Church of the Seasons

Founded soon after the ascension of the Congregation in the former Council Lands. Has become more militant and dogmatic since the breakup of the Council Lands. The majority religion in the Holy Kaelthian Republic. Minority throughout the other Successor States, mostly in the Reformed form. Orthodox congregations are concentrated near the HKR border in those other states.

Orthodox Organization

• Grand Hierarch: nominal leader of church and Head of State. Religious leader, little political power.
• High Priests (one for each of the Four Seasons). Each head of their own Order.
  • Sun Shields (Tor-Elan)
  • Gravewards (Melara)
  • Blossom Maidens (Sakara)
  • Moon-scythes (Loran Hae)
• Ecclesiarches (ranking priests) in four Orders. Each order has different criteria for promotion and rank structure. Overlapping jurisdictions over towns and areas.
• "Seated" priests local to towns. Larger towns may have more. Not specific to any particular god, although generally lean toward one of the Four. Generally cap at 3rd level spells at most. Have acolytes directly under them
• "Wandering" priests who preside over smaller villages in an area. Low power (1st level, maybe 2nd level spells), functionally divine soul sorcerer / celestial warlock
• Acolytes resident in villages. Often non-magical or only minimal (Magic Initiate: Cleric or Ritual Caster: Cleric). Report to wandering priests.

Doctrines and Worship

• The purpose of life is to build up each other and build up civilization against the wild and destructive forces.
• A place for everyone and everyone in their place--envy not others.
• Value/joy of work, especially growing/making things.
• Bring joy into each other's life by sharing with them. Jealousy and self-seeking are sins.
• Give praise to the Gods for your good fortune.
• Worship: Communal praise + prayer on 4th-day, followed by public confession of sin. Minor sins paid for by sacrifices of property.

Devotional Liturgy

The Church, while it accepts all the Congregation as gods, focuses on the four seasons. Smaller shrines may have a niche dedicated to all the other gods in one, while chapels and temples generally have separate shrines throughout the churchyard for each of the others.

As for the main four, the acolytes worship in song on 4th-day, following the pattern below:

• Morning song to Sakara: Dawn of Love Triumphant, celebrating love's victory over hate as shown by the victory of dawn over night.
• Dawn service, service of new beginnings. Babies are blessed as are newly-trained artisans. Betrothals are announced (often with bride already showing signs of pregnancy).
• Noon song to Tor-Elan: As the Sun in Glory. A martial hymn, calling the people to vigilance against sin and predicting blessings and triumphs.
• Noon service, service of just living. Offerings of deeds accomplished and trials of strength.
• Dusk song to Loran Hae: Carefully the Sheaves. A song of warning and of careful work, of preparation against oncoming Night.
• Dusk service, service of deeds accounted. Contracts are signed and witnessed, including marriages. Sins are confessed before the congregation and penalties assessed. This is the time when the larger homilies are given by the ranking priest, this is the best-attended service in most Orthodox communities.
• Midnight prayer to Melara. No song, no talking, only the tolling of the bell 16 times, once per minute. 16 minutes of reflection and memory of the past and pleas for mercy.
• Midnight service, service of memory. Only on Holy Days. The community (in parts or together depending on size) marches around to the graveyards and recites the names of those that died that year. Those who lost family shed a token blood sacrifice (a single drop of blood from a fingertip) on the grave.

Wedding Ceremony

Weddings are important ritual events in the Church of the Seasons. Weddings among the faithful have three major parts: the pre-ceremony Offeratory, the Oathtaking ceremony itself, and the post-Oathtaking Blessings. There is a fourth part that is more cultural than ceremonial, but just as important: the feast.

Offeratory

The Offeratory occurs during the day preceding the Oathtaking itself. It consists of ritual prayers offered at dawn (to Sakara, offering the innocence of youth and a promise to love one another), noon (to Tor Elan, offering a vow to defend one another and defend the righteous), dusk (to Loran Hae, offering a vow to work hard at marriage and at life, as well as a vow to uphold the community), and midnight (to Melara, pleading for a merciful heart and the willingness to forgive one another). At this time, the four are ritually invited to the Blessings ceremony by placing unlit candles at each of their shrines and intoning "Gods of Life and Death, gods of Seasons Four, we invite your presence and blessings on our holy day". It is said that if the candles spontaneously take fire, a representative of the god will attend. This is rumor; the presiding priest (usually either a Moon-scythe or a Blossom Maiden) represents the gods ceremonially to deliver the blessings.

