The Second Reformation of the Church of Sol Deus
To all who bear witness to this and subsequent proceedings. I, Lord Azzerhoden Razeri, Viscount of Wessex, by the grace of Sol Deus and of His Grace, Manus Dei, Duke of Wessex and Supreme Governor of the Church of Sol Deus, hereby offer greeting.
Whereas His Grace’s subjects and lands have, for too long, suffered under the malaise of conflicting dogma and church laws that have caused confusion and strife these many years, it has been determined that what is now needed is a new enthusiasm and serenity of mind in the unreserved acceptance of the Sol Deus faith. Therefore, this Second Reformation of the Church of Sol Deus is now commenced.
Welcome to the rebuilding/restructuring/restoration of our Church, hereby titled “The Second Reformation of the Church of Sol Deus”, or if you prefer the shortened version, “The Second Reformation”. The goal of this endeavor is to return to the original ideas behind the Church while also making it ‘Game Independent’. While blending any part of our structure into a game can add depth, it also complicates guild life after we move on. Ideally this reformation will allow for future ‘colorization’ for individual games going forward, but not so much that it’s not easy to return to our roots when needed.
Why the Second Reformation? Because the first one, “The Lucien Heresy”, though not officially named as such at the time, should reference that period of time when the former Bishop of Wessex, Malachi Drake (also known as The Usurper) began exploring a different path for the Church of Wessex : One that still incorporated Sol Deus, but also brought into existence Lucious, Nave, and Umbra as part of Wessex’s venture into the game Mortal Online. Without getting into a discussion about Malachi’s previous actions (and yes, I used his name and not his unflattering title intentionally), the simple truth is that he poured a lot of work and passion into his role as the Bishop of Wessex and in the process produced some really, really great RP which lead to the creation of additional great RP by those he inspired. He also had the tacit, OOC approval of pursuing this path by Manus - to explore something outside of the ‘approved’ state religion with the sole purpose of building new RP content.
As such, all of that great work should be considered separately from his other dishonorable actions within the guild that followed the above work. So, it will be honored and kept under a new area of the church forums, archived as “The Lucien Heresy”. It should also be noted that some of that work authored by Malachi will carry forward upon the completion of The Second Reformation.
There is additional work that followed the departure of Malachi, where Wessex again ventured into the world of Mortal Online (and briefly, Elder Scrolls Online), where the Church was led by the Former Parson, Varrick Chaoswielder. It should be clear to everyone upon reviewing the archives that Varrick fully lived up to his last name when it came to his workings in the church, but I would be remiss if I didn’t add that there was also some great RP from Varrick and the players who were under his tutelage in Mortal Online. All of this should be honored as well, even as we move forward.
The present result of all this history is a church that’s currently in total disarray, with several active members of Wessex lost in the wilderness of confusion as to what is official doctrine. Therefore, I have undertaken (with His Grace’s approval) to clean this up and provide a basic framework for Church members to build upon. It won’t be to the level that His Grace provided for our planned Chronicles of Elyria venture, but I hope it will suffice.
For those who are greatly affronted by this, I can only hope that (A) you are RPing, and (B) that you know I fully support your RP. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican is still actively debated in the real world, so you are more than welcome to opine here on these changes. Also – this will take some time to complete. I’ve never been much involved in the Church of Sol Deus, which makes me a good (or possibly the worst) choice to take this on. My plan is to deliver a framework that has been approved with the details of the church fleshed out by those who have a passion for it. Regardless of how you feel about these changes, what direction you would like to see the church go, or if you desire to be part of the Church of Sol Deus, feel free to post your questions in this area of the church forum. From these discussions the officially approved doctrine will be added/updated to the Church Lore and Dogma section.
Good gaming and May the Light of Sol Deus shine upon you.
