Post by raven1972 on May 4, 2011 8:25:37 GMT 7
The History of The Theocracy of the Goddess
The town that would one day be the heart of the Theocracy was founded some 25 years after the The Divine Cataclysm which left all of Temecula in ruins and sparsely populated. This town called Eliria was a simple village that fished the Great Southern river and farmed the fertile lands along its banks, in this village there was a priest called Tobias, in later years he would come to be known to history as Saint Tobias the Layer of the Sacred Foundation.
Tobias was widower and had no children as his late wife had been barren, as none of the townsfolk showed any interest in being educated as his successor he feared greatly that the simple altar he tended would be abandoned after his passing. That night Tobias has a visit from the Goddess in his dream where she commanded him to build her a proper temple and that the heir to the temple would be found by the great oak next to the river he would be known by the mark of the Goddess, the image of the north star on his left shoulder.
The next Day Tobias attempted to convince the townsfolk to aid him but none believed him or his vision so began work on the temple by him self. Seven day later he had cleared the land and began to dig a foundation, when that day he became hot and thirsty he went to the river to cool himself and drink of its cool water. It was there he he found the boy and he had the mark as the Goddess has said and he named him Roland. He showed the boy to the villagers and they could not deny it was as Tobias had seen so they begged his forgiveness and aided him in building the temple.
It took 15 years to build the temple and all the while Tobias instructed his adopted son in the laws and rituals of the temple for him to best serve the goddess. When Roland was in his 18th summer Tobias at last passed on and his spirit ascended to the heavens to join the Goddess he faithfully served though out his life. Roland took up his father's place. History would call him the first Grand pontiff as from his bloodline the Grand pontiffs would arise.
In years to come Roland wedded and led his people well in their religious life , in time they asked him to rule the village not just the temple and he accepted, Eliria prospered under his rule and that of his heirs. His first born child and heir was marked withe Sacred Starsign of the Goddess upon his or her forehead and this would be how the heirs of the Grand Pontiff would always be known. Some 100 years later it was decided that missionaries be sent out to neighboring towns to spread the word of the goddess and to help bring prosperity to all of her children.
This went smoothly for many years and over the course of the next 500 years the Theocracy rose in the southern half of its modern territory. It was at this time there began to be some slight corruption but it was stamped out when it was discovered but no one could be certain it was all found.
The spring of the 750th year of the Theocracy disaster struck when the Great Southern river flooded to a level none had ever seen before and Eliria and the sacred temple were destroyed. It was decided that new capital was to be built on higher ground to the east, and over the course of the next 100 years the new capital of Eltheria was created and the high temple of the Goddess was built and it stands to this day the tallest structure in all of Temecula. The remains of Roland and St. Tobias were moved and buried in honor beneath it.
It was then the peaceful Theocracy was first forced to take up arms, its northern border reached that of the kingdom of Kiltran whose people worshiped their royal family as descendants of the Goddess. This was very much against the teaching of The Theocracy as the believed that while they were all the children of the Goddess that she had no direct heir among them.
The Grand Pontiff Ronald VIIth sent a mission to Kiltran to learn more about how they worshiped the Goddess to better plan out how to put the people there on the proper path. The leader of the mission was a Cleric named Garvin, a cousin of the Grand Pontiff.
He lived in the capital of Kiltran for many years disgusted by the way he saw it rulers use the Goddess' name for there selfish desires and one day it came to a head when Garvin stood up and declared the king and his kin were false and not the descendants of the Goddess! The king had him killed for this and enslaved the other members of his group. Some months later the a man was sent to see why the reports had stopped and he came across one of the enslaved servants who told him everything.
This information was relayed to the Grand Pontiff who was angered and dismayed. He declared Garvin to be a Martyr and sent an armed embassy to the king of Kiltran demanding Garvin's remains and the enslaved freed. The king refused and the embassy had to fight its way to the border.
The Grand Pontiff declared a Holy war on Kiltran and asked the faithful to volunteer to purge the heretics and bring the true word of the goddess to the people of the north. Garvin was well liked by the populace so there were no shortage of volunteers and in a relatively short time an army was raised and trained. The Army marched to the north and defeated Kiltran's army and took the king and his family back to Elthiria where the adults were burned at the stake and the children sent to a special orphanage for those being trained as priests and priestesses.
The Grand Pontiff was planning to give Kiltran to it people but his advisors the Council of Clerics convinced him to annex it instead as they had discovered rich deposits of valuable ores in the mountains in what was Kiltran. Thus Corruption was still there as the hearts of men are often easily tempted.
The Theocracy grew to its present size and maintained a strong army to protect itself and police the lands keeping them clear of bandits and other scoundrels. Many new temples were built in the new northern provinces and several monasteries and convents established there.
