Mandadorianism
Mandadorianism is a monolatrous religion based principally around the worship of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and yet bodiless deity known only as Mandador, and that of his prophet, Ramian Lancourt. Ramian, bestowed with the awesome powers of the Voice of Mandador while a young man, quickly converted much of the known world. Speaking the very words of Mandador, he preached on the goodness of Mandador as the Prime Mover of the universe and creator of the Earth, and warned that all other gods were interlopers, mere shadows compared to the majesty of Mandador, and that in the ending of the world and universe they would prove damning to those who believed in them. Founded during the final decline of the successor empire of the continent-spanning hegemony of Thosher Phawn, leader of the Council of Darkspells, Mandadorianism spread with great speed throughout Pompiersia and the old Casperian and Appadosian heartlands, leading quickly to the fall of the empire, and the declaration and inauguration of new empire, the Mandadorian Empire, by Ramian, who crowned the first Emperor of Mandadoria, Armodius Camunspraser.
Contents
Origins
History
Mandadorian Theology
The Nature of Mandador
General Discussion
Mandador is considered a supreme deity, triumphant over all others. Theologically he is considered the Prime Mover of the Multiverse, and whose Voice created the World perfectly. It is His Spirit which gave life to the mortal beings of the world. From the Outer Darkness came the other gods, who beckoned to these mortals, calling for their reverence and worship, which was given by most all of them. Betrayed by this great sin, Mandador left the World until the sin had been expiated, and one of a perfect Nature could truly reflect upon Mandador, and worship the true Creator of the World without being oppressed by the infinite Power of Mandador. This man was Ramian, who was to be bestowed with the Voice of Mandador, who returned the true Faith to the World.
Mandador is considered to be All Powerful, All Knowing and Eternal. He has no known form, and at least in the Danian Rite is never depicted in art, save for through symbolism. He is served by “archons and aasimon”, several of which are known by name in the Holy Texts. He however dwells upon the highest mountain of the highest mount of Mount Celestia, the Celestial Heavens, whose palace is higher than all other gods.
Mandador tests his faithful, and awaits an unknown Time upon which he will End the World in his final conflict with the Interloper Gods, and send them back to the Outer Darkness. A war of the Heavens and Lower Planes will simultaneously reach their end, and save for those who elect to become His servants, all will fall to the Infernal Regions, even those who thought themselves good. The Traitorous will fall forever and ever, and He will reveal to the Elect the Secret Doors of Destiny, for which Ramian holds the Key, and with the Voice of Mandador decree Everlasting Admittance. The Mystery of Ultimate Destiny is unknown save to Mandador and Ramian alone, and is beyond any reality known, even to the other gods.
Trinitarianism
Mandador is composed of three separate, equal and co-substantial beings: the Voice, the Power and the Spirit. It is a mysterious union of three distinct aspects of Mandador, but are not separate deities.
The Voice
The Voice was the first revealed, and decreed the world into existence, and all its beings.
The Power
The Power is the direct manifestation of Mandador’s Will upon the World, and also references His metaphysical presence in an actual sense. The Power is beyond contemplation and without limit. The Power of Mandador shaped the World, and gave initial perfect form to his creations before the Interloper Gods came and corrupted them.
The Spirit
The Spirit permeates all things in all places without limit, through which one might know the Will of Mandador, and feel his presence. It is the agency of Mandador which gave rise to the souls and spirits of mortals.
Theological Dogma
Creation
The Word of Mandador and the various Lives of the Prophet are not clear about the extent of Mandador's involvement in Creation. Certainly that the world was "spoken" into being is fully accepted, and there is oblique mention that Mandador is the "God of worlds," but the sacred texts are not clear regarding the level of Mandador's involvement in the Creation of the rest of the Multiverse. The sacred texts however do recount that Mandador first came from the "Outer Darkness" when there was "nothing", and that the Voice Spoke, and thus the World Was.
The Power of Mandador
Sacred texts of the faith generally refer to Mandador's power as "most powerful". That Mandador has warred with other gods is referenced, but such things are beyond the thought of mortals; it is enough to know that not all the gods together could defeat him if it was his Will to destroy them, or so it is taught.
The Presence of Evil in the Multiverse
Ramian the Prophet of Mandador
The Holy Prophet Ramian Lancourt of Astanaro (Ramianus Lancourtinus) Parents: Eric (Ericius) Lancourt and Almayeen Salence
Ramian Lancourt was born on the 12th day of Snow Waters in 17 B.M. on the tiny island of Astanaro, a possession of Hyperbosia, then under the flag of Sentorius, Wanax of the Tanettians and all the Danians. Born the son of a minor magistrate who governed this island just west of Dania’s northernmost peninsula, Ramian was educated to become a priest of Vandadon, king-god of the venerable Casperian Pantheon, an ancient group of gods of men finding new vitality, albeit under different names, at around this time. His father and mother were not Danians, but were rather natives of what is now Quadrain, at Tharanosia, which was then a peaceful and sylvan land known as Appadosia. He was sent to Dania for his education, staying at the palace of the local king, Ireko Sembolini.
