Testamentary Religion

The Testamentary Religion is a polytheistic religion based off the teachings of the Testaments. These Testaments contain myths that describe the creation of the Mortal World as well as the lives of the Gods and demigods. This religion focuses on the worship of "Heavenly Gods" while containing myths of "Nether Gods" for context and explanation of phenomenon.

The Testamentary Religion is made up of a collection of "semi-cults" who each worship one Heavenly God/Goddess but also worship the other Heavenly Gods of the religion in a lesser form. The religion is split up by churches, which will focus on the teachings and myths of the specific God/Goddess. These churches all fall under the Testamentary name for they all worship the Testaments.

The Testamentary Religion has also spawned Nether Cults, which are cults that worship Nether Gods. These cults are not recognized by the Testamentary worshipers and are considered sinful to be part of. For this, Nether Cults are considered their own religion that has branched off of the Testamentary and Hebruus religions.

The Testamentary Religion is the dominant religion within Authorania, being worshiped by 82% of the Authoranian population. This religion also is used used in Authoranian timekeeping, with an introduction of a new Testament marking the start of a new era and the resetting of the year.

History
After the fall of Morthania, thousands of refugees flooded the small Morthanian territorial town of Deffenur. Many of these refugees believed in the Morthanian Religion, which was the dominant religion in Morthania at the time. The Morthanian Religion was a polytheistic religion that many consider the predecessor to the Testamentary Religion. The small town of Deffenur was quickly overrun with refugees and they brought their traditional Morthanian culture with them.

For many years, Deffenur was the same as Morthania but with a smaller population size and this included their religion. Eventually however, a cultural shift began to occur as the generation who came from Morthania died out and the new generation began to search for a cultural identity.

It is unknown the year but shortly after this cultural shift began to take place, a priest had discovered a book in the forest that was simply called "The Testament". The Testament was a religious bible that was believed to have been written and placed in the Mortal World by the Gods. This discovery of The Testament was a cornerstone to Deffenur's cultural revolution and as The Testament worshipers grew, the Morthanian Religion's numbers began to fall.

Much of The Testament's success came from the similarities it had with the Morthanian Religion. The Testament outlined a polytheistic belief complete with myths of Gods and Goddesses who were fundamental to the creation and running of the Mortal World. It was clear that many Gods and Goddesses in The Testament were just rebranded Gods and Goddesses from the Morthanian Religion. It is believed that since the transition from the Morthanian Religion to the new Testamentary Religion was so easy and the new nation was under a cultural revolution, this caused many people to accept the new religion and begin worshiping it in droves.

Shortly after the Testamentary Religion was established, Deffenur's name was changed to Authorania, based on the Goddess Authorena and this marked the start of a new era while marking the end of traditional Morthanian culture within Authorania.

Hierarchy
The Testamentary Religion has a small hierarchical system which anyone in the priesthood can obtain. Due to the nature of how Testamentaries practice their religion, becoming a "higher rank" isn't seen as an achievement as much as it's seen as another job. Only in the Monk rank does the hierarchy matter as each rank symbolizes the path to enlightenment.

The ranks within the Testamentary Religion are:

Priest- The "lowest rank" within the Testamentary hierarchy and the most populated rank. To become a Priest, one must be a male and become an apprentice of a Priest. After serving so many years, usually 4, the Priest will promote their apprentice to Priesthood.

A Priest's duties include heading a church, organizing local holiday events and hosting charity events. There can be multiple Priests per church, based on how big the church is. Most people who are Priests never advance and usually stay as a Priest their entire lives.

Plurian- The next rank up from Priest is Plurian. A Plurian heads all the churches within a city-state or smaller country. A Plurian is seen as an administration role for they request funding for churches and oversee the general upkeep of the churches they are in charge of.

Priests do not have to answer to their Plurian, however, Plurians can cut funding to churches if their demands aren't met. There are a limited number of Plurians that can serve which is why it's a hard rank to obtain. Within Authorania, there are only as many Plurians as there are City-States as well as Plurians that are in other countries. To become a Plurian, one must be a Priest and must have been a Priest for at least 10 years. Priests put in an application and to become a Plurian, a Plurian will pick a Priest who will become their replacement. Usually they pick a Priest within their domain. If a Plurian dies before they choose a replacement, the other Plurians will vote on his replacement.

