The Old Aspera

[Nullia]

The Church of Aspera: The officially-recognized church of Aphros, encompassing the Ordinance.

The Ordinance: The primary sect of the Athelite faith, encompassing everything that follows.
The Doctrine of Twilight: The four pillars of the Athelite faith, encompassing the guiding principles of Aphrosi society.

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"A return to form; a reminder of what we are; of what we are here to do. His faithful,

His devout, His enlightened. As we must look in upon ourselves, so too must we

look in upon our faith—and question if what we do now is enough.

If you find it lacking; His word, His influence, over this city far removed from what it once

was—splintered, divided, lost—then I invite you to join me in His halls as we once did,

and welcome the return of the Old Aspera."

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The Doctrine of Twilight
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The Lord Warden, the Watcher upon the edge, the Judge of the damned.

To follow Him is to understand; not the way things could be, not the way we want them to be,

but to understand the indisputable way that they are, and how that can be changed. To follow

Him is to know the weight; of life, death, of peace and blood. The balance of Shadow and Light

more delicate than any would otherwise know. To be of the Athelite cloth is to swear a vow

of adherence to His teachings; to understand that we may falter, but we will never fall. The world

is a tainted place, and it is the Aspera's duty to guide Aphros through it, unto the Beyond.

The Self

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The first pillar of the Doctrine; the understanding of every virtue and flaw of the mortal flesh.

We are imperfect, temperamental bundles of contradictions and lies. Conflicting factors and

contrary information that paints a mess of incoherence before it does a work of art. He does not

cherish us for our pretended perfection, He accepts us for the broken things that we are.

As an honest thief might steal to feed his family, so too might a zealot wield his faith as a guillotine.

We each bear virtues and sins. We must acknowledge and move past our flaws, not shun them.

To achieve peace with ourselves, we master our bodies, our minds, and our souls. 

The Question

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The second pillar of the Doctrine; the understanding of existence, and the value of life.

We of flesh bear a special privilege—for it is we alone that can understand what it means to be alive.

No God, no undead, no breaker of the cycle nor existence above its circle can ever understand

what it is we experience. The Question asks us, we as a collective; when does a life's

continuance cause more threat than harm? When is a soul beyond redemption, when does

it face the abyss of damnation, when can it be brought back to the light?

Only we mortals can answer this question. No God can dictate our lives, and to no God do

we bend our knee. The Lord Warden is our teacher, not our master; we alone decide our fate.

The World

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The third pillar of the Doctrine; the understanding of reality, and the nature of the world.

The world is a set of things with which we interact. It is objective fact, imposed upon our eyes.

To view it as anything other than what it is, is to insult the world itself; for the world is what the

world is, and the world is nothing that the world is not. The Aspera is not a lens through which

to view the world, it is the statement that we shall see things for what they are. Necromancy

and Witchcraft are perversions of the natural order, and throw the world into disarray.

Consult your Self, reflect on the Question, and find your understanding of how to cleanse the World.

The Beyond

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The fourth pillar of the Doctrine; the understanding of our death, our purpose, our fate.

At the end of our lives, we face judgement as His faithful at the Citadel on the Edge.

Those who have gone too far see themselves added to his soldiers eternal, to fight against the waves

of Helheim for all of time. Many will simply be returned to the lifestream, to be born anew. But as

the worst of souls will be condemned to eternal war, so too will the best of them be given a chance;

a seat in the Lord Warden's court, where they judge the coming souls. For it is not

the Lord Warden that holds domain over our fate at the Citadel. It is we, that had once lived.

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Rites
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Rites of the Ordinance most commonly encompass standard things such as baptisms, marriages,

and sermons or group-prayer activities. Followers are encouraged to engage in regular meditation.

These are commonly directed by a Reverendo. Less common practices include things such as

Ordination: the recognition of a non-member of the church, or promotion of a member of the

church; Excommunication: the excommunication of a member of the church, to be branded a failure

to the faith, stripped of their rank and status, and forever shamed; and Holytech augmentation: the

sanctioned augmentation of one's body through magi-tech prosthesis or enhancements.

Despite being of Barsburgian heritage, the current Pontifice does not acknowledge drug-related alchemical enhancements as permissible.

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Ranks
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Pontifice

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The head of the faith, who bears responsibility for all of the Ordinance. Major decisions,

practices, or changes all fall before them. In the absence of greater callings, they will typically

perform recruitment duties or Ordinations.

Cardinal

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The advisor of the Pontifice, the direct overseer and manager of all Leigo and Reverendo

within the church. A secretary of sorts, and a guiding hand. Responsible for Ordinations,

and typically bears recruitment duties.

Vigario

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The head researcher of the Ordinance, responsible for all major projects that require an artificer's

hand. They bear express permission to hire craftsmen, declared Artese, to be protected under

the church and given access to materials and the Aspera workplace until their work is completed.

Reverendo

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A priest or priestess of the Ordinance, acknowledged and promoted to such a position due

to hard work and exemplary performance. They facilitate standard rites such as weddings,

baptisms, and prayers. They may give sermons with permission from the Cardinal or

Pontifice.

Leigo

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Initiates of the faith that bear no particular responsibilities. They are encouraged to hone their

freedom, granting prayers, sanctifications, or blessings in the name of the Lord Warden.

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The Asperan Church is located at 587, 574, 1, and is politically considered Aphrosi territory. You can be baptized into the church by seeking out Falke Bargiel by letter or in person, or by DMing me at nulliaq in the discord and setting up a meeting that way. THERE IS AN ACTUAL GUILD NOW since there wasn't before. It is new and literally empty, so all of these roles are open.