Recovered Lost Stuff Lmao (I) (Patreon)

Sup guys! here's a bunch of shit I wrote but lost. Managed to recover it and since it was already in the patreon in the past, it feels weird as shit to offer it again and pretend its new, so fuck it, gonna test out the freebie tier thing and show it to the public! 

Here is the first lore document of three that I will be sharing, this was written wayyy long ago in the first few months after sharing KaE to the forums. I will be writing lil notes of the changes to the lore that happened and how my worldbuilding evolved:

The Beltheans were chased out of their homeland, persecuted for their differing beliefs in relation to the Goddess. The Beltheans believed only mothers as being capable of truly connecting with the Goddess spiritually, and that only mothers, not men, should be in the clergy.

Another contentious issue that separated the Beltheans from their religious rivals, the Moira, was the Belthean belief that the V’era were in fact men who wholeheartedly rejected the Love of the Goddess, and had thus grown corrupted from within, through no fault of the Goddess. Moira belief instead stated that the Goddess had punished sinners for their transgressions and that the V’era were reminders of the power the Goddess held over them, that Hell was becoming a soul stained monster.

(In the above, the Moira were the religious fanatics became the priesthood the Da Huo invaders who then wrested control from the Daishu Dynasty emperors, found in the KaE Wiki in subsequent years, so this event happened right before the expulsion of the Beltheans. The Moira are in fact the ECUMENICAL DOMINION.)

Finally, the last issue that caused the inferno of religious warfare, was the genocidal campaigns of extermination the Moira prosecuted across the homeland. Those who did not follow the Goddess were killed without mercy, women and children included. Those that had different views on the Goddess, like the Beltheans, were now second-class citizens, forced to convert their beliefs in re-education camps so that they may still save their souls.

Belthean followers had attempted to shelter the targeted and protest the actions of the Moira, but were instead labeled as traitors and sinners. They had thought that those who didn’t follow the Goddess would become monsters, that those who did yet didn’t conform were at risk of becoming V’era, and only when there were no more tainted souls and all believed in the Goddess, She would finally descend from the heavens and rejoin Her children like in the days of myth.

The Beltheans then mustered as many of their people as they could and boarded ships to flee the brutality of the Moira, heading towards the then-unknown lands of Nareth. The religious leaders of their faith had tied the Beltheans together during their exodus, mediating between the great families. Once they had landed, the families separated with their close relations and carved out kingdoms for themselves.

The religious leaders had once again been the mediators and the diplomats of these powerful families. When more and more of the original inhabitants of Nareth joined the faith, these women became even more powerful and influential, ultimately needing to call a council to determine the rules and traditions to be followed by the faithful of the Goddess.

(The above mentions the original Narethians joining the faith, but you have to understand that a majority of this world worships some shape and form of the Goddess. So when this says "Joined the faith" it means more like "Joined our version of the faith".)

The “Meeting of the Saints” enabled the birth of the centralized Church of the Goddess and laid down the foundations for the creation of the Archpriestess. The Church of the Goddess then became a unified force with the power and influence to rival even kingdoms, yet did not actively pursue earthly power.

The church instead constructed convents that provided hospitality and refuge from the elements for travelers on the road, requiring the travelers to only attend one session of mass. Hospitals in towns and villages to provide treatment for even followers of different faiths, once again only asking visitors they attend one session of mass. This active almost fanatical drive to spread the faith ensured that almost every single village and town had a church, usually welcomed by the original inhabitants due to the benefits they knew having one around would bring.

The Church of the Goddess provided free education until the age of 8 in their churches, and the clergy being all mothers, had experience with providing childbirth care and services for all women. Priestesses of the church had even learned of local beliefs and religions so that they may learn the other forms of Love the Goddess had taken to care for Her children, later incorporating those religions to their own. This respectful and syncretic approach to other’s religions integrated well with the original inhabitants. Many chose to freely convert to the Church of the Goddess and the religion quickly spread throughout the continent.

The churches of the Goddess scattered throughout Nareth were even the bureaucratic centers of their towns and villages, holding and protecting the documents of their flock. Due to knowing how to read or write, many commoners approached the clergy for legal advice, defense, or prosecution against their neighbors, or even their lieges. With the power and respect the Church of the Goddess commanded, courts were usually impartial and the decisions were upheld as everything was documented by the church.

Soon, V’era had begun attacking lonesome convents placed between settlements. Many pious followers of the Goddess volunteered to become guards or defenders of the church, even nobles becoming a part of the military arm of the church. Dedicating themselves solely to defending the faithful, and hunting down the V’era, the Knights of the Church were single-minded in their purpose. Once a knight had declared themselves a Knight of the Church, they renounce earthly loyalty to their past king or queen, only obeying the Archpriestess.

(The above was written before I settled on the Templars being the protectors of the church. I like Templars more as it clearly distinguishes normal knights to religious protectors.)

The Church of the Goddess not only had a positive relationship with other religions, it partnered well with the kingdoms it had influence in, which was almost every nation on the continent. The nobility used the church to spread messages quickly among the populace and to further legitimize their rule with the commoners. More often than not, the Church of the Goddess was a peaceful and harmonious institution that was the mediator between kingdoms at war. After the establishment of the Church of the Goddess, the church was present for every single peace treaty drafted, the terms having to be honored or else having the Church of the Goddess issue a ban on services provided by the church in the treaty-breaking kingdom’s territory.

The original location of the “Meeting of the Saints” slowly became the headquarters of the Church of the Goddess, now known as the Holy Seat of the Archpriestess. A large walled town with a population numbering just over ten thousand, it holds the original documents and treasures that the Beltheans brought with them after the exodus of their people. Treaties, genealogy trees, relics, tithes, and even Blessings from now-extinct families are sequestered in the Vault deep below the palace of the Archpriestess.

Due to the sudden increasing attacks of the V’era, Archpriestess Nelo, in 608 A.L. (After Landing) called a conference to discuss the V’era attacks. The entire leadership of the church was in the Holy Seat when it was tragically attacked by a massive horde of V’era, numbering almost two thousand in the attack. It was by far the largest V’era horde ever recorded on Nareth, and the attack effectively destroyed the organizational capacity of the Church of the Goddess.

(I may change a few things in the above.)

The countless historic artifacts and documents stored in the Holy Seat was lost in fire, the churches were then left without their leaders, leaving themselves vulnerable to the landed nobility. Nobles demanded special rights and privileges from the church, threatening to cut their funding off if uncompliant. Knights of the Church, feeling as they had failed their mission, returned to their homelands and gave their oaths to the lords of the territories. Legal courts were still held by the church, but were now much more susceptible to influence from outside factors. As such, many commoners have lost trust in the church’s ability to be impartial in court cases.

There is much that remains to be seen with the church, and the void it has left may seem to have been filled by the nobility, but a vast majority of commoners are unhappy with the current state of affairs.

(Hope you guys enjoyed! The next document will be released soon. Bye!)