The religion of Ehris

The religion of Ehris is predominantly monotheistic in nature, centered on the being known as the Arlith. Religion permeates the lives of the inhabitants of the world to a degree equal to their fear of the land. The world around the people of Ehris seeks to usurp comfort and peace, and their faith is the only thing that can restore some semblance of security to them.

The fear of the people is the power of the religion. The Arlith offers safety and security in a world where there is none. It offers protection and guidance in a world fraught with peril and uncertainty. It establishes a religious dictatorship, devoid of the separation of church and state, that feeds the people only what they need to survive – stopping well short of what they need to evolve.

There is no official name for the religion of Ehris (such as Christianity or Buddhism). Worship of the Arlith is so predominant that it is simply assumed that when referring to faith or religion in any way one is referring to the Arlith.

The church of the Arlith is known as the Ærium, and it is dedicated to the preservation of the faith. The members of the Ærium, the Templars, are the right-hand of the Arlith; the speakers of the faith who alone understand the desires of their god. The highest members of this order are the true rulers of the land, twisting and turning the intensions of a queen who has been stripped of any autonomy she once may have had. The Ærium determines the course of the land; one that always and irrevocably leads to the dominion of law.

Places of worship throughout the land are regarded as one of the following:

• Cae’lhinor
  Places of worship on the grandest of scales, in a city or capital. A cathedral run by an Eldaar (on rare occasions two Eldaar’in) and tended to by dozens of priests and acolytes. A cae’lhinor acts as a model of faith for an entire region. All cae’lhina and cae’lhin in the area report to the Eldaar of the cae’lhinor.
   
• Cae’lhina
  Places of worship in a large town or small city. A chapel or church tended to by a handful of priests and many acolytes.
   
• Cae’lhin
  Places of worship on the smallest scale. An abbey in a small village tended to by one priest and perhaps a few acolytes.