INDEX
The Cult of Sol Invictus:
The Cosmogenesis:
The Blasphemy:
Church of Soldeus; Dogma and Lore:
The Beginning:
Of Lucius:
Conscience and the Inner Spark:
Sin and Virtue:
Works of Mercy:
The Obligations:
The Importance of Prayer:
Of Salvation:
INTRODUCTION
Greetings!
Faith and religion play an important role in many people’s lives today and, based on what the development team have said, we can expect fictional religion and the worshiping of fictional gods to play an equally important role in Mortal Online. I am part of a gaming community that wants to explore every aspect that Mortal Online has to offer and felt that an in-depth and believable religion was needed to fully embrace the game.
As such the solar deity Soldeus has been created, alongside two religions that worship him. They are the Cult of Sol Invictus and the Church of Soldeus. Anyone with an interest in the Latin language (or an addiction to google) may have noticed that Soldeus can be translated into ‘Sun God’ or ‘God of the Sun’. It is He that both of these religions worship.
One theme that has popped up in several posts by the devs’ is that a religion, and the god it worships, will increase in influence/power as its number of followers also increases. Throughout the creation of Soldeus we felt it was important to keep the religion true to the developer’s intentions and within the guidelines of the proposed game mechanics. This core principle formed the heart of the religions.
The Cult of Sol Invictus believes that Soldeus rules both life and death, gives rise to them both, and that disharmony is an affect of going against the operation of the sun and the wheel of life. Only the first few chapters deal with the Cult as it is relatively unstructured and has only a few core principles.
The Church of Soldeus is based primarily on the duality between good and evil and the war that rages between them. It is a structured religion that takes the protection of its followers and the spreading of its teachings very seriously. The Church of Soldeus is modular in that it does not expect all its followers to know the ins and outs of the religion and different expectations are placed on different members. For a normal person to worship Soldeus it is enough to know his name, that he is the source of all good things and that the Church is there to protect them. A Priest, however, would be expected to know all the ins and outs of the religion.
By posting the religions here I am making an open invitation for people to join in the worship of Soldeus; either through the Cult of Sol Invictus or the Church of Soldeus. You could even make your own religion that focuses on Soldeus.
The Cult of Sol Invictus has no central organisation and so it is enough for an individual or a clan to just secretly or openly follow the religion and decide on which parts of the religion they wish to believe and which practices to honour.
An Individual may decide to follow the teachings of the Church of Soldeus and think nothing of it ever again. But those who wish to join the ranks of the Clergy either as a crusading Knight, preaching Priest or travelling Friar must have their appointments approved by the Eccumenical Council; the central ruling body of the Church.
Any Clan that wishes to adopt the Church of Soldeus as its religion will have the opportunity to appoint a “Bishop” to sit on the Ecumenical Council. The Ecumenical Council is a conference of all the Bishops that is convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice.
It is important to stress that this does not imply any alliance, treaty or agreements between the clans; only that they share a faith. Two Bishops may have such differing views that it actually leads to conflict between their clans.
Individuals or small groups of friends are more than welcome to join the Cult of Sol Invictus or the Church of Soldeus. There are no strings attached and no requirement to join a specific clan.
If you think anything you have read or will read is presumptuous or taking liberty (the way we portray Nave or name the Sun God for example) then please remember the pantheon idea, as mentioned by the developers, that sits at the core of their religious system. If enough people believe in a God then he will rise to power. If not, then the Church of Soldeus will gladly argue its point until there is no one left standing to oppose
. Just because we believe it is so, does not mean you have to.
If you are interested in learning more or joining the Church of Soldeus then please contact me by forum PM or by e-mail:
malachi@duchyofwessex.org.
For those of you who are interested in Joining the Church of Soldeus, but are without a home, then feel free to check out the Duchy of Wessex
http://www.duchyofwessex.org/forum/
Lastly:
This fictional religion has been created by a multicultural group of people with various beliefs. It draws on numerous real life religions, some more than others, to help create a functional ecclesiastical society for the game Mortal Online. There is no intention by the authors to place judgment on these sources of inspiration or to make any statement on any real world religion.
Below you will find the details of the religions presented in a Journal Format and written from the perspective of a Bishop of the Church of Soldeus. I hope you take the time to read it and enjoy.
In closing:
Individuals or small groups of friends are more than welcome to join the Cult of Sol Invictus or the Church of Soldeus. There are no strings attached and no requirement to join a specific clan.
and
Should your clan take up the religion; it is important to stress that this does not imply any alliance, treaty or agreements between the clans; only that they share a faith.