Indulgences

An indulgence, in Antivan cultural customs, is a way in which someone can repent for their sins. A person can partake in this by giving money to their local Chantry in return for reducing — or potentially entirely removing — any potential spiritual punishment they are due in the afterlife for sins they have committed in life. While there are no strict amounts needed, most strive to give plenty so as to not short-change one's experience in the afterlife, or eternity. After submitting an indulgence, there is an expectation that for the indulgence to fully work the transgressor must express guilt and begin acting in accordance with this guilt.   It is also possible an indulgence can also be granted by the church as a reward for performing particularly pious actions, though that is less common.   This is not a tradition that is strictly enforced by any laws or even the church; rather, it is a cultural expectation among Antivans that is deeply ingrained in its culture. Not abiding by this cultural expectation is considered a faux-pas.  

History

The tradition functions due to the belief that the Chantry has a metaphorical "treasury of merit and virtues", which overflows in part because of the actions taken by the church's holiest members.  

Execution

When someone wishes to submit an indulgence to the Chantry, they do so by putting the money in a red envelope tied closed with string. Every local church in Antiva has a relief built onto their exterior somewhere, which displays a humanoid face bearing resemblance to that of the region's heraldic animal. The indulgence can be slipped into the relief's slightly agape mouth, and will then be dropped into a box for the church to process later.   Given the complexity and severity that comes with judging misdeeds, neither society nor the Chantry have any strict amounts that one must give when repenting for a transgression. People are not entirely left to their own devices, however, because the Chantry provides suggested amounts — though again these are merely suggestions and not absolute. Interestingly, the recommended amounts are not flat sums but instead are derived as percentages of one's income.   Indulgences play an important role in funding the Chantry in Antiva, given the clergy's practice of the absolute impoverishment of Andraste doctrine.