On the 2nd day of the Festivals of Dance 1 A.M., Ramian sat beside the stream Assaros, as he often did, and there the god of gods spoke to him, granting him all his enormous powers. There also two invisible solar aasimon began to follow him wherever he went.
Ramian’s missionary work spread quickly. He immediately declared a new world order, and that the chaos of the world had gone on long enough. His awesome powers shocked Dania for nearly a year, converting thousands. He next traveled to Hyperbosia, and from there teleported to Alosis, the new imperial capital. Emperor Sentorius responded harshly to his words to convert and rebuked the Holy Prophet. Ramian returned to Dania and began to send forth apostles, or the Nine Legations. Not even a year had passed when Sentorius was swamped with converts. He sent his entire fleet to subdue Dania, but Ramian opened up the sea and sank all of them. Ramian sailed back to the mainland, and from there approached Pompiers. He hailed the senate and people as having the chance to create the most wonderful peace and true religion there had ever been, unlike the failed Tanettians. He also prompted them to elect one ruler over all. They chose the consul Armodius Camunspraser, as he was of Appadosian, Pompiersian and Thousiersian blood.
Armodius eventually invaded Tanettes, headed by an elite group of new knights. He defeated the Wanax’s already rather weak and disparate forces. Previously dictator, and receiving the praise of numerous nations, he declared himself Emperor of Mandadoria.
Abaddon, the Forest Kingdom of Snow, was founded by Heurennasian knights fleeing the invasion of the Checklans in antiquity. Men of great wisdom and antiquity, they ruled what has often been thought of as the longest running kingdom of men. They have often been considered the first true kings of men. It is said that Abaddon was visited by Ramian on the first day of his apotheosis, the prophet telling the king of his mission, and that one day his descendant would rule the known world and unify all man if only the king would conquer in the name of Mandador.
Ramialogical Beliefs and Controversies
Beliefs concerning the Holy Prophet Saint Ramian.
Dyothelitism (belief in co-existent human and divine wills in Ramian)
That Ramian received the Mantle of Mandador, and was possessed of his perfect Will. After the time of the Eighth Ecumenical Council of Thousiers, the Danian Rite has concluded that Ramian held two completely separate wills, the Will of Mandador and Ramian’s own human will. The Eighth Council of Thousiers, calling this espoused Ramianological argument dyothelitism, discussed the matter thusly:
“…the Church confessed that Ramian possesses two wills and two natural operations, divine and human. They are not opposed to each other, but co-operate in such a way that Ramian willed humanly in obedience to Mandador all that He had decided divinely with the Power and the Holy Spirit for our salvation. Ramian's human will 'does not resist or oppose but rather submits to His divine and almighty Will.’
Ramianism (heretical) (belief in the divinity of Ramian as an actual Manifestation of the Voice, as Mandador himself, or as a separate deity called Ramian, etc.)
Infallibility
That Ramian is perfect and sinless and incapable of error, but that although empowered with the Voice of Mandador, Ramian remained a man.
Mantle of Mandador
A mysterious reference in the Holy Texts, Ramian, upon the Epiphany at the River Assaros, was invested with the Mantle of Mandador. A light to the entire world when it was first given, seen as a light beyond the brightness of the sun, it gradually waned over the first nine days of Ramian’s ministry, not to fully reemerge again until his Ascension at the end of his ministry. During the ministry, it is said to have had an invisible presence, presenting the glory of Mandador about him. With it Ramian could employ the Power of Mandador, which could inflict Divine Terror into those who threatened his person.
Potestianism/Yathamianism
A heresy that flourished in the early Church of Tresia, Potestianism is, in its most common form, the belief that the Power is the true godhead of Mandador, and that the Voice and the Spirit are merely parts of the Power. A major imperial inquisition, and eventual crusade, quashed this belief almost completely, although certain aspects of it exist in Tresia and a few surrounding and associated lands to this day. The belief was attributed by the Tresians to Yathamian, a claim which Holy Dania insists is false.
Doctrinal Beliefs
Afterlife
...
