Religion in Averius
Imperial Pantheon
The Twelve Greater Gods
The Twelve Great Gods are the most powerful deities of the Imperial Pantheon. They are the basis of the entire religion.
| Number | God | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Creatio | Creation |
| 2 | Ruina | Destruction |
| 3 | Tractus | Space |
| 4 | Hora | Time |
| 5 | Scientia | Knowledge |
| 6 | Bellum | War |
| 7 | Anima | Life |
| 8 | Mors | Death |
| 9 | Lumen | Light |
| 10 | Tenebris | Darkness |
| 11 | Silex | Elements |
| 12 | Castimonia | Morality |
The Twenty Four Middle Gods
The Twenty Four Middle Gods are the children of the Twelve Greater Gods. These gods are not as powerful as the Big 12, but are powerful in their own right, having dominion over a specific aspect of reality.
| Number | Relation | God | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Son of Creatio and Ruina | Magus | Magic |
| 2 | Son of Creatio and Ruina | Senium | Decay and Ruination |
| 3 | Daughter of Creatio and Ruina | Libra | Balance |
| 4 | Daughter of Creatio and Ruina | Vindicta | Vengeance and Revenge |
| 5 | Son of Tractus and Hora | Vacuo | Void/Nothingness |
| 6 | Son of Tractus and Hora | Iter | Travel and Exploration |
| 7 | Daughter of Tractus and Hora | Tempora | Seasons |
| 8 | Daughter of Tractus and Hora | Fata | Fate |
| 9 | Son of Scientia and Bellum | Cultio | Agriculture |
| 10 | Son of Scientia and Bellum | Motus | Emotion |
| 11 | Daughter of Scientia and Bellum | Venatura | Hunt/Hunting |
| 12 | Daughter of Scientia and Bellum | Chlora | Medicine |
| 13 | Son of Anima and Mors | Recordatio | Memories/Remembrance |
| 14 | Son of Anima and Mors | Opes | Wealth |
| 15 | Daughter of Mors and Anima | Phasma | Ghosts/Souls |
| 16 | Daughter of Mors and Anima | Anastasis | Resurrection and the Cycle of Reincarnation |
| 17 | Son of Lumen and Tenebris | Solis | Sun/Light |
| 18 | Son of Lumen and Tenebris | Umbra | Shadow |
| 19 | Daughter of Lumen and Tenebris | Luna | Moon |
| 20 | Daughter of Lumen and Tenebris | Sidera | Stars/Constellations |
| 21 | Son of Silex and Castimonia | Metallum | Metal/Metallurgy |
| 22 | Son of Silex and Castimonia | Caelo | Sky/Wind/Air |
| 23 | Daughter of Silex and Castimonia | Aquarius | Sea/Water |
| 24 | Daughter of Silex and Castimonia | justitia | Judgement |
The Lesser Gods
The Lesser Gods are the least powerful group of gods. This category also applies to demigods and mortals who are granted godship.
| Number | Relation | God | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Son of Senium and Vindicta | Magistratus | Administration and Authority |
| 2 | Daughter of Senium and Vindicta | Astutia | Diplomacy and Negotiation. |
| 3 | Son of Vacuo and Libra | Felix Averius (Ascended) | Unity and Imperialism |
| 4 | Daughter of Vacuo and Libra | Musica | Art and Music |
| 5 | Son of Motus and Venatura | Proelium | Marksmanship and Fighting |
| 6 | Daughter of Motus and Venatura | Bestia | Beasts and Animals |
| 7 | Son of Magus and Chlora | Prodigium | Miracles |
| 8 | Daughter of Magus and Chlora | Sana | Healing/healing Magic |
| 9 | Son of Solis and Anastasis | Purgatio | Purifying Light (Christian God) |
| 10 | Daughter of Solis and Anastasis | Nefas | Evil, Crime, and Corruption |
| 11 | Son of Cultio and Tempora | Aer | Weather and Climate |
| 12 | Daughter of Cultio and Tempora | Messis | Harvests |
| 13 | Son of Recordatio and Luna | Festum | Festivals |
| 14 | Daughter of Recordatio and Luna | Veritas | Truth |
| 15 | Son of Iter and Sidera | Trames | Travel and Transportation |
| 16 | Daughter of Iter and Sidera | Amare | Loveand Affection |
| 17 | Son of Umbra and Phasma | Morbus | Disease |
| 18 | Daughter of Umbra and Phasma | Inmortua | Undead/Necromancy |
| 19 | Son of Opes and Fata | Proditio | Betrayal |
| 20 | Daughter of Opes and Fata | Fortuna | Luck/Fortune |
| 21 | Son of Metallum and Castimonia | Sabulo | Sand, Rock, and Dirt |
| 22 | Daughter of Silex and Castimonia | Chasmatias | Natural Disasters |
| 23 | Son of Caelo and Aquarius | Fluctus | Tides and Waves |
| 24 | Daughter of Caelo and Aquarius | Procellas | Storms |
Holidays and Festivals
Creation Festival
The Creation Festival occurs on the Spring Equinox, every year. This festival celebrates life and is used to pray for a bountiful harvest that year. A common practice is to dance and drink. Because one topic of the festival is life, it is often a time when couples partake in procreation.
