Melhed/History/Age of Reason/Retrospective
The Great Divide - How the faiths broke and what it did.
A retrospective on the Age of Reason – Old Gods Point of View
There was no one moment more defining to Melhed then the reformation from empire to republic. Introducing government and cultural reforms the entire character of the nation shifted.
The reformation brought fracturing to Melhed. Things that had been whole and singular became many and separate. The office of Emperor was broken down into a senate. The laws were written to see more freedom and autonomy in the hands of the nobility. Even religion saw the introduction of vital myths and deities from the common folk, instead of the worship of the Emperor.
The province of Unger, which would become known as Valentic, pulled away from the empire during these difficult times, in a move that would foreshadow all further interactions between the pair. Kokomaro became king of Valentia and his nation carried with it the marks of its origin. Valentia used the legal code of Melhed, that pre-dated the six slabs, and the mythos of the growing religious movement was strong. However while Melhed fractured itself Valentia pulled together. The authority of the king grew, laws were revoked, and most telling of all was the split of the east & west portions of the church.
The polytheist, mythological east that would grow to become the Old Gods, focused its efforts on the past and what it meant for the future. Sects, in parallel with the changes in government, grew as more and more people began to study the scattered bits of lore and history. Debate and mistranslations abounded leading to a multitude of competing cults and practices. These difficulties would not be reconsiled until an Augur was appointed by the numerous factions, who organized the sects in debate and pushed for consensus. However no centralized authority would preside over the faith, and each Augur altered the tone of the faith while they remained in office.
Despite the efforts to gain consensus, there was one sect that would not agree. Lead by Kokomaro and Darrin what would become known as the Valentic Order stood in harsh opposition to the debates that swirled around them. Having been the first to receive a scroll, translated by Alrukard Armada about the creation of the world the pair were inspired. Up until this point the sects had not concerned themselves with the questions of world and human creation. Having come from a diverse number of places to the new world, the people still held strong ties to their faiths from home. In the harsh lands of the new world the question of world creation was felt to be of lesser importance then the questions of, how to survive the winter, and defeat the natives. Thus as rituals and practices developed to appease the gods of the land and bring prosperity, the holders of the Scroll of Vale moved in a different direction. Cutting themselves off from the council the Valentic Order declared itself as followers of the one true god, who had constructed the world, humanity, and had a plan for both.
The new denomination attracted a great deal of followers, the message of hope, of community, and of answers far more attractive then the constant arguing of the council. The Augur of the day attempted to reconcile the division but already the Valentic Order had considerable differences, and soon enough the sect split off entirely.
The social changes of Melhed pushed the remaining council towards exploration, debate, and pragmatism. The burgening religion becoming more about the rituals done, and mythology then any faith in the powers that were supposed to be responsible. The result was that cultural growth developed from individual efforts, flavoured with the rituals and mythology of the Old Gods. Similarity the social efforts of Valentia pushed the Valentic Order towards unity. A hierarchy of bishops quickly evolved, and with the Scroll of Vale as the central holy text, commandments and ideals of behaviour outlined. The faithful were zealous, and passionate about their beliefs pushing for the cause of free humanity. Yet it slowly became apparent that the VO were far more dogmatic and concerned with orthodoxy then the remaining council. A joint effort by Alrukard and Aldo to re-translate the Scroll of Vale from the monster tongue revealed errors in the translation. More a curiosity then anything else the council filed away the updated Scroll of Orbis but soon found angry Valentic Order bishops demanding the offending document be destroyed as it was an a front to the one true god. The violent reaction was met with puzzlement and worry but the council would not back down, and thus the schism of the cult became official.
The tensions between the two faiths would become a pivotal divide in the relations of Melhed and Valentia. The dogmatic and zealous faith came to dominate the life of the Valentic citizen far more then the Old Gods did the Melites. However the very same driven attitude, rooted in faith, made it difficult for the broadly unbelieving Melites to relate to their neighbours. While civil tones were maintained for most of the age, the collapse of the Valentic government in the face of outside forces saw the territory once again under Melhed rule.
The results were disastrous. The philosophical, diverse, Melite social order grated harshly with the hierarchal, religious dominated Valentic ways. Since the Valentic identity was rooted solidly in their religion while the Melite's were based on their individual contribution the two groups found it impossible to agree. The bishops attempted to once again impose their hierarchy but found the much stronger government resistant to their efforts. Similarly their messages of commandments and zealous faith were met with puzzlement and frustration by the Followers. Soon the term Valentic came to mean narrow minded, quick to judge, and slow to learn.
