Arcaea/Religion

http://wiki.battlemaster.org/images/CoatofArmsTiny.png	Religions	http://wiki.battlemaster.org/images/CoatofArmsTiny.png
	Magna Aenilia Ecclesia (Most Dominant Religion)
	The Church of Sartan

The religious context of Arcaea means that she has no great faith which has arise in her own lands, but instead was once the most steadfast realm of the Aenil in spirit and build, alongside the home of the faith, Greater Aenilia. As King Jenred considered himself to be a crusader of the faith, avenging the deaths of his countrymen and purging the world of madness and heresy in the form of southern rulers pretending to be gods, this fervent adherence is no surprise. At the same time the religious practices of Arcaea were both formalised but unregulated, superseded by the charisma of their nobility and the valour of their knighthood.

Some might have called this not going far enough for the sake of faith, but those familiar with the Magna Aenilia Ecclesia can easily see the causes for this - a lack of strong leadership and a system of beliefs which give way to an almost intrinsic individual and communal sense of worth in the face of their higher, divine beings. Since the Aenil number far more than humanity and are attracted to the mental aura of our intentions, temples are places of learning and theological discussion as well as worship. Since the fate of Aenilic battles affect the lives of men like waves upon the water, the people of Arcaea strive to do their part in response.

However, the time of Aenilism appears to be near to a close. On the edges of Arcaea several faiths were integrated including Adgharanism, the Church of Sartan, the Order of Elders, Cra-ithil and several more.

Of these, Adgharanism has been wiped out along with the realm which spawned it, Cra'ithil and Communionism have died out on their own and the Order of Elders has been banned from Arcaea and its temples torn down following the betrayal of Arcaea by its leader, Thain Himoura, the declaration of a Crusade against Arcaea by the Order and the human sacrifice of Arcaean nobles by the Order.

Ironically, the only faith integrated into Arcaea which has survived and thrived has been the Church of Sartan. Once the Church was absorbed into Aenilic faith where possible, seeing as Sartan was considered by most of the Aenilic faith to be merely one of the greater Aenilic Generals aside from a divine being of his own right. This policy was in large part due to the aggression that the most fervent, and independent, followers of Sartan had show to Arcaea.

With the coming Emperor Velax to the throne, however, this changed. Already Sartanians had spread their faith throughout Arcaea and the pragmatic Velax silently ended the favouritism given to Aenilism. Now many lords of Arcaea, including Margraves and Dukes, as well as holders of government offices, have been and are Sartanians and even the Emperor's own brother has joined the Church of Sartan!

If anything, it seems likely that Sartanism, through peaceful obedience to the laws of the empire, patience and its own dynamism compared to the muted tradition of Aenilism, has progressed from mild official disapproval to now being on the cusp of becoming the dominant religion of Arcaea.

Far East religions has further information.