"Let us cleanse ourselves from defilement of spirit, perfecting Faith in the fear of our Demonic Lords"
-Pasha Corthalon, Chosen of Demon High Lord Fuilteum, speaking at mass after the Demon’s victory in the Seventh Faith War.
Overview
In our world Faith is a question of philosophy. In Deomeidh Faith is a proven fact. It is hard to deny a religion whose deities walk the earth performing miracles and preaching salvation. The Demonic Church went from nothing to being one of the most powerful organizations in all of Deomeidh in the course of a few generations. Today the Church controls the country Braile Corsa, and is ready to launch military campaigns against its neighbouring nations in the south. It has the power of the celestials, the resources of an entire nation, and the Faith of millions. When the Church takes action, it can change the course of history.
History
The Demonic Church can trace its roots back to the breaking of Rowan’s sword at the end of the Age of Steel. The first few years of the new age were chaotic, with celestials of the first tier appearing at random, and often killing each other with neither gaining dominion. The Church lagged behind the Angelic Church in the early years, and did not establish any significant enclaves until about 80 FR.
Once established, the Church wasted no time spreading the Faith and gathering power. When the first Faith War erupted in 123, it was the Demons who created the first Faith-bound Edgemasters and emerged victorious.
By the time of the second Faith War, the church had strong enclaves in Sorcha, Durlus, and Farran Shenn. Were it not for the betrayal of the Demon by Conlin, (he is even now a reviled character in Church history) it was likely that the Demon would have stood victorious. The loss was the beginning of a decline in Church power that lasted for centuries.
The war between the Faiths did not turn around for the Demons until the fourth Faith War in 616 FR. The Church moved its center of power to Braile Corsa after the victory, where it has remained to present day. The Church was secure enough in its southern enclave that the setback it suffered at the hands Camille Liusaidh in the fifth Faith War in 749 did not impede its operations in any significant way. In fact, in the years following, the Church saw a massive upsurge of popularity in the south that paralleled a similar revival in the north. Religious fervor reached a crescendo by 800 FR and the Church began its most bloody crusade in history.
The bogs and swamps of Braile Corsa gave birth to the Demon Grand Lord Triathacaid. The military mobilization that followed occurred on a scale that had never been seen before or since. Amongst a flurry of lesser celestial manifestations, the world split into those who supported the Demons, and those who sided with the Angels. The True-Faith war devastated Deomeidh. Atrocities were common, as the Demon (and his Angelic counterpart) declared that the killing of any unbeliever was a just and righteous act. Whole towns were put to the sword. Violent gangs roamed cities on the pretext of ‘rooting out traitors.’ The battles of the war involved tens of thousands of troops, and the execution of captured prisoners was the norm.
Scholars predicted that the True-Faith War would be ‘the Last War,’ and the victor would rule all of Deomeidh. It didn’t happen that way thanks, once again, to the intervention of Camille. Even as her Strike of Faith killed Triathacaid and her counterpart, Camille’s Hunters engaged in a wholesale slaughter of celestials and their servants. No Demon (or angel) above the second tier survived survived the Hunters’ purge, and the Church fell apart.
In 808 FR, the True-Faith War was over, a third of the population was dead, and the Church was a desiccated carcass. While small perishes persisted, the grand organization of the previous centuries was all but gone. Even Braile Corsa, the strongest bastion of Demonic Faith, became disinterested in the Faith. The rest of the world focused on the immediate concern of survival, and the Church faded into obscurity.
In 934, word reaches the impoverished Demonic hierarchy of normal people possessing Angelic powers. It takes a year and a number of deaths for the Church to capture and interrogate one of these new “Chosen.” By 935, the Demons had copied the Angel’s discovery and were making Chosen of their own. This was nothing short of a miracle for a Church that was in even worse shape than its Angelic counterpart. By 1023, the Church was still behind and was defeated in the sixth Faith War.
The seventh, and most recent, Faith War happened closer to the Demons’ stronghold in Braile Corsa, and saw them achieve victory in 1076. The Demon High Lord Fuilteum stole a page right out of the Lady’s book and went on to establish a complete Theocracy in Braile Corsa to mirror the one in Machair.
Today, the Demonic Church is stronger than it has ever been. Fuilteum still has 53 years left in his dominion and is using them to expand Braile Corsan power, and most believe it is just a matter of time before he invades Alainn. Outside of Braile Corsa, the Church maintains a presence in most nations, with even a small underground movement in Machair. The Church is weak in the rest of the north, though sizable chapels exist in both Durlus and Sorcha. Even Fail-Cala allows a few Demonic chapels, and has a slight preference for the Demons. While Aigeann remains secular, its powerful Captain’s Guild endorses the Demonic Faith, and Veran II, the current Empress, is considering conversion to the Faith. The spiritualists in Farran Shenn have pushed out both Faiths, and the Demons have held little sway there since the seventh Faith War. The future of the Church looks bright. If nothing unexpected intervenes, the Church will take Alainn within the next few years, bring Aigeann over by way of conversion, and then use the Aigeann trading fleet to spread their Faith to the world.