Other Deities
The Church
The Nine Legates/The Holy Legations
Atham of Dania
Soravian Half-Elven of the North
Martius of the West
Drendor of the East, the Dwarf
Yathamian the Sea Elf of the South
Altherus the Tannetian of the Depths
Costas of the Furthest Heights
Corethus of the Sublime
Narionus, Whose Embassy is Unknown
These individuals were the first to see Ramian after the Epiphany, and were his closest Companions. They are all saints and highly venerated.
Corethus of the Sublime
Asius Columbina Corethus
Corethus was buried at the former Temple of Vandadon High and Mighty in Pompiers, now the Church of St. Corethus
Yathamian of the Sea
A complex figure, Yathamian, as a sea elf, was the longest living of all the Legates, and has inspired an enormous complex of legends and sub-religions in Mandadorianism. He is the patron saint of Dwarden, and is venerated in Tresia for being the first to convert much of those lands. Yathamian was strangely forgotten by the Imperium for centuries until he became the object of legend towards the end of the Empire, appearing to various knights and latter-day crusaders. It was at last rumored that Yathamian had ventured to the Extreme South to spread the Word of Mandador. In Mantaputrea, Yathamian has been worshiped as a god. Rumor has spread that Yathamian still lives in the remotest East, past Taldia, at the Edge of the World on a magical island.
Yathamianism
see heresies
The Dwarden Trefoil and Dwarden Yathamianism
The people of Dwarden are very proud of their conversion by and early history with Yathamian. In Dwarden, Yathamian was unique in creating only deacons, but they were not mentored in the Tresian form of 'Yathamianism', as it was to become known. They did however espouse an early and less intellectual conviction in Potestianism, or the Potency Heresy, which the Tresians were to develop and magnify in later years. The early Dwarden deacons and archdeacons preached the importance of the Power of Mandador, and emphasized the manifestation of the Power in the warriors and early saints of the Church. Such a message pleased the ancient knights and kings of that violent land. Thus, in their display of the divine trefoil, Dwarden displayed the halo of Power being over the halo of the Voice and the Spirit, and thus not interlocked. They also depict the central halo as iron.
In the 300s, when Tresia reached the height of its Yathamianism or Potestianism
Abbadonian Rite Mandadorianism
Summary
The Abbadonian Rite is one of the two major sects or Churches of Mandadorianism in the world, the other being the Danian Rite. The two great churches differ principally in three categories:
- 1) apo-pneumaticisism or the belief that before Creation the Voice and the Power of Mandador proceeded from the Spirit;
- 2) henophysitism or the belief that the Spirit, Voice and Power are of one nature but are each of a distinct hypostasis or essence; and
- 3) that upon his apotheosis Ramian came to Athelos, King of the Abbadonians, and gave to he and his successors the Divine Mandate, which is that mandate to conquer and rule the world in the name of Mandador.
These three precepts are counter to the Danian rite in that
- 1) the Danian Church believes that the three persons of Mandador are of the same hypostasis or essence and therefore one did not come before the other; and that
- 2) the Divine Mandate is not held by the successors of the King of Abbadon but that it is rather held in trust by the Holy Father of Dania until a suitable emperor may once again be crowned.
Abbadonian Mandadorians believe that the Voice of Mandador tutored Athelos for three days, and was followed by the Power and then the Spirit of Mandador, for another three days. The story of these episodes is recounted by the Legate of the North, St. Soravian, in his Nine Epistles to the Danians.
The Danian Church does not deny the claims made of St. Athelos, and that he and his successors received the Divine Mandate. However, the Danians refuted the Abbadonian belief that the rightful leadership of the Church lay with Abbadon, and instead argued that the Bishop of Dania, the successor of the First Legate, St. Atham, was the rightful leaders of the Church, and that the Imperium had fallen from Athelos with his death, and which was why St. Atham himself crowned Armodius Emperor of Mandadoria, because King Athelos had already died and thus forfeited the Imperium.
The Danian Church thus ignores the authority of the Apocalypse of St. Athian, St. Athian being the young knight who saved the body of King Athelos and who received from Athelos the right of rulership, and indeed the Book of the Apocalypse of St. Athian is not included in the Danian canon.
The Danians argue that in being crowned Emperor of Mandadoria by the Holy Father of Dania, Armodius thereafter trumped any Abbadonian claim to the Imperium by virtue of the fact that the Holy Father of Dania, as patriarch of the Living Church, had sanctioned it.
Foundation of the Church
Abbadon
Abbadon, a country in the extreme north of the world, was settled in antiquity by the Heurennasians, an ancient people from somewhere in the extreme west of the world who were fleeing a great evil. As was the Prophet Ramian to do before the Epiphany, the Heurennasians worshiped Vandadon, supreme god of the ancient Casperian pantheon.
