Pantheons of Vathis: Astrian Pantheon
Considered one of the oldest faiths across the breadth of Vathis, the Astrian pantheon is widely revered in the nations of Isild, Vavaire, and Tristan.
While the Astrian faith does not boast the world’s largest congregations, it does possess the second largest following in the world. The Astrian faith views the deities as individuals, as the Vath Pantheon does, but refers to them specifically by their ancient titles. They believe that the titles themselves transcend the name of the current deities, as they represent an ideal instead of an individual. The onion domes that reside atop the spires of their houses of worship denote the holy locations of the Astrian pantheon. Throughout the world you can find monuments and places of worship devoted to this faith, even in areas where the dominate faith is of other pantheons, due primarily to the rapid expansion of Vavaire in recent centuries.
The Astrian faith is largely based on sacred traditions and church service integrations into the daily lives of the adherents.
A large focus is given to the family, both the divine and the mortal. It is believed that instead of the individual faiths broken out by the individual deity in the Vath pantheon, the Astrian faith follows the tradition that all of the deities have a role to play throughout the overall story and beliefs of the faithful. Their traditions and holidays focus on the individual stories of the deities and the relevance of all of them in each other’s, such as the Winterqueen’s creation through the torturous actions of the Sadist and the eventual involvement of love from the Nightmother that allows the Winterqueen to survive. Studies into these dramas and narratives usually refer to a lesson or guide to the moral compass the faith presents and are usually tied to one of the many holidays of the pantheon. As one of the oldest religious institutions, it has a prominent role in the history of world, especially in recent years with the faiths involvement with the Darkest War and the Whiterose Experiments.
The spread of the onion domes first began in the fledgling nation state of Vavaire, even though legends tell of the existence of this faith long before those years so long ago.
From Vavaire it spread rapidly, eventually taking root in Tristan, becoming her dominate faith, as well as Isild to the northwest. During Vavaire’s rise to power in the early years of the First Empire Wars, the Astrian pantheon was spread to all of the corners of the world. Even deep within the city streets of Aurez City, lies the unmistakable onion domed spires of the Astrian faith. The pantheon itself, came to the forefront of all topics of conversation during the Second Empire Wars when it was discovered that the Shattered Hand was rounding up the true adherents to the faith. It wasn’t until afterwards that it was discovered that those of Astrian denomination where in turn experimented on and turned into the Noir, the deadliest spies and assassins of the Darkest War. Even now, in the aftermath of those ravenous decades, the Astrian pantheon has yet to fully recover from the stain the war left on their beliefs. Many officers of the clergy believe that is it possible to restore the mind body and souls of the noir back into their true forms, and a great amount of effort is put towards this end.
