The church proclaims the Great Flash of Light is most definitely the Lord's response to the sinful wallowing in luxury of warm homes while not showing devotion.  It is clear that He has driven people through the dark night to the only warm place left in the Kingdom, the house of God. It would behoove all good Christian men and women to reflect upon this and consider leaving their life of sin behind and joining the ranks of the Church. May God have Mercy on your Souls!

[quote]"The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and wrath.  He takes revenge on all who oppose him and furiously destroys his enemies!  The LORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished.  He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm.  The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.  At his command the oceans and rivers dry up, the lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wilt.  In his presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed.  Who can stand before his fierce anger?  Who can survive his burning fury?  His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence.  The LORD is good.  When trouble comes, he is a strong refuge.  And he knows everyone who trusts in him.  But he sweeps away his enemies in an overwhelming flood.  He pursues his foes into the darkness of night."
[/quote]

(Nahum 1:2-8 NLT)

To this end, there is now a new gameplay element, Religion Points, in the game NOW!  REL points (they are like SCI and CUL). REL can be interpreted as “Christian reputation”; being a "good Christian". REL points are mostly obtained indirectly: by contributing to the Church in one way or another. REL points can in turn be used to get favours, like lower prices (especially if you buy Church land around a Church), for instance for joining the Pious order. They can also be used for paying indulgence - roleplay-wise, this means that someone having luxury without donating to the Church will be considered less and less of a good Christian, since his REL score will become thinner.

There are two ways to start out with REL. First, players who have no money and just want to play the game may join the church and will start as a Junior Friar (see table below).  If a CK player wishes to start in the church at a higher level, a donation of 5,000,000 moneritos to the church will be accepted and they will start out in the church at the third level (Senior Friar).

Further donations to the church will be evaluated by The Bishop on a case-by-case basis. There is the possibility to gain rank in the church more quickly by gifting moneritos, gold, land, or buildings to the church.  Involvement in the church will play a role as well--we reward active members!

No member of the Church is homeless or in a hotel, as the Church cares for its members, so we shall provide.  Historically, this was one major reason for peasants to join the Church. Each character who is in the church shall be gifted a small home with a 10x10m lot on a lifetime lease once he reaches level 5 (Acolyte proper). This helps new players who are trying to start but may not have the funds to purchase a house outright initially.  Because of this gift, the church requires that the income from the player (friar) be donated to the church. When the player dies, the house ownership automatically reverts to the Church.

Another duty of a friar is to help the church by using their HLP points for the church. This gets turned into BLD points and will help make it possible for the church to create the homes without huge financial toll.  There will be more announcements regarding the HLP/BLD system as the church gets more information from His Majesty.

Additionally, the higher a character’s level in the Church, the more valuables and/or land they will bring back from expeditions to foreign lands (via Templar's rented boats, for instance) once this is a part of gameplay.

"Major order" is like "nobility". "Minor order" is like "commoner". All the terms are based on historical data. When a character dies, the player's next character will get some bonus according to his rank in the Pious Order--God's will. Said bonuses are not defined yet.


[quote]Tier            Title                 REL
Major order     Senior Bishop         2546
Major order     Bishop proper         1750
Major order     Junior Bishop         1203
Major order     Senior Priest          827
Major order     Priest proper          568
Major order     Junior Priest          390
Major order     Senior Deacon          268
Major order     Deacon proper          184
Major order     Junior Deacon          126
Minor order     Senior Subdeacon        86
Minor order     Subdeacon proper        59
Minor order     Junior Subdeacon        40
Minor order     Senior Acolyte          27
Minor order     Acolyte proper          18
Minor order     Junior Acolyte          12
Minor order     Senior Friar             8
Minor order     Friar proper             5
Minor order     Junior Friar             0[/quote]