The Church of Riahn

The Church of Riahn is the god’s primary channel of influence in Frostmark, as Riahn seldom interacts directly with his worshippers. Even if the Church varies slightly from nation to nation and holds a varying amount of influence in them, the Church is its own organization that spans national borders. You need to swear off your old earthly possessions and bonds to secure the strongest bond to Riahn himself to enter the Church. In practice, many second or third scions of noble or influential families infiltrate the Church to favor their families. Therefore, this rule has turned more ceremonial than official.

Many different ranks exist within the Church, from the simplest village apprentice to the Solar priest itself, who is the Church’s chosen leader. The priests’ actions differ between areas. Sometimes they are educators, relief personnel, doctors, or even advisors or negotiators. But their core function is to hold religious ceremonies of Riahn (celebrating the birth of a child (the Naming), coming of age (the Rising), marriage (the Union), and funerals (the Farewell), as well as to purge any corruption of magic and of the other gods, which they refer to as the Horrid Devils. The Church is stalwart with destroying anything that alludes to the other Enneade and magic. Priests, books, temples, and rituals are all quickly and mercilessly destroyed or ruined. In Crowhill, even adhering to an old custom will get you whipped or even executed. Speaking the true name of a Horrid Devil will often lead to apprehension and interrogation.

In past times the Church was the crusading force of Geanor, tasked after the war with hunting down every single priest, magician, tome, temple, and Enna, to erase them from history. What was first a mentality to genuinely save humanity from this madness turned into a zealous inquisitorial pursuit of "purity.” From the aftermath of Geanor, the Church still has military forces, the Sacred Arms, but it has more and more become adapted towards an inquisition of sorts. Civilian units and small special cells hunting down any concerning rumors. The Church holds both lands and owns businesses in some nations, but they also thrive on taxes and charity.

#### ***The Radiance of Geanor***

The Radiance of Geanor is the primary religious text of Riahn and his champion Geanor. The book is divided into three distinct chapters. The first is a recollection of Geanor’s life and his ventures, explaining in detail his status of being Riahn’s chosen and the lessons that Geanor passed on through his words and deeds.

The second chapter is the edicts of the Riahn faith, with rules of what to do and not to do. What is central within these rules is the sanctity of the Soul. It is plainly stated how perverse it is to control a Soul that is not your own, especially without consent. Some passages give clear providence to a ruling class, nobles, to reign over others. There are justifications for why nobles hold this influence, stating that their Souls are more powerful and adept than others. Some religious interpretations are more liberal with defining “noble,” claiming that competent Souls are noble and not something you inherit from birth.

Of course, there are general ethical edicts, such as abhorrence for violence and stealing, plus encouragement for respect for elders and the union (marriage). As Riahn is attributed to bonds of all kinds, there are a surprising number of rules for marriage and relationships between children and parents, and peasants and nobles. The nature of the edicts are rather strict. However, some sections would allude to that nobles are exempt or should be punished less harshly.

The third chapter is a basic description of how business deals should be made, how the judicial system should be ordered, and the decrees of war. This chapter is taken more or less seriously by the ruling class, as the law and traditions of the kingdoms may clash with some areas of the third chapter.

#### ***The Blessings of the Priests***

After some time of dedication to the cause of the Church and Riahn, priests slowly start to receive magical powers to work Riahn’s miracles. The kind of miracles is quite uniform within the Church. One of the simplest miracles of Riahn is the power of light. Healing diseases, poisons, and wounds are common blessings, where stronger priests can perform even grander medicinal miracles. There can also be various fire blessings, from simply lighting a candle to sending balls of purifying fire upon the heretics.

In other terms, a newly initiated apprentice in the Priesthood is not granted Soul Magic immediately. Upon initiation, the apprentice is given a small tattoo in the form of a black and golden sun in the middle of their forehead, signifying their devotion to Riahn and rank within the Church. As the apprentice learns and grows older, they start conducting their own ceremonies as assistants or full-fledged priests. This is when their tattoo absorbs Soul Power and transforms into a Soul Mark over some time. The specific ritual that Riahn shared with the newly-born Church after Geanor’s conquests, used for their initiations of new priests, is unique. A majority of Soul Mark rituals require a limited window of opportunity for the Soul Mark to form, whilst the ritual that the Church jealousy protects is specifically designed for the priests to transform their tattoo into a Soul Mark through a longer period and Partial Soul Drain in their various religious services. This way, the Church can argue that the magic is given as a reward for their loyalty and long service of Riahn, instead of a specific ritual. The fact that the spells taught to the new priests usually are the same is frankly because Riahn usually teaches the same kind of spells through their clerical bond.

#### **Ceremonies and Blessing**

The symbol of the Church, and Riahn, is a simple and stylized sun that is preferably clad in leaf gold. This symbol can be found in the form of pendants around the believer's necks or tattooed on the body to eternalize the divine vow.

