Sacrasancty

## Etymology

The name of the faith seems to have Vilka-Vernian origins, with "Sacre" for Sacred and "Cinq" for the word five. This is supported by the period in which the name originates. Coined by Prior Varin in 89DM, Vernese was a popular language taught in the high courts of Aventia.

## Origins

### Clay Era

The Sacrasanctian religion can find its roots in the Aventine continent. It is a revised amalgamation of the multiple varying beliefs and gods that date back to the pagan, city-state, environment of the Copper Era onwards.

Many historians and linguists, however, have dated many name etymologies of gods and heroes as far back as the Late Clay Era.

### Copper Era

During the Early Copper Era, the religious landscape was rich and diverse. The world was inhabited by hundreds of gods, each worshipped by individual states, separate clans, or villages. These faiths should not be considered interlinked under one major religion, as most modern historians like to do so (Primo Religionis), even though many were polytheistic. The diversity and inconsistency between pantheons still made these faiths unique.

Often, travellers would hear new stories of their own gods, twisted and changed by word of mouth. One notable example of this is Caelo (the predecessor of Caelius), the Gahes god. As an all-seeing god of peace and protection, a scribe of Must described Caelo as:

> “Caelo, the god of scheming and treachery. Like
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> The Gahes, Caelo seeks to see all secrets
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> To find weakness and exploit.”
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> - Must scribe
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Though it must be noted that the Gahes were enemies of Must, these lines show how altered the perceptions of these gods were by the Aventine people. Towards the beginning of the Late Copper Age, with the Umran Empire fast approaching the continent, there seems to have been a shift towards religious unification that matched the political unification that would eventually occur with the Saedrian Protectorate.

## Multi Rami

In this time, a majority of religions were unified and codified by oracles and the high deists. It was in this time that the term “Multi Rami” was used and a truly polytheistic religion that was accepted by all was established. Even so, it was hard for oracles to fit together the complicated jigsaw puzzle of stories, heroes, creatures, and gods that flourished all over the continent.

With the fall of the Saedrian Protectorate and the subsequent occupation of Aventia by the Umran Empire, the religion saw an immediate decline. In 1715 DM, Emperor Adwin of Um declared a ban on the practice of Sacrasancty. Anyone caught worshipping the “many gods” was to be executed.

> “The branches must be cut, to allow the sun to shine.”
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> - Emperor Adwin
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While the Ramine religion still flourished in the north (beyond the Partitus), zealots of the faith were rounded up and summarily executed in the south. Families made pilgrimages up north trying to escape the persecution, while those who remained prefered to turn their faith.

The destruction of Arinth forced the Arinthians to escape to the Shattered Islands, where they remained safe thanks to the Arinthian Navy. There, the Ramine faith remained strong. A tangle of islands, the Black Fleet had the tactical advantage.

Other faiths in this time flourished in the mainland, mainly in hiding. Though the Umran enforced their own faith, Masar, they also accepted a few of the smaller faiths under taxation. The gods of the Multi Rami were divided once more. Many disappeared with their nations, but a few remained and developed their own complex rules and thoughts.

It was in 1112 DM that the Ramine faith gained traction once more when monks of the Order of the Holy Oak rallied a rebellion along the Partitus. Gaining much fellowship, kings allied themselves with the faith as a way to find reason to combat the Umran occupiers. It was somewhat of a success as it was a revitalization of the Multi Rami. The name Novus Rami (or, New Branches), shows this religious lineage.

A holy war rocked the Partitus region as kings supported the rebellions over the border. For fourteen years, the region was torn asunder as the Umran Empire fought back with much vindication. In 1098 DM, the Umran forces successfully seized and destroyed the citadel of the order - Faradaine. The soldiers rounded up the survivors and, as punishment, hanged them along the roads of the Partitus. It is said that there were enough bodies to mark every mile from the Partitus to the shores of Ianelle.

The remainder of the Order fled north of the Partitus. Led by their leader, Prior Gothus I, the last 1000 of the order marched with great wealth and riches. Reaching the capital of Rykland, the Order offered their services to the king.

## Bardus Brotherhood

In 1046 DM, King Bardus of Rykland renounces his Chessenic beliefs and allies himself with the Order of the Holy Oak when they successfully defended the Rykland capital from an Umran siege. While most evacuated (including other knights and orders), the Holy Oak remained and endured the siege. Prior Estram, head of the Holy Oak, sent message to the front asking for aid. The Order’s forces marched for 7 days and 7 nights and brought an end to the siege. Bardus was grateful and vowed fealty to the order’s beliefs.

Upon being reborn, King Bardus offered half his coffers to the local chapter of the Order. The idea of a “Unified Aquilania” became a rallying cry in his mind. He sent emissaries to all the great northern and southern kingdoms to create a unified push against the Umran Empire. Four other nations joined the fold, including a multitude of smaller states.

The Order became known as the Bardus Brotherhood.

With the reclamation and establishment of the Bardasian Empire in 1018 DM, after the victory of the Third Partine War, the Novus Rami religion spread across the lands. It became a symbol of hope against the oppressors that had taken so much from the lands and people of Aventia.