Beliefs and Goals
The Church’s often stated goal is the Faith of the people. Faith means two things: reverence, and obedience. Reverence is shown with a short evening prayer, and attending a morning Church service once a month. The services are held in chapels scattered about the lands. A Demonic chapel is a triangular building with a pointed roof ranging in size from a tiny hovel, to a massive cathedral. Obedience is shown with a tithe of 10% of a follower’s earnings, and living in accordance with a collection of Church laws known as the Edicts.
Those who show reverence and obedience receive the protection of the Church. Church protection includes the nightmare suppressing abilities of the celestials, (see the Celestial section) the healing powers of the Demons and Chosen, and even free representation in legal disputes. The Faithful are also given the promise of their souls ascending to the heavens to join the Demonic host. The ascension of the soul is disputed by those who reject the Faith, as no proof of it has ever been offered.
Methods
Like the Angelic Church, the Demonic Church is focused on converting the leaders of communities and nations, hoping to create religious states like Braile Corsa. Unlike the Angels, it still sees war as a valid tactic for imposing Faith on those not willing to convert.
When trying to convert the common people, the Church offers the standard protection, and espouse the advantages of living under the law, order, and increased personal freedom of Infernal Edicts. Unlike Angelic Edicts that seek to improve the lives of the common folk through careful guidance, Demonic Edicts focus on creating consequences for actions that have a negative impact on the community and the individual. Where Angels say, “Do this,” Demons say, “Do whatever you wish, but don’t do this or you will suffer.”
The central tenet in the Church’s Edicts is fear: Fear the wrath of the Church, fear the consequences of breaking the law, fear the penalty for betrayal. In fear one will find motivation to live a proper and ordered life, and through it will cultivate Faith. The Church does not teach its followers to fear non-believers, but to pity them for their unenlightened ways, and that Church can impose order and bring heathens to the Faith.
Members
Membership in the Demonic Church is somewhere between 5 and 6 million people, with over 3.8 million members living in Braile Corsa. At any time, there are between 600 and 700 Demon Chosen, most living in or near major cities or chapels, as well there are about a thousand Demons of the First Tier, just under 500 Demons of the Second Tier, and almost 100 Demons of the Third Tier, for a total of about 1600 Demons, and just over 2200 if one includes the Chosen. While 2200 beings of immense power seems like a lot, it is not enough to manage an organization with almost 6 million members.
The Church has a massive bureaucracy that extends from the lowest levels of power up to the halls of the elite in Fuilteum’s inner circle. Their ranks are:
- Manachs (monks) who preside over small parishes of less than 30 people. They are often the sole religious figures in remote towns or villages.
- Sagarts (priests) run small churches with membership under 500 people. Larger churches will have several Manachs to assist the Sagart. A Sagart in a more remote area may have several Manachs in distant parishes reporting to him.
- Ard-Sagarts (high priests) are always Chosen and preside over the largest churches in the Faith. An Ard-Sagart’s parish may include thousands of people with several smaller chapels under its umbrella.
- Aspicks (bishops) are always Chosen and control whole regions of worshippers. There 20 serving Aspicks in the current iteration of the Church, though the number fluctuates.
- Ard-Aspick (arch bishop) is the highest rank that a non-Demon can achieve in the Church and commands the 20 Aspicks. The current Ard-Aspick is an aged Chosen by the name of Thorne who still has an iron-grip on his power and his mental faculties.
There are equivalencies between the Demon Tiers and the Church’s ranks, These equivalencies are respected by all member of the Church, but when Chosen and the Demon’s ranks are equal, the Demon tends to take the dominant role. An Ard-Sagart is the equivalent to a 1st tier Demon, an Aspick is equal to a 2nd tier Demon, and the Ard-Aspick is equal to a 3rd tier Demon.
Some notable members of the Church include:
Fuilteum - Current head of the Church (see Notable Personalties)
Sloane - Fuilteum’s most skilled Faith-bound and lover
Thorne - The Ard-Aspick of the Church
Areas of Operation
The Church’s headquarters are in Braile Corsa, with chapels scattered through all the lands, with even a few underground groups in Machair. Besides Braile Corsa, the Church is strongest in Aigeann, and looks to expand its power in the coming years.