High Priest- High Priest is considered the highest rank in Priesthood. A High Priest will oversee all of the churches within a country. A High Priest's duties are granting funding, overseeing churches, overseeing rituals, translating prophecies and are the experts of the Testaments. There are only 5 High Priests and they all reside in Capital City, Authorania.

Although ranks within Priesthood are not seen much as "ranks", High Priests are highly respected in Testamentary culture and are often consulted for their wisdom.

To become a High Priest, a Plurian must be voted into the position by the other High Priests. Plurians don't put in an application and instead have the opportunity to become a High Priest at any time. But not any Plurian can become a High Priest. Most High Priests are voted in due to their knowledge. It is a general rule that High Priests must know both Morthanian and Authoranian fluently, must know all of the Testaments and their myths and must know the worship practices of all of the Gods. A High Priest serves their term for their entire life and once a High Priest dies, their seat is open.

Monk
Being a Monk is considered the highest rank in the Testamentary Religion although to become a Monk one does not follow the Priesthood hierarchy. To become a Monk, it is much like becoming a Priest, where you must become an apprentice to a Monk. The training a Monk must endure is much more complicated and involved than the training of a Priest and often Monk apprentices don't become Monks for many many years.

Once an apprentice becomes a Monk, they are sworn to the life of celibacy and complete dedication to the Gods. Monks must be experts in the teachings of the Gods as well as self defense. Monks will spend years studying the Testaments and doing so they believe they become closer to enlightenment.

Monks are considered important for they will serve a special role in the afterlife: being personal servants to the Gods and in the case of Master Monks, they will be gods.

Monks have their own set of ranks, each are very important in Monkhood: Monk, Dametra, Aletra, Master.

Monk- A novice Monk and are considered the least enlightened. One must serve many years as a Monk and pass many trials to become more enlightened.

Dametra- Dametra Monks are more enlightened Monks but also are novice martial artists. Dametras spend most of their time mastering the martial art they study.

Aletra- Aletra Monks are more enlightened Dametra Monks as well as experts in martial arts. Aletras only goals are to gain full enlightenment. Not all Aletras gain full enlightenment however.

Master- Master Monks are fully enlightened and are master martial artists. Master Monks often achieve their rank after dedicating most of their lives to the Testaments, with an average time being 40 years.

Master Monks not only serve as the experts to the Testaments (High Priests consult Master Monks) but they also are granted the highest honor in the afterlife. Master Monks get to skip the afterlife trials and become Demigods in Antilluiæ (the afterlife realm).

First Testament
The First Testament is believed to be written by the Gods given to the children of Anthees (Grandfather of Mortals) to outline the Gods morals for the society that rose from the ashes of Morthania. This Testament lasted 54 years.

Second Testament
The first Testament written by priests and the first time Daasentees visited morals. This Testament is unnamed for it was written by a group of priests. After this Testament, every other Testament was written by only a single priest. This Testament lasted 1528 years.

Maximus Testament
First Testament written by a single priest. This Testament outlined every God and Goddess along with their powers, unlike the First and Second Testaments which only described the most importants Gods and Goddesses. This Testament lasted 200 years.

Andurrillio Testament
This Testament outlined new rules and morals from the Gods and Goddesses. This Testament lasted 1000 years.

Salouus Testament
This Testament introduced the Nether Gods and described their hierarchy and their grasp on mortal kind. It is also the first mention of a difference in eternal damnation for sinners and eternal bliss for good souls. This Testament lasted 302 years.

Ventrillio Testament
This Testament was the first to mention demigods. This Testament lasted 35 years.

Ventrillio Testament II
This Testament added backstories for the demigods who were only mentioned by named in the first Ventrillo Testament. This Testament lasted 125 years.

Ventrillio Testament III
This Testament was written by the great grandson of the priest Ventrillo who wrote the first two Ventrillo Testaments. This Testament mentioned newer Gods. This Testament lasted 600 years.