Aldo Unti
Valentic Order Point of View
The realm of Valentia came into being as a former province of Melhed, seceded by the first King, Kokomaro The Rock. He had been Duke of Unger and it's surrounding provinces for a time, and decided to strike out on his own as Melhed attempted to move from an empirical government to a Republic. Being in the north-east corner of the continent, it became a "melting pot", attracting inhabitants from many of the fallen realms of the recent Invasion, as well as foreigners, with the promise of a fresh start.
With so many different cultures coming together under one banner, the King began looking for a way or purpose to unite everyone together. He looked first to his faith; having been raised in Melhed, he was a follower of The Old Gods. However, Kokomaro felt that a faith based on many different gods without a clear message would only serve to make things more convoluted. He pondered this dilemma for many months, until a strange event occurred.
One day, as the King strolled through the massive courtyards of his palace in Unger, a small contingent arrived at the castle, with an urgent request to meet with him. The group was led by Darrin O'Shea, who was serving the King as Count of Winifael at the time. Darrin said he had ridden all knight, beaconed by Komar to speak urgently with the King. Darrin told the King that Komar had come to him in a vision the night before, and revealed to him the ways of the Highfather. He had given Darrin a scroll detailing his commands; The Scroll of The Vale. Darrin informed the King that he was unable to read the scroll as it was written in the Old Tongue.
The King, seeing on opportunity to unite his realm and bring more power to himself, heartily accepted Darrin's story, and quickly sent the scroll to one of the wisest men of his former faith, Alrukard Armada. Alrukard worked tirelessly to translate the scroll. After returning the original and translated versions to Valentia, Kokomaro proclaimed the foundation of The Valentic Order, and named Darrin as the first Arch Bishop. The King himself joined of course, and encouraged many of his lords to join as well.
The Valentic Order grew and prospered quickly, and soon debates sprang up regarding other faiths, most notably The Old Gods. Darrin argued that their beliefs were very close to one another; their priests had helped translate The Scroll of the Vale, and they held many of the same core values. Others, most notably the King, argued against The Old Gods; he felt their view of the world was too dim and short-sighted. Darrin, as Arch Bishop, announced the official view as he saw it, but many followers did not agree with his decision. Attempts were made to unite the two branches, but few compromises were made on either side. With few people in his corner, Darrin decided to abandon the matter for a time and focus his efforts on expanding his faith. Kokomaro encouraged him in this also, seeing the power that could become available to him if Darrin was able to build a large base of followers.
At this point, a void began to form between Valentians and Melites that would never be fully resolved. Lords of both realms remained quite civil to each other, but the gap formed by the paths of their faiths prevented much beyond that. The Valentics began to live a warrior's lifestyle; focused and driven towards a common goal. The Melites, in contrast, were viewed to be more concerned with bureaucracy and daily life, with little ambition or purpose. These differences would come to head in a rather unseemly course of events.
A harsh disagreement arose between King Kokomaro and LouisJoseph of Old Grehk over the execution of a Grehkian citizen. Kokomaro, fearing that his kingdom would be destroyed by the much larger adversary, petitioned the Melite Senate to re annex the Duchy of Unger. The Senate reluctantly allowed the Valentians to become part of their realm. However, the cultures had become so different from each other that coexistence soon became a chore.
The Melites refused to recognize the beliefs of The Valentic Order as being of equal importance to their own. They also had a strange set of laws, with torts and sub-clauses that were complicated and open to interpretation. The Valentians, being used to a small set of explicit directives handed down through The Scroll of the Vale, were often accused of violating the Melite laws, with a few prominent Valentians even facing trial. Even Arch Bishop Darrin was derailed by the Senate in many of his efforts to undertake activities related to the directives of The Valentic Order. This of course led to feelings of being treated as second-class citizens, which angered many of the former Valentic Lords. Eventually these differences came to a head, and a final split between the realms occurred when some of the Valentic Lords decided to forge papers for ownership of Unger and secede it again without involving the Senate. The Melites were furious with the perceived ungratefulness of the Valentians, and the two realms nearly came to war over the matter. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, but the once-neighbourly relationship the two realms had shared was sadly never able to be mended.
Darrin O'Shea