Oathtaking

This is the actual wedding ceremony. It consists of a priest (representing the gods) who asks the couple a series of questions and binds them to vows (the same vows presented during the offeratory the day before). Also at this ceremony, a representative of each of the bride and groom are called on to be Defenders, to stand ceremonial watch over the couple and pledge their honor in their defense. This is usually either a sibling or a parent.

Blessings

After the Oathtaking, the priest (or divine representative if one should deign to appear) offers the Blessings of the Gods on the new couple, along with a warning. Generally, those Blessings and Warnings are adapted to the individual couple. Common themes include:

• Sakara: A blessing of fertility and joy in each other. A warning not to let fear or selfishness tear them apart.
• Tor-Elan: A blessing of strength and of shelter. A warning to keep to the truth and to be honorable and true to one another.
• Loran Hae: A blessing of fruitful labors (ie productive farming or business). A warning to treat everyone with fairness and to keep your bargains, lest you be destroyed.
• Melara: A blessing of health, that they (and their children) die not before their time. A warning to remember all their ancestors and the sufferings and toils they went through.

Feast

Weddings are serious business, and serious business needs serious feasting. This lasts the rest of the day and often into the night and next day.

Festivals

Four major and four minor festivals are observed throughout both Orthodox and Reformed branches. As is appropriate for a seasonally-based church, these are tied to the height of each season (major festivals) and to the boundaries between seasons (minor festivals). The major festivals are also associated with one of the Seasonal Four. During festivals, all unnecessary work stops.

Festival Calendar

Day of Beginnings (Spring Dawning 1)

The festival of the new year is one of the great joyous times. Here the faithful celebrate the end of winter and the dawning of the light. This is a time of community enjoyment, rather than religious fervor, although the Dawn service has special significance on this day. Communities start the day by singing Dawn of Love Triumphant en masse; the rest of the day mainly revolves around feasting, with honey cakes and other sweets.

Life's Rebirth (Vernal Equinox, Rebirth 14-17)

Holy to Sakara, goddess of spring and growth, this is the planting festival and a celebration of new life and romantic love. Babies born during the past year are officially named and presented to the community. Bonds of fidelity are loosed during this festival, as is decorum. This is one of the two major festivals for halflings as well as the puun ihmisia. The festival involves Dawn service each day as well as singing Sakara's liturgy throughout the day.

Day of Light (Summer Dawning 1)

The birth of summer is marked by bonfires.

Life's Strength (Summer Solstice, High Summer 14-17)

Sacred to Tor-Elan, god of summer, the sun, and strength, this is the time of choosing new leaders. Outside the Holy Kaelthian Republic, this is when new nobility are crowned across the Sea of Grass. Marked by mock combats, this is one of the major festivals of the young human and dragonborn males. At least one of the days is spent in militia training under the direction of the Sun Shields.

Day of Choice (Autumn Dawning 1)

This is the day when the destinies of young people are decided throughout the former Council Lands, although much of the significance is lost outside of the Holy Kaelthian Republic. In that theocracy, children are assigned to their trade masters at age 8; betrothals are solemnized, and debts are accounted. This is a solemn day, marked by judicial actions and punishments. Dusk service on this day is the significant time of confession of sins.

Life's Reward (Autumnal Equinox, High Harvest 14-17)

Loran Hae's festival, this is the harvest-tide. This is a time when debts are called due, when ritual sacrifice of animals and token shedding of blood (cuts on the finger) seal the ground against the coming winter and seal bargains made. Very little merriment. This is the other major halfling festival, although it is significant also for humans.

Day of Silence (Winter Dawning 1)

This is a quiet time of reflection and preparation for the coming cold and for the new year. A time for families to gather and quietly make things right, to put away old grudges and bind up the wounds. No services are held except the midnight service, where communities gather in silence while the largest bell tolls 16 times, once per minute. No homily or song is given.

Life's Memory (Winter Solstice, Slumber 14-17)

This festival at the depths of winter, sacred to Melara, lady of merciful death and patron of the honored dead, is a solemn remembrance of those who have passed. At midnight on the 16th, the community gathers in the graveyard and repeats the names of those who have passed on during the year. At the end, those who have served their sentences for crimes are considered "dead" to those crimes, ritually absolved of the guilt. This is a major festival among humans and gwerin, who otherwise do not get involved in the ritual life much.

Reformed Branches

The reformed branches follow much the same patterns, minus the public confession of (most) sins. They do not accept the authority of the Ecclesiarchs and High Priests, although HKR-trained priests are generally welcome if they restrain their fanatic impulses.