The Matriarchy of Raya

The leader of the Matriarchy is the Mater Solinas, the "Mother of Light". The Mater, as the name implies, is always female. The Mater is the head of the church, the person who guides all policy and major actions of the church. The Mater also interprets the will of Raya from scripture and prophecy. The Mater holds the sole authority to "sever" a person from the faith, which forbids them from receiving the blessings of Raya (and also generally has significant temporal consequences). The Mater is also the person to whom all holy orders of knighthood sponsored by the Matriarchy report.   Under the Mater are the Anfili Solis, the "Rays of the Sun". There are 8 Anfili at any given time. Along with acting as the executive council of the Matriarchy, the Anfili, known collectively as the Enclave, elect (and can remove with a unanimous vote) the Mater Solinas. The Anfili, like the Mater, are always female, and are selected by the reigning Mater whenever there is a vacancy.   Below the Enclave are the Antistes, the leaders of the religious districts of the church. In Rosalind, each duchy is a separate district, known as a parish. Outside of Rosalind, parishes can vary in saize and population, but typically adhere to political boundaries when possible.  It should be noted that the Matriarchy is disfavored outside of Rosalind, and few persons identify as members of the faith.  An Antiste, who can be male or female, are the church overseers and leaders of the churches within their parish. The common folk will often call Antistes "archbishops", although that is a misnomer.   A bishop is the leader of a specific church of Raya Invicta. All priests that work and preach at that church report to the bishop. In many small churches, where there is only one priest or priestess, that person is also the bishop.   At the bottom of the ordained hierarchy are the ordained priests and priestesses. These priests and priestesses hold religious services and can perform all of the ceremonial duties of the faith, from regular services to special ceremonies like weddings or funerals, to celebrating the holy days of the faith.  There are also non-priestly positions within an individual church that can be held by common folk.

The Matriarchy was founded by a Human woman, a companion to Brenton the Black.  At the founding of Rosalind, this priestess of Raya placed the crown upon his head and declared him king of the newly-formed realm of Rosalind.  As Brenton's forces pushed eastward, evangelists accompanied both the army and the diplomats, spreading the worship of Raya to all the places on the continent.   As it was favored by the king, the Matriarchy quickly gained a significant foothold among the rich and powerful in Rosalind and beyond.  Where the nobles led, the common folk felt compelled to follow (and as the rich built the churches, there were few other choices).  Before long, the Matriarchy was the dominant religion in the northern half of the continent.  Their coffers swelled from tithes and every family of note and nobility engaged a personal confessor, a priestess (typically) that would counsel lord and ladies on spiritual matters.   The move towards monotheism was a slow progression that started toward the end of the religion's first century.  After pushing out or marginalizing other organized religions, the Enclave began postulating that other divine beings were inferior to Raya, and therefore could not be gods.  The Enclave debated whether other gods were angels and saints in service to Raya, mortal people putting on airs of grandeur, or demons in disguise.  The majority of gods were relegated to sainthood, although Korax and Astaroth were determined to be demons.  By the mid second century of their existence, the main orthodoxy taught by the Matriarchy preached that Raya Invicta was the only true god.  To worship any other god as a god was blasphemy.   At the height of their power, the Matriarchy turned their eyes southward.  Aurulant, the desert empire that worshiped the moon, were clearly heathens in need of saving.  However, where Matriarchy evangelists had found the north easy territory for conversion, Aurulanters were disinclined to to listen to and convert to the Matriarchy's rigid faith.  Several violent incidents occurred, which the Matriarchy used to fuel outrage in their attempt to spur the king at the time, King Barnard the Pious of Rosalind, to go to war.  Beynard, a fervent worshiper, needed little incentive - along with his religious zealotry, Rosalind and Aurulant had quarreled over mining rights in the hills that formed the border between the two nations.   The Great Crusade, as it was named by its supporters, began on the 13th of Stomp, in the Year 271 of the Third Age.  The entire military campaign was a complete disaster.  King Barnard insisted on commanding the army himself, despite a severe lack of training or experience.  He made generals out of his cronies based on loyalty and piety, rather than skill in leadership or strategy.  Worse yet, he vastly underestimated the supplies that would be needed to wage a desert war.   On the marches alone, hundreds perished from the heat and lack of water.  Meanwhile, the Aurulanters, who were adept at marching and fighting in the desert, staged a serious of fast attacks that struck at their supply carts before disappearing back into the dunes.    The entire military crusade lasted the better part of two years before Barnard was killed by a stray arrow and his son, King Breeswald, ordered a general retreat.  The entire affair cost the kingdom of Rosalind dearly, and precipitated the Betrayal Wars, in which the nations of Carador and Erynland won their independence from the Rose Kingdom.   Dyana Bendicta, the Mater Solinas that had called the Crusade did not stay in office long enough to see the Betrayal Wars diminish the power of the Matriarchy.  At King Breeswald's demand, the Enclave met to discuss the removal of the Mater, something that had never been done in the history of the Matriarchy.  In initial votes, the Enclave refused to consider removal, but messengers from the king ultimately persuaded the and Anfili to unanimously vote to remove Mater Benedicta from her position as leader of the faith.  A new Mater was selected, but King Breeswald, perhaps in response to the Enclave's initial truculence, declared that Eoa, or Saint Eo as he was known in Rosalind, was the patron saint of both the royal house and the nation.  The Matriarchy had passed their zenith, and would never possess such direct power and influence again.   More than fifty years later, the Matriarchy suffered another blow, along with Rosalind, when Prince Banquo cast an epic dread spell and transformed himself into the terrible Wraith King and his followers destroyed the capital city of Rosalind, Brentonopolis.  Hundreds of priestesses and thousands of worshipers were slaughtered, including the Enclave and Mater Solinas of the time.  Forthe first time since its founding, an outsider selected the Mater Solinas, as the hastily crowned King Brant the Unready declared that Joie di Padova would serve as Mater Solinas until a new Enclave could be chosen and a new Mater was elected.    Di Padova, a priestess who had served as chaplain to several mercenary troops before becoming the personal confessor to the king, proved to be an effective matriarch of the faith.  She formed a new knightly order, the Knights of the Blazing Sun, whose duties encompassed patrolling the border between Rosalind and the undead realm of Osseus, hunting down and destroying any undead creatures within the realm.   Since the term of Mater di Padova, the Matriarchy has been fairly quiet, advising the noble houses of Rosalind and preaching to the faithful.  While there have been some attempts to spread the faith beyond the borders of Rosalind, most of these efforts have met with limited success, if any.

See Raya, the Lady of Light