In the years following the expansion to the modern borders The Theocracy sent several expeditions into what the locals called the elvish lands, none ever returned, they all vanished without a trace and so the Grand Pontiff made it illegal to travel into that area and set up a series of guard posts to keep people out for their own safety.
Some ancient tales from before the Cataclysm say elves once dwelt into those lands but its not been verified if they still do, although the local populace in the land nearest to that border believe they still do and a few claim to have gotten occasional glimpses of them, this is doubted by most scholars.
During this time of peace the people had time dedicate to intellectual pursuits and the boundaries of magic were pushed ever further by the mages of the grand university of magic in Eltheria. one senior mage in particular avocated searching for new ways in which magic could be used instead of merely developing stronger spells. This mage known as Theos discovered new forms of elemental magic ones that hindered the person targeted rather than directly inflicting harm, he worked with a growing cadre of young mages to perfect these spells as his peers disapproved of his methods.
Theos after many months had perfected his new magic which he called reverse elemental magic and he arranged a demonstration of it before the Grand Pontiff. the Council of Clerics and the Headmaster of the University. They were stunned by his discovery but rather than applaud it they declared it an abomination saying it profaned the magic the goddess had given them and made it illegal to use calling it Fallen Magic and ordered Theos and his acolytes arrested as Heretics. Theos was one step ahead and fled the capital with all who would join him and they fled far to the northwest and out of history, none know what became of them but tales persist to this day of mages using fallen magic in service of others for the right price.
Many years of peace came and went since the fallen mages were expelled when news from the far north beyond The Theocracy's border of a miracle, Strange metal beings sent by the goddess had saved a village of a devastating flood. The Grand Pontiff at the time was a wise cautious man decided to keep the report secret and sent men north to discover what was going on there.
They reported a new kingdom had been founded, small but growing it was called Destron and the village mentioned before was its capital, and had been renamed Kaon. The reports while suggesting the kingdom, was no threat were disturbing as it seemed the people of Destron almost worshiped there rulers as beings sent by the Goddess. The Grand Pontiff was a man of peace and had no desire for war so he kept this secret and had a watch kept on Destron and sent priests on missions to carefully guide the Destronians on to the right path. His heirs did the same for more than 300 years.
When Grand Pontiff Erick III ascended the Ruby throne* of the Grand Pontiff and he was filled in on the information and he being more aggressive than many of the Pontiffs that came before ordered an embassy sent to Destron which now had expanded nearly to the northern border of The Theocracy.
The Destronian king met with the embassy and explained about his kingdom and how it came to be , and how the royal family had long tried to convince the people they weren't sent by the goddess. He wasn't believed and the ambassador thought the strange devices he saw in use in Destron were the work of demons and as much was reported and a holy war declared and the army of the Theocracy was sent north where it would do battle with the smaller army of Destron . It was a savage fight with both sides giving no quarter and the advanced technology of Destron giving its smaller army strength enough to match the numbers of the Theocracy’s army, after many battles The Theocracy called off the fighting but not before Destron's King had given his life defending it.
Over the next several centuries the battles would resume with time and again no clear winner. Eventually an armistice was agreed to as neither kingdom could afford the war any longer. In Recent years this fragile peace has been held together by the work of a Priest named Raymond who having seen Destron with his own eyes sees lies have been told and truths misunderstood, he has tried to make those in power in the land of his birth see this but his pleas largely fell on deaf ears but he has been able to maintain the peace. He has pledged himself in service to the Royal family having earned there trust with his noble heart and selfless dedication to Destron. He earned the trust of Destron's King when he told them of a planned surprise attack meant to kill or capture the King and his Knights and took an arrow meant to slay the king. This act earned him the respect of the king who regarded him like a brother since. In The Theocracy he isn't thought of so kindly as many consider him to be a traitor. This doesn't bother Raymond much as he considers Destron as his homeland now.
To this day Destron and the Theocracy are not on good terms and have an uneasy peace at best. The current Grand Pontiff watches events in Destron but doesn't interfere, while others within the Theocracy see opportunity for wealth in what to them is surely to become a struggle for power in Destron. The Grand Pontiff does his best to prevent corruption but the Theocracy has grown large and that makes illegal acts easy to hide.
* The throne of the Grand Pontiff was originally Tobias' chair but over the centuries it became frail and was placed reverently on display in the grand temple as a sacred artifact and a new ruby encrusted throne created as its believed in the Theocracy that Rubies are red as they were stained with the blood of the Goddess as she shed it on Temecula to heal it after the Divine Cataclysm and as such they are considered sacred and forbidden to be worn and may only be displayed in temples.
