Category:Church of Belenus

This section contains canon info from officially published sources

The Church of Belenus is the main faith in the Shadowlands and Tepest. Thanks to the disconnection of divine beings from Ravenloft, the Nidalan and Tepestani churches developed doctrines and practices very different from how Belenus is worshiped on other worlds or even from each other. Unfortunately, both churches share common elements: condemnation and persecution of the nonconforming and the unknown.^[1][2]

Tepest

In Tepest, Belenus is worshiped as foremost deity (but as one of many) among the Tepestani Pantheon. Thanks to events following the Grand Conjunction (which they attribute to the Fey), the Tepestani are in a more-or-less permanent state of heightened paranoia against the fell influence of the Fey. In such a state, the Tepestani Inquisition can make mistakes and persecute (and execute) elves, gnomes, sorcerers, or other persons that have no direction connection to the Fey.^[3][4] However, unlike the Nidalan Church of Belenus, the evils the Tepestani Inquisition commit are more out of fear and misunderstanding rather than malice or social control.

The Shadowlands

Officially, Nidalans worship Belenus alone and consider the worship of other deities to be blasphemous. Religion is much more centralized in the Shadowlands, where the church is led by Elena Faith-hold and her matriarchal priesthood. Her priestesses enforce a code less of panic and more of strict obedience and harsh rule.^[5][6] As evidence of their devotion to Belenus, his Nidalan priestesses swear vows of chastity. Breaking this vow is considered an unholy act and warrants a reflecting Powers Check.^[7]

Some inhabitants of The Great Kingdom worshiped other gods in the same pantheon, including Brigit. It's likely that pocket of worship for the other gods of the Pantheon of The Great Kingdom still exist in hiding.

Forlorn

There is no official Church of Belenus in Forlorn. However, a subgroup of the druids in Forlorn, the Rowan Faction, venerate him. The Rowan Faction takes an approach to solving its problems oddly similar to the strategies used by the Nidalan and Tepestani Churches of Belenus, one that is decidedly militant and perhaps a bit too zealous. The druids of the Rowan Faction believe that balance may be restored to Forlorn by weeding out much of the evil that dominates that domain.^[8] The group's overzealous nature was demonstrated when Shelaugh led a massive strike force against Castle Tristenoira in 750 BC. The attack mission turned into a massive failure, leaving only a few survivors of the attacking force to tell the tale of their defeat.^[9]

Unlike the Tepestani and Nidalan churches, the worshipers in Forlorn seemed to have mostly hurt themselves more than others. They show relatively little of the paranoia or persecution complexes Belenus' faithful in Tepest or Nidala.

Okraina

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In the chilly land of Okraina, Belenus is also worshiped, though he is known there as Yarilo. The Church of Yarilo is a force to be reckoned with within Okraina, so much that Prince Vasili the Cruel is in a power struggle with it.^[10] Although politically powerful, there does not seem to be such a widespread panic of the supernatural or the unusual in Okraina as there is in other domains dominated by the Church of Belenus. For example, half-elves, though very rare, are viewed as especially favored by the fey and are even believed to bring good fortune.^[11]

References

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Ravenloft Third Edition Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I
		Ravenloft Third Edition - p50
		Ravenloft Third Edition - p54 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - p78
		Ravenloft Third Edition - pp50-51,141-142 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume I - p78