Restored Church of Lux

The Restored Church of Lux is a Luxite faith that broke off from the main centralized faith of Lux. It is headed by four Bishops, Vicrowave, Pesto_Pasta, Goldentigris, and Xenyth_0. The church follows the teachings of the Goddess Lux, and has a total of six holy texts.

Creation of the world
At the beginning of time and space, nothing existed. Nothing physical, nothing metaphorical, nothing mental, nothing spiritual. Just unfathomable and unconceivable nothingness. And then out of nothingness, Lux was born into this reality. She started by creating the basics of our reality: energies, elements, mass, gravity, time, etc. She then created the first world and filled it with oceans and the sky. Later, she created the first terrain on that world, a lost holy site (as we do not know its exact location) followers know as Terra Primis. She created life to inhabit the world she made, and filled Terra Primis, the oceans, and the skies with them. In an act of benevolence, she granted free will and thought to the life she created. But in order to keep the flow of the physical world steady, she had to create the afterlives and death. She is beyond all-powerful and knows everything, sees everything, feels everything, and hears everything at any given time. Shorty after all of this, our reality balanced out itself by giving birth to Tenebris, a malicious figure. Tenebris is not all-mighty like Lux, but is still powerful enough to be in a higher plane of existence and partially alter the world, even possibly harming it. One day, in the early years of the world, there was a disturbance in the balance of this reality. Tenebris, full of greed, lust for power, and hubris, decided to make an attempt to overthrow Lux when she least expected it. Lux was caught off guard, and therefor, a mighty war between the holy Lux and sinister Tenebris began. Their war shook the world as it stood. Much life in the world died. But, from this war, Terra Primis expanded into the world we know today, consisting of both Rathnir and Eldham, and even corners of the world we have yet to explore. After days of battle, Lux, in all her holiness and divine wrath, struck down Tenebris. But since she was unable to fully destroy him, she forced him down into the depths of this reality where he was (and still is) forced to watch over the afterlives and assist in the passage from the physical world to afterlife. After the war ended, three of the original and most devout followers of Lux were chosen, by Lux, to ascend to the ethereal plane. These three are known as the Magna Sanctus and go by the names of Makorith, Elysiaas, and Tharin'Gorr. They work as messengers to and from Lux, and also carry the blessings of Lux to give to followers. Makorith helps bestow Lux's blessing of vitality and good health, Elysiaas helps bestow Lux's blessing of good luck and happiness, and Tharin'Gorr helps bestow Lux's blessing of strength and prowess in battle.

Tenebris, to try and one-up Lux, corrupted the minds of three who are known as the Magna Malum, and go by the names []. They, along with Tenebris, are known to be a root of that which is unjust, unholy, and wrong in this world.

The Afterlives
There are three layers of the afterlife: The Aether, The Below-Place, and the Void. Each layer serves a different purpose. It is impossible to reach any layer by normal means. Since Lux is all-powerful and all-knowing, she acts as the decider. Tenebris, carrying out his punishments from the war he lost, acts as the reaper and assists in carrying the souls of mortals to the layer they belong to, and thus Tenebris is never allowed to rest.

Aether
The Aether is the top layer of the afterlives. It is a paradise land where Lux's spiritual form resides, as she does not always choose to take her physical form. The Aether is a massive and sprawling city beyond any mortals imagination (or comprehension) full of love, happiness, and true peace. Those who follow the teachings of Lux and remain good people may enter the Aether under Lux's discretion.

Below-Place
The Below-Place is essentially the staging area for those who are almost ready to enter the Aether. It is a desolate purgatory, void of everything and anything except for Lux's guiding grace. In the Below-Place, those who have committed a number of light sins but still follow Lux and are good at heart are, over time, purged of their sins so they may enter the Aether.

Void
The Void is a land where all those who are a stain and a disgrace in the living world are sent too. You will be brought to the Void if you have committed great sins, spread ideas that are antithetical to Lux, and have done things or acted in ways that are purely evil. What is truly in the Void is not fully known, but from the words of Lux, we know it is a place of suffering, agony, sorrow, and regret. The immense torture of what you have done may one day purge you of your sins, but the extremities of your actions will likely keep you imprisoned in the Void forever.

Original Faith of Lux
People who followed these beliefs grew to worship Lux, and thus created the Original Luxite Church. This church, founded in Ummarnu, or more simply Marnu, was created by a once nomadic culture of people. As civilizations progressed, so too did this culture and its church. They built cities and observed the original Luxite holy texts. In their more ancient days, they were known to engage in human sacrifice as they did not fully understand the will of Lux, but as time passed, they stopped such rituals after divine requests from Lux herself. To this day, and even in other Luxite faiths, it is still common to execute enemies of the church.

