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The Cult of Pendaroch

History

The Cult of Pendaroch is probably the oldest of the human and dwarfish churches in Arthea - a fact of which the church is proud. In the dark years following the Great Disaster, the whole of human and halfling civilisation was in tatters. People began forming small communities for their mutual help and protection, and to pool their resources to produce food; the church was as the front line of this recovery. The people relied upon the clerics skills as healers, protectors and as a source of wisdom and guidance, helping them survive in the harsh conditions.

The Disaster had been the end of a colossal war fought between massive armies of good and evil, between the forces of order and chaos. The world settled, the land recovered, and people could begin rebuilding livelihoods that had been torn apart by these forces, and there was a desire for peace and co-operation among the free races. At first, many small religions were founded as gods slowly revealed themselves to the people. Those who became clerics soon called upon the support of these benevolent gods who shaped and guided the earliest of teachings. With no scriptural text, a moral standpoint united both the sponsoring gods and the people who began to worship them. These earliest of days saw many similar religions formed to provide support to small communities where they were most needed. But humans had survived in numbers, so their social order grew, and communication between small villages and townships opened up. Soon it became clear that not only did each have a similar religious doctrines providing that social support, but that many of these religions were supported by the same group of gods. Hence, Pendaroch was born long before any name was found or any scripture was written.

Such humble beginnings showed the direction the church was destined to take. The people were clearly fearful of both magic and conflict - so the church provided support which allowed these elements of society to be controlled. Individuals were encouraged to avoid open warfare, to defend their own and not encroach upon the territories or freedoms of other people, of other communities and other races. The church tried to foster a sense of common good for all people, aiding settlements where possible rather than seeking conquest.

Pendaroch did not take sides in the debate over order in society and individual freedoms. The continuing survival of the survivors was important, as was ensuring that the people of the world would not repeat this mistake. They took a wholly different stance to the dogma taught by some of the other early churches - the gods were clearly allowing people freedom of expression, but social structures were being build that could aid or limit such freedoms. They stood aside in this - it would be for individuals do decide how they faced these debates, the young church helped all. Both the people and the gods of Pendaroch were concerned that the dark years before the disaster should not return, this was far more important that squabbles over freedoms or structures in society.

From such teachings, the church grew strong. It had made all its concessions to forces of order, a single church had been formed by the year 300, and organised teaching was taking place. And the simple message taught to the people, of co-operation and peace, helped them grow strong. With such backing, they managed to hold off any invasions from other races, and kingdoms grew in the south out of these earliest of settlements.

Early Politics

The cult laid the immediate blame for the Great Disaster firmly with the mages; history has shown this may have been one of their biggest failings in those early days as they contributed much to the spirit of fear and prejudice towards wizardry. It also ignored much of the good work done by many wizards to counter the Great Disaster and repair its wounds. It did nothing to help the Pale Flame, who expended a great deal of time and energy to repairing the damage. At the time the church had no idea that such work was taking place, and so persisted with this belief far longer than it should have. The church has since made its apologies to the Pale Flame, and for a while had ties with them which helped society to grow, and which allowed both organisations to co-operate in a spirit of friendship.

At one time, Pendaroch was the most popular church in Arthea by a considerable margin, especially among the nations of the Empire. With the rise of the royal houses of Ticetia following the unification, however, society has moved significantly towards the cause of lawfulness. Ticetia has traditionally been less supportive of the church and coupled with this shift to law, there has been a rise in popularity for other cults whose dogma is more in line with those points of view. Pendaroch continues to glorify acts of kindness and good above any structures of law or individual freedoms.

Teachings and Philosophy

Growing from the needs of people following the Great Disaster, the church has always sought to prevent the chance of it being repeated. To do this their teaching focus on the importance of friendship and co-operation, and that violence, intolerance and deceit have no place in the world.

Helping and Sharing

The main principles behind the philosophy of the church are the precepts of friendship and charity. While it is accepted that the nature of humans and halflings is to be protective of ones own and to seek expansion at the expense of other communities; the church teaches that the strength of the community comes through denying this motivating force, and growing beyond it.

The welfare of all is a much higher goal than conquest, the church teaches that the spirit of the individual can reach beyond the base emotional goals and strive for far better things. Through co-operation and friendship, people will be collectively stronger and better equipped to handle incursion from outside, from less friendly peoples and races, and against the destructive elements of nature. Being friendly, honest and charitable to ones fellows is not just an ideal, but a way of life, one which makes civilisation of the lands a better place for all, and will ultimately prevent problems such as those encountered leading up to the Great Disaster.

Even the very poorest can give freely to their fellow. The most precious commodity available to the mortal races is their time, and even if an individual has no possessions or money with which to give, they always have plenty within themselves to aid their neighbour. Helping others to build or repair, to plant or to harvest is core to the generosity of the members of this church.

Striving

The act of striving to help others comes at a personal price. It is not easy to give freely when one is struggling to feed ones own family or provide clothing or shelter. Yet it is at times like these when the true nature of an individual will shine. It takes discipline and a dedication to the greater good to achieve any of this. The individual is not judged by how much they can acquire; the quantity of their possessions and the amount of gold they can hoard is meaningless in the end. What really counts is how much they can do in support of others. This is how the individual is tested, and when they can demonstrate their loyalty to the ideals of the church and the wider community. It provides the greatest opportunity to do good for the most people.

