The Falician Church believes that it is guided by Falis, God of Eternal Light and that it is infallible on matters of faith and morals.
In the Falician faith, the Curia is the governmental body of the church charged with everything from managing the Order's finances to bestowing the title of Tempered onto the faithful who perished while following His precepts.
Within the Curia is the Magisterium, the council that establishes what is the authentic teaching of the Church. For the clergy that authority is vested uniquely in the Hierophant and the High Priests and Priestesses who are in communion with him. Those who have illustrated their faith in Falis to the Heirophant or Magisterium may join the Curia whose seat of power is in Eastern Gaia on the Isle of Isen.
According to the Magisterium, those of true faith reveal Falis' truth through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
Sacred Tradition consists of those beliefs handed down through the church since the time of the First Sworn (the forming of the clergy). Sacred Scripture and Tradition make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of Falis, which is entrusted to the Church and the Magisterium is not independent of this, since all that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is derived from this single deposit of faith.
This is in turn interpreted by the Magisterium, or the teaching authority of the Church. The Magisterium includes those pronouncements of the Heirophant that are considered infallible, as well as the pronouncements of High Councils and those of the High Priests and Priestesses in union with the Heirophant when they condemn false interpretations of scripture or define truths.
The Faith has one primary precept: Protect All Life.
The strictness in which this precept is followed varies depending upon what corner of Gaia a Falician hails from, however it is universally accepted that it is taboo to take the life of another sentient being.
To the utmost extreme, certain branches of the Clergy are vegetarian and spare the lives of even the smallest insect. Some consider even the abominations of dark magic as 'alive'. The majority of the faithful are not as strict and enjoy balanced diets and do not consider 'undead' as being alive, thus hunt down any perversions of life as anathema of their faith.
The Proclamations as proscribed by the Hierophant and the Magisterium are the rules in which all Clergy in communion with the High Temple at Isen live by. They are as follows:
Falis is the God of all, there are none other beside or before Him.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
Thou shalt not take the name of Falis thy God in vain; for Falis will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honour thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt do no murder.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Thou shalt not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
As all proclamations are stated with the infallibility of the Church, most comments regarding the similarity to those of other faiths are silenced. However, there have been many members of the Magisterium and Hierophants themselves that have been converts of other religions and it is due to this fact and the evangelizing of the Church that they have been accepted as doctrine.
Falicians believe in a life after death, a salvation from the darkness of one's end granted only onto those who follow His precepts. It is a place of respite and peace at Falis' side, protected under His great wings.
Reincarnation is a belief that is accepted by the Faith. It is believed that those who do good deeds will be brought back from their rest at Falis' side to once again live by his precept and protect all life. This is not considered a punishment but the highest of honors to be chosen to spread His message again throughout the world.
The concept of Sainthood is accepted within the Faith, though they are not called as such. Oathsworn members of the Clergy are the only members of the faithful that can be elevated to the status of Tempered, a title granted posthumously to all men and women that have shown great Faith through their actions. While there is no current doctrine against the existence of living Tempered, never has the Curia granted such an honor on a Gaian that still lives.
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The Falician Clergy has been corrupted from its intended origins.
The Hierophant and nearly the whole of the Curia are filled with Priests and Priestesses whose faith in Falis is solely dependent upon how much wealth and power they can amass from their clerical connections. As most Falician Temples and Sanctuaries are not only the spiritual center of towns and villages but also places of healing and learning, the communities surrounding them are more then willing to support their clergy with donations. These donations are then sent to the High Temple of Isen for "accounting and redistribution" throughout their many institutions. This is simply a cover for the majority of the funds to go back to the Curia and line their coffers and build upon the already massive skyline of Isen's High Temple.
This corruption has been eroding the faith for hundreds of years to the point that the doctrines have been changed from his most central precepts to adapt those of other faiths. The true precepts are as follows:
Protect all life Show compassion toward all living beings and reduce their suffering Rid oneself of anger, greed, jealousy and unhealthy attachments
By following these precepts only then will you be one with His light.
The clergy has fallen to the point that it openly persecutes all of Falis' chosen, the Vespers of Falis who are the bearers of the pieces of the deity's soul reincarnated onto Gaia.
For when you go astray from my light, I will be there to guide you as true as the evening star.
Born into the world just like normal Gaians (I say Gaians instead of human beings because everyone's got some sort of ability or power more often then not), Vespers live their lives exhibiting an extreme natural affinity towards light and light magics regardless of their realization of their mark as a Vesper. Towards adolescence they begin to hear and speak to Falis. Throughout the ages this has caused several mixed responses.
Many Vespers have been persecuted for spreading Falis' true message to his faithful. For a child to speak against the teachings of the established clergy they are often ignored, chastised or punished and more recently, possibly committed to mental health institutions for the voices in their head.
While they are able to hear and communicate with Falis from a young age, their powers are not supplemented by those of the deity itself until they fully awaken. Historically this takes an act that forces a Vesper to go beyond the limits of their own power and call upon Falis, accessing his bottomless wellspring of power. While many members of the faithful are able to call upon Him and be answered a Vesper will receive an immense amount of divine power in return that, without the proper training, will be impossible to control. This has resulted in many inexplicable 'acts of God' catastrophes - the most recent in Barton being the appearances of two seemingly platinum dragons on the grounds of the Temple of Falis.
Awakened Vespers are those few who are capable of not only accessing the raw power which Falis had blessed them with but are also capable of controlling it. It is these people that the church persecutes the most as the blood of an awakened vesper is a conduit of Falis' power - regardless of faith or incantation, one could wield a vesper's blood and call upon the full might of the deity.
Gruesomely, the marks of station for the High Priests and Priestesses of the Temples of Falis across Gaia are vials of the blood of Vespers, the containers gilded and also used as the Temple's stamp for official letters and proclamations. It is with those keys that the High Priest or Priestess of a Temple has access to their inner cloisters, the most sacred place in a Temple that was the foundation for the building itself and wrought during the time when the church was lead by Vespers.
Currently the only awakened Vesper in the whole of the Greater Barton area is Seyumi Kaikou.
