The History of Tellaia: The Rise of the Church

The interregnum between the fall of Auromia and the rise of the dragon princes was a time of consolidation. Following the death of Yeesha, humanity was saved from its many enemies and was free to follow its own path again. The Prophet’s followers organised the church, which spread her teachings and trained new priests to use the magic of their convictions. The revelations of Yeesha were collected in the holy book, the Storia. The church was led by the Ordinarchs, who would elect a leader, the High Ordinarch. Over time, these disciples died and became saints, and different church orders sprang up dedicated to them. It was easy to convert people to the new faith as well, because of the divine miracles that the clergy could perform. They were also influential in continuing to battle dragons and their humanoid servants wherever they should appear.

No new central authority emerged to replace the gold dragons. The Prophet had always refused secular authority, and so her Church supported the various kings and warlords that emerged, and spread her word throughout the world. The bronze dragons, who had always been very important in Auromia's armies, kept control of north-western Tirenia.  King Carlo d'Orso unified much of Tirenia in his lifetime, but his successors were not able to maintain control of it. Over time, power largely returned to individual city-states, each with their own spheres of influence and control, with the Church acting as a mediator between them.

Related image
Art: 'Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter.' Pietro Perugino, 1482.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ruins of Auromia - Session Two: The Song of the Harpy Queen

Image
Valentino returned to Accluso, Dova, Ilaria and Noke later that afternoon, with a sack containing the few Auromian artifacts that he had available. He showed them to an interested Dova: there was an ancient scroll that looked about ready to fall apart at a moment's notice; a small decorated jar and a curved wooden stick that the scholar recognised as an oil jar and strigil; a good luck amulet in the shape of a flying phallus; a repaired Auromian centurion's helmet with an impressive golden horsehair plume; a small collection of antique coins. After some haggling, Accluso and Dova bought burial insurance, Dova bought the scroll without being able to ascertain its contents, and Noke bought the phallic amulet and the strigil. As they left the Cigno , the group were accosted by a number of rough-looking men. Accluso and Noke were ready for violence, but the leader of the ruffians held out his open hands to show that he came in peace. He was from Vittoria, the bandit chieftain wh...
Read more

The Pirates of Panormo, Session Two: The Villa Salamandre

Image
 The crew of the Brazen Nudibranch fled the city of Staglia as quickly as they could. They decided to head inland to Trion, the home of the quicksilver dragons. They hoped that they could learn more about the ritual that had brought the marble and gold dragon to life. It was slow going, however, because very quickly they found themselves pursued by soldiers hunting for them. People said that spies from Staglia, with the help of a traitor (Scelto), had infiltrated the city and attacked a gathering of dragons with black magic. The group posed as itinerant monks to avoid being discovered. Soon they reached the shining Fulgente River, in whose silvery waters an angel was said to have once died. Evangelia grew nostagic as they beheld the glimmering water, for her home city, Medilano, was located downstream on the same river, and the Fulgente was sacred to the silver dragons. Avoiding a boat, because of the soldiers checking passengers, they made their way along its banks until they reac...
Read more

Mercury Dragons and the Magic of Trion

Image
Trion is a city of about 30,000 people situated in the foothills of the White Mountains, about 200 miles north-west of Staglia. It was founded by the Auromian Empire after an important victory against the orcs in the mountains. Since then, it has had many rulers: it was part of Carlo d'Orso's empire, was ruled by the Ordinarch-Princes of the church, was conquered by mercury dragons and finally annexed by the bronze dragons of Staglia, who still rule it. All of Tirenia is highly magical, due to the convergence of ley lines there, but Trion is particularly magical. The ruling mercury dragons princes have many magical advisors, and have created palaces attuned to the five elements - earth, fire, water, air and aether. There are rumours that some great alchemical secret is buried in caves under the city, but no one knows what. Certainly, the aetheric currents in the city means that it is closer to Heaven and Hell than usual. It is rumoured that the lost caves may lead to the Unde...
Read more