A period known as the Holy Spring captured the continent as a multitude of religious faiths and believes were created or revived. Some notable faiths aside from the Novus Rami -

* Masar continued to be a prevalent religion in the continent, however, many nations taxed, punished, and even killed Masarites for holding to their faith. Over time, the faith was almost completely eradicated from the continent due to these practices.
* Nihilism was the monotheistic belief in the elder one Nihil. The fanatical orders were often known for dark magic and ritualistic murders and cannibalism. Though there were some splinter groups that did hold true to such rumors, the Nihil Semper and Umbrades, most Nihilistic orders followed more tame principles.

The Blight, 706 DM - 230 DM, was a great chill that froze the continent. The ground turned hard as stone and crops rotted and died. Aventines fell ill and sicknesses like Black Skin and the Ash Plague wreaked havoc on the continent. Some 2/3rds of the continent’s population died over the period. The Blight also led to the fall of the Bardasian Empire and ushered in a time of anarchy with hundreds of fiefdoms and rural village communities. The Novus Rami faith seemed on the cusp of unraveling once more. The Head Conclave tried to hold the system together, but with poor communication and the general societal disintegration, it was difficult to bring order to the Novus Rami sects.

Over The Blight’s centuries, large kingdoms began to coalesce and grow through war and hand. This resulted in the Age of the Five Kingdoms. The blight’s ending brought an explosion of new trade routes, business opportunities and growth to the continent. Change came in leaps and bounds in the continent, and some of the priory believed they needed to see change too.

## Prior Varin

None was so strong a believer as Prior Varin of the Bardus Brotherhood. Living in Esaton Abbey in the Aquilan Kingdom, Varin wrote:

> "Of all faiths that have quarrelled in our land,
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> None is true but that of the Multi Rami line.
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> However, its branches are weighed with time,
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> And I believe a third rebirth is in the
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> Need.”
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> - Prior Varin, Personal Letter
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In 89 DM, he began collecting the stories from all over the continent. Sending out riders and emissaries to find, document, and bring back crucial tales that belonged to the faith. By, 79 DM, Prior Varin presented the completed or **Liber Primus**, to Capiriore Celeste III. So impressed was the Capiriore that he ordered 100 scribes to make complete copies of the work and distribute them through the realm and to neighbors.

Most nations joined the fold of the reviewed faith. However, some had their concerns with the fact that not all gods were considered equal in some chapters of the Sacrasanct. A clear favorite, Caelius (the Aquilan god), was written in with high titles, some believed, undeserved. However, the Sacrasanct remained a key to the Priory for centuries to come.

Splinter faiths grew out of the change, yet these were few and insignificant that they were dwarfed by the Westerwar. With imminent threat again from the East, many feared another occupation and accepted the Sacrasanct. This was spearheaded by Lord Killroy, who brought about the Westguard Order with help from the Capiriore. Killroy believed the five men of the Bardus Brotherhood came to him in a dream telling him to be the sword of the Sacrasanct.

The Westerwar would be the one element that would seal the fate of the Sacrasanct on the continent and beyond.

## Liber Primus

The **Book of the Sacred Five**, the **Sacred Tome**, **Book of Five**, or **Liber Primus**. The book has been called many things. Non believers of the faith call it the **Black Book**. Written by Prior Varin, the book is based on the collection of multiple canticles from all over the continent.

The book contained 59 Books, divided into 7 Principles.

### **CREATION**

1. **Tenebris** - The birth of the universe through Nihil and Amika. The Sacred Five’s becoming. The First War. The Claustrum. The First Men of the Clay Kingdom.
2. **Triterras** -
3. **Volant** -
4. **Ropes** -
5. **Verapax** - The true peace. The age of existance, between creation and damnation.

### **LAW**

1. **Praeceptis I** -
2. **Praeceptis II** -
3. **Codes** -
4. **Farins** -

### **GODS SPHERE**

1. **Glories of Caelius** - Collected stories and achievements of the one on high, Caelius.
2. **Glories of Saedetur** - The creations of Saedetur and his journeys.
3. **Glories of Igneris** - The battles and victories of Igneris.
4. **Glories of Menkara** -
5. **Glories of Meranus** -
6. **Dominions I** -
7. **Dominions II** -
8. **Dominions III** -
9. **Clarest** - Tales within the Sacred City. The home of the gods up high.
10. S
11. S
12. S
13. S
14. S
15. S

### **MID SPHERE**

1. **Trials** -
2. **Reception** -
3. **Synesa** -
4. **Claustrum** -
5. **Arbor Magna** - Tales of the Great Tree, the Tree Everlasting, Arbor. The tree that stands as the pillar of all Spheres. From which eternal knowledge courses through.
6. S
7. S
8. S
9. S
10. S
11. S
12. S

### **DAEMON SPHERE**

1. **Sospiri** - Stories of the fallen cowards of war, the underspirits, wraiths, and demons. The Fall of Ianelle.
2. Faricus -
3. S
4. S
5. S
6. S
7. S
8. S
9. S
10. S

### **HEROES AND PROPHETS**

1. **Trials of Aquilo** -
2. Faricus
3. Codes -
4. Faricus
5. Faricus
6. Codes -
7. Faricus
8. Codes -
9. Faricus
10. Codes -
11. Faricus

### **DAMNATION**

1. **Tempestas** - Tells of the beginning of the end of the world. How the Claustrum (Expanse) will eventually die down and free Nihil and Amika from their prison.
2. **Ultima Finis** - The Final End, the Last Battle.