manhood, work ethic, oathkeeping, and the home**

The Seedsower is favored by all those who work on behalf of their family, who are the bedrocks of civilization through agriculture, and who conduct themselves with simple honesty, and a deep love of their families and cities.

The seedsower is the most down-to-earth god of the pantheon. He does not represent esoteric mysteries, or important philosophical concepts. He is the freshly tilled earth, the full belly of a family well fed. He is the honest word of a farmer, and the land upon which a home is based. He teaches all men to be honest, forthright, and hardworking. To define themselves by the good they do for their families, and their empire, rather than any sense of personal prowess. A good follower of the seedsower would only need to point at a safe, well-fed family to show their dedication to this god. Seedsower is hugely opposed to criminal activity, or anything else that distracts from the common good of society. It through the simple earnestness of his followers that have led many Rhovesian peasants to positions of unionized political power. Because they do not wield this power as weapon, but a tool of improvement, Rhovesian emperors are careful to rile the farmers and thus peace has been had between the ruling classes and the peasantry.

### **The Tower: Authority, Responsibility, nobility, vengeance, power**

The Tower is the favored deity of all those who sit in political authority of others.

By imperial decree, all mayors, governors, nobles, emperors, etc must hang a picture of the tower above the chair in which they work, as a dark reminder that misused power can be toppled, but power also requires the toppling of others. The Tower is never seen, and always said to sit on a throne above all who command. He is a mysterious and frightening god to all who invoke him, and he is never invoked lightly. The tower asks that all of those in power use their power, but do so carefully, for nothing need last forever; and corruption breeds contempt. That being said, the tower asks those in power to exercise that power with authority and to tolerate no rebellion or questioning of orders given. The tower is mighty, and the ruler should be no less.

###  **advancement.**

The Scholar is favored by all of those who engage in learning as their first and foremost profession. He is much beloved by students, scientists, inventors, and any of those who seek to understand the physical world through diligent experimentation and observation.

The scholar is not the most important god in the pantheon in terms of those who invoke his name, but in terms of societies;s advancement he is unarguably the primogenitor of growth. The virtues of the scholar are straightforward. There is not cap of knowledge, one can always learn more. There is nothing without the continued memory of what have come before, and the highest form of advance is being a "knower of stuff". Those who follow the scholar close are those who seek out knowedlge without restraint or consideration for the why of it.

###  **God, Dreams, portents, visions**

The Fury is a strange god, her worship is forbidden in the empire save in the process of appeasement or avoidance. That aside, she is the favored goddess of the outsiders from society, criminals, artists, astrologers, and mages.

Many theologians believe that The Fury was the first Rhovesian god, worshiped times long past when Rhovesia was not an empire but a collection of warring villages. Today, she is seen a wild and dangerous deity to be avoided at all costs. To venerate her is to invite savage madness and a return to a barbarian life. As such when priests talk about her they do so in a way as to appease her, to keep her at bay. She is the black sheep of the Sovereign Host, and is to be a Sovereign no more, to full forget her would be to invite her manipulations of the people, and she is remembered as the ningth sovereign, but the only one not to be worshiped but to be feared.