The Church and Mortal Online
Structure of the Church
The Hierarchy
Clergy Titles
Spiritual Orders
My brothers and sisters in Faith:
As the church moves forward in preparation for Mortal Online, there will be some fundamental changes in the accepted dogma and lore of our faith. We will be moving away from the Aventurine-created Darkfall lore and will be adopting our own unique religion. There will be some similarities between what was and what will be, as the Mercian faith was based on the worship of a solar deity and both Wessex and Hyperion have roots in that concept.
Mortal Online promises an in-depth religious system that will provide the Clergy of Wessex with previously unimagined opportunities. The most prominent of these is the ability for players to create their own particular deity that will provide its followers with additional benefits as more and more people choose to worship it.
Darkfall was very much focused on conquest, and uses did not exist for any play style that did not focus on this. In that respect, being part of the Clergy felt artificial, and like trying to fit a square peg through a round hole while being assaulted by a swarm of mosquitoes. This is why, as Bishop, the most important goal to me is to ensure that the role of the Clergy fits into the game-world environment and that we utilize the tools available to create an enjoyable and immersive experience.
As already discussed, the more followers a religion has the greater the benefits bestowed by it. By placing our focus on sending out missionaries to educate and convert people to our faith and by the use of crusades to propagate and defend that faith, both in friendly and hostile lands, we will be playing to Mortal Online’s game mechanics.
This means that the role of the Clergy will no longer be simply to copy-and-paste a sermon into chat once a day nor to spend every waking moment grinding one spell school. The clergy will, however, still be responsible for tending to the spiritual needs of those who fall within our Diocese. There will still be an expectation for clergy members to role-play at the same level as Gentry members *(or to be willing to learn how to do this) and progression from Friar or Deacon to Priest will require good knowledge of the Church lore.
In order to achieve all this I plan to create a Military Order that will be the starting point for all Wessex Clergy. This order will be all-encompassing as it can provide a home to the more militant friars, to those who prefer to focus on role-play or to those who wish to focus on a craft such as herbalism or Alchemy. The Clergy is, in essence, its own society in Wessex and so has many opportunities available. There is no reason why a Brother cannot give a sermon in the morning, bless a child in the afternoon and then crusade in the evening, to come back to a nicely made meal by one of craft-focused friars.
Over the coming weeks I will add further details on the Church Hierarchy, the mythology and lore of the Church in the world of Mortal Online and details on the planned Military order. I would be grateful if you could reply with any questions you may have so that I can create a ‘FAQ’ of sorts or PM me if you are interested in knowing more about joining the Clergy.
Faithfully Yours,
With thanks to Lepida Nuykani, Herald; for her assistance in proofreading this document.
