On faith: The foremost faith on the continent is known formally as ‘’The most divine and heroic celestial court of the emperor’’ Though it is mostly revered as the Curia Divina, or the Divine Court, it evolved from the heroic cults that emerged following the war of the powers, in which the leaders were revered as gods who had saved them from certain doom while the gods of old had abandoned them. Although worship of the gods of old was never banned, their temples simply closed down as attendance dropped in favour of the heroic cults. Within these cults, the belief existed that the leaders of the coalition ascended as gods, their top commanders as their archangels, their best warriors as regular angels, and the common soldiers as martyrs. All in all, the idea that the mortal can ascend to a form of godhood proved quite popular within the cults, and, after a few decades, they began adding saints, faithful mortals who had extolled a virtue, to the pantheon. Formally codified in the year 104. The church that organises the worship of the gods is led by the Pontiff, assisted by the Cardinal-Prelates, who represent a specific god. All Cardinals are eligible to vote for a new pontiff. And they play a large role in the day-to-day administration in Portemosa, much like the bishops run the dioceses. The Curia Divina is structured much like the feudal structure. Isidor, as the most popular and most prestigious god (at least in the eyes of man), is considered the leader and, as such, the liege lord of the court. The others thus fill in their respective roles as if they were attendants at a royal court. The angels thus form the divine counterpart of the monastic knightly orders, while the martially inclined saints and martyrs form the ‘’secular’’ army. The afterlife, according to the scripture, consists of the judgement of the soul, potential repentance, and eventual transportation to the afterlife. Regular souls, those who have done nothing exceptionally good or evil in their lives, are brought to the Requiem Argis, a peaceful realm where, although one is not in eternal bliss, there is at least eternal rest. Good, pious, godly souls are placed in the Caelestis Palatii, the residence of the gods, where they are allowed to roam the gardens, woods, palace halls, and other annexes in eternal bliss. Souls who are judged evil but are regretful and willing to do penance land in the Foveas Paenitentiae. Where they do hard labour for the amount of mortal years they spend doing evil and sin. Souls who are beyond any form of redemption, whether willing or unwilling, are sent to the Atria Tormentorum, where they are to be prey for the demonic residents that reside there. It is said that the soul of Scillarion himself is kept there, and mortals who are there can use his screams as a way of keeping time. Concepts and tenets. Imperium Universalis or the Universal Empire; is the idea of that all nations and peoples that adhere to the Curian faith are in fact part of the same spiritual realm, which is a direct continuation of the old empire and should strive to protect itself from infidels, heretics, the undead and other such beings of evil. It is upon the old civic virtues that the church bases its ideals and thus temperance, diligence and bravery are extolled while Deceitfulness, Cruelty and Gluttony are frowned upon. To the typical Human Curian, worship happens in a church, where one might worship one of the major gods or a minor saint, aside from that one might do pious acts by donating to charities and the church itself, go on pilgrimages to various sites, these can range from monasteries to ancient monuments and battlefields and all things in between. Due to the size and different in race and peoples, there are multiple rites. Aside from the Elven rite, the Orc rite and the Dwarven rite, there is the Castanan rite, the Mithradian rite and the only rite not pracitsed on the Argalian continent, the Phillipollian rite practised in Kahemet across the Internarrean. Crusades, are within the Castanan rite, holy wars fought to either preserve or expand the Imperium Universalis, with justification ranging from the advance of heretics and infidels, to violation of the rights of pilgrims to preemptively attacking the realms of for example a necromancer or some other rogue mage.