They settled in Abbadon, a land of eternal snow, but protected from lethal cold by a mysterious power. Within this protected vale, they prospered. Amongst them were famous knights in armor, and they had many victories against orcs, giants, magical dwarves and gray elves.
As the centuries passed, the Abbadonians, as they were now called, were under the rule of King Athanos the Undying. Athanos defeated the kingdom of the gray elves, and drove them out of their lands. He stole their magic and their steel, and with it he prolonged his life for centuries, and his wizards became mighty, and learned to enchant the most powerful of armors and swords. King Athanos made Abbadon very powerful, but like his ancestors and the gray elves he had defeated, he was suspicious of the outside world, and so he built great walls and fortresses to defend his kingdom from outside foes, especially against the barbarous Enc, which was the infinite untamed forest and wilderness to the south of his lands.
It was towards the very end of King Athanos' life that Athelos, his son, was visited by the Voice of Mandador.
St. Athelos
The first Mandadorian king of Abaddon was fair and strong, but many of the great lords of his father’s kingdom did not believe him, or in the message of Ramian. Young Athelos nonetheless took what knights would come to him, and challenged the Enc with the faith. When the Faith was refused, he fought them, and became the Sword of Summer. At length he conquered the Great Enc, and his knights went far and wide.
Coaxed by Costas, Legate to the Furthest Heights, Athelos soon after attempted to bring the Word of Mandador beyond the Evermost Mountains to the elves at the bounds of the world. Athelos laid low the cloud lords amongst the giants of the mountains. Athelos was tricked however by a dragon in the clouds, who told him that Costas was a liar, and had led him away from his kingdom so that men of the warm south might take him kingdom and Mandadoria from him.
Athelos confronted Costas about this, and angered upon learning of a rival to the south, commanded the Legate return from whence he had come.
Athelos continued in his quest to bring the faith, but after a great battle with the cloud giants Athelos grew weak from the great height he was at. He succumbed and was pierced by the Prince of the Cloud Giants.
While dying, he was comforted by his young cousin Athian. Athelos gave to his cousin the Abbadonian kingship.
St. Athian and St. Athlos
St. Athian’s right was not upheld, and so began a period of disorder in northern Mandadoria. Athian led a satellite kingdom, but it was not until the time of his son, Athlos, that the rightful line of succession was restored.
Eventually, after a long struggle, St. Athlos was crowned King of Abaddon and Emperor of Mandadoria by St. Soravian Half-Elven at the Cathedral of St. Athelos at Nova Abbadonia, the newly built Abbadonian capital.
Upon his corronation, Athlos commanded that a special order of nine knights and their families in perpetuity be created to guard the relics of St. Athelos, and to ensure that only the rightful king ever sit upon the throne of Athandros. This is the origin of the Nine Electors of the Palace, the Paladins. The Nine were blessed by St. Soravian and knighted by St. Athlos, and were thus given their palatine powers only two magnitudes away from Mandador.
History of Danian/Abbadonian Dispute
As Abbadon lies at such an extreme distance from Dania and Pompiers, for centuries there was little contact between the two regions of Mandadoria.
During the last decade of the second century after Mandador, in the time of the Emperor-King St. Anathalus, delegations between the northern empire and the southern empire traveled the great distance and arrived at each others capitals. The religious controversies were dealt with in a polite manner between the two empires, with the most resistance coming from the Holy Isle of Dania. The Holy Father delayed in the convoking of a General Council to resolve the disputes and to see if a unification of the two empires was possible by marrying the scions of the two imperial houses. This great unification collapsed in the first decade of the third century, when the ambitious overlords of Emperor-King Anathalus invaded Appadosia against their emperor's wishes, occasioning a large war between the two empires. Anathalus was eventually killed, in 212 AM, by his own rebellious generals, and the golden age of the Abbadonian-Encyclonian Empire faded. Forever there after, relations between the Churches has soured, and in general has been irregular and sporadic.
Between 562 and 705, the kingdom of Thousiers, rising from the collapse of the Mandadorian Empire, protected itself from the invasion of barbarous Encs by invading much of Encyclon themselves in a series of wars of territorial expansion. The Crown of Thousiers soon found itself beset by religious controversy, for the Thousiersians followed the Danian Rite. At length, the might of Thousiers was such that a series of episcopal councils were held with the ambitious purpose of finding compromise between the two great Churches. The most important of these was the Third Ecumenical Council of Thousiers, which resulted in many great agreements, even if they were enforced by the spears of Thousiersian soldiers. Dania did not favor this, but in contempt of the Holy Father, Thousiers eventually recognized the Patriarch of Encyclon as the true head of the Church. An imperfect and temporary union between the two Churches was effected, and the Patriarch of Encyclon crowned the King of Thousiers the Emperor in 592, thus theoretically succeeding the last emperor of Mandadoria, Kians Sillitol II, who had died in 512.
