OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To go into detail about the unique religion within the Valiant Order as well as flesh it out for my character
- Image Credit: CattSparrow (for first Image), Peter James Carrington (second image)
- Canon: N/A
- Links: Valiant Order
- Religion Name: Faith of the Stag, Church of Antlers, and by not practicers; Stagism.
- Religion Type: Dueltheist
- Influence: Minor
- Symbol:
- Description: The Faith of the Stag is an ancient religion from a lost culture, a lost planet, and a lost era. The few who still hold it and its rituals are mostly confined to the Valiant Order but a few tiny congregations have been noted in more wilder planets. The fundamental belief is that there are two deities, The Noble Stag and the Fiery Dragon. They are not quite literally these beasts, but the mysterious entities chose to reveal themselves in this fashion. The Stag represents order, law, safety, and justice. The Dragon on the other hand represents freedom, chaos, individuality, and endings. It is believed that these two entities are in an eternal war, where they both created the universe and ever since have been warring over the best way to run it. It is believed that eventually one will become victorious and the universe will either be united by one single empire bringing pure order and justice and safety or the universe will descend into pure chaos where anyone is free to do as they please and live their life without others telling them what to do in pure freedom.
- Founder: The exact founder is unknown only that it has had many reformers through the ages writing texts and philosophies that would eventually be adopted as doctrine.
- Membership: One cannot become a full member until they are at least thirteen years of age, those younger then that are welcome to the various rituals but are not allowed to actually participate. Those seeking membership into the host must complete three trials. The first, called "Discipline" is a evaluation of how the individual lives their life, whether they are rebellious, how organized they are, etc. Upon completion the individual must finish the test by completing various tasks for the clergy, often grueling work such as scrubbing floors or washing clothing. The second test is called "Virtue" where the individual is given a dozen or so hypothetical situations to test their morality and how they would approach these situations. Sharing the answers (of which there are many) can lead to excommunication from the church which will lead to shunning by the community. The Third and final trial called "Patience" the individual must meditate and fast for a week, and is encouraged to do so for more than a week. Upon completion of the final trial, a great festival is held to honor the man or woman joining the fold. This final test has recently come under scrutiny as more than just humans have begun to join the flock, as some of these beings are able to go without food for far longer.
- Sacred:
- Various minerals that are known to form naturally geometric shapes such as Bismuth, Halite, and Arogonite are held as sacred. Naturally formed geometric patterns of these minerals are often used to decorate temples and holy places.
- One natural formation of Chrysoberyl resembling a stag's head with antlers and all has been a sacred artifact of the church for as long as its history has existed. This artifact is being safely kept by the Valiant Order.
- Flowering trees and plants with symmetrical flowers are often kept and pruned daily by monks. These monks are able to carefully guide the trees branches so that each tree is perfectly symmetrical.
- A species of bee-like creature native to the planet that the religion comes from is seen as a sacred animal due to their never ending work and diligence as well as their use of hexagons to store food and build nests.
- These bees, trees, and various species of deer are kept in "Groves", which are small Arboretums located on ships, stations, and planets. It is believed that nature is the best place to meditate in order to connect with The Stag, and small orders of monks work day and night to make sure the groves are as peaceful, geometrical, and symmetrical as possible, treating their toil as meditation and holy work.
- Elaborate artwork of symmetrical stags are used to represent The Stag as it has no physical body and often decorate "Groves" and temples.
- Un-Intelligent Dragons are hunted frequently, their skulls and bones making fine trophies.
- Dogma:
- There are but two gods, all others are interpretations of these two.
- The universe is split between Order and Chaos, Stability or Entropy.
- Order is Safety, Chaos is Death.
- There is a war between Order and Chaos, all fight in this war even if they do not know that they are.
- Life is but an aspect of existence. The holy deceased work to maintain nature alongside The Stag while the unholy are burnt and devoured by The Dragon to fuel his power.
- Through observing the universe and its laws we may learn more of The Stag.
- Reputation: They have a bit of a shady reputation as they've been known to assist entities like The Empire but at the same time they help the defenseless against pirates and other scum. They also don't really ally with either the Sith or the Jedi so they often get accused of various things.
MEMBERS
N/A
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The religion started on a long forgotten planet by tribesmen who wandered great forests in search of food. These simple prayer rights of asking for their deceased prey slowly evolved into complex rituals and doctrines as their culture developed through the ages. It was soon the dominant religion of their people and it was through this desire to understand the inner workings of the universe and its laws that science boomed. This science was most likely their own undoing, but those who managed to escape and join the intergalactic society have held onto the beliefs and meditated in the carefully curated groves of their forefathers with unique flora and fauna found no where else in the galaxy.
Many find it difficult to ascribe to The Stag as the religion itself, remarkably, does not answer many of the questions stereotypicaly expected of a religion: they have no creation myth and their concept of the afterlife is vague at best.
Today most of the followers of The Stag are among the members of the Valiant Order or as the civilians under their care. The Order has several "Groves" upon their ships, the biggest of which holds the Chrysoberyl stag, and many can be found meditating among these small pockets of nature amid their ships and the void of space. However, a few small communities have popped up on Naboo, Yavin 4, and oddly enough Coruscant which are all places that the Valiant Order frequents.