Imperial Faith

The Imperial faith was the religion primarily used in the **Third Imperium** and originated in the realm of Tavarchi. The Imperial faith was based on the worship of a number of deities, the Overseer and the Divines. The Overseer is a being of infinite power, it is constantly observing - hence the name. It will occasionally interact with the divine or in rare cases the Pure (Humans determined uncorrupted by chaos).

The faith has become forgotten by the lands of Iaddithis with the destruction of Abavachi and the Third Imperium.

## Worship

### The Overseer

The central god of the Imperial Faith was a being of immense power capable of creating and destroying realms, only rivalled by chaos itself. The Overseer was believed to have unlimited power to do with it what it pleases, creating three known realms and many others that are currently unexplored. Thises three are Tavarchi (the domain of the Overseer), Vachiri (the first realm discovered by the Divine) and Iaddithis.

### Worship

There were a few rituals concerning the worship of the Overseer, the Divine, the deceased or purity itself. Most notably the coming of the new month in which a sacred golden apple had to be burnt in a soul flame as a gift to the Overseer, or coming of the new year in which a tribute live animal (preferably a mammal) was to be sacrificed to the Overseer.

There were also minimal sacrifices concerning the deceased, if one had died in combat they would have a golden apple as a sacrifice, if one had died in an accident they would receive a golden carrot or golden melon as a sacrifice. If they had died in resting periods they would receive a golden nugget as a sacrifice.

The deceased cannot be communicated with and cannot be given gifts on any other days than the coming of the new month, however deceased Divine can be given sacrifices at any time in the month. The Overseer can also be given sacrifices at any time in the month but only if the item is valuable. There was also a celebration done at the end of every major battle in which any participants were meant to be given a golden apple and a bottle of vodka (preferably brewed in sovereign Imperium territory) by their commanding officer. This was optional, however greatly encouraged.

## Doctrines

### Purity

Purity is achieved by cleansing one's soul from chaos and corruption, Pure must also worship the Overseer, the Divine and purity as part of the cleansing process. All that needs to be done is to rid oneself of heretic ideals and replace them with better ones that more closely represent those created by the Overseer for the Pure and the Divine to follow.

### Corruption

Corruption is as a result of chaos. The leaking of chaos from the Between was caused by the opening of the realms. The Between essentially is a dimension outside of the many realms it does not abide by standard physics and it is extremely dangerous to anyone non Divine who comes into contact with it. Corruption causes the Pure and in some cases even Divine to act irrationally and not abide by the ideals created by the Overseer, this was considered heresy and became punishable by exile or death.

### High acts of heresy

* Mocking/blaspheming the Overseer or the Divine, shaming their names, mocking their existence or believing in false idols, this was to be met with execution.

* Deserting in battle, battle was considered sacred and honorable. Those who deserted were given a dishonorable and gruesome execution such as burning alive.

* Thieving or murder, this was not only unlawful but also contradicted the ideals of Purity. A thief is corrupted and so is a murderer, so without good reason to take or kill it was considered heresy and the punishment was excecution.

* Not following rituals properly, sacrificing the wrong items or at the wrong time was met with great shame and if repeated exile and excommunication within the Imperium.

### Weddings

Weddings had to be carried out in full and by a Pure that acts as the representative of the Imperial church, however they could be of any class or rank. Each person had to be fully consensual of their marriage. Each person had to sacrifice a sacred golden apple to represent their longevity and for the Overseer to grant them a long and prosperous life with each other.

Either person could choose to divorce at any point after the marriage although this was considered shameful and dishonourable. Divorces had to be carried out with the same representative that had married them and a fermented spider eye had to be burnt at an altar to represent the death of their marriage.

Each person must present the other with a gift of their undying love, preferably an enchanted golden apple as they hold the highest value in the Imperial faith - although any golden item would do. After the wedding was carried out, the newly-wed couple were to be given gifts by all attendees at the wedding, this was not mandatory however it was considered to be an act of purity to be charitable. Each person had to confess their worst act of heresy in front of the other to show honesty and trust between them.

There was a dress code maintained at weddings, all attendees including the couple were meant to be wearing outfits considered formal for the place and time period. They also couldn't not wear any piece of armour except the golden helmet worn by the church representative at any point in the wedding.