This is the primary faith of the majority of the "civilized" world, named for the god Orien. Members of the Orienite faith worship only the god Orien, reviling the goddess (who they name Uxa) as she who turned her back on mankind.

The Orienite Church is highly structured and very rigid and conservative, given to a strict set of rituals and rules both in worship and in everyday life. The main bastion of the church is located in the holy city (name) found on an island in the center of the sea that Castana, Avanne and Vicena are all bordered by. This is believed to be the site where the god and goddess descended to the world, taking earth in their hands and molding it into the first man and woman. The Orienite church has controlled the city for a thousand years, despite attempts by other nations and faiths to conquer it. Much of this is due to the church's strong ties to the Vicenan Empire, the primary political and military power in the region.

The worship of the god Orien has been documented for well over 1500 years. The origins remain hazy. Some state that primitive tribes from the deserts east of Lymphia (the original capital of the Vicenan Empire) brought the worship of their sun god west, while others state that the early polytheistic Lymphians paid tribute to Orien as the sun god of their own pantheon of deities, later placing him at the head of the pantheon.

Whatever the case may be, the history of the current-day Orienite Church is well-documented, and parallels the history of the Lymphian -- and later Vicenan -- Empire. The conversion of the Lymphian Emperor Flavius II to the growing Orienite faith began the push toward conversion of the entire empire. As this conversion neared completion, various warring sects threatened to ignite civil war in the empire as they fought for control of the faithful. Flavius III put a halt to this by bringing the heads of the sects to the capital at Lymphia, where he had them executed and placed his cousin Antius at the head of the Church as the first Praelocutor, and the modern-day Orienite Church was begun.

As the influence and breadth of the Lymphian Empire grew, so did the Orienite Church. As the empire conquered present day Vicena and environs, the church constructed a city on the island where, as church doctrine stated, mankind was created out of the clay by the god Orien and his consort Uxa. Likewise, as the empire weakened, so did the church, though it is more difficult to lose spiritual control over a populace than political control. In times when the provinces of the empire struggled under Lymphian or Vicenan occupation, rarely have they attempted to leave the church.

In the present day, the Orienite Church faces obstacles more serious than it has ever faced. The Lumites have consolidated their hold on Castana, bringing an atmosphere of tolerance for all faiths, and have been impossible to cast out. In addition, the Vesperan faith, previously concentrated almost entirely in Castana, has begun to spread to the nobility in Avanne, bringing along with it a growing equality for women. Time will tell whether the church can regain the firm hold over the populace it once had.

Back to top

The Orienite church is very rigidly structured, and all members of the priesthood are expected to be conscious of the chain of command and the existence of rank at all times. There are five overall levels of rank within the church, as follows:

Praelocutor: The Praelocutor is the head of the church, and bears the final authority in all matters he chooses to take an interest in, from the penance of a backwoods peasant to a crusade against foreign infidels. The Praelocutor rules from the island of the Holy City, and rarely leaves it. If the Praelocutor chooses to make an appearance somewhere outside the island, one can be quite certain something of great importance is going to happen there. The Praelocutor can be chosen from any rank of the priesthood save for the very lowest. The election of a Praelocutor, therefore, becomes an intensely political matter as well as being of great religious significance. The Praelocutor wears bright red robes, to signify the rising sun, and a golden sun disk on a heavy chain around his neck. His head may never be covered, by tradition, so that Orien's light may always shine on him.

Primate: There is a single man of Primate rank assigned to each Orienite nation, where they oversee the Church and its health there. Thus, the Primate Avannum is the head of the Avannais Orienites, and reports directly to the Praelocutor. The Primates of the larger Orienite populations are considered to be of higher rank than smaller populations. Thus, the Primate Vicenum would be second only to the Praelocutor, while the Primate Avannum would be higher than the Primate Castanum, as Castana retains only a small, isolated Orienite population after the Lumite invasion. Finally, the Primate Hastatus oversees the Hastati, or military arm of the church. The Hastati have separate ranks from the civilian priesthood, and will be discussed below. The civilian Primates wear bright blue, the color of the clear noonday sky. Their emblem is a stylized sun embossed with the symbol of the nation they lead. The Primate Hastatus wears robes of jet black, and his emblem is the stylized sun with embossed with two crossed spears.

Proximate: These men are the primary body of the priesthood, responsible for all manners of tasks, including the administration of local cathedrals and the neighboring areas, teaching at the Orienite schools -- for both laypeople and the priesthood. The Proximates are the diplomats, philosophers, historians, researchers, preachers and administrators of the Orienite Church. They wear robes of deep green, to represent Orien's power over life and growth, and wear a simple sun disk.

