Flanism

**Flanism** is the state religion of the Thanedom of Jrunmarch within Frostmarch, it is a nature based religion with core beliefs centered around the balanced use of plantlife, reverance to the swamp they live under and opposition to the void and its corrupting influence. Flanism was founded at some point in late 2020 to early 2021 shortly after Rathnir's opening by the Prophet IXPain in the underground monastery of Jrunmoor. Sadly almost all of the religion's teachings from this time period have been lost and whilst the key elements such as void opposition and reverence for plant life remain the actual theology from this period is lost.

## Core Flanite Beliefs

### Reverence for Plantlife and The Trees

The core belief of Flanism is a reverence for the plantlife in the swamp which the Flanites call home, due to a pact struck with the spirits of the Swamp towards the religions founding the Flanite faithful are barred from building structures within the swamp and must protect it from tampering from outside. To keep with this pact the Flanites all either live in fortified settlements on the edge of the swamp with none of the structures actually touching the swamps waters or in the large underground city of Jrunmoor which whilst originally near the surface has dug down to the edge of the bedrock in accordance with the second term of the pact. The Flanites must spread the swamps plantlife to the depths of the earth that it cannot reach without their intervention, this has lead to the city of Jrunmoor to have a large artificial lush cavern with various areas for all forms of plantlife.

The Trees are a pair of powerful and wise spirits in the physical form of the Tree a large oak tree in the centre of the Jrunmoor temple and the Mushroom a large amethyst fused mushroom which makes up the structure of the centre of the Jrunmoor palace. These trees are believed by the Flanites to defend the town from harm both physically and on a more spiritual level against the corruption of the void, they are the centre of the Faith and the leadership of Jrunmarch (who are also the Flanite clergy) commune with them often for advice and guidance. Symbolically the Tree appears on the Jrunmarch coat of arms and the flag of the Grand Union of Sorgliste which was headed by the religions Prophet IXPain.

In exchange for this the Flanites are allowed to make use of individual plants as they see fit so long as they work to benefit the plantlife of the swamp as a whole and infact are encouraged to use use plant matter in rituals and magic, this has lead to the Flanite holy city of Jrunmoor having a largely brewing and enchanting based economy as they view these acts as being holy.

### Opposition to the Void and the use of Sacred Amethyst

Flanites believe that the Void is a corrupting and evil influence that seeks to destroy them, the swamp they revere and the world as a whole as such all Flanites are required to oppose the void at any opportunity this is done in a variety of ways from simple acts such as never exposing bare bedrock to extreme acts such as the sacrifice of Void worshippers to The Trees in a form of public execution (however outside of this Flanites try to avoid shedding blood in their towns as they believe it draws void creatures to them). Flanites also believe that the void is not a single entity or a single god but a plane in its own right akin to the nether but with beings of great power that seek to harm the world.

Flanites believe that Amethyst being to them a mineral that is also a plant and as such very sacred amplifies the spiritual power of the plantlife which they hold sacred whilst dampening other energies such as those of the nether or the void, as such important places in Flanite socities are built using large amounts of Amethyst to bolster the mystical defences of these key sites. They also line their nether portals with a line of amethyst and a tinted glass dome to ensure the potential corruption of the nether cannot leak out (however Flanites do not view the nether as innately evil, just different and seperate from Rathnir, Flanites can and do work in the nether to propagate plant life just as they do in the depths of Rathnir proper).

### Ancestor Reverance and Historical Damnation

Within Flanism the idea of the Jrunfolk (the ethnicity which is innately tied to Flanism) as a people is sacred and as such great figures from their past are revered as heroes and saints and whilst it cannot be said this respect goes so far as worship it is not uncommon to see ancestor statues in Flanite sites alongside this tombs of revered Flanite ancestors such as IXPain the prophet are holy sites worthy of pilgrimage.

Alongside Ancestor Reverance those who have opposed the Flanite faith or its followers to a large degree are considered historically damned by the Flanite faithful and as such they and all their descendents are treated akin to demons or voidspawn. At present very few people have ever been assigned this damnation as it takes the agreement of all the Flanite clergy for an individual to be condemned.