Foxzar Testament
This Testament outlines the struggles of the Gods and Goddesses during the Great Slave Roundup and the fall of Morthania. Thus Testament further cemented the fact that the old gods believed in Morthania were the same as the gods they believe in now. This Testament lasted for 539 years.

Meridiall Testament
The most current Testament, re-outlines the Gods hierarchy and includes more backstories. This Testament has been current for 1250 years so far.

Deities
The Testamentary Religion has many deities, each immortal and with certain powers over the Mortal World. The deities are ranked in a hierarchy. This hierarchy not only describes the position of power the deity is in but also describes how much power the deity has compared to their peers. The ranks are: All-God, Super Gods, God and Demigod.

All-God
There is only one All-God that exists in the immortal world. The All-God assumes the position of the leader of all the Gods in the immortal world.

Authorena the All-Goddess of Motherhood

See also: Authorena

Authorena is the All-Goddess of the immortal world. She is the leader of the immortals and is the caretaker of the mortals.

Authorena is described as a tall Elven woman with long smooth brown hair. Her eyes are a beautiful lemon shape and glowing yellow, symbolizing the sun. She has full lips. She is described as a “well fed woman” in figure meaning that she is chubby. She is depicted topless with very large breasts.

Authorena is commonly depicted with a Ploutus Flower, a pink flower that only exists in the realm of Antilluiæ.

Gods
Gods are immortal being that are classified as "having a purpose". This means the immortal has a power. The majority of deities fall under this status.

Sontulus, God of the Sun and Agriculture

See also: Sontulus

It is sometimes believed that Authorena is the Goddess of the sun due to her magnificent golden eyes but this belief is wrong. In fact the God of the Sun and Agriculture is Sontulus, son of Authorena and Sentenous.

Sontulus has his power due to the divine light emanating from his halo. To the Gods, Sontulus' divine light is not noticeable so he can easily be seen. To mortals, his divine light is so powerful he appears as a bright and hot orb. Due to his divine light, Sontulus cannot touch the Mortal World, without it bursting into flames.

To fulfill his divine duty, Authorena gifted Sontulus a golden chariot that he rides from East of the Mortal World to West. Once he crosses the horizon in the west, he is carried to the other side of the world.

Lunia, Goddess of the Night

See also: Lunia

Lunia is the Goddess of the Night and physical form is the Moon. Lunia is the daughter of Authorena and Sentenous and is the twin sister of Sontulus the God of the Sun and Agriculture.

Lunia was seen as the unwanted twin of Sontulus. Sontulus excelled while growing up which gave him almost all the attention. Lunia on the other hand was rejected and learned how to care for herself in order to survive. Sontulus was ignorant to how much his sister was being rejected by his parents but Lunia grew a deep seeded hatred for him over time. Lunia and her brother never got along and while Sontulus was off with friends, Lunia was a secluded type and shut herself away.

Lunia was infamous for her sabotage of her brother's divine duties by kicking him off his chariot and taking over his position. Sontulus had to trek through the Nether Realm while a major famine hit the Mortal World.

Jiagnotver, God of Trees

See also: Jiagnotver

Jiagnotver is the God of the Trees and is the only god whose presence is in the Mortal World. When the Mortal World was uninhabited by Mortals, Jiagnotver was the only tree. Since he chose not to live in the Heavenly Realm, he decided to create more trees to keep him company. Since he was a permanent resident, the gods assigned him the duty to be the caretaker to the Mortal World.

When Mortals were first put into the Mortal World, Jiagnotver was still sentient and he became worshiped by the Mortals. This upset the higher gods, who weren't being worshiped at all by Mortals. As a punishment, the gods took away Jiagnotver's sentience so he could no longer speak or interact with Mortals.

Although this deterred future Mortals from worshiping Jiagnotver, he still has a major following today.

Super Gods
Super Gods are immortal beings with unfathomable powers of destruction. Super Gods use this power to bring balance thus they rarely have to use their power. Super Gods are not officially worshiped. However, worshipers of Super Gods do exist in cults, although this is seen as a fruitless endeavor to Testamentarians for Super Gods do not accept souls into their world in the Heavens, thus, Super God worshipers will either be considered “lost souls” upon death or they will simply be damned to the Nether.

