The Church of Nature

Description

The Church of Nature is a polytheistic religion, centered around the appreciation of the natural world, and it's protection from the destructive impact of sentient desire. Those who follow the Church of Nature don't necessarily harbour hatred for sentient life, but historically when the splendor of nature has been threatened they have had no hesitation to commit atrocities. For them the tranquility of a stream may be paid for in blood.

Dedication and a love of nature are the only requirements for the members of this religion, and as such it's members are sourced from all walks of life. Followers of different cultures, species and even planes work together to achieve their goals. Many of the Church's followers are from the spirit plane, as many of these creatures can only manifest on the mundane plane through symbiotic relationships with Nature's creation.

History

The Church arose following the Second Age of Enlightenment, when Slipfoot Sam confirmed the structure of the divine plane and it's inhabitants.

There is no one true founder of the religion, it was birthed from an alliance of conservationists, great and small, who individually established connections with the lesser gods responsible for the variety and splendor of the natural world. Each developed a following and over time they combined into a like minded collective. With the knowledge of the divine plane that had been gifted to humanity they reached out to the disparate creators of natures variety and collected them and their influence into a centralized divine force. Thus did the Church gain their divine connection, and subsequently, their divine magic.

With their newfound power came influence. With influence came new talent, helping to collect together additional lesser deities. The Church grew in number and spread across the land, establishing a military with a ubiquitous guerrilla presence. Their advantage over other religions came from their acceptance of sorcery. So long as t

Once a domestic concern, the Church grew to international influence, with the decisions of it's leaders having the impact of a Liege, or a Magus. Great tracts of land were reserved for the course of nature, and nations allowed their reach to be constrained for fears of death from within.

But as the Church infiltrated politics, it was in turn infiltrated by politics. The idea's of the Church's expanse of followers diverged, and factions formed. Soon the distance between them became so great that the foundations cracked, and in the rubble formed the cults of nature. Each so entrenched in their own flavour of ideology that their nature loving kin were no more than sentient obstacles. The Cults squandered their strength through infighting and were one by one defeated in the crucible of competing civilizations. Over time the great nature reserves they carved into the map fell to sentient plunder.

The Church has been dormant for a long time, stories and practices passed on through small enclaves of believers who life in the shadow of a fallen empire. Some say that they feel the invigoration of the divine connection once more, and that there is light on the horizon.

Could this be a new dawn?

Notable Factions

Notable Followers