Faith of the Four

The **Faith of The Four**, commonly shortened to **The Faith**, is the main religion of the Kingdom of Aqoris. It is little-practiced beyond its borders. The Faith of the Four is dominant in the south of Aqoris. The only region where it is not the majority religion are the Borderlands, where worship of the Old Gods of Alba remains strong. There are many exceptions, however.

## History

### Background

The Faith believe that God spoke to a man named Arabirn Alas six thousand years and presented themselves as Four Divines. Arabirn became King of the Southern Civilisation and the Faith of The Four was created. It is then said that the Gods charged the man with the unification of the continent and to remove The Alba from the lands to claim what was rightfully theirs. However, some members of the Faith claim that Arabirn was enlightened in order to protect the world of men from a threat that required the continent to be united, similar to the Prophecy of The Bear.

The Faith viewed the Old Gods as an abomination worshipped by savages and had their shrines destroyed across the continent that was now under control of the Southern Kingdom. They asserted their religion over the surviving Alba in their lands who converted and intermingled with the new southern settlers. Thus the Southern Faith of the Four became the dominant religion on the entire continent, except for in the lands of Alba.

After the Age of Fire and the collapse of the Southern Civilisation, the Faith of The Four remained in the northern half of the continent separated by The Anarchy. They said that the men of the southern Kingdom had strayed from the Faith and God punished them as a result. The Faiths' power was significantly reduced by King Barden Boyce as before they had the right to dispense justice, conduct inquests and trials and pass judgement over all echelons of society, including kings. This was then further put into practice because of the Summer Rebellion in 215 AF where the Faith's power and rights was firmly restricted by Law and the military arm of the Faith, The Faith Zealots, were disbanded.

## Beliefs

The Faith holds that there is one god who has four faces or aspects: the Father, the Mother, the Son, and the Daughter. Each aspect represents one part of life or existence.

* **The Father**: represents divine justice, creation, wisdom, and judges the souls of the dead.
* **The Mother**: represents mercy, peace, fertility, and childbirth.
* **The Son**: represents honour, duty, strength and courage in battle.
* **The Daughter**: represents purity, innocence, love, and beauty.

There are two male aspects and two female aspects: representing stability and peace.

Due to its four "aspects", the deity is often referred to as the "**Four-faced God**" or the "**Four Divines**", but most frequently as simply "**the Four**". The Four are also referred to as "**the New Gods**" or "**New God**", in contrast with the "Old Gods" of Alba worshiped by The Alba before they were sent back north by the ancient southern kingdom.

In practice, many devotees will refer to the aspects as "Gods" plural, though Adepton and Adeptas of the Faith will attempt to stress the theological nuance to their followers that there is indeed only one God, the "Four-in-One" deity. Therefore, the number four is sacred in the religion, with symbolism involving the number seven featuring heavily in its belief system. They believe the number represents stability and order, similar to their beliefs about the two male and two female aspects.

## Practices

### Styles of worship

Unlike the Old Gods of Alba, whose worshipers are looked down upon by members of the Faith of the Four as savages who worship multiple gods, the Faith is based on a number of holy texts and complex social rules. Temples of the Faith are buildings known as "Adepts". Followers of the Faith gather in adepts for group prayer, which frequently involves singing hymns of praise to the Four.

### Knighthood

*See main article: "Knighthood".*
Mounted warriors known as knights dedicate themselves to a code of behaviour known as chivalry, heavily influenced by the Faith of the Four and its principles. The will of the Four is said to favour the victor in a trial by combat.

### Social rules

Along with the Old Gods, the Faith shares several basic social rules against incest, kinslaying, and bastardy. The Faith of the Four, along with all major religions, also upholds the laws of hospitality, which hold sacred the good behaviour of a guest and host towards each other.

The Faith of the Four considers homosexuality to be a sin, albeit one of lesser severity than incest or kinslaying. Therefore, homosexuals must keep their true sexual and romantic behavior secret, or else face significant social consequences.

### Wedding ceremonies

Unlike the faith of the Old Gods of Alba, which lacks elaborate ceremonies, weddings under the auspices of the Faith of the Four are elaborate and highly ritualized. These ceremonies typically take place inside of an adept and are presided over by an adepton. At the beginning of the ceremony, the bride is escorted to the altar by her father where the groom and the adepton await. The groom is then told, *"In the sight of Gods and Men, I seal the joining of [GROOM] and [BRIDE], forever.*"

The bride and groom then join hands, which are tied together with a ribbon by the adepton, who says, *"Look upon each other and say the words. By the Father I pledge to be fair, By the Mother I pledge to be peaceful , By the Son I pledge to be honourable , By the Daughter I pledge my love, We were two, now we are one, From this day until my last"* He then instructs them to, *"Look upon one another and say the words."* At this point, the adepton will say "*Let it be known that, by the Four, [GROOM] and [BRIDE] are one heart and one soul until the end of their days."*

## Organization

Unlike the worship of the Old Gods, the Faith of the Four has an organized clergy with a complex internal hierarchy. Both men and women can be priests of the Four. Male priests are known as Adeptons and female priests as Adeptas.

The head of the Faith is known as the High Adepton, who resides at the headquarters of the Faith of the Four, the Great Adept of the Pious, which is located in the capital city of the Southlands, Sunderly. The ruling council of the Faith is known as the The Faithful, who also reside in the Great Adept. The Faithful rank just below the High Adepton, but are responsible for electing a new High Adepton when the current one dies.