Church of Thyatis Retrofit
by DJ HartelIn my campaign I've decided I want to make a unified church like the Catholic Church was in the middle ages, sans it's military ability. I'm basing my rewrite off of what Marcos Salmonte originally wrote on Pandius. The way the Church of Thyatis is currently written, it's a pro-Thyatian entity. I want to make it more of a mix of save your soul/improve yourself and a political organization influencing the various states it is observed in in subtle (and not so subtle) ways. Also, being that it is dominated by Thyatians, it'll often be in agreement with Thyatian politics, though it won't always be very obvious about it.
My intent for this is to have this one church replace the individual churches for Darokin, Karameikos (excluding the Traldarian Church) and Thyatis with this one church. The Narvaez Church is a splinter church, and they often war with one another (viewing each other side as Heretics). I also think there should be another splinter church with Vanya/Heldannic Knights.
Before I go too far, has anyone written about this previously?
Here are my current ideas:
1) My own preference would be a the church dominated by Polytheistic clerics, with a good portion of specialists. I'm tempted to rename the pantheon to fit with Classic Greek names, but am unsure if that's needed. (I'm thinking about this because we have a lot of Norse immortals, and the ones we have for the Greek are all minor immortals.)
2) The current issues within the church are as follows:
A: The Evocatio of Liena and Minroth. Liene is being elevated to further the ancestor beliefs and the fact that the emperors are divinely descended beings. Minroth is partially for better incorporation of Minrothad isles into part of the empire, per the Almanacs.
B: Another issue would be the Vanya differences within the empire. I imagine some within the church may begin to demand reforms because of the actions of the clerics of Vanya, including adding in another god/goddess of war to either replace or supplement her.
3) I'm thinking at some point they may call forth some sort of crusade against a certain holy land, but I am unsure of where that would be.
4) I need to draft a better history, as currently the church was created off of an edict of Valentia (which isn't very divinely inspiring), split with the Ispans and is in the process of Evocatio of Liena. I'm thinking Valentia could have been another name for one of the existing Immortals worshiped in the Pantheon. Ideally, I'd want there to be a few dark secrets of the church, stuff that was either misunderstood accidentally, or covered up deliberately to make the church look more divine/wise/prestigious.
5) Not sure if I want it to be the Church of Thyatis or the Church of Valentia.
I think that is why they needed to sound more Greek/Latin as Odin, Thor, Kagyar and Ilsundal aren't from the Greek pantheon. Where as Ixion, Khronus and Protius definately are. There could be a point made that Ilsundal, Kagyar, Odin and Thor were added as a way to appeal to certain populations (Elves and Ostlanders).
I am considering swapping the following:
Ilsundal - Ordana (forests, elves, nature, bountiful harvest)
Kagyar - Diulanna(as Diana, For hunting and courage, and as a way of uniting with the Isle of Dawn)
Odin - Protius (For their navy)
Thor - Maat (as Mithra was big with the Romans, and I think it should be the same here) or Halav ( as part of their connection to the Traldar, though I don't see the Thyatians as very anti-humanoid)
Patura (Replacing as I think another goddess of family should be used) - Terra (for farmers and grain, motherhood)
(Here's the rest for completeness)
Vanya (war...)
Pax Bellanica (Tarastia) (Law and Justice)
Asterius (Trade, merchants)
Valerias (Love and beauty)
Khoronus (Father Time)
Tiresias (Prophecy and poetry)
Vulcan (Wayland) - (craftsmen, dwarves would like him too)
Solarios (Ixion) (Sun, like Apollo)
Idraote (Healing and strategy)
Carnelian (Nobility and tradition)
Koryis (I'd leave him be... partially to integrate with Ochalea and he does mesh into their lawfulness ways)
Future:
Liena (War, Thyatis... could replace Vanya)
Minroth (Hope, trade, a way of uniting with Minrothad Isles)
As for the most important immortals, I think that depends on how you frame your campaign. In mine, I'm envisioning a church going through a crisis of faith because of the failed war, and the Heldannic Knights. Vanya held in the highest esteem during the great war. They followed her advice and she promised victory, but, alas, that was not to be. Today, some of the clerics will think they've been duped by Vanya, others will feel abandoned and the rest will wonder if they're meant to heed the call of Vanya in the North. I imagine this confusion continues until the Crown war, which then is set straight by a new war god or goddess appearing (Liena could work). I do not see Ixion becoming the chief god for them (partially because he is important everywhere, partially cause of the Ispan heresy in the past).