Churches are usually built in an amphitheater-style with many glassed windows to ensure as much sunlight in the building as possible. The architectural style believes that all the witnesses of a ceremony should have a clear view of the altar and the priests. The grand churches of Frostmark have stained windows that display different events of the Radiance of Geanor and depictions of Riahn and other celestial beings. The church is further built with a lot of reflective surfaces. The richer parishes clad everything they can in leaf gold to make light dance inside the structure.

A ceremony of Riahn should take place in direct sunlight, if that is not possible, in the light of day. Ceremonies conducted during the night are seen as dubious but can be considered legal if there is a large light source, like a bonfire. The existence of light is important for the ceremony as it is supposed to shine on the vows, words, and actions of those who partake in it to ensure it is true and just and not dishonest. The more expensive ceremonies are scheduled at dawn to capture those first tentative rays of light, which are considered the holiest of light sources. Furthermore, a ceremony requires at least three witnesses to make sure that nothing dishonorable or heretic took place.

The ceremonies are mostly spoken in Rianish by the priests, and a few select words of importance can even be said in Copta. Priests are taught Rianish on a rudimentary to mediocre skill level. Few can speak the language like a native. However, no priest would know what the words spoken in Copta mean, but they learn to recite them when the particular ceremony requires it. Moreover, the ceremonies are full of traditional movements, vows, and acts that must be precise and haven't changed for several hundred years. The eldest speaks first in the ceremonies and the youngest last, be it priests or participants. Participants of the ceremony should kneel when recognized by the priest to show humility and somberness.

Tattooing is one of the two central acts of a major ceremony. A tattoo is crafted by the highest priest present to enact the bond and the blessing of Riahn. It is tattooed with special ink which has traces of gold leaf in it. The richer the person is, the higher the content of gold is. Most often, names in Rianish and symbols are tattooed on the recipient. During the Naming ceremony, the parents are tattooed with the name of their child. During the Rising ceremony, the child is tattooed with the name of the parents. The Union tattoos consist of the spouses’ names. And the Farewell changes how the tattoo looks like for someone who has the deceased’s name tattooed on them. The recipient is somewhat in control of how the tattoo will look and some control of where it is placed, but there are several rules involved, and the Church must first approve it. The more intricate the tattoo recipient orders, the more costly it is.

The second major element is some kind of sacrifice the recipient makes for their community. What kind of shape and magnitude this takes is up to the individual. The Church of Riahn claims that it will affect the strength of the ceremony’s blessing, how successful a Union will be, or how fortunate a child will be growing up, depending upon how heartfelt and great the sacrifice was. A recipient can use this opportunity to make a political move by donating coins to a specific faction, maybe even the Church itself, whilst someone with no coins to spare often offers to do communal labor.

#### ***Holidays***

Spring Equinox (Day 1, the first day of Larek)

Summer Solstice (Day 86, 36 days into Rirek)

Autumn Equinox (Day 171, 23 days into Gerek)

Winter Solstice (Day 257, 11 days into Borek)

Unity's Day (Day 316, 21 days into Verek)

#### ***Death and the Afterlife***

If a human has lived a virtuous and devoted life to Riahn, they attain the honor of entering his Solar Realm, a paradise of righteousness and light. But it isn’t all sunshine. The six Horrid Devils and their master, Darkness, never rest in overthrowing Riahn and throwing Frostmark into chaos and destruction. In the afterlife, when you're not enjoying the fruits of Riahn's Realm, you'll receive the honor of fighting, or supporting in any way you can, the forces of Darkness. Slain humans of this divine war return then to Frostmark, reincarnating with no memory of their past life. But once Riahn can gather enough Souls to stand by him in the war, they could defeat Darkness once and for all so all Souls could remain forever in the Solar Realm, in complete peace and ecstasy.

The Souls who lose their direction or never find the light of Riahn, but don't sell their souls to one of the six Devils, simply reincarnate to Frostmark, missing out on the bliss of living in Riahn's Realm for some time. However, those who sell their Souls to Darkness are doomed to be tortured in the six Devils’ Realms and forced to fight Riahn's armies and supporters.

#### ***The Horrid Devils of Riahn's Church***

##### ***Gera***: The Feral Devil / The Snake

Under the Snake's rule, all would be turned into animals. Unable to be selfless, with no control of their actions, just reverting to their base instincts, reason lost. Just how birds' prey on mice, brother will turn on brother for scraps of meat. The Snake would further send pestilence, sickness, and earthquakes to all that dare to stand on two legs.

##### ***Teranis***: The Ruinous Devil / Ill Fortune

The Devil of Ill Fortune arrives with one simple purpose; To destroy. Under his rule, everything you've built shall crumble, with no regard to the sanctity of life and Soul.

##### ***Lapuana***: The Reckless Devil / The Devil's Child

The Devil's Child is a force without maturity, unable to control, or want to control, her powers. She will unleash the full force of the seas to drown all who triggers her fickle whims.