Even in the face of this struggle to rise above the base animal instincts hidden inside each one, the individual is given freedom to choose their own path. For everyone, the gods have laid out a path of destiny; everyone has the opportunity to pursue that path or to deny it. Not everyone will follow such a path - everyone has a choice to make as they progress through life. They can choose to become that which the gods intended for them, by using their own personal will and by following the teaching, or they can opt for the other path, deny their destiny and follow their own route through life. Each individual can only follow the path appointed by the gods by effort of will; to take another path is always easier, it can be followed by doing nothing. Some choose to walk away from the plan for their lives and pursue other ideals, but the gods allow the individual free will to choose. No destiny is fixed, but every individual will be judged by the decisions they make and the direction they take during their life.

Liberty and Responsibility

Alongside this choice, the individual is responsible wholly for their own behaviour. They are free to take their own actions, and upon these actions they will be judged. As part of the spirit of friendship, individuals are taught to aid their fellows wherever they can, and such have responsibility to their fellows in this respect. But often individuals fall short of this ideal; each is imperfect and suffers from many failings. Everyone is expected to carry the burden of their own mistakes, and to seek to put right their mistakes made through these failings. As people, everyone makes mistakes, and this is understood by the gods. Nobody will be judged by their mistakes, but by the effort they take make good any wrongs they have caused.

Martial Prowess

Many other churches teach of the nobility of the warrior - to teach that prowess in battle is some kind of goal to be achieved for its own sake. This is not a view taught by this church. To seek battle, and to test ones prowess in feats of arms does not work towards the goals of charity and friendship taught by Pendaroch. Violence is never a solution to problems, only the cause of more. Revenge and punishment of this kind never aid ones fellow, and hence are to be avoided.

Weapon use, however, is needed to provide defence for oneself or to aid in the defence of those who cannot do. Therefore it is a noble cause but it carries no glory. Clerics are never expected to fight, unless it is in the defence of themselves or their livelihoods, in defence of the innocent and those who cannot defend themselves, or to aid those who struggle to defend themselves in the face of an aggressive enemy. Even where such violence occurs, killing is still a stain on the spirit, and hence lives should be spared wherever possible. Those clerics who involve themselves in violence for the sake of it should expect retribution from both the church and from the gods.

The Pillars

The faith is build upon the four cornerstones of social life. The church pulls these four cornerstones into four distinct pairs, and an understanding of these will aid the worshipper in their path to understanding of the church and of society. Worshippers should approach these subjects as part of their growth in the life of the church, renewing their association with each as the years pass. The pillars guide those who follow the church in their acts of help and support for their fellows, and each pillar should be studied and understood.

Political Influences

Pendaroch are always keen to help everyone such is their support for the causes of charity and friendship. This position has placed them at odds with the current monarch of Arthea, who has sought to weaken their position. Like some of the other mainstream cults, Pendaroch have seen a two thirds drop in their membership King Siegfried took power in 1392, and the worst of this has come during the last ten years. They may still the largest cult by membership levels, but it is now a close-run thing with Anbartae.

The cult's outlook and teachings line with the good alignments, striving for the best all its members and all of society. The church refuses to teach whether to follow order or individual freedoms, as each has benefits from time to time. They focus instead on the moral implications of everyone's actions; they are only concerned that the common good is maintained. The cult prides itself on its record of teaching that the way to benefit in heaven is to be honest, charitable, and forthright, and through this one can find happiness and peace in life.

The church takes a strong line on violence. They have never condoned warfare, but recognise the necessity of it in protecting the common good. They will never stand against the wishes of an individual who may wish to fight for their beliefs, but would normally never support them.

Aside from the requirements laid upon clerics of Pendaroch, the church does not dictate to the people how their lives should be lived, but the clerics preach through stories and songs to demonstrate what can be earned for this life and the next, and allow each individual to apply self discipline to follow this cause. The emphasis is upon the individual to make efforts to live life according to these teachings, to lay aside their imperfect evil desires, and instead to follow the path of righteousness and achieve its rewards.

Holy Symbols

Unlike some of their contemporary cults, Pendaroch has no shield device or crest to be worn into battle; it does not promote martial skills or prowess, but instead teaches that peace is the path to everlasting joy. The holy symbols used by the church reflect this.

Many years ago, In the Southern Empire, before even the foundation of the northern Kingdoms, the symbol of this cult was a dove with wings spread for flight. The clerics in Ticetia adopted the poppy as their holy symbol, but when Caldonacia was founded by people from the Empire, the southern symbol was adopted there too. As time has passed, the symbol of the poppy has slowly been pushed aside, and the dove is now the generally accepted symbol through the whole of Arthea, although Ticetia still has a few 'traditionalists'.

Patron Saints

Unlike other mainstream cults, Pendaroch has very few saints. As they church believes it is incumbent upon everyone to do good to their fellow, the position of sainthood as a reward for those who carry out exceptional service towards that goal is a difficult position to grant; everyone is expected to be charitable and friendly to the same degree. Hence, Pendaroch does not put as much focus on patron saints as other churches. The saints are figureheads and a focus for the good that church members are encouraged to carry out.

Clerical Restrictions

The weapons allowed to Pendaroch's clerics are any that are permitted by the cleric class description.
Domains available: Air, Earth, Fire, Good, Healing, Knowledge, Protection, Sun, Travel, Water.

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ArtheaWiki: Pendaroch (last edited 2016-02-28 20:07:36 by Neil)