Law (ideoligion)

The One, the All, the Intangible Infinite

COME, WORM OF MAN, AND LISTEN TO THE GOD THAT DOES NOT SPEAK. THROUGH HIM WE SHALL STRANGLE THE CHAOS INHERENT. THROUGH HIM ORDER SHALL BE BORNE WHERE THERE WAS ONCE TREACHERY, ONCE ANARCHY, UNTIL THERE IS NAUGHT LEFT BUT HIS WORD WITHOUT WORDS.

HE IS LAW. HE IS ALL.

MAY WE DIE IN HIS SCRUTINY.

—Lexator Janus, Codex of a Convert

Alignment: LE (LE, NE or LN)
Divine Domains: Artifice, Evil, Law, Scrutiny, Strength, War
Anathema: Chaos, Good, Healing, Magic
Favored Weapon: Whip, heavy or light flail
Symbol: Blue and white eye suspended in gold
Demonym: Lexator, lit. Law[wo]man in High Cordovan

New as His followership may be to the Realms of Terror, lexators portend that Law has existed since Chaos first gave way to the material world upon which all men now dwell. Law, then, is the guardian of the spiritual ether some call Astral, who will only admit to rejoin Him in death those who cast aside this chaotic nature in life. In this way Law is infinite, for Chaos is infinite; there can be no order without Him, no salvation without His Scrutiny.

The Word portends every man is born with Chaos in his soul, as the material world was wrought from it. At times this Chaos Inherent may even manifest as sorcerous abilities—miracles and magics not of Law are derived from this chaotic sorcery and are therefore anathema to Holy Order. Those who die in Chaos are likewise doomed to reincarnate into this accursed, suffered material forever until repentance. For this reason followers are encouraged to spread the Word of Law to as many as will hear, even should they encounter social or armed resistance.

Origin Myth and History

Law originates on Primus, the Cordovan word for their world prior to its wrenching into the Core. He is as old as time itself, requiring no great enlightenment or revelation. For as long as Primus has existed, so has Law; ever silent and ever watchful.

It is said that the annals written by those who received the Original Transmission were suppressed by the Cordan Republic, only to be rediscovered centuries later by Nona Velius, a young Cordan born during the Black Reign of the ten immortal, Tirimisce sorcerer-kings called the Dziesieciu in Skyalis, Cordan's oldest city. Velius instructed her followers that the material world as they understood it was constructed from primordial Chaos, their divine spirits anchored to this plane in physical bodies from which there would be no escape unless they pursued Holy Order—the Astral and intangible—and brought it forth into the material plane.

The Dziesieciu, she taught, were crystallizations of this Chaos, able to warp reality with sorcery only because there were none before them to speak the Word of Law and to do so ferociously, so absolutely that He would, without speaking, grant them the miracles necessary to speak for Him and in His name as divine edicts. Velius would take up arms with her followers for the war that would become known as the Refutation, where she would be immortalized as an epithet of Law as the Liberator and the Teacher. Cordans and Tirimisce alike would coalesce into the imperial peoples who today compose the Cordovans, the Word of Law mandated as the state religion administered by its eponymous Church ever since.

Now the beating heart of an entire empire, Cordovans wasted little time in pressing the attack against their ancient enemies—the remaining Dziesieciu and their pagan adherents. The Word of Law provides that every pagan captured should be given the chance to convert peacefully, with those that refuse being sent away to monasteries in faraway locales to undergo reenlightenment.

Though the Axiomatic Inquest has done a great deal to dominate Cordovan society, Tirimisce who forsake Law in favor for their old paganistic ways are still plentiful in their ancestral moors, the Tirimisce Lands. The complete absolution of these pagans and any other heathen encountered by Cordovans remains the primary directive of the Inquest and devout Cordovans as a whole. Since the country's introduction among the Eastern Core into an entire demiplane composed by such heathens, it has become clear their work may well never be finished.

Dogma

The Chaos Inherent exists in all men. To embrace Chaos is to return to the accursed, suffered material. Thought, word and vision are the divine implements with which Chaos may be suppressed. Law is the One, the All, and the intangible Infinite. He blessed us with our spirits so that we may rejoin Him in death so long as we embrace Him and only Him in life. Lawful ideoligions are but epithets of Law. Enlighten these heathens to His truths so that they may also be saved. There is no greater condemnation than to be forced to walk the accursed, suffered material forever. Kill no souls who embody Chaos, for they will only return stronger. Monsters and beasts wearing the mien of man may try to deceive you into believing they are soulful, but these souls have already departed. Kill them with exacting jurisprudence. When we sleep we receive Transmissions of the great Astral and intangible in our dreams—through them He may speak without speaking, and we should catalogue as such into codices and tomes as divine edicts.