##### ***Borias***: The Cold Devil - Winter's Cruelty

The antithesis of Riahn, the Cold Devil, suppresses all that is warm, loving, and nurturing. He wants to cloud the sun through harsh storms of winter and turn honor and virtue into apathy and careless sins.

##### ***Suhlmis***: The Devil of Temptation – Obsession's Ruin

Under the rule of this devil, no one would be able to control their emotions, inclinations, and caprice. Forgiveness is lost, temperance forgotten, and restraint is gone with the winds of frenzy and obsession. The Devil of Temptation is the one that whispers into the ears of weak-willed men and women to betray their union and virtue.

##### ***Vegomo***: The Devil of Insanity – The Prince of Greed

The Devil of Insanity lusted for powers beyond their capabilities and stole all the stars in the heavens from Riahn. The stars then punished them for their greed and split their mind asunder, turning the greedy Devil insane as well. All the stars managed to escape, but the two brightest stars of the night sky remained to ensure their punishment would be eternal. Nightmares are now the Devil's living revenge against Riahn, corrupting his pleasant and benevolent dreams. Under this Devil's rule, even the waking world will be nothing but nightmares.

#### ***Remnants of the Six Outcast Enneade***

Today only very few artifacts remain readily at hand, hidden away as family artifacts or recovered and protected in cults. But as the six are returning in force to Frostmark, from biding their time and recovering power, so are the artifacts, creatures, and mystical locations. These locations are places that were consciously moved to another Realm by the presiding god, to not let its mysteries fall into the hands of Riahn and his followers.

From the start of the Age of Geanor, very few remain with knowledge of the other six gods, but as the winds of change are blowing, they turn bolder by the hour. Cults are forming once more, vying for power and giving influence to their chosen Enneade. Beornhelm is particularly brazen in recent years. They have grown even more chilly towards the Church of Riahn and turned more gregarious towards their old mountain patron.

For the unknowing inhabitants of Frostmark, many old customs and traditions still linger, even if they don't know their origin. Sailors might give a gift to a child to ask for safe passage before a voyage, concerned mothers might get overjoyed in thunderstorms as they hover over their feverous child, and some smiths leave a coin in the fire for Suhlmis before starting a new project.

#### ***Rebirth - The Truth***

When a human fetus is forming, the mother initially gives the child its spark of sentience. The mother gives the child a part of their Soul, which then triggers the World and the Enneade with devotional Souls to equally give Soul Power to the new child.

#### ***Knights and the Sacred Code***

As Geanor created and evolved his army, he created the modern concept of Knighthood. A Knight is a special kind of soldier who possesses noble blood and willingly subjects themselves to certain vows. The concept has its roots in the Age of the Seven in the area governed by Riahn. Back then, there was an elite force called the Night's Sentinels who were picked from that society's upper echelons. They were trained to protect Riahn's kingdom against the "Night" forces, as many monsters and troops of other Enneade were denoted as.

In Geanor's army, there were several Sentinels, many of who were veterans, and thus, quite a few became his advisors and trusted seconds. Indeed, many Sentinels were dubbed one of the ten Dukes by Empress Leana, tasked with governing one of the Empire's duchies. As Geanor's army was conquering part after part of Frostmark, he needed loyal soldiers and leaders to govern and protect areas he had already conquered. The Sentinels' vows were focused on protecting Riahn's kingdom in particular and its nobility. He needed a force that could swear themselves to any ruler and protect all within it, so he reformed the Night's Sentinels' vows. One of the most impactful changes was that almost anyone could become a Night's Sentinel, which had before been exclusively noble scions. The change was not popular initially, but Geanor needed to vastly increase the numbers of Sentinels the more land he covered. After the Empire was formed, the Knights became the Sacred Arms leaders and spearheaded the purge of Frostmark of anything foreign to the new world order. They also became stalwart protectors of the Empire.

The Night's Sentinel title was shortened over time to the modern title of Knight, but its traditions have withstood to this day in some kingdoms of Frostmark. Members are still Knighted from the ranks of nobility, but exceptional soldiers can be promoted to the position. The practice has survived within the Sacred Arms ranks, where most of the leadership are Knighted, as well as within the nobility of Armathain and Karthmere. The vows have been aptly named the Sacred Code.

Having a Knight's rank grants the person high rank within both the nobility and the military, joining the two factions. In the kingdoms where the practice has survived, the Knight enjoys a certain amount of freedom to execute justice in a manner they see fit.

##### ***The Sacred Code***

> "I will keep faith in the face of hopelessness.
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> Be honest against my benefit.
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> Valorous despite my fear.
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> Remain loyal to my oaths.
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> Be honorable until my Soul leaves me.
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> Answer any challenge that stands before me.
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> And protect the weak and the deserving".
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