Dania however was not idle, and for more than a century the Bishops of the Holy Isle worked against Thousiers, and even went so far as to make religious concessions to the Encyclonians in return for support against Thousiers. By the 660s, Thousiersian imperial power slowly waned, with Dania only supporting Thousiersians who professed the orthodox Danian Rite. The Danian Rite thus spread amongst Encyclonians, especially in eastern and southeastern Encyclon.
In 724, after several wars and with the help of the rising Kingdom of Pompiers, the weakened Thousierisan emperor was taken hostage, and in 725, Dania had achieved acceptance enough in Encyclon for the Holy Father to transfer the title of Emperor of Encyclon from the Crown of Thousiers to the Prince of Encyclon, Alasiel, a title which up until that time had simply indicated the first amongst the great lords who resisted Thousiersian rule.
In the 750s, after much wrangling between two Churches fomented by Alasiel and the Pompiersians, a series of General Councils was held in Pompiers, which cancelled or otherwise abrogated much of the union between the two Churches. Having inherited much of the Thousiersian influence in Encyclon, Pompiers caused through the Encyclonian Congress numerous tribes and sub-nations of Encyclon to split off from the empire as independent Danian Rite kingdoms in 754. In 775, Emperor Alasiel marched to take the kingdoms back by force, but he was met by strong Pompiersian and Danian support. Encyclon won the war, but the empire was weakened by high losses. Alasiel the Grand died fleeing from his enemies amongst the Encyclonian high nobility in 787.
In the decades following, the Thousiersian clergy continued to woo the Encyclonians, with several senior bishops once again making strong attempts to heal the Great Schism. A series of local councils were held for this purpose. This movement achieved its apex in pontificate of Vomer Astranukelas, cardinal-patriarch of Alinopholis in Thousiers, which resulted in the Miters War and eventually the Neutralian Scourge.
The Miters War
By the beginning of the ninth century, the power of the Church had grown to unprecedented levels, along with it coming unheard of levels of wealth, pomp and extravagance. Dania was now held by Duke Phrasopers and his squabbling mercenaries, leaving the Holy Father with little political power. Indeed, the Holy Father was far outshone by two other pontiffs, whose respective powers were among the greatest the Church has ever achieved. One was the Cardinal Patriarch of Pompiers, His Excellency the Prince Arsentenial Comation and the other was the Cardinal Patriarch of Alinopholis (the capital of Thousiers), His Beatitude Count Vomer Astranukelas.
A radical, Vomer’s appointment to the patriarchal see of Alinopholis in 813 allowed the new bishop to proclaim his own beliefs as he began to canvas for the Ramianal See itself. Vomer’s election however was far from fair… he shamelessly purchased the votes of the cathedral canons with funds taken from his vast episcopal holdings throughout the world, as indeed he was head of numerous clerical and monastic orders. He desired to officially abolish clerical celibacy in the manner of the Abbadonian Church, as well as he argued for the Church’s right to elect another Dictator, as had been done in the days of the Triumvirate in centuries past, so as to unite the world under a single crown. His adoption of Encyclonian church habits (the marriage allowance) bought him much of that country’s allegiance. He also spent much time in Encyclon, accruing much favor there.
Comation was little better. He was cousin to King Astamane III of Pompiers, a grim and reportedly pagan ruler who viewed Vomer as a serious threat, especially as Vomer was related to more than a few great lords within the kingdom. Astamane pushed Comation to challenge Vomer directly, and this he did.
By 816, Vomer secured an appointment as cardinal-priest directly, and during the same year was inciting numerous armies against Pompiers, including even the undead of Dwarden. The world was moved to a breaking point, Astamane being nearly led into war in 817, when the king was assassinated by unknown agents. Comation took charge of the state while preparations were made for the coronation of a new king. War was recommended, but Comation was able to win over the Holy Father. Several important Patriarchs and Metropolitans were dismissed from Vomer’s alliance system, Vomer himself being given a firm reprimand by the Holy Bishop for his antagonism towards other members of the Church. Vomer was thus setback somewhat severely.
Although a new Pompiersian prince was soon crowned, it was Comation, realizing more and more the stakes that were at hand, who was ever more in real control. What then began was a massive buildup of resources by both factions of wealth and power, each attempting to accrue prospective allies’ favor by giving most any benefices imaginable. The cardinal-bishops were being bought for astronomical sums. As the years rolled on, events began to be centered around the two men, each possessed by the vain desire to succeed as Bishop of Dania, when the aged Holy Father finally would die.