Thoran, Destroyer of Worlds

See also: Thoran

Thoran is a Super God deity whose divine duty is to destroy mortal worlds. His divine duty seems to be one of a Nether God, however Thoran uses his destructive powers to bring balance to the world. Although Thoran uses his power for good, he is one of the most powerful being in the universe which both intimidates and horrifies fellow Gods.

Thoran has the ability to wipe out all life in the Mortal World. He has never used his power to its full extent, however, he does use some of his power to cause extinctions. Due to this, many refer to him as the Super God of Extinction.

Besides his destructive powers to end all life on the Mortal World, Thoran has the ability to kill immortals. He has this power due to his strength, which he can use to crush the god's halos.

Thoran is described as a giant who is bald, fit and is often depicted wearing only a loincloth. He has three eyes, with his third eye on his forehead being closed. This third eye of his gives him his awesome power to destroy worlds, which he does by opening the eye.

Alfansa, Destroyer of Realms

See also: Alfansa

Alfansa is considered the most powerful god in the universe due to his divine duty of being the destroyer of realms. He is depicted as an alpaca, which makes him the only animal deity in the Testamentary Religion.

Although he rarely uses his powers, Alfansa was created and deployed during the Divine War to destroy the Heavenly Realms of Cathorin and Tsantiliotacholie.

Alfansa is a close companion of Thoran, who Alfansa took care of since he was a baby. He often serves on Thoran's behalf as well as keep Thoran calm. Some say Alfansa is Thoran's pet, although this is not true for Alfansa is a very intelligent and level headed immortal being.

Due to the fact that Alfansa is a Super God, he does not have worshipers, although he is represented in Testamentary culture. Unlike Thoran who is clumsy, prone to anger and not very intelligent, Alfansa is very intelligent and calm which makes him quite respected in the immortal and mortal communities.

Demigods
See also:Demigod (Testamentarian)

Demigods are unique for they are the only gods who earn their god status. Demigods are mortals who did great deeds in their lives. A mortal can become a demigod when they are still mortal, once they die, they will exist as a demigod in the heavenly realm.

Symbology
Each Heavenly God has their own symbol which represents them in the Mortal World. Priests will display a symbol of the god they're worshiping at their churches in order to show who the church worships. For example, Authorena's symbol is a white cross while Gernivious' symbol is a red two-pronged fork.

The Gods are not limited to one symbol most of the time. Authorena has a few symbols that refer to her, such as the Ploutus flower.

Since there are so many different symbols that represent the different Gods, the Testamentaries have adopted one symbol that serves as their emblem. This symbol contains a Testamentary "artifact" with a Ploutus flower above it and a Testament in the background.

Divine Halo
An important part of the God's symbolism is their Divine Halo. Not only does the halo serve as a symbol that the one who bares it is an immortal god but it also serves as their source of power and gives them their immortality. The Divine Halo is a thick, semi-transparent golden ring that hovers above the heads of immortal gods. Within the halo are words inscribed in Morthanian, which describe the Divine Duty of the deity.

The halo is granted to a deity after they have achieved their full enlightenment and have discovered their true purpose. After a god receives their halo, they are granted immortality and their aging stops. They are also granted the powers that will help them fulfill their Divine Duty.

If the halo is compromised, not only does the deity lose their powers but they also lose their immortality. This is not much of a threat to the Heavenly Gods for their halos are near impossible to destroy. The only deity that has the power to destroy halos is the Super God Thoran, who destroyed Tsantiliotacholie's and Cathorin's halos before they were banished to the Nether Realm. Although Thoran is considered a Heavenly God, he is very temperamental and deities that choose to quarrel with the Super God run the risk of destruction.

Demigod Halo
A Demigod Halo is a shining bright white disk that hovers behind a Demigod's head. Unlike the Divine Halo, this halo does not give the demigod any power and is purely a symbol of enlightenment.

Spirit Halo
The Spirit Halo is a thick golden ring that hovers above the heads of dead mortals in the Heavenly Realm. Like the Demigod Halo, the Spirit Halo does not give any powers to the spirit and is purely a symbol that the spirit was once a mortal but is now dead.