Ministrator: The Ministrators are the lowest of the ordained Orienite priests, responsible for the religious instruction of the lay populace, comparable to the local parish priest. A ministrator wears a plain brown robe, representative of Orien's control over the earth, and by extension all things that walk upon it. Like the Proximates, Ministrators wear a simple sun disk as well.

Auxiliator: Those in training to join the Orienite priesthood fall under this rank. This training is covered below. Suffice it to say, these are the lowest among the Orienite priesthood, and are in fact not ranking members of the priesthood at all. During his training, an Auxiliator wears a plain white robe devoid of all decoration, even the sun disk. Unlike those of rank, the Auxiliator's robe is hooded, signifying that they have yet to earn Orien's favor. The hood is expected to remain raised at all times.

The Hastati

As one of Orien's aspects is the god of war, the Orienite church maintains a military order that acts as an elite guard for the church. These men protect the Holy City, the Cathedrals of the Sun in each nation, as well as the Primates that oversee them. Men are chosen from the ranks of the Auxiliators to join the Hastati; one does not ask to join them,

Even more than the priesthood as a whole, this is an exceptionally rigid organization, and transgressions against laws and rank are dealt with severely and often brutally. However, the Hastati are considered some of the very finest fighting men to be found anywhere.

The Hastati always wear primarily black, with indicators of rank (explained below) in blood red.

Primate Hastatus: The highest rank among the Hastati is, as mentioned previously, the Primate Hastatus. This man is always drawn from the ranks of the Hastati after long and meritorious service to both the order and Orien.

Chiliarch: The next highest rank among the Hastati are the Chiliarchs, each of whom command 1000 men. Practically speaking, they are more often administrators than field generals, though in times of war, they fill this latter role quite capably indeed. Most of their commands are to their subordinates, who are in charge of the day-to-day operations of the unit (also called a chiliarch). A Chiliarch's black overtunic is decorated with the red sun of Orien on the chest.

Centurion: Each Centurion is given the command of a hundred men of the 1,000 in a chiliarch. These are the direct subordinates of the Chiliarch, and see to the day-to-day functioning of their units. A Centurion bears three horizontal red stripes of rank on the right shoulder.

Decurion: The Decurion is in charge of a company of ten men, typically a guard or scout unit. These are typically junior officers, promoted above the general body of soldiers to some level of responsibility. Their symbol of rank is two horizontal red stripes on the right shoulder.

Hastatus: The common soldier of the Hastati is referred to as a hastatus. They bear no symbol of rank, merely the black tunic over whatever armor they wear.

Back to top

When mankind fell from grace, the goddess Uxa -- referred to by some as Occasa or Hebat -- turned her back on man and set herself in the night sky as the moon. That much the three major religions have in common. The Orienites believe that she has since ignored -- and will continue to ignore -- the fate of mankind and their pleas for help. This, then, is the schism at the heart of the conflicts between faiths. All other beliefs of the Orienite populace stem from this.

Men hold the vast majority of power in Orienite society. The prevailing belief states that woman must serve man to atone for the failings of the goddess to provide for her children, an attitude enforced by the teachings of the church. Women are not allowed to own property of their own, and when their husbands die, the lands and other possessions go to the next male relative of that husband, whether that be son, brother or cousin. If no younger male relative exists, the lands go to the father or uncle. If no male relative exists at all, the lands go to the governing body -- the nearest noble, or to the crown if necessary. Whoever inherits may allow the woman to remain on the land or retain access to money or other possessions, but this is by no means guaranteed, and is often looked down upon by others.

A man may divorce a woman with little or no reason, and adultery -- while not encouraged -- is not significantly punished, as long as it remains quiet. The rationale behind this is that the god has brought a man and woman together for the purpose of procreation, and to sow one's seed elsewhere is displeasing to Orien. However, marriage is not seen as a romantic union. Romance is seen as an entreaty to the goddess, and is highly frowned upon by the priesthood. A true Orienite is expected to protect and provide for his lands and people, as Orien watches over his own. He is expected to reward and punish them as necessary, as Orien does for mankind. He is expected to provide a portion of his time and wealth to the church, as they are the shepherds for all the people and spread the teachings of the god. A true Orienite is expected to be humble beneath the eyes of the god, fight to prevent the sullying of the god's word, name and teachings, and never stray from Orien's light.

Unsurprisingly, women are not allowed to be members of the priesthood. However, there is a group of women -- the Famulae -- that act as servants to the priesthood. They are the drudges and laborers that maintain the cathedrals, work the kitchens, and other such menial tasks.

The practice of magic is considered the most heinous of sins, whether it is Vesperan or Lumite. Although the Lumites teach that the secrets of alchemy were given to Lumah by the god, Orienite teaching states that Lumah was forever damned by his association with the Vesperan Church. The Vesperan Church is considered blasphemous above all else, not only for the teaching of magic, but for their worship of the goddess, their practice of castration and the equality of women.

