u/Joec533

This pamphlet provides an overview of the Church of the Light Givers for visitors. Written by Archivist Merron Trunley.

Basic Overview

The Church of the Light Givers, usually referred to as "the Church", is based on the principle of "Light brings Life", and as such the worship objects of light, the sun, moon and stars (collectively called the Light Givers).

The Sun is referred to as the Father, the Moon the Mother and the stars as their children. The Father is depicted as a tall, fierce and strong man in orange regal clothes. The Mother is depicted as a beautiful, graceful woman in grey or white clothes. Their children are depicted as crystalline humans, due to the fallen star in Starfall being a geode.

The core tenets of the Church reflect the society of ancient Palantis where is evolved, and so preaches peace, community and learning. A core belief of the Church is that magic enters the world through light and as such comes from the Light Givers. They also attribute the decline of magic to the abuse of gifted powers by mages, so the gods reduced the flow of magic into the world.

The Church is subservient to the crown, and is headed by the Arch-Lightbearer in Starfall. Chapels and Churches are a common sight in towns or villages, while cities will often also have a cathedral. The Church doesn't have much impact on the daily life of Palantians, but offers guidance via weekly sermons and will host frequent activities such as community meals, knowledge sharing and festivals.

Creation Myth

The creation myth for Church details how magic flowing into the world was unstable and tumultuous, so the Father, Mother and their children created the earth to stabilise it. The eldest of their children, Luriel, sacrificed himself to become the core and allow the magic to coalesce around him.

The Light Givers watch over Ashagon to honour his memory and used their light to bring life to the world. Followers believe that a large crystal geode resides at the centre of the world, the body of Luriel, and that gemstones are thought to be fragments of either Luriel or another one of his siblings.

Branches

There are several branches of the Church, with the core or "Light worshippers" as the main branch. They rever the light givers and believe magic will return with responsible use, so preach restraint, forgiveness and accountability.

The second largest branch are the Nature Wardens - they believe magic comes from nature, so revere nature and are opposed to the civilisation encroaching on the land.

A small but noteworthy branch, The Betrayed hate the gods for taking magic from the world, seek a way to steal it back by any means necessary. This branch was responsible for many of the atrocities during the fall of Palantis and was banned by King Cillon after the formation of Verdantis, but is rumoured to still exist in the shadows.

Name: The Learned and Scholarly Kingdom of Verdantis 

 

Flag/Symbol: Golden Star on Blue background  

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Location: 

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Geography: Verdantis is centred around the river Cobalin, which provides ample fertile and relatively flat land for farming and settling. The upland areas are covered in forests and cliff-y, so are far less densely populated. Verdantis is surrounded on most sides with mountains, with the Lumit Mountains to the west and the Tinbel range to the south.

 

Biology/Ethnicity: The Palantians are human typically with light olive skin colour and brown, black or blonde hair. They don't grow much body hair and are typically slightly taller than an average human, which the fork-lore claims is because their ancestors where always reaching for the stars. 

 

History: Once the Great Mage Realm of Palantis, Verdantis is a shadow of its former self due to the decline in magic over a thousand years ago. When magic was high and plentiful, a peaceful centre of magic and learning was founded in the banks of the river Cobalin at the site of a fallen star. This small community would slowly transform into a great realm led by powerful Arch-Magisters, with a capital build around the crater named Starfall. 

The golden age came to an end with the retreat of magic from the world. Rather than adapt, the leadership became more and more draconic as it hoarded magical items and controlled magic use within the population. The last few centuries of Palantis were marred by unrest, atrocities and civil war, which led to the collapse of the mage state into warring fragments. After a century of near constant conflict, King Cillon I finally unified the remnants through conquest and formed the Kingdom of Verdantis. 

Since its formation, the kingdom has struggled with its former magical identity, as society had been shaped and structured around the high magic that was no longer available for its population. Its roots in learning has led the creation of the University of Starfall and a strong emphasis on learning and improvement. It's former flourishing magical crafting industries had to adapt to new processes with limited magical use. 

The last few centuries have seen the Kingdom begin to take a more active interest beyond its borders, starting with Queen Mary's conquest of the Moncrest to the north. King Edward has recently seized the throne from his uncle Harode II in a coup after a decade of Harode's poor management. His position is tenuous as he has yet to prove himself as leader to either the nobles or lower classes. Only time will tell if he will manage to hold onto the throne. 

 

Society: Verdantis is a monarchy somewhat constrained by the nobility. The leading nobles form the Rose Court, a powerful body that advises the king and helps run the nation in his stead. The Rose Court is named after St Damon's Palace in Starfall where is normally meets, which has an extensive rose garden. The Rose Court wields significant powers within the country and often come into contention with the ruling monarch 

The lesser nobles form the Peonies Court to voice their opinions, but this holds little power. Originally a derogatory name coined by the nobles of the Rose Court, the lesser nobles embraced the name and made it their own.  

 

Culture: Magic is very culturally important in Verdantis due to its history and therefore magic users are viewed more favourably, enabling them perks such as transversing classes quicker. Insulting ones magical talent can often be a serious insult, which can often lead to magic-offs (among polite society) or fights to prove who's better.  

From its history as a centre of learning, education is important to the Palantian people. This doesn't necessarily mean schools or universities, as education can take numerous forms and these are all important. This focus on education also means a focus on passing on knowledge, as such record keeping is a national pastime. 

The star is a prominent symbol in the Palantian culture, as it was at the site of a fallen star that the old realm was founded. Both the old realm and the current kingdom liberally used the star in designs and architecture, so it can be found through the land. 

Occurrence of Magic: Once nearly the entire population was capable of magic, but the decline of magic led to the decline of the ability within the Palantian people and the percentage of magic users has dropped. While the heights Palantian mages could reach in the days of old are no longer possible, society still values magic and the benefits it can reap. As such, magic users can be found in all walks of life, whether as a smith using magic to improve his craft or a noble using magic to lead the nation. 

 

Faded Wonder: While the kingdom has several artifacts that survived from the old realm, the most significant are Morton Archives. The Morton Archives are the culmination of knowledge from the Mage Realm of Palantis. Named after Arch-Magister Morton, who was responsible for the Archive's creation, the collection fills a large section of the library at the University of Starfall. Much of the valuable knowledge was stored in crystal receptacles called Juno Crystals, again named after the creator Arch-Magister Juno.  

Unfortunately the loss of magic from the world has rendered these crystals difficult to use, and as such mages much now prepare for months to even scratch the surface of the knowledge within. Use of these crystals can cause serious harm even if the user prepares, and previous users have experienced issues from sense loss to madness to immediate death. 

The Juno Crystals are made from the fallen star the nation was built around. The star is actually a geode that contained crystals that seemed to resonate with the arcane. The old realm made many wonderful inventions with these crystals, but most of this knowledge is now locked in the Juno crystals and so the rest of the geode has been left mostly undisturbed under the university. 

 

Imports, Exports & Major Industries: Verdantis, as the name suggests, is a verdant land that produces a healthy supply of crops and fruit, mostly cereals or orchard fruit. The nation does not however have sufficient lumber or mining operations to meet its needs, so imports these. 

It's artisan crafts, while a shadow of what they were, are finely crafted and renowned for their durability whilst still being beautiful pieces. Books and maps are also a speciality export and Verdantis is known for being able to quickly produce great quality books and accurate maps. Verdantis has only recently started to produce its own ships, so still mostly relies on other seafaring nations.