Afterlife
In the Testamentary Religion, when someone dies it is the symbol of the gods calling for the spirit of that mortal. Yet it is believed that the God of Death waits for the person's soul at the place which they were born, thus it is the duty of the living to bury the body near where the person was born in order to make the commute easy for the soul.

The soul will be kept inside the dead body until it wants to leave or until the corpse is decomposed when it has to leave, giving the living time to bury the dead where it needs to be. In ancient times this practice was easy for people often didn't move far from where they were born. As time went on and transportation became easier, people often moved far from where they were born and this is when the "Death Box" was invented.

The Death Box is a small box containing a small map which pinpointed the birthplace of the person,an emblem and a couple gold nuggets used as payment into the afterlife. The Death Box is particularly popular with soldiers who often die far from home.

The journey of the soul to the afterlife is challenging and often is what causes people to fear death. It is known to people that their soul may succeed in their journey and thus they will not pass on to the afterlife. Due to this fear, over the years priests have offered sacred relics to be buried with the body of the dead to aid them in the soul's journey, these relics will be noted when they come up in the explanation.

Trials
The Realm of Souls, the first of many realms that exist as trials before going to the afterlife, is where the soul goes after meeting the God of Death. The Realm of Souls is the most simplistic realm where all the souls of the dead wait to be ferried to the next realm. This is where the gold nugget relic comes into play where the soul must pay the ferryman 1 gold nugget to pass to the next realm. If a soul does not have a gold nugget then they are stuck forever in the Realm of Souls.

The ferryman ferries the soul to the second realm, the Realm of Patience. Here, the soul must sit with legs crossed in perfect stillness for the length of their entire mortal lifetime. If the soul was to move or lose concentration their time would start all over again. A relic is used in this realm, a Peludecent Flower, which is used for relaxation and would aid in the trial during uncomfortable times. Once the patience trial had been achieved, the soul is absorbed into the ground they sit and passed into the next realm.

The Realm of Sin is considered one of the more horrific trials and a relic is used here to aid the soul. The Realm of Sin is situated right above the Nether Realm and is an ocean of water. The Sins the soul carried with it weighs them down and when they are completely submerged they are absorbed into the Nether. The relic that can be used to aid is a wooden emblem. The wooden emblem adds buoyancy by forgiving some sins, however it does not forgive all sins and someone who was very sinful in their life will still sink. Once the soul made it to the other side they walked into the next realm.

The Realm of Confrontation or the Realm of Morality (the names are used interchangeably) was a test of the soul's character and how they acted in the Mortal World. This realm is often referred to the Realm of Confrontation because that is what happens in this realm, a soul passed through a long hallway constantly being harassed and pestered by Nether demons. If a soul was to get angry or confront the demons they would be whisked away to the Nether Realm. There is no relic for this realm, however, Testamentary worshipers would spend their lives well mannered and calm to the extent that arguments were rare and if one was to occur it was seen as very taboo and a fault of one's character. Once the soul passed through the Realm of Morality they were picked up by the hands of Illutens and thrust into the final realm,

The Realm of Judgement is the final realm a soul must go through before they are granted into the afterlife. The Realm of Judgement is occupied by The Illutens who are giant creatures who wear large cloaks and appear to have a hunchback. Their heads are perfectly spherical and possess only three large eyes. Even though they do not have mouths they constantly growl and hum. Their hands are described as bony and have long sword sharp nails. The Illuten that picked up the soul puts the soul down in front of a massive scale. Then an Illuten thrusts one of their long nails into the chest of the soul and rips out its heart. At this point the soul relinquishes its mortal form and becomes a colorless floating sphere. The heart is put on one trey of the scale while a Ploutus Flower (the flower of Authorena) is placed on the other. If the heart is much heavier than the flower, the soul is sent to the Nether Realm, if the heart is a little heavier than the flower, the soul is reincarnated and must endure morality all over again. If the soul is equal weight to the flower, then the soul is given back its mortal form and allowed into the afterlife.

Sects
Due to the large worship base of the Testamentary Religion, spanning all over the Mortal World, different sects have been created in countries or communities that are often far away from Authorania. The Testamentary High Priests recognize a few of these sects as legitimate.

