Venerism

The Venerable Order of the Citadel

Respect the past. Seize the present. Prepare for the future.

Creation

For millions of years there were the gods and there was the void. The gods became bored with only the company of each other. From the chaos of the void they created the world and men to be their entertainment and joy. As a result of the gods use of the chaos, a dark creature was awakened. This creature hated the gods and everything they created.

The Noble Line

Man, the creature created by the gods, became unruly. The world was plagued by small groups competing for power over one another. To establish order and rule, the gods created a noble line to rule over all men and bring order back to the world. It is this noble line which lead to the establishment of Eston.

The Great Dragon and the False Nobles

The dark creature, in effort to sadden the gods, spawned from the chaos of the void a Great Dragon that separated the gods from their creation. Because both were created from the chaos, the gods could not destroy the Great Dragon without unraveling creation and destroying man. The gods were forced to wait for a man who was strong enough to smite the dragon. To the further dismay of the gods, the dark creature also created a false line of nobles to compete with the true nobles created by the gods. The world is once again unruly and full of men competing for power.

(We might want to add something here about how the Dragon was joined with the heart of a man, and this is why the gods could not spite him)

The Destruction of the Great Dragon and the Path to Harmony

An Eston noble by the name of Marouane rose to great power. Though Marouane had shortcomings as a man, as a warrior he was unmatched. The gods used Marouane's spirit to fight the Great Dragon. Marouane defeated the Great Dragon's spirit thus allowing the gods to smite the dragon. Without the Great Dragon's intervention, the gods can now contact their creation. The contact cannot be direct, for no mortal can stand in the presence of a god and survive, but the gods can speak to men through departed spirits. The gods wish now to undo the damage which was caused by the false noble lines and reestablish Eston as the true noble line.

Organization of the Church

Holy Father:

The Earthly Head of the Church of Venerism. At this time this is Marsyas Ariston.

High Priest:

There will, in time, be one high priest for each geographic region of the church: perhaps this will be by duchy or perhaps it will be by nation. Only a priest can be high priest.

High Priest Of Massillion

Winther Pope

Keeper of the Temple:

This is either the person who is responsible for the day to day running of a City Temple in the Church, or any person who built a temple and sponsor's it.

Speaker for the Dead:

This is the chief mystic in the church. This must be a person who has had multiple visions from the dead and speaks with them regularily. His duty is to study the heavens for signs, and to seek guidence from the departed of Eston. This person must be a priest who has served Eston well.

Defender of the Church:

This rank must be held by a person who has been called by the departed of Eston to serve the church either miltarily or financially. (By sponsoring the army, or by donating at least 250 gold to the Venerist Paladin's War Chest.)

Venerable Father/Venerable Mother

The Rank held by any Priest who has served long and will be honored in perpetuity by the church.

Priest/Priestess

This rank will be granted to any person who is a priest in the Order.

Paladin Primus

The Rank of Paladin Primus will be granted to the current Marshall of the Venerist Paladin's. Knights will be promoted to and demoted from this rank frequently.

Paladin

The Rank of Paladin will be granted to any Knight who choses to serve the Venerist Paladin's of Eston.

Cleric

The Rank of Cleric will be granted to any member who has expressed a desire to serve the causes of Venerism while continuing in their present service to Eston.

Introduction of the Venerist

As write by Marsyas Ariston

My Lords and Ladies, My Borthers and Sisters of Eston,

Recently I didst journey across our beloved land, and didst discover that we are neither alone nor as mean as perhaps we at odd moments didst assume. The dead of Eston do indeed live on in the darks and dells and in the realm of spirits. Yay, even amongst the pantheon of creators and shapers of our world.

All men of a seemly humble demeanor do know that to hear the words of the ineffable creators would doom a man to witlessness and even perchance unto death. For this reason, those who have passed from our realm into theirs do act as intercessors between us, and reveal the purpose of these gods unto us. Thus has it been since the dawn of time.

Yet why then have we heard nothing from these, our champions among the gods, in so many ages? Recently this very wisdom has been brought to me, not because of my greatness, but rather because of my meaness; I have been deemed unworthy of any greater purpose in Eston, but to bring this news unto you.

I know that the memory of Marouane, the Lion of Eston, is yet too fresh to be invoked without causeing much distress and many a damp eye, and fain would I invoke his name were it not to bring you tiding that may be a balm to you.

Marouane was taken from us in a strange and unseemly fashion. No illness or eld didst touch his body, and yet it seemed that his spirit had passed from its residence there. Indeed, this is verily the measure of his passing. The gods themselves saw that he was the greatest warrior yet birthed in Eston, and did call his soul into their service.

And what need could the gods themselves have that would justify taking this icon from his place in Eston? The need was even that which has kept our dead from speaking to us for so long, that I here recount to you.

In the dawn of time, the ineffable created the world, but in their generosity they gave men too much freedom, placing no rulers over them, and the men were unruly. So the gods decided to create a line of nobles to rule over men to give them direction and purpose, and thus follow the will of the gods. For this reason the line of Nobility was established, and for a time, things were good.

But eventually some men became to envy these rulers and did make war upon them, and established noble lines of their own making. This did displease the gods, and they would have stepped in to set things aright, but a dark creature, the child sprung from the chaos that was before creation, took pleasure in vexing them, and brought forth a mighty dragon of chaos to keep them from this world.

Now the gods are mighty and could have easily bested this dragon, but the dark spawn of chaos in its cleverness didst meld the chaos of the dragon the heart of a living man so that the chaos was bound to the fabric of our world such that the gods could not best the dragon without destroying us, their beloved creations, for creation cannot abide being smitten by the gods without unraveling.

For eons the gods watched and waited, but not idly. For they used what slim means they could sneak past the dragon, to shepherd their original line of nobility to one day bring forth a paragon of knightly virtue who would be able to slay the dragon without destroying all that was.

Yes, it is even as you guessed. The blood of this ancient royal line doth flow in the veins of the nobles of Eston, and the mighty warrior for whom they waited was none other than Marouane. When he had proven himself on the battlefield, they awakened his spirit to their world, and thus he had to leave us.

It was not in vein, far from it, for Marouane was victorious. He fought against the chaos of the dragon and severed its man’s heart from it, casting it back into the chaos beyond creation.

Now that the Dragon is no more, the gods once again speak to us through our departed brethren, and they desire that we once again take up the ancient purpose for which our shared bloodline was founded.