Zofia Marek
Master and Commander
Intent: To create more lore and story for the Ganathan people and their culture.Development Thread: N/A
Manufacturer: N/A (various publishers print the book, but there is no true manufacturer or any known original publisher)
Model: N/A
Affiliation: Ganath (originally). Now available for order on the holonet.
Modularity: None (It's a religious text. You don't add or take away things in a religious text without 1) a lot of people approving it with loads of evidence to show it belongs there or 2) without starting schisms among religions. Someone wants to add stuff to this or take stuff away, they'll need to submit a new text using this one as a primary source)
Production: Mass
Material: Wide arrays of materials ranging from electronics and computer components for datapad versions to leather or paper bound physical books.
Strengths:
- Mandate of Heaven - A monarchy without strength and history is both weak and destined to failure. Within the pages of the Ganathan Holy Creed, the Crown of Ganath is given the divine right of Kings and their status as both leader and protector of Ganath and the Ganathans is clearly established. While the government is considered Democratic in nature, the Creed states that the Crown retains the power to temporarily dissolve representative government during times of emergency or great need.
- Devout Piety - Generations of Ganathans born and raised in the Holy Creed go on to live and die still believing in their faith. Hundreds if not thousands of years of religious belief has ingrained their faith and piety into the population of the planet. True believers of the Ganathan Holy Creed can sometimes find strength and determination in the darkest of places, something typical of those who believe in something greater than themselves.
- Centralized Control - Detailed in the Creed itself is instructions on how the religion's infrastructure is designed. Power and authority start at the Crown itself as the reigning King or Queen is determined to be the chief authority on all matters of religion. Below the Ganathan Regent are various upper level priests/priestesses who run the day to day matters of the Holy Church of Ganath. That responsibility and authority trickles down through the Church itself until it reaches the lowest positions in the organization: the local religious figures among the communities.
- Devout Piety - As the Ganathan religion is many generations old, the policies and beliefs of the religion have ingrained themselves on the population as the years drag on. Strong belief in their Creed gives strength and determination in times of strife, but can also lead to bigotry, hatred, and atrocities brought about by the most zealous members of the Church.
- Skepticism and Doubt - With all religions, reasonable doubt remains to the veracity of such claims to the divine. Most in the galaxy give such things barely a second thought while others outright decry any kind of religious belief. In the end, it is simply a method of belief and the perception of events that could be construed as acts of divinity but could also be viewed as events of pure chance or even luck. In the end, nothing is certain whether the gods do or do not truly exist, only that the Ganathans believe they do.
Preface
Written in ages past, the Holy Creed of Ganath is the prominent religion on the planet and within the system. The religious text outlines a variety of topics split into two halves. The first half dictates the origin of their deities, the worship of their faith, and the various aspects of the religion itself. The second half details the structure of the church, the authority of the Ganathan Throne, and the Throne's place as the head of the Ganathan Church.
The Ganathan religion is split between two deities: The Maskr dhi Ghilang (Master of White) and the Novlein dhi Kir (Lady of Red).
Maskr dhi Ghilang
Known in Basic as the Master of White, the Lord of Peace, and the King of Progress depending on who and for what reason his name is invoked, the Maskr dhi Ghilang is the Ganathan god of peace and prosperity. Of the two, the Lord of Peace is the only deity to require actual locations in which to worship and observe his godliness. In the Creed he is seen as the only being capable of holding back his divine sister, the Lady of Red, from the Ganathan afterlife. A god of peace, his realms of influence are primarily the hearth, health, and the afterlife. He is symbolically represented as an empy, equilateral triangle, each point representing his major domains, the triangle's sides representing all the domains he controls in between, and the hollow center symbolizing gates to the afterlife. Outside of his symbol, he is shown as a blindfolded and robed Ganathan male, his hands always open and outstretched in some manner.
Novlein dhi Kir
Known in Basic as the Lady of Red, she also carries the names Mistress of War and Queen of Strife. She is the Ganathan deity of war, violence, and strife and is the divine sibling of the Maskr dhi Ghilang. Unlike her brother, the Lady of Red requires no place of worship or a set location to observe her divinity. Her church is the battlefield, her sepulcher built upon the detritus of war, her choir the rattle of weapons and the roar of cannons. She is held back from the Ganathan afterlife by the Master of White, not out of spite, but to keep her from opening the gates and destroying the realm of the afterlife, thereby ending this world and beginning a new one. Invoked in times of war and conflict, her primary domains of influence are war, suffering, and conflict and her symbol is an inverted, hollowed triangle where each corner represents her domains, the sides between symbolize the minor domains she holds, while the empty center represents the end of their world and the beginning of a new universe. When not depicted as a symbol, the Novlein dhi Kir is shown as a Ganathan woman wearing a hood and robes, sword in hand.
The rest of the Creed details the proper worship of both deities and their places in Ganathan society. It also places and explains the symbol of the Ganathan religion where both symbols of the two deities are placed together whenever the full religion is represented.
Secular Laws
Within the second half of the Creed, the structure of the Ganathan Church and the authority of the Ganathan Crown are detailed and explained.According to the Creed, the Crown of Ganath is a position where both the Maskr dhi Ghilang (Master of White) and the Novlein dhi Kir (Lady of Red) have placed their trust, a very rare occurrence within the Creed itself. The Creed states that in order to maintain balance among the faith and their chosen people, the Ganathans, the Lord of Peace and the Queen of Strife settled on a single individual, placing upon that familial line the burden of both leadership and responsibility over the entire faith and their followers.
This held belief places the authority of both the secular and the vernacular upon the Crown of Ganath, reinforcing the Regent's claims as Ruler. To revolt against the Crown is to revolt against the Church. To revolt against the Church is to defy the will of the very faith and foundation of the Ganathan religion, which often leads to rather severe consequences.
The Church
The Creed details the structure of the Church itself, explaining the structure and the task of the organization. At the head of the institution stands the Regent of Ganath who, according to the Creed itself, has been tasked with the burden of leadership, acting as both secular rule and vernacular shepherd. Below this are various high priests and priestesses who are tasked with the day to day management of the organization and the minutia of the faith. Further down are the middle level clerics who hold sway over the various regions of the planet, following the orders handed down and enforcing them throughout their holdings. Lowest on the chain are the district and community clergy who interact most with the common people and follow the laws of the Church as they are handed down. This centralized doctrine allows quick, simple, and ethical control of the faith and the Church's interaction with the people of Ganath.OOC Note:
Its an IC faith and outside of the power of belief or faith on an individual or group scale (something we already see through canon religions and canon dogmas such as the Jedi and Sith codes, canon texts, etc.), these deities don't exist in any way. The Ganathans simply believe they do.
To quote a Christmas movie: Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing.
