The Church of Tiren

[Tiren]

Book of Law: Chapter One, Creation of the Church
Long ago when Laanx roamed the stone Labyrinth and Talad ruled the city of Hydlaa there was much activity in the world of Yliakum. To the inhabitants of the world there were only these two gods, but to certain people who also roamed the Labyrinth's there was a third. Known to these people as the God of the Fallen or the God of Law, Tiren was a powerful god who also roamed the Labyrinth in secret.  Seen by few, Tiren's name was spread in whisper to only a handful of people who lived in Yliakum, most in the labryinths. To even fewer were his teachings passed to, known as The Book of Law. Mainly Xacha, these few people created what they called The Church of Tiren to worship their lord and his teachings in secret. 


Now the once secret followers of Tiren are slowly starting to leave their old lives in the labyrinth in order to pursue a new one where they will make their Lord Tiren known throughout the world of Yliakum.

Rankings of the Church

Follower- A new member of the Church. At this level you only exist to listen and learn the skills needed to move on and become one of the Church's true members. 

Worshiper- Someone who has given up everything to Tiren. They live in pure poverty and have devoted their whole lives to praying and following the words of Tiren.

Ritualist- Mages of the church who mainly focus on the practicing and mastering of special rituals, mainly for religious purposes. 

Priest- Watcher and regulator of all rituals as well as teachers to new followers and potential followers of the Church. 

Scholar- A learned member of the Church who knows the Book of Law completely.  Members of this group settle disputes about teachings within the book.

Cleric- Speakers to the people. Cleric's spread the word of Tiren publicly to try and teach others and help convince them to convert.

The Hidden- Members of the church who work mainly on jobs outside what the church usually does.......

High Priest- Overseers of the church as a whole.  They organize the church, have the final say in any matter, and are the holders/protectors of the original copy of the Book of Law.

The Black Stone- The leader of the Church......

Purpose
The Church exists to worship its god Tiren, to protect the members of the church, to spread the word of Tiren through the Book of Law, and to obey the Chain Master. Each member of the church is held to living for one or more of these purposes, some of them forced upon you if you join.

The Chain Master
The Chain Master is the one person which the god Tiren speaks his will through.  Members of the church all obey the Chain Master and serve him or her.  In that way they serve their god Tiren, almost directly.

Joining the Church
To join the Church you must pass a special test and preform a ritual as described in the Book of Law.  To take this test all you must do is find another member of the church. Any may join but if you disobey the word of the Book of Law you will suffer the consequences as described in the book.

[zanzibar]

Oh dear.

I suggest you frame any "new gods" as lore.  So maybe Tiren exists, maybe not, and no one knows for sure (and the people who think they know don't have any real proof).

[neko kyouran]

I don't want to sound harsh, but if, say Xillix, saw this thread, they might scream.  Or they might chuckle and slowly walk away shaking their head.  *shrugs*

[zanzibar]

I don't want to sound harsh, but if, say Xillix, saw this thread, they might scream.  Or they might chuckle and slowly walk away shaking their head.  *shrugs*

I just noticed the poster's monicker.  Amazing.

[Raleigh]

Oh dear.

I suggest you frame any "new gods" as lore.  So maybe Tiren exists, maybe not, and no one knows for sure (and the people who think they know don't have any real proof).

OFF
Know it doesn't happen, but Settings would be more interesting if all the gods behaved like the Forgottens Realm's Lord AO...

It seems that Ao does not want to be known, for cults once dedicated to him only a decade ago have begun to die out, and Ao's name is mysteriously disappearing from written records.

Having present gods which existences are proven is one of the 'cliches' from fantasy genre in my opinion, anyway, I guess I'll just stick to it

ON
Settings mention the existence of several unknown gods besides Talad and Laanx, and the OOCly known Vodul. Still you can't create a religion from thin air by making claims directly over the Planeshift Settings about the infamous 'grey area', specially in the level of gods. Make an association of atheists, or a group of fanatics who believe in an invented idea of god:, there are already the Vespers of Laanx as a religious 'guild' though.

Just a 'good reading' for a breeze - http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/HowTo:Start_a_Religion 

[zanzibar]

Oh dear.

I suggest you frame any "new gods" as lore.  So maybe Tiren exists, maybe not, and no one knows for sure (and the people who think they know don't have any real proof).

OFF
Know it doesn't happen, but Settings would be more interesting if all the gods behaved like the Forgottens Realm's Lord AO...

It seems that Ao does not want to be known, for cults once dedicated to him only a decade ago have begun to die out, and Ao's name is mysteriously disappearing from written records.

Having present gods which existences are proven is one of the 'cliches' from fantasy genre in my opinion, anyway, I guess I'll just stick to it

ON
Settings mention the existence of several unknown gods besides Talad and Laanx, and the OOCly known Vodul. Still you can't create a religion from thin air by making claims directly over the Planeshift Settings about the infamous 'grey area', specially in the level of gods. Make an association of atheists, or a group of fanatics who believe in an invented idea of god:, there are already the Vespers of Laanx as a religious 'guild' though.

Just a 'good reading' for a breeze - http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/HowTo:Start_a_Religion 

The Vespers of Laanx praise Laanx, an "established" diety.

[LARAGORN]

Where do we find a copy of this 'Book of Law'?  As in most religions trying to spread thier word, they must give people access to the 'book' it is based on. Without it how can people deciede if they want to join or not?

