Ecclesiast of Scalados
The Ecclesiast of Scalados, commonly known as the Wild Dynasty religion, is the official state religion of the Kingdom of Scalados, and its structures, principles, and practices are heavily influential on the culture and politics of Scalados. A majority of wood elves and a plurality of high elves follow the practices and beliefs of the Ecclesiast of Scalados in some form.
The Ecclesiast is organized hekatheistically, around the six major gods of the Wild Dynasty: Danu, Dagda, Arawn, Morigana, Brigid, and Lugos.
Mythology & Lore
Danu was among the earliest gods of the Second Deogenesis, emerging as the conscious expression of Arborea shortly after Fricka sung the plane into being. When The Beastlands was divided from it, her younger brother Arawn emerged from them soon after. The siblings took little note of mortals until Dagda and Morigana were born from the sun and moon in the early days of sapient civilization, deities to guide the new inventions of agriculture and shelter.
Danu and Dagda found each other quickly in the spaces between field and forest where new things grow, and the two fell in love. Meanwhile, Arawn resented Dagda as mortals grew less reliant on him for their food, and Morigana grew agitated at the outpouring of light and energy from Danu and Dagda's love. She retreated into the night and formed an uneasy alliance with the jealous Arawn, and the two plotted to ambush Dagda and bind him to the wheels of the chariot of the sun. However, the strength of the First Songs to the Gods buoyed Dagda in the fight, and he drove the pair back into the Far Realms of Darkness, where they would remain diminished until the Age of Anxiety.
After the fight, Danu took Dagda's sword from him and planted it deep in the soil of Arborea, where it grew into a tree of all species at once. They married beneath the tree, and soon Danu bore the twins Brigid and Lugos, goddess of light and god of love. The mortal world blossomed and its people rejoiced; the tree's seeds spread outside Arborea and into the realm of all emotion, created from the overflow of songs to the gods. From then on, the Feywild was the third child of Danu and Dagda, and its strange immortal beings lived under the Wild Gods' domain. And when those strange ones reached back to the Material and uplifted the elves—those became the Wild Gods' favorite children of all.
Such was the way of the world until the Pioneer Dynasty lost control of the Lower Planes and the Blood Wars began to rage in the Lower Planes. The demons fed on misery, the devils fed on greed, and the unchecked spread of mortal power into the wild places of the world fueled both. Danu and Dagda brought their wayward siblings back to the fold, and the six gods worked together to take back control of the Material Plane. Nature's power proliferated like never before, and the excess of mortals was finally throttled.
Divine Origins
Many centuries passed in the world of the mortals, ruled by the six gods who showed their full wild might. Eventually, a Queen of the forest elves emerged with the bravery to confront the gods. She traversed the lands of dragons, climbed the highest mountain, and called out to the gods. The story of her negotiation is known as the Prayer of Saint Scala, and is one of the central sacred stories of the Ecclesiast's origins.
Priesthood
The head of the Ecclesiast of Scalados is the Valòmar, who rules from the Citadel of the Wild. They are advised and held in check by the Lebemnë, a group of five believers who are celestially marked by the gods. These six hierophants rule from the Citadel of the Wild, and their teachings are considered canonical law. They are the only members of the Ecclesiast not directly tied to an individual god.
The next-highest-ranking are the Primë, the Ecclesiast's equivalent to bishops. They are the spiritual leaders of the six dioceses of Scalados, as well as the heads of the six major temple-campuses scattered throughout the kingdom. All primë are elevated from the status of uishimë. Both primë and lebemnë are considered aikasë, the body of the ordained who hold the responsibility of selecting the next Valòmar.
Beneath them are the uishimë, the formal priest class of the religion. Uishimë are held to high standards of "purity of spirit and body," including celibacy and dietary restrictions, though these vary slightly between those pledged to different patron gods.
Finally, the basic class of formally ordained clergy are the aistanë. Lifestyle restrictions on aistanë are less strict than those on uishimë, but they also hold much less power and status within the religion.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Ecclesiast of Scalados is closely intertwined with the government of the Kingdom of Scalados on every level.
Sects
Temples and orders of the Wild Dynasty outside of Scalados are not uncommon, particularly among the high elf diaspora. While these temples do not factor into the traditional hierarchy of the Ecclesiast or participate in events such as the election of the Valòmar, they largely maintain friendly relationships with the Citadel and its subsidiaries. Pilgrims and visiting clergy from groups like the Aldanuvian Orders and the Church of the Solar Forge are warmly welcomed in the Scaladosian temple-campuses as valuable sources of more diverse divine knowledge.
Founding Date
Y1 ITG
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Alternative Names
Wild Dynasty religion, Wild Gods religion, Church of the Wild Gods
Successor Organizations
Leader
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Founders
Location
Related Species
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