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The Great
Church
The Great Church, sometimes called the Holy Conorrian Church,
is the largest and strongest religious institution in all of
Vatheria. Unlike all the other churches, it worships all the
gods of the Conorrian pantheon equally as a family. It is an
an enormous organization spanning dozens of nations and hundreds
of cultures. The Great Church has one primary goal:
to assure that every population center in Theeurth has a church
dedicated to the entire Pantheon, in order to make the gods
accessible to everyone. As a result, nearly city of any size
has at least one such church, and large cities may have several,
or a large cathedral. This is more true in human cities than
in those of the other races, who tend to cleave more strongly to
some members of the Pantheon than to others. The Great Church is very popular with
commoners and nobles alike, both of whom desire to stay in the
good graces of all the gods and often see little reason to prefer
one god over another. Alignment Overall,
the Pantheon can be said to be Neutral Good. However, the
Great Church is definitely Lawful Good. For this reason, it
maintains closer associations with the clergy of the lawful gods
than of the chaotic ones. Clerics of the Great Church may be
lawful neutral, lawful good or neutral good. Representations The
Great Church typically portrays the gods as a family, standing or
seated on thrones in a circle. The symbolic representation
of the Lords of Heaven is a white Grail. Church Structure The
Great Church is organized on a byzantine system of offices,
paralleling that of the Conorrian Empire. In general, the
Great Church has two separate and powerful holy orders: the clergy
and the paladins. The clergy are generally divided
into five levels of authority: priests, deans, bishops,
archbishops and the Patriarch or Matriarch, who sits in Echoriath.
In addition, there are a dizzying array of offices within the
church, some of which may wield a surprising amount of authority,
regardless of the rank of the office holder. There are also
a number of lesser orders within the clergy. The paladins are an
important and influential order within the church, operating
almost autonomously, and answering only to the Patriarch or
Matriarch. Church Doctrine
The Great Church teaches that as the gods are good, so should
mortals strive for pure goodness. This means caring for for
the less fortunate, sacrificing for others, promoting love,
charity, hope and forgiveness. Forgiveness and redemption
are themes central to the parables and legends of the gods.
There are few things that make forgiveness impossible, but some
things come close: consorting with demons, creating the undead,
etc. The largest part of the Great Church is dedicated to the
promotion and preservation of the faith. It's teachers and
missionaries are everywhere in Vatheria. Several smaller
orders within the church are contemplative, striving through the
rigors of monastic life to more clearly understand the will of the
gods. Finally, there are the "military
orders." These are clergy with an adventurous cast of
mind who actively oppose evil rather than concentrate on spreading
the faith. Closely allied with these priests is the Holy
Order of Paladins. Few adventuring clerics ever rise in the
church hierarchy.
Clerics
of the Great Church Domains Clerics of the Great
Church may choose any two clerical domains from the Player's
Handbook (with the exception of the Evil domain). Spells Clerics
of the Great Church have a broader range of spells available to
them than their counterparts in churches dedicated to a single
deity. They can use any clerical spell in the Player's
Handbook except for those with an Evil descriptor.
However, they may only use spells from the Player's
Handbook.
HOLY WARRIOR: PALADIN OF THE GREAT CHURCH
The Order
Legend has it that the traditions of the Holy Order of Paladins
stretches back to the tiny remnants of the Faithful who escaped
the Wrath of the Gods and the destruction of Iridian more than ten
thousand years ago. The modern order was founded, however,
by Saint Thenelsius during the reign of Vasil I, first Conorrian
Emperor, some twenty-seven centuries ago.
The Paladins are the warriors of the Great Church. Their
role is to fight evil in the name of all the gods. They are
deeply dedicated to the Order and the Church. However, they
are not its servants or enforcers. They are solitary heroes,
wandering Theeurth, righting wrongs and fighting evil wherever
fate and the will of the gods takes them. Paladins as a
group are all but incorruptible. From time to time, one
hears tales of a priest gone astray, but such a thing is unheard
of among the paladins, who are connected to the Celestial Host at
some mystical level.
The Class
The paladin holy warrior is exactly as written in the Player's
Handbook.
Titles
Most paladins are simply referred to as paladins, and addressed
as "sir" or "dame."
At tenth level, a paladin becomes a captain. No ceremony
or permission is needed for this. The mystical bonds of the
order ensure that all other paladins will recognize that the
character is a Captain and obey him or her accordingly.
Among captains, the lower-level captain will defer to the
higher. All paladins will instinctively know which of them
is senior. Deans of the church, and any cleric of the Great
Church with a wisdom higher than 13 will recognize a captain for
the commanding figure he or she is without needing to be
told. Captains continue to be addressed as "Sir"
or "Dame".
At 18th level, a captain becomes a lord protector. Again, no
ceremony or permission is required, and all other paladins or
clergy of the Great Church will recognize them as such. Lord
protectors are legendary figures, famous throughout many lands.
Symbols
Paladins typically wear the same symbols as a cleric of the
Great Church. This is often a tabard bearing the Grail
symbol, though paladins need not openly wear any symbol, as they
are frequently in lands where that would be foolhardy.
Credit The
Great Church is, with some omissions and minor editing, the
creation of Aaron Loeb in his book The Book of the Righteous,
by Green Ronin Publishing.
No challenge to that copyright is intended here.
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