Davism

The Holy Order of the Spring, also known at times as the Holy Order of Dav, is the most prevalent religion within known Urth. The original tenets of this religion were of pacifism and unity. They followed the Lord of the Springs and sought to redeem others by faith in His word. After the installation of King Dav as Patriarch of the Holy Order and the beginning of the Inquisition, the philosophy changed from that which had been called the Love of the Spring to that called Davism, in which the prior faith in order and peace was and the building of society became less important than the eradication of heretics, sinners, and mages. The tolerance once preached has given way to a new doctrine of hatred and fear.

Dogma
First transcribed from oral tradition at the time of the Charter in 109 by Saint Remiel, the Holy Book is comprised of a collection of acts and concepts gathered from the civilized lands of Lithmore and Vandago. It was adopted as the official dogma of the Holy Order by its first Patriarch, King Dav the Everlasting, in 126. This dogma has&nbsp changed little in almost two hundred years, save for one major shift: the Decree of Sodality (273 SC) afforded women greater respect and an expanded role in religion and politics. This shift in the original dogma, which was supported by the majority of the hierarchy of the Church, became official doctrine at the convocation of the High Synod one year later (274 SC).

The Davite Dogma is universally transmitted in the King's Tongue of Lithmorran, and translations into other languages are expressly forbidden by all Churches save those in Tubor. The Holy Mass is likewise held in High Lithmorran in all of the member-states. Davism has not yet fully reached the Hills and the Charalin Plains, though missionaries have been traveling there for the past decades, attempting to impart to them an oral tradition based around the accepted ideas of the Order.

Ecclesiastical scholars from the time of Remiel on have divided the scripture into fifteen canonical steps, framing the search for true worship as a journey upwards towards heaven. A pious Davite&nbsp masters the base five principles before traversing upward, climbing the 'Ladder' of faith.

Ladder
First Tier: Worship
 * Genuine faith in the Lord of the Springs and the ability of his servants;
 * Daily prayer;
 * Concern for the welfare of others, both physical and spiritual;
 * Self-purification and atonement through regular confession;
 * Denial of the forbidden and corrupted heresies of magic.

Second Tier: Declarations
 * The Law of the Spring;
 * The Law of Giving;
 * The Law of Caring;
 * The Law of the Land.

Third Tier: Duty
 * Dedication to honest and devout work throughout one's life;
 * Sharing love and worship with one's family;
 * Supporting, fighting, toiling and dying for one's country.

Fourth Tier: Obedience
 * Submission to the omnipresence and omnipotence of the Lord;
 * And to His Majesty the Patriarch as vessel of the Lord's word.

Fifth Tier: Adoration
 * Loving the Lord and His servants.

Sins and Atonement
Any pious Davite who sins is to immediately visit a priest and beg for atonement; the anointed priest declares a punishment for the penitent, who is then welcomed back into the flock after completing his task. Confessions are&nbsp private between the priest and the supplicant, with only the Patriarch himself allowed to override that confidence. Even the Five Cardinals are forbidden from demanding information of lower-ranking priests. Nevertheless, it's not unheard of for a priest to approach his or her superior for counsel - or to report a suspected mage. Each supplicant is permitted to choose his own personal confessor.

Known sinners who refuse to repent on their own will often receive a visit from Church Inquisitors. Their punishments are far harsher than those given by priests conducting confession.

In contrast to the dogma of the Holy Order, which changes rarely, the Official List of Sinful Practices is generally updated yearly at the convocation of each High Synod. The following is an incomplete list of sinful acts as of the year 297:
 * Magery
 * Heresy (including idolatry, sacrilege, and atheism)
 * Murder
 * Oathbreaking
 * Adultery
 * Homosexuality and fornication without proper blessing
 * Impurity (drunkenness, lying, jealousy, greed)
 * Adulation (or inciting others to perform perverse acts)
 * Acedia (or religious sloth and ignorance)
 * Blasphemy (such as using the Sign of the Chalice improperly)
 * Thievery
 * Eschewing Charity and Tithes
 * Sloth (or being idle, without fully dedicating oneself to the Lord)
 * Denying One's Station (and acting above or beneath it)
 * Quarreling

Mass
At the appropriate times, all who are able gather in their church or cathedral to affirm their devotion to the Lord of the Springs and the teachings of Dav. Religious services are held daily; only one of these, the Friday evening mass, is obligatory, with all business closed by decree, but any who have the free time to attend a service but choose not to are treated with suspicion. All services begin with a processional, where an ordained priest of the Order retrieves the symbolic chalice from the tabernacle and displays it for all members of the congregation. A higher-ranked priest then announces any important matters affecting the entire diocese - matters which can include such mundane matters as births and deaths or matters so grave as the uncovering of witchcraft in their midst.