Back to top

Worship services in the Orienite church are formal affairs, and must be held at a consecrated temple. Services are held at sunrise and high noon. In the Cathedrals of the Sun in the major cities, these are performed by the Proximate, save on holy days in the capital of the nation, in which case the Primate himself performs the ceremonies. In the smaller cities and country temples, the Ministrator of the area is responsible for the service.

Seating at these services is by rank and gender -- men are seated first, with noblemen in the front. Male peasants are seated in front of the women, which are further divided by rank as the men are. The priest conducting the services is the only person allowed to speak, and that speech consists entirely of sermons. Once the sermon has finished, the eldest female of each family attending comes forward to the altar, where she kneels and offers a candle to the attending priest. The candle is lit from the temple or cathedral's own eternal light, returned to the woman, and the family leaves the temple or cathedral. If the candle, by some chance, does not remain lit past the gates of the temple grounds, the woman responsible for the candle is taken by the priesthood and must perform penance.

Cathedrals of the Sun

The earthly attempt to match the brilliance of the sun, major Orienite temples (called Cathedrals of the Sun) are immense, ornate wonders of architecture and artistry. The central motif of a cathedral is the spire, symbolizing mankind's yearning toward the perfection of the god, though other elements are also present in the cathedral's construction. Glass is used frequently, to allow sunlight to enter the inner chambers and halls, while the cathedral itself is built out of stone and marble. The center of all cathedrals is the vast Hall of the Sun, where worship services are performed. These halls always run east-west, with the altar at the eastern end. Windows are placed both behind the altar as well as directly overhead, to allow the sunrise and the noonday sun to enter the hall. The altar itself typically has either a firepit or a place for candles to keep the eternal flame of Orien alight.

Other simpler temples do not match the Cathedrals in either size or grandeur, though they too are built of stone, incorporate windows whenever possible and maintain a site for the eternal flame to be kept. These smaller sites of worship are also built around a central hall, constructed in the same fashion as the cathedrals, only on a smaller and more humble scale.

Other Rituals

Marriages are not the cause for celebration that they are in the Vesperan faith. The rite of marriage is much more like the transfer of property, as only a priest and the woman's husband-to-be and her eldest or highest-ranking male relative need be present. Others may be present if the male relative allows, but play no part in the ceremony. Often, many others will be invited if the marriage is occasion to demonstrate some bit of power or wealth, and the weddings of the daughters of particularly high-ranking nobles are often very large social affairs.

Births are attended by a member of the priesthood. No other men are allowed to be present; birth is impure, being the sole domain of women, and only members of the priesthood are of sufficient strength of spirit to witness this impurity. The attending priest is the first to touch the newborn child and bestows the name selected by its father upon it.

The summer solstice is the holiest of days in the Orienite faith, one of the only days when some of the restrictions on decorum and conduct are relaxed -- though by no means removed completely. The summer solstice is considered a festival day. Parties and celebrations abound, joined even by a number of the members of the priesthood. The winter solstice is also a holy day, though in a different manner. All Orienites over the age of thirteen are expected to remain awake from sunset to sunrise, to keep themselves safe from the dangers of the night. Each carries their own candle representing lights to guide Orien back to the sky in the morning.

As the Orienites view magic of any sort as an abomination, the priesthood especially is constantly on the lookout for any practitioners of such dark arts. The decision to name someone a magician lies solely with the priesthood, and there is a fair amount of leeway allowed. The penalty for performing magic is, predictably, death. This is typically accomplished by burning the offender at the stake, though in certain cases when the priesthood wishes to set an example, more elaborate methods are often used. However, the offender is always burned -- more formally referred to as 'cleansed by Orien's fire' -- whether that burning occurs while they are dead or alive.

Because of their views on magic, a portion of the priesthood is dedicated to searching out practitioners and bringing them to the god's justice. Each century in the Fifth Chiliarch of the Hastati has five members who are trained to sense the use of magic. This ability is not considered magic in itself, but rather the blessing of the god, a gift that allows the recipient to sense the resonance of Ferium (see the Magic page) so that those that derive power from that resonance can be hunted down. Ironically, if one of these Persequors, as they are called, had been born a Vesperan or Lumite, they would likely have become mages themselves. In any case, while the Fifth Chiliarch is always at the disposal of the Primate Hastatus for whatever task he deems fit, their constant goal in the absence of other orders is to travel the land seeking mages.