Though the accursed, suffered material may be composed of Chaos, pursue Law while here anyway. Create vast works of order and reasoned invention. Reject the seduction of arcane magic and heathen miracles. He is the Artificer, and we honor Him to apply sacred geometries and formulae than submit to the tyranny and illusion of arcane power.

Clergy, Hierarchy and Temples

There is no singular voice of Law, for all followers may experience Transmissions from Him which they must articulate and interpret. Not even Velius the Teacher prescribed to her people with absolute authority—it was granted to her for her heroism as the Liberator. Likewise no-one can claim to be His embodiment or avatar, as such a thing is impossible for all mortal shells are expressions of the Chaos Inherent, therefore unsuitable for Him. He can only be experienced in His sum totality in the Astral and the intangible.

Though this may imply a horizontal hierarchical structure, in keeping with Cordovan culture reality permits a Church of Law strictly regimented anyway, though all followers carry the base title lexator and any gender or origin may ascend within its ranks—including Outlanders. Though Cordova's demographics have not yet permitted any titled clergy above lexator nonus for nonhuman races, the Church's ongoing refugee crisis at their northern border has seen Cordovan and by extension the Church's suspicion of nonhumans seem to wane in recent years.

Titles within the Church of Law are numbered, counting up from nine to one. Therefore, the highest titled rank one may achieve is lexator primum, with initiates lexator nonus, literally translating as "Law[wo]man [the] Ninth" in High Cordovan. Illustrated:

• lexator nonus: 9th
• lexator octavo: 8th
• lexator septimus: 7th
• lexator sextus: 6th
• lexator quintus: 5th
• lexator quartum: 4th
• lexator tertia: 3rd
• lexator secundus: 2nd
• lexator primum: 1st

Rank does not translate to ecclesial role within the Church, only the individual's authority. There are four particular organs of the Church which finalize a formal title as given, with their role before lexator and rank. Alignments are provided to characterize the role as a whole and are not a requirement for characters so long as they meet the requirements for their class archetype.

Councilors (consiliarii)

Almost no lexator has seen a Councilor in person as their preference is to speak only through proxies and trusted representatives. All other clergy are functionaries beneath the Councilors. Due to a culture of deference, however, grand overtures from the Council are rare and their influence throughout the rest of the Church unclear.

Adjudicators (arbitratores) (LN)

As Cordova is an imperial theocracy, the bare matter of written law and the judgment thereof must be issued by the Church. Adjudicators are lawyers, judges and overseers interfacing with the civilian bureaucracies of individual settlements, among other duties. They are expected to be particularly versed in the Word of Law with its countless codices and scripture as Adjudicators are tasked with determining certain Transmissions as canonical or repealed as chaotic illusion. Travel is not typical for Adjudicators, however some may charge themselves with collecting Transmissions from faraway peoples and provinces, or otherwise cataloguing their own experiences as filtered through religious lenses to be brought back to Cordova. They compose most of the Church's upper ranks and function as the Church's most trusted administrators beyond the Council themselves.

Inquisitors (inquisitores) (LE)

By far the largest and farthest reaching arm of the Church is the Axiomatic Inquest and their Inquisitors, charged with rooting out Chaos in all facets of Lawful societies. Inquisitors may not be blooded sorcerers and are trained in the Arts, command, subterfuge and control. These lexators form the authorities common folk are most likely to encounter within the Church outside their local temples and mundane institutions, taking orders from their superiors and in rare cases missives passed down from the Council personally.

Converts (conversi) (NE)

As Cordovan superstition dictates the killing of blooded sorcerers as tantamount to letting their Chaos Inherent spread elsewhere, the Church of Law provides conversion as the final end to any sorcerer detained by the Axiomatic Inquest. These sorcerers are taught such to temper the arcane nature of their powers such to become supplicants reborn under Law, otherwise known as ardent sorcerers; it is believed that by abandoning the arcane for something divine, these Converts may reunite with Him. The methods associated with Converts, however, are bloody secrets well kept. Converts are often associated with the militant fighters stocking the front lines of the Church's endless crusades in the yet unbowed Tirimisce Lands and protecting Cordova's border with Necropolis from armies of matriculated dead.