The Things We Do for XP: Religion in Belswick

In principle I like sprawling pantheons of gods for every occasion, I practice I hardly use them in play. Diluted attention? In any case, Belswick gets just one big religion and two minor deities.

Astute readers may have noted that this setting is just me tying awesome posts from (mostly) Goblin Punch and Coins and Scrolls together. I find it much easier to riff off of their posts than come up with everything on my own. Full link list to come in an overview post. Many thanks for the great ideas!

The Authority is worshiped everywhere and by pretty much everyone. His Church teaches what is right and wrong and sets the crown on the monarch's head. Follow its laws and enter Heaven with the saints. Two other divine beings are recognized, but they have not shaped society like the Authority does.

The Authority created the world and ordered everything in it. He is attended by angels and numerous saints. The Authority rules the heavens and has ordened the hells. Fools who claim there were previous religions are misguided at best, heretics at worst, and right all the same. But that is deep dark knowledge, held by the Olmadicians and edited by the Mouthless Order when they get the chance. The purest manifestation of the Authority is the Air, which carries his word to far places.
Spiderlings are allowed to worship the Watcher, the estranged spouse of the Authority which still watches creation at night with its 1000 eyes.
Against the Authority and all that is just and good is arrayed the Exile, who desires nothing less than overturning ordered society. He -she?- is attended by the patron spirits of Warlocks. Followed by cursed agitators and madmen. Their servants are the mishapen dark fey - orcs, goblins and giants.

The many angels and saints of the Authority
The Assumption of the Virgin by Francesco Botticini (wikimedia)

ON COSMOLOGY

The Authority and its angels decide who gets into Heaven, Hell or Purgatory. These and all the other planes are places you can walk, swim, fly or burrow to. Heaven is up, Hell is down, and the Dwarfs are secretly digging there. Volcanoes are the court of the fire elementals. Purgatory is an archipelago far, far out to sea. To breach the ethereal plane you need to die a little and the astral is a dream away.

Of course getting in is quite another matter. From.

Deep background

There might be less history than the Church teaches. I'm not sure yet if I want to add Goblin Punch's Time of Fire and Madness - can always hide it in a censured tome for the players to uncover.
There are Angels. Weird ones. They do not appear often and most are created on the spot to perform a service for the Authority. There are also demons - enemies of all that is just and true as the Church believes, but actually in the service of the Authority to stress test people's morality.
There is talk of an Angel walking the earth, but her message seems...unorthodox.

THE AUTHORITY

The Authority is the one and true god. He is attended in Heaven by his angels and saints and lesser deities. All the civilized world (and most of the Far Places) worships him. Symbol: a rod of authority. Only used by Bishops and higher clergy, others use the symbol of their order or a sky blue gem (or painted stone).

The Church of the Authority centres around the Tower of Air above the Holy city of Felopolis. The airy structure is held aloft by exalted elementals in a permanent vortex of incense and fluted hymns. The current Archpriest is Irenaios VII, formerly bishop Cedric of the Ivory Candle of St. Kurelda. Irenaios is steering the Church in a direction of strict observance of the holy virtues.

Domains and their orders and saints
The Church of the Authority has many Saints and associated holy orders. Orders include ordained clergy (who oversee a parish or bishopric, minister to the people and can write indulgences) and concemplatives in cloisters and monasteries. Holy orders are open to all members of the First Estate, not just clerics.

Clerics have to become a member of an order to gain access to their Domain - all 5e handbook domains are available. Clerics who become a member of such Orders receive access to spells and 1st level domain powers as part of their initiation. Access to advanced mysteries requires deeper initiation and quests for the order. Many more minor orders exist, but they do not offer Domain access.

Most bards are trained in the Minor Colleges of the Orders of the Olmadicians, the Ivory Candle of St. Kurelda and the Silent Order of St. Gustau. Bardic power is considered uncouth by the Second Estate. Mindbending spells and inspirational oratory can be very useful, but their source must be hidden to protect status. Base fiddlers in the Third Estate (or outlaws) may call themselves bards, but are little more than rabble rousers with stolen magic that trade off the sanctified status of College Bards.)