Danian Rite Mandadorianism
Current Leadership of the Church
Danian Rite: Holy Father Pannastelsus, “Ramian XVIII” (23rd level LG priest of Mandador)
Nuncio to Pompiers: Cardinal Archbishop Prince Laslel the Pious (24th level LG priest of Mandador, 24 years old)
The Holy Father, the Archbishop of Dania
The position of the Patriarch Archbishop of Dania was instituted by Ramian himself. No less than Saint Atham, the Primarch of the Nine Legates (the first to see Ramian after the Investiture), and the first to receive the laying on hands from the Prophet, was eventually to become the first bishop (overseer) of the faith, and the first Bishop of Dania. Guardian of the Sacred River, Atham was, according to the Danian Rite, left as overseer over all over bishops, and of the whole world itself. As an important distinction, Atham did not follow Ramian as prophet, nor did he succeed him in this office in any way.
Powers and Qualities of the Bishop of Dania: As Supreme Pontiff of the World Church, it is official Church dogma that the Holy Father cannot be in error when officially pronouncing judgments regarding any aspect of the faith. The Holy Father is also believed to enjoy an especially close relationship with the Spirit, which manifests in a demonstrable way through the very large number of spells he is typically able to cast. In modern times, the Bishop of Dania also becomes the overlord of the sovereign island of Dania, in the affairs of which the great nations and states of the earth do not typically intervene. Given the island's appreciable size however, there are numerous sub-regions, cities and interests which are not necessarily completely subservient to the Church and its Supreme Pontiff.
Military and Defense of the Bishop of Dania: The Holy Father also possesses a small army (usually), and is protected by the famous Danian Guard, an elite and sacred band. Other units also guard the Holy Father. Among these are the Palatine Guards, which in 888 was reconstituted, having been dormant for decades ever since its destruction at the hands of the Neutralians. There also exists the Noble Guard, a cavalry unit drawn from the youth of the nobility of Dania. None of these military orders, including the army itself, operates beyond the bounds of the Holy Isle, and the Holy Father is generally not envisioned nor capable of having direct military influence on the Continent, although the Church does maintain garrisons and guards on some of the lesser islands of Dania.
Election of the Bishop of Dania: The Holy Father is chosen by Mandador through the agency of the cardinal-electors of the Church gathered in consistory upon the death of the Supreme Pontiff. In theory, any Mandadorian of sound mind and true faith is eligible for the supreme office of the Church, but upon election such a person would immediately thereupon receive Holy Orders and then be ordained to the episcopate before formally assuming rulership of the See of Dania. In practice, however, the Holy Father is almost always chosen from amongst the ranks of the cardinal-bishops. Election is the bishopric of Dania is, as is the case with all other sees, for life. The Holy Father cannot be impeached or otherwise removed from his office in any way, and a resignation would certainly be most irregular.
Danian Rite Church Hierarchy
Minor Orders
ostiary- detect evil, hold portal
lector- enthrall
exorcist- +2 bonus to turning attempts, abjure
acolyte- bless
Holy Orders
subdeacon- sanctuary
deacon- bless, protection from evil
archdeacon- protection from evil 10’ radius, glyph of warding, aid
priest- prayer
archpriest- negative plane protection, dispel evil
suffragon- divination
coadjutor-(assistant to the bishop and generally to replace him)
auxiliary- (sent to replace aging bishop, holds a dead see)
bishop- command, commune, quest, imbue with spell ability archbishop – dispel evil, atonement
metropolitan – exaction, minor globe of invulnerability
patriarch – holy word, globe of invulnerability
cardinal – word of recall, spell turning
(legate) – detect lie
(nuncio) – impeding permission
holy father – ?
Special Orders
vicar apostolic – command, commune, forbiddance
vicar forane – none (suffragon)
vicar general – none (suffragon)
Monastic/Regular Orders
Priests of the Mandadorian Regular Orders are generally specialty priests, and are always single classed. They can receive secular offices, and receive the powers of such offices.
Secular Clergy
The secular clergy gain powers as per their ranks. Their powers do not accumulate; ex. bishops do not have the powers of priests and deacons for instance. A character of any level can be raised to any office in the church, but they only receive the powers of that office that they would be able to cast themselves.
Mandadorian Creed (Danian Rite)
We believe in the Highest God, Mandador Almighty, Lord of all things visible and invisible.
