Unionism

Unionism
Religion
Pronunciation	Yoon-yen-is-m
Origins	Emperor Theomar
Deities
The Everwatcher and various other Gods and Goddesses

Origins

The origins of Unionism are well recorded as it is one of the youngest religions in the world. Unionism was originally founded as an Ailor-only religion by the prophet Emperor Theomar I Ivrae-Kade, of the Regalian Empire following its founding. The prophet spoke about a divine entity called the Everwatcher contacting him in a series of visions, before appearing to him in person, to speak to him about the fate of all living things under the stewardship of the Ailor Race. Emperor Theomar then wrote the holy chronicle called the Creed, which acts like holy scriptures, containing all the religious laws and concepts dear to Unionism. Following the prophet’s death, it was ordained that the Everwatcher would select Emperors of Regalia as its Vessel through which it would speak and guide destiny. Each successive Emperor has made small and large changes to Unionist doctrine by editing parts of the Creed, meaning this holy scripture ended up being a document that evolved as time passed. The core concept of an Ailor-dominant world eventually made way for the concept of a Regalia-dominant world, inclusive of all other Races and creating a more acceptable secular basis for the religion. Unionism is fairly unique in comparison to other religions, in that it suffered several schisms, major events of theological conflict between its worshipers that resulted in the community splitting each time. As such, there are 4 distinct Unionist beliefs now: Dogmatic, Evintarian, Emended and Vultragon. Each of these have their own structures, beliefs, and hierarchy, though all invariably worship the Everwatcher, and work towards a common goal, of Regalian hegemony and rule over all the world and its people and for the Emperor of Man to become the Emperor of All.

Schisms

Evintarian Schism

The Evintarian Schism occured directly after the death of the prophet Theomar, when the Concilly Council convened to discuss the matter of the succession. Several Concilly members had dabbled into Magic already, and more of them were of the opinion that Magic could be used to advance Humanity by using it. The hardliner Dogmatic Councillors however felt that Theomar’s preaching on the purity of the soul proved that Magic was a corruption that should be guarded against. The Schism occured when the hardliners broke off the Conclave and started hunting down Magic-users, turning the Empire distinctly anti-Occult. The Evintarian (named after their preacher Horopados Evinter), fled to Etosil and seceded from the Empire. They were later re-integrated into the Empire, but remain religiously separate. And have developed a more pro-Occult and evolution-oriented view of Unionism called Evintarian Unionism. There remains a lot of bad blood between the Evintarian and Dogmatic Unionists because of the religious violence between the two over the centuries.

Emended Schism

The Emended Schism has a somewhat more staggered appearance, in that it did not come about in just a single schism. Originally, Emended Unionism was split between Dogartan Unionism and Vultragon Unionism. Dogartan Unionism was a very small schism of Anglian preachers who rejected the wealth of the Evintarian and Unionist Councils, espousing the virtues of asceticism and poverty. Vultragon Unionism on the other hand was triggered by commoner resentment against the aristocracy and the ruling classes abusing their power, embracing critical thinking as they questioned authority. In recent years, the Dogartan Celates developed new theological arguments heavily rejecting Ivrae-Sange legitimacy and establishing the Emended Divine Beings as their true version of Canon, claiming that the Ivrae dynasty was so incompetent that by their incompetence, they admitted to being usurpers of the true Vessels. This message was well-received by the Vultragons, leading to both communities to merge into the Emended Schism. Because of its inherently critical nature and belief that alexander is not the correct Emperor, Emended Unionism is not well liked by the other religious schisms of Unionism.

Core Identity

Unionism is a religion centered around the tenets of devotion, piety, obedience and ambition, to live by the example of virtuous forebears. Unionism is an organized religion with a centralized priesthood and structure, though each schismatic group is different. Because each group has different core concepts and tenets, each of them will be discussed on a separate page.