[Parallo]

Yeah, I think cults are a natural part of any world. Look at scientology and the like. Granted the gods may not exist in Yliakum but that won't stop people worshiping them. So long as they have a book they should be able to stay, in my opinion.

[Socius Rockus]

Hmm, I remember a (IMO) very nice set up 'religious' guild The Black fame
>.> Now I don't know the whole story, but back then I heard the setting team weren't to happy about it, cause the guild gave an own interpretation to the settings. Though they were not forced they gave up (or didn't begin) the guild  <.<
So I don't know how people will think of this guild, I won't give mine, but see my lack of  smileys as a representative

[Tiren]

Sorry forgot to add ooc comments at the end to help clear up the confusion.  Ok I never meant for the god "Tiren" to be real ic or ooc.  He is only BELIEVED to be real by the people in the church.  Does he truely exist? Of course not.  I read the settings before posting this idea and it spoke of many "elder gods."  That itself makes it possible for one to believe in another god besides the 3 listed.  When I spoke about Tiren I mentioned him being in the stone labryinths and rarely being seen by people.  I also said most of his current followers were Xacha.  If you read the settings you can compare these things to the god Laanx.  Truely this "church" was founded by those who were close to insanity while living in the labyrinth (because of the recent creature attacks on their small villages, possible lack of food, or other causes).  When Laanx went down to the stone labyrinths she made many people serve her including the Xacha people.  The question is would these more insane Xacha serve her?  Yes and no.  Some obviously would but others still crazy may have not exactly known what they were seeing, what was happening.  They heard rumors of a god entering the lab yrinths, saw a mysterious figure who seemed more masculine then feminine, and wanted an answer not only to these questions but to the question of why they lived in sadness.  So they "invented" a god which they called Tiren.  They created the Book of Law from what they felt were the things Tiren was trying to teach them, trying to give reason to their existence through religion.  Because the xacha were people laanx made contact with frequently, besides the lemurs, it makes sense that it was the Xacha who started the church, having heard about "a god" from other Xacha people.  This sort of created god answered the prayers of the people and stopped them from going completely insane.  Whenever something was wondered about a new story would be added to "The Book of Law" to explain it.  Soon enough what started off as just a cry for some sort of hope in a desperate life turns into a new religion, one that becomes the only reason for life.  This makes the religion more extreme, more agaisnt others who think badly of their views.  This religion becomes the only thing the people know and the only thing they live by.  As time passes though followers become short and more answers are needed.  To keep the religion alive and not feel that ones whole life was spent worshiping nothing people start to travel to the surface looking for more answerers and a way to spread and make others believe what they have for years.

Of course I'm not saying this is the story but its just one of the many ways to view this whole guild.  Plus I'm sure its 100 percent legal with the settings if you look at it this way. 

[Nurahk]

Besides, there are tons of religious groups in the real world that worship gods that don't exist.

[Tiren]

Besides, there are tons of religious groups in the real world that worship gods that don't exist.

And thats exactly what this group is.  If anyone is intrested in joining this guild just send me a message on the fourms.  I'm looking for players to not only join the church but help me run the church.  I'll tell you all about the requirements if your intrested in making a new character that would be one of the original worshipers and if your just thinking about having one of your current characters join tell me and I'll set up an IC meeting.

[Duraza]

Yes soon another evil guild will be created 
Oh if your looking for additional information on the Church I'm setting up their page at www.freewebs.com/handofdarkness and I'm also working to make a viewable copy of the "Book of Law" at http://s4.invisionfree.com/The_Dark_Hand/ but mainly for OOC viewing.  Since there is a limited amount of copies of the book ICly it wouldn't make sense for everyone to just be able to find the book easily.  If you come up with a good enough IC reason though then its fine 

[Socius Rockus]

Besides, there are tons of religious groups in the real world that worship gods that don't exist.

What are you saying, that the 'Big flying invisible spaghetti monster' doesn't exist? That the holy noodleness is a fairy tale? that the law of 'intelligent falling' is false and that gravity does exist? How do you explain why you are still on the earth huh? it's not some 'spooky force' called gravity, it's the holy noodleness himself that keeps us down to earth!
[Sorry, but I thought it was a kinda rule not to discus RL religions on the forum ]

As for the on topic stuff:
So this 'religion' is mostly followed by Xacha, I'm curious about how the other Xacha thought about the followers of "the church of Tiren"
Were they accepted, outcasts ect.?
And is this religion commonly known among the citizens of Yliakum? I mean can I [if i wanted to] just ask around for someone of the church or is it a truly secret cult were only rumours are going on about?

And [don't have to answer this one, cause if you're a secret cult thingie then well this will kinda spoil it ] how are you planning to recruit? I mean are the followers walking about with the book and speak to every persosn that passes? (cause that can kinda piss off a lot of people, it's not the safest way, But you may choose yourself)
Or do they have some sort of meeting point were 'non-followers' can learn more about it if they are interested?

[Duraza]

[Sorry, but I thought it was a kinda rule not to discus RL religions on the forum ]

Thats a rule! oops..... 

Well their whole "village" were mainly outcasts. They started of as a village of the more "mentally unstable" which is why they so easily believed in Tiren. It was more of a secret cult but now they are more public even though they still will work mysteriously.  Non followers who are intrested must simply find someone who is apart of the church (they all where pins/badges).  How everything from there on works (as in how you become a member) is secret but I'd be glad to show you if you want to join