After the pronouncements are concluded, the ceremony begins in earnest: a priest recites a shared event, religious tract, or other symbol of the faith for the benefit of the congregation, explaining its significance. These are usually liberally peppered with means by which one can safeguard one's soul from the terrible ailments of magery and heresy. This portion of the service, by canonical law, is always conducted in High Lithmorran.

Upon the conclusion of the recitation, the priest passes around the symbolic chalice, filled with water from the Lower Spring; all gathered who are in the good graces of the church and therefore permitted to drink sip from the chalice, starting in the front with the nobility. Immediately after sipping from the chalice, each humble servant of the Order recites Dav's Declarations.

When the chalice is emptied, the dialogue begins, and any present member may address the entire congregation with a noncommercial concern or direct questions toward any member of the Order or nobility attending the service. When this is finished, the officiating priest blesses the congregation, and the parishioners leave, dropping donations in a collection box manned by acolytes of the Order.

Sign of the Chalice
The Sign of the Chalice has been used in religious ceremonies since the formation of the Order. The Sign is used by both lay members and Clergy alike, to signify obeisance to the Declarations of King Dav.

In making the Sign, one raises his or her dominant hand to head height, parallel with their shoulder. After a momentary pause, the hand is moved horizontally to a point relative to their opposite shoulder. Again a slight pause, and then the hand moves downward, tracing a gentle curve into their torso until at a point near the heart, at which point the hand reverses the curvature, moving outwards until once more in line with the shoulder, but at about the abdomen level now. Quickly, the base of the Chalice is scribed, and then the process is reversed, until the hand reaches the initial starting point.

Branding
Branding is a method often used by the Holy Order of Dav to mark those who have offended the Church. The punishment is most often used upon those guilty of heresy, though it is not exclusive to that crime; it has been known to be used as a punishment for fornication, adultery, prostitution, and other similar crimes, where the sinner has besmirched his or her soul and must confront the crime every day to seek absolution and purification. It is also a common punishment assigned by Inquisitors against those who fail to confess their crimes.

Though the Order does not demand that its followers shun the branded, most do so. Its placement upon the body depends on the mercy of the one assigning the punishment as well as the status of the one receiving the branding. A noble is likely to receive a brand he or she can conceal under his or her clothes, while a commoner will most often be branded on the hand, the neck, or - in severe cases - the face.

The brand is shaped as a half-chalice. If the wicked mends his or her ways, then as a final penance he or she will willingly submit to having the second half of the chalice burned into his or her skin.

Cleansing
'Cleansing' is a term that is intentionally ambiguous, as it relates to the removal of the taint of sin at any of its levels. The most basic versions, such as minor sins, are considered to be properly cleansed by prayer and confession. Greater experiences with the taint are handled by the Order directly- anything from the larger sins such as fornication to the utmost sin of being a mage yourself falls within the continuum of requiring a specific and possibly drastic cleansing.

Commonly known remedies - roughly in order of extremity - are blessings, prayer, isolation, fasting, flogging, exorcism, and of course burning. Ordained priests handle the minor cleansings that are involved in confession, such as assigning penances or simply blessing the sinner. Inquisitors or higher officials may personally handle cases where someone has been marked by a mage, using whatever methods necessary to remove the visible marks of taint.

Good, church-going citizens are as desirous to have taint cleansed from them as the Order is desirous to do it however, sometimes the drastic measures that may be necessary somewhat inhibit that desire. It's not uncommon for people to both acknowledge the need for swift, decisive cleansing lest the taint spread and grow, yet mortally fear its effects upon themselves. The most zealous sometimes even claim that the taint of sin, if unchecked, will grow and spiral into magery itself through the wicked heart of the sinner - a potent inducement for cleansing indeed.

Excommunication
An excommunication is the most dire of acts which may be levelled by the Order against a wayward person. An excommunication is only brought to bear after all other attempts to bring the person back to the fold have failed. It is given at the order of the Synod, and only valid after certain (private) religious ceremonies have been performed, with the celebrant of the ceremony a Bishop or higher in episcopal rank. Typically, before proceeding with such a grave step, the initiator will consult with the synod or even high synod, or at the least those priests and inquisitors working with or under them.

After the ceremony, the banns of excommunication are published, and the victim is declared anathema to the Order - no true son or daughter of the faith will have any truck with them, nor are they welcome within the walls of any consecrated sanctuary. Crimes against their person are no longer crimes in the eyes of the Lord of the Springs, and they have no given right to property, often inviting the state to seize all assets of the individual down to the clothing they wear.

Additionally, an excommunicate is not entitled to last rites, nor to confession or any of the holy stations. Should they die before making their peace with the Order, the excommunicate is denied right of burial in consecrated ground.

In very dire cases indeed, a sentence of Excommunication may be passed against a city or territory rather than person, though this is extremely rare. In this situation, the decree is usually termed an Interdict.