The Exodus
As the days went on, the church became more wealthy and influential. It became full of greed, corruption, pride, and fearmongering. Essentially, it had turned to worshipping Lux while acting more in accordance with Tenebris. Many followers saw what the church had become and, in mass, abandoned the church. One such follower was Shurim, a devout Luxite mystic. After the Exodus, he and his family fled to Sparwood and attempted to spread his reformed beliefs to people. They preached at small gatherings and went town-to-town teaching the words of Lux in their purest forms. The church became infuriated, and began an operation using the churches military force, as well as gaining support from residents of Sparwood and local churches, to hunt down those they deemed as traitorous. Innocent people were killed, executed, and tortured by the church.

The Restored Church of Lux
As time went on, the martyrs who fled to Sparwood (being Shurim, his family, and others who fled to Sparwood) were increasingly being put in more and more danger. They preached their beliefs at the command of Lux, but the residents of Sparwood did not appreciate such preaching. The residents became more violent and the Ummarnuian Churche's military became more ruthless. It is even believed that some residents of Sparwood had in the past, and still were, ratting out Reformed Luxites to the church. This would lead to the death of Shurim and also see his son, Jezek, take over his father's role as preacher. But, even Jezek's leadership did not last long as the martyrs were relentlessly hunted down. Fearing for their lives, most followers hid their faith and burned their writings, including transcribed visions/messages from Lux, letters to and from notable figures, and scriptures written by reformed Luxites. The writings that weren't burned by the followers were burned by the church militants, causing them to be lost forever.

Far later, the martyrs were a shell of their former selves. The last of the outwardly reformed Luxites, including figures such as Vicrowave and Uprooted, were still preaching their beliefs under the scrutiny of others. Around this time, Lux, angered at what had happened, acted in divine intervention to copy down all the previously lost writings onto plates of gold, essentially rescuing and restoring the entirety of the lost beliefs. Seeing as how these followers were devoutly loyal to Lux, she bestowed upon them visions on where to find the plates of gold.

At the same time, a nomadic group of mystics and shamans from Tortuga, led by Xenyth_0, who acted as mercenaries, merchants, and laborer's for hire, began to also receive visions from Lux. Lux saw the nomads deep spiritual connection to the world, and showed them the path to grace through Lux. The visions she gave them led them on a path that would eventually intersect with the martyrs. At this time, the original Church of Lux was beginning to have internal issues, and thus could not focus on hunting down their enemies. The martyrs, also around this time, founded the Official Church of the Tulip Cathedral in Chadington after finding the Golden Plates. The Tortugan nomads, finally crossing paths with the martyrs with the help of Lux's guidance, began to follow what was in the Golden Plates and found enlightenment.

In a whole different part of the world, another break-off sect of Lux was being formed by Goldentigris. Soon after, this sect, the martyrs, and the nomads would unite. After long discussion, debate, and agreement, they worked together to create the Restored Church of Lux (previously known as: Church of the Tulip, Reformed Church of Lux), a new Luxite church that would work hard to purge the evil of the original church and create something that would be a pure form of Lux worship, devoid of the sins that brought the original church to ruin.

Present Day & the Church Chapters
The church is led by four bishops: Vicrowave, pesto_pasta, Xenyth_0, and Goldentigris. The bishops vote on decisions that affect the church as a whole and make decisions such as excommunicating individuals and raising all military forces for war. Six holy texts are observed by the followers of the Restored Church of Lux: O' Revelations, Book of Jezek, Golden's Hymnal, Codex of Lux, Luxite Edda, and The Musings of Mon'Lokis. Each describes and explains a different aspect of Lux, her teachings, Luxite beliefs, and the history of the Restored Church of Lux. While the bishops vote on decisions that affect the faith as a whole, each bishop controls their own chapter with their own focuses, hierarchies, and military forces, making the church partially decentralized. All four chapters have the same beliefs, worship Lux, share the same holy sites, and revolve around the same faith.

The Askaru Chapter:
This chapter is led by Bishop pesto_pasta. It is the chapter that contains the Official Church of the Tulip Cathedral based in the city of Chadington. The focus of this chapter mainly has to do with the main teachings and spreading of the faith. This chapters holy order and military force consists of the Mystic Mages, a group of Lux followers who can achieve great power through Lux. The Mystic Mages are deeply loyal to Lux and her teachings, and regularly engage in academic studies.

The Yimmu Audal Chapter:
This chapter is led by Bishop Xenyth_0 and has a temple (known as the Ordo Templum) based in the city of Urnu-Arrak. The main focus of this chapter concerns the natural order, life, death, and spiritual balance. Meditation and supreme mental fortitude/focus are rewarded in this chapter. This chapters main holy order and military force is the Luxite Warrior-Monks. The Luxite monks are highly trained and deeply spiritual. This chapter also employs the use of those known as Peregrine-Monks, which is a special job that works for both this chapter and the Church as a whole. They wander from all ends of the world helping those in need and spreading the teachings of Lux.

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