The saints below were lovingly stolen from Goblin Punch - see there for cool relics. I've added some details to their holy deaths and wrote up the religious orders that sprang up after their demise.

Knowledge domain - Olmadicians / Order of the Scroll
The Olmadicians delve for knowledge in dangerous places. If the Authority knows all, they honor him best by seeking to uncover what was hidden. Discoveries are taken back to the library-monasteries and triplicated. One copy is kept on site, one is sent to the regional Chapter and one to the Order's Fortress Monastery. Their Sleeping Priests keep the spirits dormant that would rouse the Great Beasts of the Apocalypse. The Olmadicians wear deep blue robes with a white sash. Their holy symbol is an eye or an open book.

Saints:

St. Olmado - tempted and unmanned by demons during his 40 day fast of introspection
St. Dorbaine - kept praying while struck during sermon, beheaded, burnt, tongue removed

Olmadician Monastery with library (from Eco's Name of the Rose)

Inside the library

Life domain - Leaden Order of St. Vivione
The Leaden Order is named after its grey metal masks, worn with brown cowled robes and a grey mantle. Their charter is to fight plague and demonic posession - pretty much the same thing anyway. Grim after seeing all the suffering they cannot prevent. Famous for its tradition of emulating its Saints: supplicants to the deeper mysteries often scar themselves or sacrifice body parts for their faith. Their holy symbol is their grey metal mask.

Saints:

St. Vivione the Excoriated - patron saint of healing - would. not. die. Was poisoned, skinned, burned, broken, torn, eviscerated and finally dissolved in acid.
St. Almahd the Crucified - eyes gauged out, crucified. Kept seeing and blessing the sick.

Of course like this (from)

But also this

Definitely this (from here - lots more)

Light domain - Ivory Candle of St. Kurelda
Exists to abjure and censor the Witch and the Warlock. Know all the signs and sigils of Warlock's patron spirits and are adept trackers. Specialize in cleansing fire magic. Surprisingly (or not), have a history of members being tempted into warlockry. A secretive suborder - the Light of Iasu - watches for corruption in the ranks. All wear white robes under a deep red mantle. Their holy symbol is a glowing ember of cold fire.

Saints:

St. Kurelda - a great hunter of warlocks, was immolated by witches
St. Iasu the Lantern atop the Tower - ate only preserving oils and lacquers before self-mummification

Nature domain - The Circle of Thorns / Carnellians
The Carnellians are the Church's attempt to move into the wilderness spaces where old faiths and druid traditions still hold. Small and humble order that is sometimes accused of loving nature more than bringing the true word to the unbelievers. Sensible clothes abound. Formal wear is a white robe and white hooded cloak, a symbol of purity in the face of the wild. Their holy symbol is a femur - either carved from ivory or donated by a fallen Brother or Sister.

Saints:

St. Telluchus the Devoured - eaten by wolves after teaching druid children to read and write
St. Carnelli who fed the Companions - gave of his own flesh to feed a starving winter village

Tempest domain - Gale Order of St. Ingvar, the Raven Order
Exists to maintain vigil against the Three Beasts of the Apocalypse: the Kraken, the Tarrasque and the Apocalypse Maggot. Seeks signs of these beasts and works against cults of the Exile that would raise them. Their greatest and most costly victory was over the arch-sorceror Shadoom. They wield the purest of air magics, with gale force winds, bursts of cold and protective clouds. Wear sky blue robes as their vestments. Their Holy Symbol is a silvered feather.

Saints:

St. Ingvar who Defied the Tyrant - eaten over three days by the red dragon Scoria
Nameless Saint of Ravens - souls shattered into a pile of worms by the necromancer Shadoom, then fed to an unkindness of ravens. She made the ravens speak to help its companions in the Second Death of Shadoom, although the mischievous birds stole the part of her soul that was her name.