Tenets

• Bravery: Unionism requires that all Unionists show bravery in the face of demons, adversity and the natural vices that all living things are born with.
• Calm: Unionism requires that all Unionists remain civil with one another and show kindness even when cruelty and aggression is inflicted on them.
• Chaste: Unionism requires that sexual relations happen only in wedlock, and only in a monogamous sense. Adultery is strictly a sin.
• Ambition: Unionism requires that all Unionists contribute no matter how big or small, to the great dominance of the Regalian Empire.
• Diligence: Unionism requires that those with merit and skill are rewarded and raised to better positions of power to reward their duty to the Empire.
• Forgiving: Unionism requires that all Unionists are forgiving and do not relent to the vices of revenge and pettiness for they are barbaric and banal.
• Charity: Unionism requires that all Unionists create equity for the poorest and weakest, so that even the infirm can contribute through charity and help.
• Honest: Unionism requires honesty and truth, professing the need for a strict but fair law and for fairness for the people both highborn and lowborn.
• Humble: Unionism requires that all Unionists see themselves as no better than the great who came before, and who they will live as an example of.
• Obedience: Unionism requires all Unionists to be obedient to the hierarchy of the state, to the Nobility granted rule from the Emperor, who must not be questioned.
• Great Way: Unionism requires all Unionists to constantly strive to contribute to the Great Way, to find opportunities to further advance the Empire and its people.
• Vessel: Dogmatic Unionists believe that only male Emperors can be the Vessel of the Everwatcher. The succession is Elective however, meaning no-one knows the next heir but the Emperor.

Beliefs

• Narrative: In Unionism all faithful (and even unfaithful) contribute or detrimentally affect something called the Great Way. The Great Way is a promise made by the Everwatcher, that the Regalian Empire now carries the Mantle of Creation, a concept that they must protect life and existence itself from the ruinous powers of corruption and evil. The promise is that one day, if Unionism succeeds, the whole world will be ruled by the Regalian Empire as one state, and all living things will be subject to the Emperor and Vessel of the Everwatcher. When that time comes, the Everwatcher shall unchain the gates of the afterlife where all past Unionists have gone, revive the dead, and bring about a paradise without sickness, death, or sadness. Those who are denied entry into the gates of the afterlife, are instead re-incarnated in the mortal world after their death to try again to prove their soul is worthy.
• Canon Evil: Unionist Canon Evil is somewhat dubious, and exists on multiple levels. The most obvious evil in Unionism is called the Sin of Creation. The Sin of Creation implies that all living beings were born with inherent flaws to overcome to prove their worthiness for the cause of the Great Way. As such, evil is done simply because people do not have self control or inhibitions. The next stage of evil are Demons. Unionism acknowledges all entities coming from different dimensions save the afterlife as Demons seeking to corrupt the minds and wills of the living. These beings infest or seduce the living into giving into their Sin of Creation. The third level of evil is somewhat more ambiguous, as it is other religions. While Unionism doesn’t strictly deny the existence or validity of other religions, it does claim that by worshiping anyone but the Everwatcher, that the living are led astray from creating Paradise, and that they live in sabotage of the Great Way’s conclusion. Essentially, other religions are seen as a distracting evil.
• Identity: The Unionist Creed has no words or thoughts on the matter of gender, sex, sexuality or gender-identity, though the topic of homosexuality is somewhat contentious among Ailor. There is nothing strictly against homosexuality, but a theological argument is made that every Unionist has a duty to sire the next generation of faithful, and to be celibate, same-sex loving, or simply choose not to have children, is seen as a selfish act and one that detrimentally affects the Great Way. As a result, many same-sex Unionists adopt, or find other ways to have children.
• Conversion: Unionism is a religion that has invariably been applied with the sword, or with word, and both interpretations are somewhat correct. Unionists believe that a person, even one who is not Unionist or pretends to be Unionist, can still work towards the Great Way if pointed in the right direction. This is why the Confessions of Melennar are important, because this preacher created a common understanding that as a Regalian Unionist ruler, one’s non-Unionist subjects can still work towards the Empire’s cause, while not believing in the Everwatcher, and their soul can still ascend to the Unionist afterlife if their own religion or a-religiosity will not claim them. As such, conversion by the sword is also fully acceptable, because it forcibly induces someone into the Great Way, though it has become more controversial and less acceptable as of late.
• Sins & Taboo: The worst cases of sinning and taboo for Unionism are blasphemy against the Emperor, hedonism in cruelty (torture, mental abuse, domestic abuse), moral corruption among government and nobles, infanticide, desecrating holy sites, attacking clergy and temples (even of other religions), rejecting the Everwatcher, and being a traitor or saboteur against the Regalian Empire. Unionism does acknowledge confessionals, but Celates can issue a Writ of Sin, a public denunciation and excommunication of a Unionist (or Unionist) to declare them anathema to the religion. It is possible to reverse a Writ of Sin through a Writ of Harmony, but only through some act of self-sacrifice or service to the Emperor.

