Cister Carta

The Cister Cartian Church is a major religion in Central Magnia, headed by an elected Pontiff in the city of Kurnow. It was originally an offshoot of Menkhu Faith, and keep some similar dietic concepts, but has throughout the years been reformed to a remarkably divergent theology. Started by the followers of Saint Stan Carta, it rapidly expanded by merging the many northern gods and cults under one single God.

## The Five Who are One

The church worships ‘the Five Who Are One’, a single deity, with five faces. For the less educated, however, this concept is often difficult to grasp, causing them to believe there are five different deities. Churches house shrines to each of the faces of God, although worshippers will not pray to every face at once, but choose which depending on their needs. These five are The Mother, The Judge, The Knight, The Beldam, and The Adyr.

### The Mother

The loving and protecting patroness of mercy, love, and fertility. Offerings are usually made to her when a woman becomes pregnant, to praise her for the gift of life, and to make sure she will ward the child and ensure a healthy birth.

### The Judge

The patron of judgement, power, and justice, usually depicted as a bearded man, with a strong and stern face. He is prayed to for justice, and for the wisdom to recognize it.

### The Knight

The patron of courage, strength, and righteous war, protecting the followers of Cister Carta from their foes. Most men make offerings or pray to him before battle and people might additionally pray to him for strength, or to bring peace to those fallen in battle.

### The Beldam

The patron of luck and fate, often depicted as an old crone, prayed to for safe travels on the road or at sea, for good luck, and for the insight to reveal what is concealed.

### The Adyr

The patron of death, magic, strangeness, and dreams, the Adyr is the unknowable, the occult, and death itself. One is not supposed to worship the Adyr as much as fear it and appease it in order to be left alone.

## Marriage Customs

Cister Carta is the only church to have its own marriage customs. Instead of a knight or nobleman asserting a marriage, the church’s ceremony takes place in a temple and involves prayers, five vows, five blessings, singing, and the lighting of candles, and is followed by a feast, whereafter the marriage must be consummated. Jus Primae Noctis, ‘the right of the first night’, wherein a noble or a man invited by the married couple could consummate the marriage is strictly forbidden in the church.

## Knighting Ceremony

Knighting a person in the name of the Cister Cartian church requires a ceremony in which the soon-to-be knight kneels before a priest of the faith or a noble lord, who will ask five questions in turn:

* *"In the name of The Mother, do you vow to defend the young and innocent?"*
* "*In the name of The Judge, do you vow to be just?"*
* *"In the name of The Knight, do you vow to be brave?"*
* *"In the name of The Beldam, do you vow to be wise?"*
* *"In the name of The Adyr, do you vow to never falter in the face of the unknown and to live a knight and die a knight?"*

After each question, the kneeler must respond "I do" and if the lord or priest is satisfied, they can charge the person to rise as a knight.

## Reformation

From late 1428, Central Magnia saw a new and prominent movement within the church that rejected old teachings of Cister Carta and posed a religious and political challenge to the Pontiff's authority, arising from concerns of his increasing wealth and lust for power.

The movement, which started with the Wincentene Movement in Metina, became known as the Priesthood of All Believers, led by Bishop Kadlec, who proposed the first reformation to rid the faith of unnecessary and, in his opinion, hereditary practices of the church. The initial movement in Vichin diversified, and other reformers arose independently, forming a clear divide in the Cister Cartian church. While the new elected Pontiff in the Vichin is a Wincentene, The Wincentene War is stilling very much raging in Metina, while the bishops of Carinthia and Vichin are dangerously close to hostility.

The Wincentenes place virtue in humbleness and downplay the importance of priests, churches, and expensive ceremonies. Influenced from the west, they also promote equality between genders and condem hatred for those previously considered 'of abnormal sexualities''.