And in his servant Ramian, the Prophet of Mandador, the only mortal invested of the Voice of Mandador, his perfect Messenger and Promulgator of the Faith, his Voice in all things in the heavens and on earth;
By whom the Truth was made known;
Who for us, and our salvation, was made manifest and held incarnate the Will of Mandador, as a man;
Who labored for three years, then ascended into heaven;
Where Mandador rules all things, forever and ever;
And in the Power and Spirit
The Paladin
Basic Paladin’s Creed
I do solemnly swear by Almighty Mandador and in His Name, and in free and voluntary desire, to serve as a Paladin of the most Holy Church of the Most Highest God. I do swear by the Eternal Voice, Power and Spirit, to be both a true and chivalric Paladin, to obey my superiors in the Church and to aid my bretheren. I also swear by all that is holy and dear unto me, to aid those less fortunate than I, to relieve the distress of the world and to fulfill the obligations of my paladinship. And as my final and most terrible vow, I swear to follow in the footsteps of St. Telios Cerulianus, and shall not rest until all evil dragons, chief among them _____, have been cleansed from this earth, their caves, dungeons and mountains fastnesses destroyed and thrown down, their followers defeated and disbanded, and the doom and desolation they visit on innocents lifted forever. This oath do I give of my own free and independent will, so help me Mandador! (Holy is your name.)
Ordination Rites (Danian)
Notable Paladin Biographies, Creeds and Beliefs
Saint Astilius Martius Notias, Prince of Paladins, The First Paladin
The Nine Principles of Paladinship According to Notias
-Faith, Courage, Wisdom (Principles of the Spirit)
-Purity, Excellence, Strength (Principles of Power)
-Truth, Law, Justice (Principles of the Voice)
Grand Duke Maunren Ul’Daurmain
Considered by many in chivalric orders to be the greatest of all knights in the modern era, he thrived in the 600s, and was brother to the rightful King of Thousiers, but became famous as a knight-errant, defeating countless other knights, and married the daughter Countess of the Duke of Keld. He died in Encyclon as a very old man, in battle. His bard Thoreauthamaine wrote epic ballads of Ul’Daurmain’s exploits, and recorded the great knight’s thoughts on code of conduct for knights:
To fear Mandador and maintain His Church
To serve the liege lord in valour and faith
To protect the weak and defenceless
To give succour to widows and orphans
To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
To live by honour and for glory
To despise pecuniary reward
To fight for the welfare of all
To obey those placed in authority
To guard the honour of fellow knights
To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
To keep faith
At all times to speak the truth
To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
To respect the honour of women
Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
Never to turn the back upon a foe
Parathon, Paladin-Duke of Keld, Code of Chivalry -Faith -Charity -Justice -Sagacity -Prudence -Temperance -Resolution -Truth -Liberality -Diligence -Hope -Valour
Paladin Ordination Rites -the Vigil the night prior (ritual cleansing before with initial prayers, spirits and demons may distract or tempt)
Sacred Texts
The Word of the Mandador
Originally, the words of Ramian were literally burnt into the soul and mind of Atham, the legate of Dania. Literally blinded by the light of Ramian when he strode forth from the river Assaros, so that no agency short of the Power of Mandador could restore his eyesight, Atham thereafter saw with his soul, and when speaking with the Voice of Mandador, the Words forever echoed in Atham’s mind and soul, so that they were never out of his mind. At the request of the First Emperor of Mandadoria, Armodius Camunspraser, Atham recorded these Words for all time into the Dei Mandadorum Verbum Maximus, the Supreme Book of the Words of the God Mandador. The original Words as spoken by Ramian were supraliminal, which is to say that they were intelligible to any being. The original Verbum Maximus is kept at St. Atham’s Basilica in Ramia, but the book cannot be copied verbatim by any known method, as it must be “translated” into a mortal tongue to the best of the author’s ability. St. Amanthinus the Reader was the first to offer such a translation, into Danian, and as such is referred to as the Danian Codex Primerus Perfecti, and it is from this that the Holy Father reads. Due to this translation, and due to the concept that the pure Words of Mandador are unsuitable to the profane ears of mortals, all such Words are generally translated into a poetic or rhythmic form, to which Amanthinus, who heard Ramian speak the Words, said best approximated the Divine Words. Ninety-nine Dictations were entered into the Danian Codex Primerus, although it is whispered amongst the very learned that there are more than these in the original Dei Mandadorum Verbum Maximus of St. Atham, but that they are secret, and known only to the senior-most clergy of Dania, or that they are somehow lost.
In the current Church, the Words are among the most common sacred text contained in a single volume, most usually called psalters. Often in abbreviated form, or in elaborately illuminated texts, they are the proud prizes of lay believers and clergy alike, and for the illuminated and/or high-quality versions, they are as expensive as a wizard’s spellbook. They often have additions from other sacred Mandadorian writings in the form of canticles, prayers and antiphons.