The town that would one day be the heart of the Theocracy was founded some 25 years after the The Divine Cataclysm which left all of Temecula in ruins and sparsely populated. This town called Eliria was a simple village that fished the Great Southern river and farmed the fertile lands along its banks, in this village there was a priest called Tobias, in later years he would come to be known to history as Saint Tobias the Layer of the Sacred Foundation.
Tobias was widower and had no children as his late wife had been barren, as none of the townsfolk showed any interest in being educated as his successor he feared greatly that the simple altar he tended would be abandoned after his passing. That night Tobias has a visit from the Goddess in his dream where she commanded him to build her a proper temple and that the heir to the temple would be found by the great oak next to the river he would be known by the mark of the Goddess, the image of the north star on his left shoulder.
The next Day Tobias attempted to convince the townsfolk to aid him but none believed him or his vision so began work on the temple by him self. Seven day later he had cleared the land and began to dig a foundation, when that day he became hot and thirsty he went to the river to cool himself and drink of its cool water. It was there he he found the boy and he had the mark as the Goddess has said and he named him Roland. He showed the boy to the villagers and they could not deny it was as Tobias had seen so they begged his forgiveness and aided him in building the temple.
It took 15 years to build the temple and all the while Tobias instructed his adopted son in the laws and rituals of the temple for him to best serve the goddess. When Roland was in his 18th summer Tobias at last passed on and his spirit ascended to the heavens to join the Goddess he faithfully served though out his life. Roland took up his father's place. History would call him the first Grand pontiff as from his bloodline the Grand pontiffs would arise.
In years to come Roland wedded and led his people well in their religious life , in time they asked him to rule the village not just the temple and he accepted, Eliria prospered under his rule and that of his heirs. His first born child and heir was marked withe Sacred Starsign of the Goddess upon his or her forehead and this would be how the heirs of the Grand Pontiff would always be known. Some 100 years later it was decided that missionaries be sent out to neighboring towns to spread the word of the goddess and to help bring prosperity to all of her children.
This went smoothly for many years and over the course of the next 500 years the Theocracy rose in the southern half of its modern territory. It was at this time there began to be some slight corruption but it was stamped out when it was discovered but no one could be certain it was all found.
The spring of the 750th year of the Theocracy disaster struck when the Great Southern river flooded to a level none had ever seen before and Eliria and the sacred temple were destroyed. It was decided that new capital was to be built on higher ground to the east, and over the course of the next 100 years the new capital of Eltheria was created and the high temple of the Goddess was built and it stands to this day the tallest structure in all of Temecula. The remains of Roland and St. Tobias were moved and buried in honor beneath it.
It was then the peaceful Theocracy was first forced to take up arms, its northern border reached that of the kingdom of Kiltran whose people worshiped their royal family as descendants of the Goddess. This was very much against the teaching of The Theocracy as the believed that while they were all the children of the Goddess that she had no direct heir among them.
The Grand Pontiff Ronald VIIth sent a mission to Kiltran to learn more about how they worshiped the Goddess to better plan out how to put the people there on the proper path. The leader of the mission was a Cleric named Garvin, a cousin of the Grand Pontiff.
He lived in the capital of Kiltran for many years disgusted by the way he saw it rulers use the Goddess' name for there selfish desires and one day it came to a head when Garvin stood up and declared the king and his kin were false and not the descendants of the Goddess! The king had him killed for this and enslaved the other members of his group. Some months later the a man was sent to see why the reports had stopped and he came across one of the enslaved servants who told him everything.
This information was relayed to the Grand Pontiff who was angered and dismayed. He declared Garvin to be a Martyr and sent an armed embassy to the king of Kiltran demanding Garvin's remains and the enslaved freed. The king refused and the embassy had to fight its way to the border.
The Grand Pontiff declared a Holy war on Kiltran and asked the faithful to volunteer to purge the heretics and bring the true word of the goddess to the people of the north. Garvin was well liked by the populace so there were no shortage of volunteers and in a relatively short time an army was raised and trained. The Army marched to the north and defeated Kiltran's army and took the king and his family back to Elthiria where the adults were burned at the stake and the children sent to a special orphanage for those being trained as priests and priestesses.
The Grand Pontiff was planning to give Kiltran to it people but his advisors the Council of Clerics convinced him to annex it instead as they had discovered rich deposits of valuable ores in the mountains in what was Kiltran. Thus Corruption was still there as the hearts of men are often easily tempted.
The Theocracy grew to its present size and maintained a strong army to protect itself and police the lands keeping them clear of bandits and other scoundrels. Many new temples were built in the new northern provinces and several monasteries and convents established there.
