[The following material was originally written
for use in the PBeM Beneath
the Golden Moon . It presents a radically different form of Laranianism
to that of Gods of
Hârn.]
Introduction
The Laranian Church is the primary Laranian religious
organisation in Kanday. In theory it embraces all priests, including those
attached to the Order of Hyvrik, and
it also acts as over-patron to the Order of the
Checkered Shield (which is sponsored by the Order of Hyvrik).
In practice, however, these three main religious
groups are more independent of each other than the above might suggest.
The brief history of the three institutions
should serve to illustrate this.
After the collapse of the Theocracy of Tekhos
in 1188 SA, the Laranian Church revived, and from being an underground
religion soon flourished into a powerful
religious and political force, owning much land.
In 1193 the Order of Hyvrik was formally created,
a joint venture between the Laranian Church and the King of Kanday, Andasin
I. The intent in creating this Order
was to bolster the numbers of Laranians actively
working in the Church's service, without the strict requirements that becoming
a full priest entailed. For in its origins
the Order of Hyvrik was for the most part a lay
organisation. It was only at the end of the first decade of the thirteenth
century that the Order came to have a priestly
core, and to adopt full religious duties. It
remained, however, under the jurisdiction of the Laranian Church, and its
lands - largely the gifts of secular lords - were to
be administered by lay members of the Order.
In 1222 the King founded the Order of the Checkered
Shield. It was only some years subsequently that it was fully handed over
to the Order of Hyvrik to be
administered/sponsored by them. This had two
major effects on the political relationships between the groups: the Order
of the Checkered Shield fell under the
control of the King and the Laranian Church (who
had done much in helping to establish the Order), not the Order of Hyvrik
to the extent that is more normally the
case with clerical and fighting orders; and,
knowing the necessity of a strong force on the northern borders, the king
gave the Order of the Checkered Shield the right
to elect their own grandmaster, hoping that in
so doing he would minimise the amount of politics involved in the decision.
The Order of Hyvrik was not, however, totally
without power over the Order of the Checkered Shield. From the first they
maintained a strong presence at the
chapter houses of the Fighting Order, and though
they had official influence only in matters of religion, they were able
to exert pressure through their wealth. And
though the Order of the Checkered Shield gained
much land during their initial conquests, the Order of Hyvrik managed to
slowly subvert much of these holdings to
their own control, as the Kandayan border shifted
northwards, leaving peace behind it.
During the latter half of the thirteenth century,
the Laranian Church fell into disrepute in Kanday. Cases of priestly corruption
and vice were numerous, and many
became disillusioned with their spiritual leaders.
This would have amounted to little, however, had not an alternative to
the Church existed - the Order of Hyvrik.
Though a subsidiary offshoot to the Laranian
Church proper, the two had come to be seen as separate, particularly since
few cases of corruption were uncovered in
the Order. The effect of this increased support
for the Order of Hyvrik was to enhance their reputation as a fully religious
group, quite able to administer to the
spiritual needs of the people. The Laranian Church
was pushed into a position of administering its own holdings and catering
to the needs of the top echelons of the
nobility. Meanwhile the Order of the Checkered
Shield continued to maintain its solid position, keeping much of its independence
between the two groups who
sought to control it.
Another significant development that this scandal
prompted was a discussion on the nature of corruption, sin, and redemption.
While this debate at first took place
between priests in the context of the clerical
church members, it struck a chord with the Laranian populace at large.
Over time the discussion has broadened to
include the fate of souls, both clerical lay,
who have sinned against Larani, and those who have never followed Larani;
a fuller discussion of this schism is available in
the document on the Laranian Church.
In 1309 the Laranian Church instituted a holy
cleansing of those unbelievers who do not follow the dual pantheon of Larani
and Peoni. This has met with little tangible
effect, probably due to the reluctance of the
Peonian Church to become involved, the lack of numbers in the Laranian
Church, and the possible subversive activity of
the Order of Hyvrik (though they do not officially
oppose the cleansing).
The current situation, in 1320, is largely a stand-off
between the two religious groups for control of the Order of the Checkered
Shield, which is largely independent
of both of them, being a strong political power
in its own right. The Laranian Church has began to regain some of its lost
prestige, while the Order of Hyvrik
continues to be the "popular" Laranian group,
which is to say that they cater for many of the smaller settlements and
families.
The Schism
The schism that is currently occupying the hearts
and minds of many Laranians, both priests and lay people, revolves largely
around the question of what happens to
the souls of those who have sinned greatly against
Larani.
The schism originated as a result of the investigations
into priestly corruption in the Laranian Church at the end of the thirteenth
century. The requirements and
opportunities for redemption of those who had
been found to have sinned against Larani were discussed then among the
priests.
Later, as the investigations turned up more incidents, the debate became much wider in scope, and was continued by many Laranians, both clerical and lay.
In essence the question that is currently unresolved,
and on which there is a major division among all groups, is this: is it
possible for those who have sinned greatly
against Larani to redeem themselves, in this
life or the next, so that they might eventually spend eternity in Tirithor?
However, many other questions and twists on this
are hotly debated throughout Kanday.
The Holy Cleansing
Since 1309 the Laranian Church has undertaken
the task of weeding out those within the borders of the Laranian Church
(which in this case is effectively Kanday)
who are not followers of the dual pantheon of
Peoni and Larani. Those who are found to lack the proper beliefs and faith
are uprooted from their homes and
expelled from Kanday.
Though this battle against infidelity has been
waged for more than ten years, the results are not terribly impressive.
The Laranian Church does not have the numbers
to do the job by itself, particularly among the
peasants and villagers; the Peonian Church has rather distanced itself
from the move, though it does not interfere; and
there are rumours that many among the Order of
Hyvrik subvert the intentions of the Church by harbouring those who would
otherwise be expelled.
The main "victims" of this crusade have been small
groups of wanderers and vagrants who have always wandered about the Kand
region. Many of these have been
found to be of uncertain faith, and ordered north
or east.
Heresies
While it is of course possible for many heresies
to exist, there are few which are currently "active" in Kanday. One such
is the belief that both Larani and Agrik stem
from the same primal fire, called Manrasusha.
Agrik, born first, was just like his parent, but Larani rebelled against
her nature and fought the fire within herself. For
this Agrik grew angry, and tried to kill his
sister, and their ever-lasting battle began.
Author: Jamie Norrish