Empire Day
Empire Day, sometimes also called Election Day is a holiday on March 15th. This holiday involves a massive festival celebrating the founding of the Empire.
Naming Festival
The Naming Festival happens in the Summer Solstice. To those who have come of age in Imperial Society, the Naming Festival is an important time of year. Those of age arrive at their local place of general worship (not dedicated to a specific god) and pray. They reflect what patron god to select and what to name themselves. Once dusk arrives, they declare their choice of name and their chosen patrol god. The Naming is then followed by a feast. To those who have already done the Naming or are not yet old enough to do so, the entire day is a festival of many activities and activities.
Festival of Talents
The Festival of Talents occurs on July 31st. This festival celebrates the creation of art and music with anyone being able to set up public displays of art and music in any format or style.
Festival of Plenty
The Festival of Plenty occurs on the Autumn Equinox, every year. This festival celebrates the use of agriculture and hunting. This festival often involves an event called the Hunt, where the participants go out and hunt for food. The hunt ends the following morning with the successfully hunted prey being presented as an offering.
Festival of the Dead
The Festival of the Dead happens from dawn of October 31st and ends on the dawn of November 2nd. This festival honors the dead and is a celebration of those who have passed. This festival often requires the ornamentation of one's residence to scare away evil spirits. It is common for persons to dress up in costumes when participating in festivities. During this festival, it is expected for a person to leave out a plate for ones deceased parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, and siblings.
Renewal Festival
The Renewal Festival occurs on the Winter Solstice, every year. This festival celebrates rebirth and spiritual renewal. A common practice is to write down one's sins on a paper and then cast the paper into a fire. The burning of that paper represents the forgiveness of sins and the lifting of the burden of sin from the moral body.
Spire Festival
New Year's Eve and New Years Day are Called the Spire Festival. This festival celebrates the coming of a new year in the Imperial Calendar. This festival gets its name for the spire erected at exactly Midnight when the new year arrives. This spire has etched into it, twelve panes, one on each side of the spire. Each pane depicts important events from the previous year in writen and pictoral format to memorialize the events. This festival typically only has a spire erected in the Imperial Central District, but other localities have their own format of remembrance for the year.
Places of Worship
Imperial Pantheon Complex
The Imperial Pantheon Complex is a massive collection of buildings belonging to the Imperial Pantheon religion and is the center of its governance and administration.
Arce de Deorum
The Arce de Deorum or 'Castle of the Gods' is the name of the solitary tower in the middle of the central courtyard which each of the temples of the Twelve Greater Gods enter from. This circular tower is 250 meters tall and it made up of white granite. This building has a large interior space with a external diameter of fifty meters and an interior floorspace of about 1,250 square meters. The internal space is a massive place of worship with black granite floors with gold inlays. The center of the room is a massive golden statue of the first Emperor. The tower's interior has an encased stairway around the central room that leadds up to the flat roof. The central room has a domed gold ceiling. The room is made of black granite with a central skylight with glass that opens to the room below. The railings are made of a gold-titanium alloy and the floor has gold trimming.
Inner Courtyard
The Inner Courtyard measures 250 meters in diameter with the Arce de Deorum at its exact center. The courtyard has trees, a white marble footpath around the Arce de Deorum, and a covered footpath around the edge of the courtyard, connecting each of the Temples of the Twelve Greater Gods.
The Twelve Temples
Each of the Twelve Temples are large enough to be compared to full Church buildings. Each building is made of white granite with large stained glass windows.
Administrative Building
On the southern end of the Inner Courtyard, a large building resembling a Basilica acts as the administrative building for the entire complex.
Dorms
The Dorms is a building resembling a Basilica on the northern side of the Inner Courtyard. This building contains the residences for all clergy and staff for the complex and also has the cafeteria for the clergy.
