The Faith

If you ever begin to lose hope...look above to the beauty of the cosmos and surrender yourself in prayer. You are a part of everything, and it is a part of you.

The Faith, officially The Essharan Celestial Church, or the Church of Celestialism, is the sister branch to the Order of the First Light and the state religion of Esshar, with clergy serving on multiple fronts, as much priests as they are scholars of magic and philosophers. They are tasked with documenting and preserving the details of history, as well as the day to day of missionary work, such as working to improve the community.

The holy book of the faith is the Codex Cosmos, a detailed timeline of past events and a deconstruction of the physical world and the properties of magic itself. While it's blasphemous to alter scripture in most religions, the Codex Cosmos grows with discoveries and the evolution of society.

Foundings

In 320 AC, Astronomy in Esshar was just beginning to develop. It was considered a revolutionary event at the time, the herald of a new era of understanding. Leading this charge was Nile Pelleaux, a cousin of the Head of House Pelleaux of the time. Nile’s research led to a new understanding of the nature of stars: they were both vessels and punishers of souls, burning away their mortal sins to prepare them for reincarnation.

Ranks

• Grand Priest: The speaker of the stars selected through the divine insight of the King & Queen. They are the direct ambassador of the star's will upon this plane and revered as highly as the stars themselves. To become a Grand Priest is the highest honor for any member of the church to hold.
• Stellus: The executor of the Grand Priest's will and vision as dictated from the heavens above. There is a High Priest for each star within the Constellation of Leonaus, each held to the highest standards of faith and virtue. They function as the head of their particular branch, approving the entries into the codex and overseeing the operations of the faithful within their jurisdiction.
• Bishop: A veteren and revered priest, the Bishop represents a mastery of knowledge of the faith and a powerful center of spirit. In times of need, they act as neutral judges when presiding over pressing legal matters. Further, they act as a point of escalation in religious disputes and resolve debates between other members of the faith.
• Priest: A fully realized member of the the Faith. Priests hold a variety of duties, but most typically find their days lost in study, research, or direct action on behalf of the church. A priest acts as an administrator over Deacons, allocating their tasks and overseeing their charitable actions. Further, they also begin work on making new additions to the Codex Cosmos.
• Deacon: An official member of the faith with all standing powers that it grants. Having mastered the codex and honed their spiritual center, a Deacon has successfully become a full-fledged member of the clergy. They now fully represent the church in their day-to-day actions and can host their own sermons / projects. It is not uncommon that Deacons are sent on missionary work to outside lands, or even to less well-off districts of Osrona itself in an effort to uplift the people.
• Acolyte: An aspiring faithful of the stars. An acolyte is one with the drive to succeed but without the knowledge or experience to do so. Often younger, sometimes even barely into their teens, Acolytes spend much of their time that isn't locked in prayer or study following around older Priests and Deacons in an effort to glean experience from their day-to-day lives. Like a squire to a knight, an Acolyte is expected to support the clergy in all that they do and question few of their teachings. Many men and women fail the trials that face the acolytes with only a select few becoming deacons.

Traditions

• Initiates into the clergy of the Faith go through a ritual where, regardless of any cosmic magic, they are 'chosen' by a star. This is similar to having a horoscope done, with the star they are 'chosen' by being meant to reflect their future.
• Members of the Clergy are expected to spend at least three days a year performing charity. This usually involves the poor being offered food or small amounts of money, although many Initiates into the Church are recruited through this manner.
• The clergy give up all claims on titles or land.
• It is not uncommon for higher ranking members of the church to have the Constellation of Leonaus tattooed on their bodies.

Canonization

Canonization is the official process, established by the Church, in which deceased individuals of great faith and consequence are admitted into sainthood; sainthood presumes that the dead man or woman has lived so virtuously and that their spirit has been cleansed so deeply by the stars between their last life and this current one that their soul is admitted into paradise, living in everlasting joy at the side of the Creator.

Canonization is not a simple process. First, the canonization of someone who's died - the length of time does not matter - must be proposed to the Starseer by a stellus If the Starseer approves, the candidate's canonization is voted upon by the stellii and then put forward to Grand Priest, who has the final say on the matter.

Here are only a few examples of saints within the Church, for there are as many as there are stars in the night sky.

St. Mihail - Saint Mihail Petrakis was among the most prominent archagi of the Astyan Empire and the spells he cast during the mythical age before the Divine War would be considered miracles today. It is thanks to him that the people of Astya were transported to Esshar, saving them from total annihilation. The patron saint of Esshar, all magi, and the royal family.