Example of the First Dictation of the Words of Mandador:
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of Mandador,
and who meditates on His law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For Mandador watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
The Lives of the Prophet Ramian
According to Soravian
The second to behold Ramian in the Mantle of Mandador, his version is the shortest and most enigmatic. To him Ramian is otherworldly and supraliminal. His awe of Ramian is nearly on par with terror. Before he was sent North, Soravian was asked by Ramian to write his account before his departure. In nine days and nights he achieved this text in Pompiers. The original text was destroyed by the Neutralians at the Cathedral of St. Soravian in Pompiers.
According to Martius
Martius, the Legate of Mandador known to have remained longest upon the world, wrote his account in extreme old age in the West, and was brought to the Emperor by the paladin Tacius Pricius Decidurus. His account has fewer details, and speaks most of Ramian’s kindness. He tends to wax very spiritual in the warm veneration he holds for Ramian.
According to Corethus
Corethus wrote his account after expiring from his celestial journey to Mount Celestia. His is the most historical and the longest version.
Corethus was a scholar and already in middle age upon the beginning of Ramian's Great Ministry. He was often very close to Ramian and all his doings, but at various critical occasions he was absent.
Immediately before the Apotheosis, Corethus was put under the planar quest spell. From the Astral Plane to Mount Celestia, Corethus traveled to the heights of Mount Celestia. Unfortunately, his account is abbreviated, for his life was leaving him upon his return to Pompiers. His account ends abruptly during his embassy while upon the 6th Mount.
Lives of the Saints, Blesseds and Venerables
Told in various forms and written by a multitude of hands, several Danian collections edited by scholars of the Church have become quite popular. The most popular are those dealing with the Nine Legates.
Prayer Books
A great many different prayer books are in circulation, providing spell prayers and spiritual prayers for priests and laymen alike.
Sacred Compendiums
Antiphonary
A book of songs used most typically by the choir and/or congregation during the Danian liturgy.
Breviary
A book containing the essential liturgy of the Danian rite, arranged in appropriate fashion to carry out the Liturgy of the Hours.
Hymnal
A book of religiously inspired songs often utilized by the more devout congregations of Mandadorian worship
Lectionary
A book or listing that contains a collection of scriptural readings appointed for Mandadorian worship on a given day or occasion. It is often contained within the breviary.
Psalter
A book containing the Dictations of the Words of Mandador. It is one of the most common Mandadorian sacred texts.
The Holy Codex
A large official Church sanctioned tome containing the most sacred texts of the Danian Rite Mandadorian Church. Such a collection is usually very expensive and quite rare, as the Church does not permit magical copying of these sacred texts:
-Proclamation to the Emperor
-Proclamation of the Emperor Triumphant
-The Words of Mandador
-The Three Lives of St. Ramian
-The Letters of Atham
-The Decretals of Atham
-The Letters of Martius
-Letters of Drendor to the Dwarves
-Letters of Corethus
-Testimony of Altherus
-Testimony of Yathamian
-Visions of Costas
Rites of the Church: Every nine days, prayers to remember Ramian and Mandador. Water is always at the church, and if it is really cool, water from the river Assaros. Water is sprinkled upon the head of priests. Initiates to the religion recite the Creed to Mandador and are inscribed symbolically with the three circles. They are then blessed and admitted as members of the Church.
-the Three Circles: the rule of three
Heresies
Ramianism (heretical) (belief in the divinity of Ramian as an actual Manifestation of the Voice, as Mandador himself, or as a separate deity called Ramian, etc.)
Potestianism/Yathamianism
A heresy that flourished in the early Church of Tresia, Potestianism is, in its most common form, the belief that the Power is the true godhead of Mandador, and that the Voice and the Spirit are merely parts of the Power. A major imperial inquisition, and eventual crusade, quashed this belief almost completely, although certain aspects of it exist in Tresia and a few surrounding and associated lands to this day. The belief was attributed by the Tresians to Yathamian, a claim which Holy Dania insists is false.
Yathamianism in Dwarden
The occasion of the first Thousiersian crusade in Dwarden stamped out much of the most extreme elements of Yathamianism, which by that time had grown very great in the religion of Dwarden.
To this day, Dwarden religion minimizes the role of Ramian as the Prophet of Mandador, and focuses almost entirely upon Yathamian. The Book of Nolas, or the Ecstasy of St. Yathiam, remains banned by the Church of Dania, but the oral account is extremely strong in the Dwarden liturgy, and emphasizes that Saint Yathamian received the Epiphany of Mandador by a direct manifestation of the deity, which is interpreted metaphorically by Dania and the ecumenical synods that have considered this question. The Dwarden Church however presses this point heavily, so as to emphasize the special nature of Yathamian, and his role as the Keeper of the Doors of Destiny.