Academy of the Sacred Faith
The Academy of the Sacred Faith is the college-level school located on the western side of the Inner Courtyard. This building, resembling a Basilica has the purpose of training persons for introduction into the Clergy. This building has classrooms, dorms, and cafeterias for the students.
vestibule
The Vestibule is a large building, resembling a Basilica, acts as the entryway from outside the complex into the Inner Courtyard. This building is on the eastern side of the Inner Courtyard.
Outer Courtyard
The Outer Courtyard is built in a ring around the area behind the Twelve Temples to the Greater Gods. This area has access to the Inner Courtyard through buildings connecting between the Twelve Temples.
Temples to the Middle Gods
The Temples to the Middle Gods are temples with the size and appearance of normal Churches built in a ring around the Outer Courtyard.
Temples to the Minor Gods
The Temples to the Minor Gods are temples directly connected to the temples dedicated to their parents.
The Garden
The Garden is the space between the Temples to the Minor Gods and the Outer Wall. There are four large roads from the northern, eastern, souther, and western sides of the Outer Wall, towards the large buildings on the northern, southern, eastern, and western sides of the Inner Courtyard.
Outer Wall
The Outer Wall is a large white granite wall extending 3,200 meters from the center of the Arce de Deorum. The Outer Wall also has dour entry areas that have medieval-style gateways on the north, south, east, and west side of the Outer Wall.
Basilica
A Basilica is a massive building of worship, presided over by an Archbishop. There is one of these in every duchy. These buildings provide spaces to worship every god of the Imperial pantheon. Each god has his or her own Temple within a Basilica. A Basilica is typically built in the 1st Imperial Style of architecture (irl gothic architecture).
Cathedral
A Cathedral is a massive building of worship, presided over by an Bishop. There is one of these in every duchy. These buildings provide spaces to worship every god of the Imperial pantheon. Each god has his or her own Chapel within a Cathedral. A Cathedral is typically built in the 1st Imperial Style of architecture (irl gothic architecture).
Church
A Church is a building of worship, presided over by an High Priest. There is one of these in every duchy. These buildings provide spaces to worship every god of the Imperial pantheon. Each god has his or her own Chapel within a Church.
Temple
A Temple is a building of worship, presided over by a Priest. A Temple is a place dedicated to the worship of a single god of the Imperial Pantheon.
Chapel
A Chapel is a room within a larger place of worship which is dedicated to the worship of a single god of the Imperial Pantheon. A Chapel is presided over by a single priest.
Religious Practices
Prayers and Worship
Each god has his or her own prayer and worship standards. Some require specific colors or type of clothes be worn during services.
Oaths
Each god has his or her own standards for oaths. Oaths are considered sacred and just as good or valid as contracts. Oath Breakers are considered untrustworthy and may be denied attendance to some services, depending on the god on which the oath is sworn.
The Hunt
The Hunt is a form of sacrificial worship, used to show dedication to one's Patron God. One hunts for prey and presents it to the sacrificial altar. This practice can also be used as a form of penance, allowing one's sins to be forgiven by presenting the hunted prey as a sacrifice.
Services
Services are held twice a day, at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. Services are one hour long and involve various prayers and hymns. While there is no official requirement, it is expected that a person attends one of these services each week.
Rite of Clergy
The Right of Clergy is a rite in which a person is ordained into the Clergy.
Hymns
Hymns, or religious chants, poems, and songs, are used to exalt specific gods or to tell religious stories or lessons.
Funeral Rites
Funeral Rites change based on the Patron God of the deceased, but they generally involve either a funeral pyre or casket burrial.
The Books of Pantheon
The Books of Pantheon, is a collection of books detailing the practices and stories of specific gods and goddesses, with one book dedicated to each god or goddess. There are also various other books that fall into this category.
Book of Origin
The Book of Origin tells of the creation of the world. This chapter tells of the Twelve Greater Gods creating the World and the birth of the other gods.
Book of Laws
The Book of Laws is a book that contains the various religious laws, practices, and standards for each god and goddess.
Book of Prayers
The Book of Prayers is a book that contains various prayers and hymns for each god and goddess.
Apotheosis
Apotheosis is the book dedicated to the story of Felix Averius, the founding Emperor and the Emperor who ascended into godhood.
Book of History
The Book of History is a book that contains the history and stories of the Imperial Pantheon important for the worship of the gods. This book also contains the religious history of the religions consumed by the Imperial Pantheon.