Gods and Goddesses

Theomar, God of the Beginning text

Ness, Goddess of Forgiving text

Juvin, God of Wisdom text

Almar, God of Justice text

Allest, God of Strength text

Elia, Goddess of War text

Vess, God of Freedom text

Alexander, God of the Vessel text

Taal, Goddess of Purity text

Nicholas, God of Stewardship text

Elen, Goddess of Burden text

Niall and Nolan, Twin-Gods of Art text

Ceren, God of the Seas text

Hor, God of Service text

Kristopher, God of Sacrifice text

Agus, God of Purpose text

Mendes, God of Prosperity text

Ilarion, God of the Covenant text

Priestly Activities

Dogmatic Unionist priests are part of the so-called Dogmatic Religious Community. At the very top is the Concilly Council. Originally this organization had a leader called the Supreme Reverend, however the Supreme Reverend position was abolished when the last Supreme Reverend discovered insidious corruption within the religious community, tried to expose it, and was assassinated for it. To compensate, Conclave determined that the Dogmatic community should henceforth be ruled by a Council of elder Arch-Celates. Below the Concilly Council, are the Arch-Celates, which are equivalents to Dukes in the Regalian Empire. They wield considerable power and rule over vast areas of land, subdivided into Celeries. Below the Arch-Celate is the Celate, or just the average priest. Each Celate administrates a Celerie, which is usually a piece of land donated to the clergy where they maintain temples, shrines, and convents, while also producing crops and tending to cattle. Celates perform all religious tasks such as confession, preaching, hearing concerns, and simply taking care of Unionist needs like a social caretaker or mental health worker. Arch-Celates on the other hand are more administrative in that they take care of the treasury, any military attached to the religious orders, and communication between the Concilly Council and the vast wide-spread Unionist elements. Formally the Emperor is the leader of the Holy Seat, which is more of a group term for the Palace and the Concilly Council grouped together, but historically Emperors have interfered very little in the day to day running of the Celeries, and as such, this fact is usually ignored, the Emperor being considered a completely independent entity. This has also historically separated the Emperor from controversy among the Celates, and vice versa.

Trivia

• The matter of depicting the God Emperors or God Empresses is controversial at best. Many priests believe that mortals are fallible and cannot depict the Gods and Goddesses in an accurate or divine manner. Any art produced of the Gods or Goddesses is extremely scrutinized. More curiously yet, the eyes of all depictions of the Gods or Goddesses are always depicted in white. This is because the iris colors of the Emperors or Empresses is always a matter of intense debate and historical revision.
• Unionism used to be mandatory for nobility somewhere during the second century after Cataclysm, though this Holy Law was removed when the war against the Skagger Horde ceased, and the Empire benefited more from including non-Unionists into the peerage. An exception had always been made for the Altalar nobles of Solvaan origins in Solleria however, called the Confessions of Melennar.
• Sectarian violence largely came to an end at the turn into the fourth century as the last attacks on Vultragon Unionist by state forces ceased, and an uneasy truce was signed between the Schism religious communities. They still do not see eye-to-eye, and the different Schismatic groups still prod at each other, but instead of murdering each other over sectarian differences, they mostly fight with words nowadays, a legacy of the Kleine Rechnung, the document that called for the truce.
• Despite Elen's absorption into Unionism, the Breizh still maintained a high level of cultural autonomy, some even clinging to old beliefs. As such, even when Magic became illegal in the Empire, the Breizh Aelrrigan Order continued to find and train Mages safely in their sanctuaries while the rest of the Empire turned to brutal oppression (and the Magic part of Elen was surpressed from dogma). Elen's faithful among the Aelrrigan Order are commonly cited as the reason why Magic acceptance eventually returned, and Elen's magical nature in theological teachings was returned.

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Accreditation
Writers MonMarty, FireFan96 Processors Hemingway7	Last Editor MonMarty on 02/23/2023.

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