Trinitism Enters Oriens

The various Nereid city-states of Southern Oriens had always been closer to Sahul than they had been with Oriens, so it is no surprise that Trinitism first landed in Vallerm and spread from there. Prior to the Refulgencia, the Nereids worshipped a pantheon of gods that was (unsurprisingly) headed by a Sea God. Of course, after the true Gods were born, this fell apart completely, and until the Trinitists arrived, the Nereid lands were a mess of various cults and kings fighting against one another for total domination. When Vallermese merchants who converted to the Trinitist faith right after the Cultist War returned home, they were met with an ongoing rebellion as some want-to-be prophet and his little cult tried to overthrow the King of Vallerm. Sensing an opportunity, the merchants would go right back to Tellus and raise a mercenary army that comprised mainly of Cultist War veterans and the slaves that King Lucius Milonius had recently freed.   Within three months, they had an army and were docking in Vallerm's port. By this point, the prior rebellion had been crushed and the cult that tried its hand at ruling had been wiped out, but the King's army was weary and depopulated. So it was that, as Human mercenaries marched into the city, only slight resistance was given and the gates to the King's castle were opened peacefully. While the one religion out of a million that the King himself followed has been lost to time, what is known is that he "willingly" converted to the Trinitist faith when met with the invaders, though despite the inherently dubious nature of his conversion, King Gasparo V proved to be a firm servant of the Augus. He mandated that all Vallermese must convert or die, which many ended up doing in the coming years. These events could very well be considered to be the first Trinitist Crusade, though that is up for debate.   Already seen to be a pragmatist, it comes as no surprise that Gasparo V took this chance to expand his own realm and power. While most of the Humans that helped to bring Vallerm under the Gold Banner in the first place had returned home, some had stayed around to train the King's armies in Tellusian-style warfare. This was used to deadly effect against the various other nobles of Southern Oriens, for as Trinitism spread amongst the people, the Kingdom of Vallerm spread its borders. This would not last forever, though. As it did in these days of religious doubt, the Trinitist faith spread like wildfire, even when converts were not inches away from a crusader's sword, and by the 100s E.D., all Nereids were Trinitist. In this time, various kingdoms would rise to challenge Vallerm, with Ocagos in the far East holding against them in various wars while the Kingdom of Selguro quickly and quietly doubled then tripled in size through a combination of deft marriages and quick wars.   Around the 90s, Trinitism would enter into the rest of Oriens, with Reynards, Elves, and Dryads all eventually being converted. The Reynards were converted first as missionaries crossed the Serento Mountains and entered the Orienal Range. The divided and squabbling Reynards first proved resistant to conversion at first, but the Trinitists just had to learn how to play them. Those who proved willing to take the Earth Ritual were given it and then set against their neighbors. Trinitism spread on the wings of war throughout the Range as, for many decades, Trinitist Reynards set upon their non-Trinitist rivals, destroying their Bands and forcibly converting the survivors. Though it was very bloody work, and work that would be ignored and forgotten by most of the world, by 160 E.D. most of the Reynards had converted, and those who did not were dead or soon to die.   To celebrate such a monumentous occasion, and to follow the word of the Ecclesiarchy, which had long encouraged the grouping of smaller states into larger states for the purpose of peace and prosperity, the Reynard leaders met and declared their entrance into a massive confederation known as the Great Reynard Nation. Though smaller confederations had existed for centuries across the Range, this was the first to encompass every Reynard Band, and though the confederation itself had very little authority, it would, after decades of bloody, sectarian fighting, secure peace amongst the Reynards: for a time.   While they were riding high off of their triumph over the Dracon raiders, the Dryads proved easy converts. Their former religion was one of strict Animism, with God-like figures being out of the question, so when that was what they were confronted with, they had to almost completely restructure their belief system. Just as it did in Sahul, the Cult exploited this spiritual vacuum as best as they could and to great effect. Before the 100s were close to over, most Dryads were practicing Trinitists, and their Shahdom of Arkadija was a staunch, though a distant ally of the Empire in Sahul. The Empire and the Shahdom carried on good trade and diplomatic relations, never once having a spat, but never drawing too close to one another, perhaps explaining why Commonalism was able to gain such rapid ground when it erupted onto Ecumene.   As the races around them embraced the Orthodox faith one by one, the Elves held firm. However, it was not out of any real religious conviction, no, but rather because Trinitism was seen as a threat to the existence of the Caste system. The Ritters despised it due to the Cult's message of eventually uniting the world under the ecclessiarchy, an ideal that they saw as a direct challenge to their power, and the Gothi hated it for obvious reasons. Due to this, Elvendom's conversion would be the hardest fought, but convert they would. As most mass religious conversions do, this one started with the lower classes. Trinitism would trickle into the heads of the Hanseatics, and then the Thralls, with the ever-quickening conversion of this latter group being of the most concern. If they got it in their heads, the Thralls could begin a revolt with the help of the Cult and totally destroy the Caste System, something that absolutely could not do. As such, a great meeting known as the "Congress of Aarfeld" was held in the eponymous city, with many Ritters and Gothi from all the Kingdoms of the land attending. While the Gothi were loathe to do so, and many threatened to walk out, an agreement was struck. A letter was sent to Histria, inquiring as to whether or not, in the event that the Elven upper Castes accepted Trinitism, their social structure would be left unchallenged by the Cult. The ecclesiarchy replied that they would accept the Caste system, and as such, the deal was done. The Ritters converted to Trinitism en masse, many doing so out of proper faith as they took the time to read into what exactly they were doing, and even a firm majority of Gothi would embrace the new faith, for they were priests not necessarily due to faith, but due to lineage. Even so, the ever-proud upper Castes remained wary of any challenge to their power: challenges that would come sooner rather than later.   By around the year 200, most of Oriens was firmly Trinitist, but the great work was not done. To the North, the savage Satyrs stood against the Cult, not thinking twice before placing a missionary's head onto a pike for bringing heresy onto their holy land. This, however, could wait. Sahul was not yet unified under the Cult, and as the so-called Immortal Empire began to lose its grip, the faithful were compelled to act.