The Church of the One

Return to theology.

**The Church of the One** is the human-dominated state religion of Drangleic. They assert that Theos, whom other races consider to be only the god of humanity, is the first and only God and that all other beings called gods are among his creations. Heresies against the Church of the One as well as extraplanar threats are ruthlessly hunted by the mostly-independent Inquisition.

The Church and Drangleic tolerate the worship of all faithful gods with equal legal status but varying levels of respect.

All archfey cults and all cults to the betrayer gods are considered either evil, heretical, or both and are strictly banned.

**Dogma**

* The Godhead/Theos/The Divine Order/The Lord of Celestia creates giants. The chief of the giants becomes the first deity whose name has been erased from history. He leads the giants away from Theos.
* The Godhead creates Tiamat and Bahamat to humble the giants as punishment for their rebellion. They give birth to a race of world-wyrms (dragons). The god of giants is defeated and chained beneath the Earth.
* The Godhead creates a pantheon of gods who in turn create races in their own images, including elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, orcs, goblins. The Godhead creates men.
* Hyperboreans and East Men separate from the other races.
* The world was unlimited and infinite. All races were immortal and forbidden from slaying each other. They lived for countless eons in the God-Wrought City.
* Asmodeus, the Godhood’s herald, becomes jealous of the created races. He fomented rumors that the gates of Celestia were shut to them to deny them an even better world. Half of all dragons, the hidden giants, and evil men, dwarves, and elves were convinced to rebel against the almighty. The conflict becomes known as the Dawn War.
* A woman named Maria stands against Asmodeus and is destroyed, becoming the first martyr. The form of Asmodeous transforms from angelic to demonic. The humans who followed him are transformed and become tieflings. The followers of Tiamat and Bahamat become dragonborn. The world becomes finite and limited and its races are punished with mortality. Iosus, brother of Maria, leads an exodus of the races of the world out of the city.

* As the war rages, the gods of each race walk the earth
	+ Corellon, god of elves
	+ Muradin, god of dwarves
	+ Garl Glittergold, god of gnomes
	+ Oikiar, goddess of halflings
	+ Mellec/Megathiro, the two-spirited god of goblins and orcs
* In the Dawn War, Corellon kills Mellec/Megathiro. Asmodeus kills Corellon in revenge. Wood Elves claim that the Archfey are formed from the splintered remains of Corellon.
	+ Nimrodel, goddess of the hunt
	+ Caine, lord of artful murder
	+ Mecorag, singer of the laughing tale
	+ Morai-hell, hag queen of prophecy
	+ Ilmarinen, black-hearted smith, maimed and false
* Iosus prays to the Godhead and is given a divine sword which he uses to defeat Asmodeous, becoming the first saint. Fearing death, Asmodeous creates the Nine Hells and flees there. His servants join him there after their deaths. Good souls join Theos in Celestia.
* Tiamat attempts to destroy the God-Wrought city but Iosus prays for it to be saved and it is shielded.