Great Schism

The **Great Schism** (Kadeean: Yarnoo-Reear) or the **Schism of 789** was a major politico-religious event in the late 7th century in which the Kadeean Empire (under the reign of Galin-Martzup II) officially endorsed the Jregan religion and renounced the Glaan-San Church. The decision had a profound effect on Afbarkeean society that lasted for centuries, and was a direct cause of the First Abar War. It created a cultural rift between the Lantoo and the rest of Afbarkeean that was only resolved by the Reconciliation in the middle of the next century. It also facilitated the Fourth Spiritual Revival.

## Background and Motivation

A key motivation for the endorsement of Jrega was the troubling political power of the Glaan-San Church since the death of the Badkalden. The Miinonyukon states that donating your possessions to the church is a respect, and therefore the church had slowly been amassing land and money over the past two centuries. This land was typically turned into commons that local people could use freely in exchange for a small fee (or sold), and many wealthy Kadeeans secretly hated this as they believed the land should belong to their kind. When Jrega is endorsed, the church’s land in the Lantoo is confiscated by the Galin. She then spends a lot of her own money on building new Jregan churches on much of this land to try to prove it was a selfless act and not motivated by greed. Most of the rest of the land was sold to Kadeeans and a lot of the money was given to the Glaan-San church. The Glaan were rarely forcefully removed from their former land, but they were not allowed to profit from it. Many locals offered to help the Glaan, especially in the western part of the Empire.

A key Jregan belief was abstinence from alcohol, and another motivation for the official endorsement of Jrega was so that the Galin could ban the trade of alcohol, which she believed was corrupting his subjects. This meant that only rich landowners who could make wine on their land were able to drink alcohol. In some areas (mainly rural), these landowners share their alcohol with their workers and/or slaves as an incentive for hard work. Paag was excluded from the ban and became a common place for citizens of the Lantoo to buy alcohol. Also, some government-approved vineyards were licensed to produce and supply wine to licensed customers that tended to be high-class restaurants. The upper-middle class were able to buy wine in these expensive restaurants. This was allowed under the law because it was thought that people of high class were incorruptible by alcohol. Also, most of the population that drank before the ban continued to find some way to get alcohol and the ban proved to be largely ineffective. Typically, Kadeean soldiers only raided underground taverns so they could steal the alcohol for themselves.

## Consequences

One of the most significant consequences of the Great Schism was the First Abar War.

The prohibition of alcohol in the Lantoo had a dramatic effect on the economy of Muubrin, which heavily relied on the alcohol trade. There was a sharp rise in organized crime, particularly the smuggling of alcohol in the Lantoo. This was a major cause of the rise of the Kuusaf.