St. Niles of Astya - The founder of the Church and the theological father of Celestialism, no saint is more highly regarded than Saint Niles. He is the patron saint of clergymen, scholars, refugees, and House Pelleaux.

St. Ermis - Saint Ermis was a lay healer who held a fragment of the Creator's soul; he performed miracles and sacrificed himself to save the world from Azrael's genocidal machinations. He is the patron saint of doctors, the sick, and Astya.

Excommunication

Reserved for only the most wicked in the eyes of the Church, Excommunication is the highest punishment that the Stellus and Starseer may dole out. Theoretically, any offense is sufficient enough for excommunication so long as the Starseer signs off upon it. This, historically, can lead to both abuse and political leveraging. The most famous example of such was in 916 AC when Starseer Leoric Iramas issued an Excommunication on then-head of House Astor after a particularly scathing comment about the efficacy of the Church's work.

However, in righteous times the standard for Excommunication is high. Many criteria can be met, but they revolve around the same:

• Unrepentant Heresy
• Unrepentant Moral Debauchery
• Unrepentant antagonism against the Church / The Stars
• Impersonating an Official Member of the Faith
• Maiming or otherwise killing a Member of the Faith

...among other, more clerical and mundane offenses (attempting to host a sermon without the Church's blessing, being a priest and falsely charging one with heresy, etc.)

Effects of Excommunication:

Though a grave offense, Excommunication is not a death sentence. The following penalties are applied to an Excommunicated individual:

• Any rank the offended had within the Church is revoked.
• Any attempt to stand upon holy ground uninvited is now considered criminal trespassing.
• If the offended held membership to a guild or faction, Excommunication is grounds for termination of membership.
• If the offended rented land, Excommunication is grounds for eviction.
• If the offended held a noble title, Excommunication is grounds for disowning.
• If the offended further commits a crime, the state of Excommunication allows Capital Charges to be granted for otherwise minor offenses.

Atonement

Excommunication can be, but oft is not a permanent state of affairs. The Excommunicated is able to work with the Celestial Church to arrange a fitting atonement to have the status annulled. Oft does this mean that the offended must make a grand gesture or otherwise large donation to the Church.

Indeed, even in the above example the then-lord of House Astor, after years of political pressure against his house, eventually caved and atoned to the church with a vast sum of coin to absolve his crimes.

However, the willingness to accept atonement falls upon the Church and those found wicked enough are often unable to live within Osrona forevermore with the black mark upon their soul...

Constellation of Leonaus

The constellation of Leonaus is the brightest and the closest in the region, heralded by the divine spirit of the same name. The eighteen stars make out a lion when the night sky is clear.

Yellow Branch - The Body of the Lion

☉ - Leo - The Brightest Star - House of Leadership - Likely to promote leadership

♄ - Alph - The Center Star - House of Judgement - Likely to promote charisma

⚶ - Geist - The Moving Star - House of Vision - Likely to promote visions

♐︎ - Phos - The Pinned Star - House of Determination - Likely to promote firmness

Ξ - Lyzel - The Tail - House of Movement - Likely to promote efficiency

♎︎ - Sae - The Neck - House of Speaking - Likely to promote understanding

Blue Branch - The Head of the Lion

Δ - Hiero - The Old Star - House of Revision - Likely to improve interpretation

☌ - Uner - The Comet - House of Testimony - Likely to improve invention

♈︎ - Biblos - The North Star - House of Emotion - Likely to improve passion

Θ - Rhyt - The Mane - House of Wisdom - Likely to improve rationality

☊ - Iberl - The Poles - House of Firsts - Likely to improve observation

♒︎ - Syph - The Tooth - House of Smoothness - Likely to improve coherency

Red Branch - The Paws of the Lion

♆ - Vrona - The Three Ringed Planet - House of Force - Likely to grant offensive capacity

♊︎ - Anos - The Grand Planet - House of Guardians - Likely to grant defensive capacity

♅ - Neoi - The Swift Planet - House of Scouts - Likely to grant intellectual capacity

♓︎ - Ios - The Large Planet - House of Banners - Likely to grant morale capacity

δ - Twe - The Dull Planet - House of Bankers - Likely to grant economic capacity

π - Yiel - The Bright Planet - House of People - Likely to grant religious capacity