In the years following the expansion to the modern borders The Theocracy sent several expeditions into what the locals called the elvish lands, none ever returned, they all vanished without a trace and so the Grand Pontiff made it illegal to travel into that area and set up a series of guard posts to keep people out for their own safety.
Some ancient tales from before the Cataclysm say elves once dwelt into those lands but its not been verified if they still do, although the local populace in the land nearest to that border believe they still do and a few claim to have gotten occasional glimpses of them, this is doubted by most scholars.
During this time of peace the people had time dedicate to intellectual pursuits and the boundaries of magic were pushed ever further by the mages of the grand university of magic in Eltheria. one senior mage in particular avocated searching for new ways in which magic could be used instead of merely developing stronger spells. This mage known as Theos discovered new forms of elemental magic ones that hindered the person targeted rather than directly inflicting harm, he worked with a growing cadre of young mages to perfect these spells as his peers disapproved of his methods.
Theos after many months had perfected his new magic which he called reverse elemental magic and he arranged a demonstration of it before the Grand Pontiff. the Council of Clerics and the Headmaster of the University. They were stunned by his discovery but rather than applaud it they declared it an abomination saying it profaned the magic the goddess had given them and made it illegal to use calling it Fallen Magic and ordered Theos and his acolytes arrested as Heretics. Theos was one step ahead and fled the capital with all who would join him and they fled far to the northwest and out of history, none know what became of them but tales persist to this day of mages using fallen magic in service of others for the right price.
Many years of peace came and went since the fallen mages were expelled when news from the far north beyond The Theocracy's border of a miracle, Strange metal beings sent by the goddess had saved a village of a devastating flood. The Grand Pontiff at the time was a wise cautious man decided to keep the report secret and sent men north to discover what was going on there.
They reported a new kingdom had been founded, small but growing it was called Destron and the village mentioned before was its capital, and had been renamed Kaon. The reports while suggesting the kingdom, was no threat were disturbing as it seemed the people of Destron almost worshiped there rulers as beings sent by the Goddess. The Grand Pontiff was a man of peace and had no desire for war so he kept this secret and had a watch kept on Destron and sent priests on missions to carefully guide the Destronians on to the right path. His heirs did the same for more than 300 years.
When Grand Pontiff Erick III ascended the Ruby throne* of the Grand Pontiff and he was filled in on the information and he being more aggressive than many of the Pontiffs that came before ordered an embassy sent to Destron which now had expanded nearly to the northern border of The Theocracy.
The Destronian king met with the embassy and explained about his kingdom and how it came to be , and how the royal family had long tried to convince the people they weren't sent by the goddess. He wasn't believed and the ambassador thought the strange devices he saw in use in Destron were the work of demons and as much was reported and a holy war declared and the army of the Theocracy was sent north where it would do battle with the smaller army of Destron . It was a savage fight with both sides giving no quarter and the advanced technology of Destron giving its smaller army strength enough to match the numbers of the Theocracy’s army, after many battles The Theocracy called off the fighting but not before Destron's King had given his life defending it.
Over the next several centuries the battles would resume with time and again no clear winner. Eventually an armistice was agreed to as neither kingdom could afford the war any longer. In Recent years this fragile peace has been held together by the work of a Priest named Raymond who having seen Destron with his own eyes sees lies have been told and truths misunderstood, he has tried to make those in power in the land of his birth see this but his pleas largely fell on deaf ears but he has been able to maintain the peace. He has pledged himself in service to the Royal family having earned there trust with his noble heart and selfless dedication to Destron. He earned the trust of Destron's King when he told them of a planned surprise attack meant to kill or capture the King and his Knights and took an arrow meant to slay the king. This act earned him the respect of the king who regarded him like a brother since. In The Theocracy he isn't thought of so kindly as many consider him to be a traitor. This doesn't bother Raymond much as he considers Destron as his homeland now.
To this day Destron and the Theocracy are not on good terms and have an uneasy peace at best. The current Grand Pontiff watches events in Destron but doesn't interfere, while others within the Theocracy see opportunity for wealth in what to them is surely to become a struggle for power in Destron. The Grand Pontiff does his best to prevent corruption but the Theocracy has grown large and that makes illegal acts easy to hide.
* The throne of the Grand Pontiff was originally Tobias' chair but over the centuries it became frail and was placed reverently on display in the grand temple as a sacred artifact and a new ruby encrusted throne created as its believed in the Theocracy that Rubies are red as they were stained with the blood of the Goddess as she shed it on Temecula to heal it after the Divine Cataclysm and as such they are considered sacred and forbidden to be worn and may only be displayed in temples.
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