Back to top

Orienites worship only one deity, the god Orien. His primary aspect is the sun god, which extends to control over all things under the sun: life and death, the earth and seas, the sky and weather, and so on. A secondary aspect, invoked by soldiers and other warriors, is the traditional masculine aspect of a god -- the god of war. This demonstrates one of the most important qualities of Orien, the fact that he is always seen as a male presence, a quality that is reflected throughout the male-dominated Orienite society. In general, the Orienite priesthood teaches that Orien is a benevolent, yet stern and demanding father, who demands respect and worship but punishes those that fall from his favor.

While only Orien is paid worship, Orienites acknowledge the existence of the goddess, whom they name Uxa -- loosely translated as 'wife', bearing a derogatory connotation. However, the goddess is viewed as weak, uncaring and capricious, and sometimes even as evil. The night is her domain, the distant, cold moon her aspect. Thus the night and darkness are dangerous spiritually, as Orien travels beneath the earth to do battle against the forces of evil that live in black night. All Orienites maintain at least one candle or fire throughout the darkness, to lend support to Orien's battle and to guide him back.

Back to top

Orienites have perhaps a peculiar view of converts. To the mind of the devout, everyone is at heart an Orienite no matter what faith they pay lip service. Those that express their belief or faith in other deities or prophets are often seen as delusional, crazy, corrupted or evil and must be saved or healed from their eventual terrible fate. The priesthood is active in this process, working to reclaim believers from other faiths.

Converts are typically referred to as those that have 'returned'. Those that seek for themselves to convert are treated better than those that are actively converted by a member of the priesthood -- their conversion entails a much simpler ceremony. In this case, they are are blessed by a member of the priesthood and required to spend a week in prayer and service to the nearest temple or cathedral.

Those more forcefully converted suffer more lasting effects. As with the 'cleansing' of practitioners of magic, fire is used as a tool to burn out the unwholesome residue of following false faiths -- these sorts of converts are branded on the back of the right hand with the stylized sun symbol. Those that undergo this process often bear a great deal of pride, having gone through this trial and survived with their new faith intact.

Practitioners of magic, as mentioned above, if discovered by the priesthood, are typically burned at the stake. However, if one of these willingly comes to a member of the Orienite priesthood and declares their desire to give up their magical powers and convert to the Orienite faith, they are spared death. Such a person, instead of being branded on the back of the hand, has their head shaved and the brand placed on the forehead. For the rest of their days, they are not allowed to regrow their hair, nor are they allowed to cover their brand. Those discovered doing such are likely to suffer the burning at the stake they narrowly avoided earlier.

Back to top

Training in the Orienite priesthood, as might be expected, is very strict and very demanding. All those training to join the priesthood bear the rank of Auxiliator and wear the hooded white robe indicative of the rank. These trainees may only speak when spoken to, and are expected to show deference to everyone of the faith, whether that person be a priest or not, male or female. Thus, the first and most important lesson taught to the Auxilator is humility.

The second lesson is spirituality. All Auxiliators spend their afternoons studying the works of past members of the priesthood and learning their writings. Many departed Praelocutors and Primates have authored theological works, and the body of teaching in the Orienite church is based off these works, as they echo the thoughts of Orien himself.

The third lesson is knowledge. The Auxiliator also receives academic training: reading, writing, history, politics, mathematics. These studies are directed by a member of the Ministrators, typically one who has only recently attained such a rank. An Auxiliator will spend 4 hours a day on these subjects, typically in the mornings.

The fourth lesson is of struggle. Labor purifies the spirit, expresses one's gratitude for the gifts of the earth that Orien has bestowed. As directed by the Famulae (the female servants of the temple or cathedral), an Auxiliator is responsible for much of the raw physical labor necessary to maintain the grounds and buildings of Orienite temple or cathedral land.

The Auxiliator does not choose when his training is complete. That responsibility falls to those in charge of the temple or cathedral where he trains, and is a simple matter of being called before the priest and receiving the brown robe and sun disk of a Ministrator. At this point, he is free to go wherever he likes, to seek out a place for himself. Some choose not to leave, and remain behind to teach. Some are given positions within the church by higher-ranking priests. Some choose to travel and find their own path. A number of Praelocutors have begun their rise from this last choice.

The Hastati keep watch over the ranks of the Auxiliators, and choose their trainees from those that show the greatest devotion to humility and struggle. Once chosen, the Auxiliator has additional training in military matters on top of their other training. The path to joining the Hastati is extremely difficult, but if it can be completed, the result is one of the finest fighting men in the land.

A rise in rank above this point is solely at the discretion of either the Primate of the nation or the Praelocutor himself. One demonstrates one's worthiness by deeds, not by campaigning. This is the case whether one is a member of the main body of the priesthood or the Hastati. In the latter case, promotions are handled almost entirely among the Hastati themselves, recommended to the Primate or the Chiliarch by the Hastatus' commanding officer.

Back to top