Due to the unique way Testamentarians worship their gods, not all different worship methods are considered sects. A sect is recognized when worshippers deviate into a unique way of being a Testamentarian.

Oceanus Testamentarian
This sect of the Testamentary religion focuses on the worship of ocean gods and goddesses instead of focusing on the main gods and goddesses. This sect is commonly worshipped in seaside nations and is popular with sailors.

This sect was recognized as legitimate in 110 ST.

Ylvannian Testamentarian
The Ylvannian Testamentarian is a minor sect of the Testamentarian religion, which rejects the existence of the Nether. Ylvannians believe that all evils, disasters and bad luck in the Mortal World is caused by defects during the creation of the universe. Ylvannians worship the Andurillio Testament, the last testament that did not mention the Nether Gods and Goddesses. Ylvannians do not denounce the other testaments, however, they believe that the Andurillio Testament was the last true testament and believe the following testaments were made up by Mortals.

Their views on the modern testaments and their rejection of the Nether has caused some animosity between the Ylvannians and the Testamentarians. For many years in Authorania, the Ylvannians had been oppressed by the Testamentarians and terrorized by Nether cultists. Due to this, many Ylvannians fled Authorania to practice their religion in other nations. This did not work out well for many Ylvannians who were oppressed in other nations. In recent years, Authorania has become less oppressive of the Ylvannians and the sect was recognized by Testamentarian High Priests in 1200 MT.

Schisms
In the history of the Testamentary Religion, there have been several schisms. Most of the beliefs that spawned from the schisms has died off, however, some survive today and were fundamental in the creation of the Testamentary's sects.

Bidorianism (42 FTE- 12 STE)
The earliest recorded schism in the Testamentary Religion was the establishment of Bidorianism. Bidorianism was a belief preached by the Plurian Bidorian shortly after the First Testament was revealed. The belief of Bidorianism is that the Gods and Goddesses of the Testament were lesser Gods and Goddesses than the Morthanian Gods and Goddesses. This belief was seen as heretic and was openly critisized by the Testamentary priesthood. Bidorianism was particularly popular with former worshippers of the Morthanian Religion and the belief died off when the generation of Morthanians died out.

First Testamentarianism (0 STE- ~110 VTII)
First Testamentarianism is the first schism that occurred due to a new Testament being released and many schisms like the First Testamentarianism occurred over the years. The believers in the First Testamentarianism sect believe that the First Testament is the only true Testament, and the newer Testaments are invalid. This sect divided Testamentarians the most out of all the subsequent schisms about the "True Testament" that followed, mainly due to the population not knowing how to react to a new Testament. This sect was considered heresy by Testamentarians, however, First Testamentarianism members were never oppressed. Late in the Second Testament Era, the Testamentary leadership recognized First Testamentarianism as a sect, ending the schism, however, membership in the sect began to decline as more of the population was born into a multi-testament Testamentary Religion. The sect was officially declared dead by the Testamentary leadership in 110 VTII, however, it is believed the sect died many years before then.

Damianism/Authorenism (22 MT- 65 MT)
Damianism was founded by a man named Glaeus Damian who believed that the one and only God was Authorena. Damianism, also known as Authorenism, was the first attempt at making the Testamentary Religion a monotheistic religion. This belief was not openly condemned by the Testamentary leadership, however, it was openly opposed by worshippers of other Testamentary Gods. The schism died when a group of Sontulus worshippers lynched Glaeus Damian in the middle of Capitol City and began a purge of all believers in Damianism.

Transworshipism (15 ST- Present)
Late in the year 14 ST, Plurian Gallus Teran Ballus appealed to the High Priests to allow worshippers to hold "Lesser Gods" to the same status as "High Gods"(High Gods are Gods integral to the survival of the Mortal World). This appeal came as worshippers were being prosecuted for holding lesser gods to the same worship standard as High Gods. The act of worshipping a single God in the Testamentary Religion was integral to the religion's philosophy, however, worshippers always recognized that High Gods (such as Authorena or Sontulus) were superior to Lesser Gods.