LORSCHISMThe vast majority of people in Eskdale practice the faith of Lorschism. According to this faith the God Lorsch created the world by splitting himself in three to form the land, sea and sky. Next to bring life into the world he further split himself into three to form the mind, body and spirit of the first human, a woman called Arwen. Lorsch eventually gave Arwen three children, Eoghan, Morcant and Aoife. It is from these four creations of Lorsch that all human life has descended.
After some time the descendants of the first four humans began to lose their connection to Lorsch and so he sent over time six Emissaries to help guide man-kind and these have shaped our knowledge of man-kind.
The Emissaries1. Áed the Originator
Áed was sent to help guide the people back to matters of showing their faith to Lorsch. He was a famed warrior in his day and upon having been injured and left for dead in battle the god Lorsch revealed himself to Áed and in return for returning him to Mundus set before him the task of spreading the rules of the faith. This saw him impose a regime of prayers twice a day, fasting for a day a month, making sacrifices at the solstices and many other small rituals. Áed began training others to continue the teachings of Lorsch but was killed by an evil spirit called Branwen murdered him.
2. Seisyll the Builder
Seisyll was a Blacksmith who was saved from a smithy fire by Lorsch. He had been an extremely pious man and sensing that he had a role to play for the faithful Seisyll was saved. He was tasked with constructing a home for the spirit of Lorsch to reside and is famed as building the first Temple in the faith. He also encoded the rules given to Áed onto the walls ensuring that a permanent record of them was made. He is also considered not just a physical builder for the faith but also a spiritual builder as he traveled extensively to help spread the words of Lorsch. Seisyll died when the evil spirit Branwen had transformed herself into a replica of his horse and while fording a river disappeared making Seisyll drown.
3. Nechtan The Teacher
Nechtan was an orphan boy who was lost wandering the woods when an old man took him in and raised him for the next ten years. By the time he had reached adulthood Nechtan was more knowledgeable in the ways of Lorsch than any human who had come before him. It was only at this point that the old man was revealed to be Lorsch himself as he had been concerned that man-kind was losing its way. Lorsch tasked his adoptive son with preparing others to help spread his teachings and as a result Nechtan recruited 18 individuals who became the first formally trained Priests of Lorsch. Nechtan was eventually accused by non-believers of spreading false ideals and executed by being thrown from a cliff. It is told however that as he fell spirits sent by Lorsch took hold of him and carried him off to paradise.
4. Nynniaw the Writer
Nynniaw was a young Prince who left his family so that he could worship Lorsch. He dedicated himself to learning everything he could from the Priests and determined that for the faith to continue to grow the words of Lorsch would need to be written down in places other than the Temple walls. He is credited with writing the Library of Lorsch, which despite its name is in fact only three books. In these he codified the rituals, the teachings and the rules of the God. He was able to record rituals of great power and importance some of which had been performed directly by Lorsch. In an attempt to learn Lorsch's power Branwen tried to steal the three books and Nynniaw died fending off this evil and preserved the safety of them.
5. Eigyr the Redeemed.
Eigyr was the first and only female Emissary. Lorsch was becoming angry at the way man-kind was allowing certain groups to be subjegated and believed this marked a moment when man-kind could have begun to stray away from him. Eigyr was given a redefined list of rules about the faith. It included how it should act towards other faiths and covered some ground that had not been done so by earlier rules. Lorsch was pleased with the work that Eigyr had done in making the faith stronger. Branwen sensing the Eigyr was becoming too prideful corrupted her and had her reveal many secrets of Lorsch to her including some of the rituals only Lorsch could perform that allowed him to have control over all creation. Branwen convinced Eigyr to write a new version of sacred texts for her including these rituals and having once handed them over destroy all other sacred texts. At the last moment Eigyr saw through Branwen's deception and sacrificed herself to destroy Branwen. The same action that saw the spirit of evil, Branwen destroyed, also condemed the text containing all the teachings and Lorsch begin to disintegrate. Thankfully Eigyr had a young Priest called Sionann by her side.
6. Sionann the Scribe
Seeing her mentor Eigyr dead and the only copy of the sacred texts beginning to disintegrate it is said that Sionann began to copy them down in a new book thus preserving them for the future of mankind. Without thought she copied down all the texts including those that Branwen had wished to discover that contained the secret rituals Lorsch used to control creation. Having finished writing hundreds and hundreds of pages of text without pausing, without sleep, food or water she began to die of exhaustion having saved the faith. Lorsch was so proud of her that he made her writings unable to be destroyed. She in her final moments of life understood that she had without thinking copied down 12 pages of text that contained the "dangerous verses" and removed them tasking her brother Connla to ensure these pages did not fall into the hands of Branwen should the evil spirit return to Mundus somehow. Connla therefore upon his sister's death became the first Legate of Lorsch.
The faith is today guided by the Legate of Lorsch who is to lead the faith in a similar way as to the Pope does the Catholic Church and their primary duty is to ensure the 12 pages do not get discovered.
KEY PEOPLE
The Leader of the Lorchism faith Deacon William Oakdale
Today the faith is governed by a hierarchy of Priests. The head of this hierarchy is the Deacon of the Faith and he is very similar to the Catholic Pope. The Deacon is responsible for helping guide the work of the faith and promoting it as and when necessary. He also has the casting vote in any Grand Council votes. The Deacon serves from appointment until death or resignation. They however can be replaced should a delegation of 16 "Guides" present a petition in the annual Council of Lorsch which takes place every April to discuss the future of the faith.
The hierarchy of the faith has five steps.
Deacon - Like the Catholic Pope they set out policy and leadership of the faith and manage the faiths affairs.
Guides - There are 31 of them and they are selected by the Deacon, they serve until death or retirement. They are primarily concerned with the day to day running of the faiths affairs.
Ovate - They are responsible for a geographic area that may contain up to a million people. There are currently around 67 ovates in Eskdale.
Bard - Responsible for a small geographic area such as a town or city.
Priest - Responsible for an individual temple.
Custodian - Responsible for supporting the work of a priest. There are three types of Custodian. The Custodian Scholars are responsible for helping teach the faith and prepare for rituals and are seen as junior priests. Custodian Builders are responsible for the physical upkeep of the faiths property and Custodian Guards are responsible for the physical care of the faithful and in the past were a military individual but now their work focuses more on providing charitable and physical help for those in need in the community such as running homeless shelters.
KEY TEACHINGS
The faith has a set of over arching rules that are followed having been given to Áed they are known as the Values of Lorsch and are as follows.
1. In all things, strive to cause no harm.
2. When in another's home, show them respect or else do not go there.
3. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.
4. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
5. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
6. Behave fairly to your neighbour
7. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good
8. There is only one God and his name is Lorsch.
9. Do not speak ill of Lorsch for all things happen according to his plan.
10. Do not speak falsely of others.
11. Honor the ancestors, teachers, elders, and leaders.
These eleven rules have formed the basis of the Lorschism faith and its modern day teachings. Many laws of the Kingdom of Eskdale originate from these.