Verenvalaja album cover, Vainaja

Trickery domain - Silent Order of St. Gustau / Gustavinians
Tasked with keeping Things Man Was Not Meant to Know that way and at cross purposes with the Olmadicians. Known for infiltrating the Olmadicians to swap blasphemous tomes for harmless forgeries. The Gustavinians are also tasked with performing the minimal prayers for the captured Least Gods that still have some sense of identity. Wear purple robes over white garments when not in disguise. Their holy symbol is a skeletal finger.

Saints:

St. Gustau the Quick - lost a hand to a blade trap, bled out while prophesying the tomb's secrets
St. Grendelweiss the Patron of Moths - skull transformed into quartz to foil a Warlock mindreader

War - The Black Hand, the Ferragun Order
Warrior priests that protect the Archpriest and ride when the Church cannot trust the Second Estate to take action. Wear coarse black robes in their monasteries, or white tabard over highly ornamental black gothic plate armor when out in the field. If you are having a very good day, they will allow you to confess your sins before they strike off your head. Their holy symbol is a black gauntlet or glove worn on the left hand.

Saints:

St. Ferragun the Pugilist - died of old age, a spectacular achievement for one who wrestled anything
St. Cavurha the Shattered - crushed gruesomely by stone giants

Not ashamed to show my inspiration. Exactly like the knights pandion.
(from)

No domain - Order of the Third Lantern
The little known Order of the Third Lantern was founded to hunt Vampires and guard against the return of Nameless Queen Yama. In decline after what its detractors say was overwhelming success - and reason for its termination. The only pure vampire left is the Order's most securely bound Saint Cascarrion (who is both alive and dead). Likewise, fewer people each year believe the story of the Queen of many Lives, although Cascarrion still rides out to stop her piecemeal reincarnation. There is talk outside of the Order of confining him to his crypt after he attacked a daughter of the Baron Herrenfass "to save Her beautiful, traitorous spleen". Members wear coarse linen vestments with black tabards while in their tower-monasteries.

Saint:

St. Cascarrion, the Grim Saint

THE WATCHER

The Spiderlings look up at night and see not stars but the 1000 eyes of the Watcher looking over them. She was once the honored spouse of the Authority, but a suppressed argument caused distance between them. This has caused all kinds of horrific rumours to be told about Spiderlings and how they offend the Authority. The Watcher takes care of her Spiderlings in two aspects:

The Weaver works tirelessly to tie her people close together: her clerics strengthen the Web of Spiderlings. These Spiderlings keep to the old ways, wear the silken garments of their ancestors and still consider devouring their spouse as the holiest of communions. Access to the Life domain. Holy symbol: a web of metal wires - or web.

The Runner is the scout and spy who joins Otherling society to discover and mislead those who would harm the Web. They are modern in outlook - a sacrifice to protect the purity of the Web. Runners tend to join trade or merchant guilds so they can travel far and spot unwholesome vibrations before these threaten the Web. Access to the Trickery domain. Holy symbol: a silk scarf.

THE EXILE

"The Exile dances with his Warlocks", goes the saying when disaster strikes. This former angel was cast into Hell for a sin so vile that it was erased from the world afterward. After escaping, the Exile swore to make the Authority's beautiful machine break itself. The Exile itself is too twisted by hate to be an effective tempter. Warlock patrons are his servants that seduce with fast power and release from oppression. The Exile has a small store of divine grace left and will offer it to clerics that can spread his word like the warlocks spread his sins. Warlocks outnumber Clerics of the Exile 10 to 1, but those few are dark tempters indeed.

Clerical domains: Knowledge, Light; holy symbol is a key.

Warlock patrons: the Hungry Crone, the Blistered Squire, the Emerald Saint, the Scandalous Courtier

So why join up with a Warlock patron and imperil your immortal soul? Easy! You...