View source for Talk:Alexandrian Church

What's some doctrine of the church?  How does the philosophy compare and contrast to real-world religions?  It seems like it has a heavily Catholic feel to it, so is that the main influence? - [[User:Slitherrr|Slitherrr]] 23:31, 18 September 2009 (EDT)

Whew, I was wondering when I'd have to brooch this. I've actually started and killed a few articles because I didn't know where to put it. This is as good a place as any. 

Structurally, it is very heavily based on the High Medieval church. (Though the catholic school boy in me must point out that Wardens are not also Hadriarchs in the same way that Cardinals, I believe, are also Bishops.) The hierarchical organization has a more militant and disciplined feel to it, however, as befitting its heavily Fresian and Dwarven origins. Theologically, as the essential conflict in this world is on the Law/Chaos axis, the church would be a solid LN, whereas the Catholic Church would be LG (in message, not delivery). As in, the essential message of Christianty is clearly one of goodness, the Alexandrian ethos is a little more "do not let society collapse again." The imagined Lay Investiture crises have come and gone (monopoly access to Divine Power is a great political bludgeon), but the church is far from an all powerful organization. Wars still happen, although clergy are officially forbidden from playing offensive roles in combat. Bards, then, are often used in offensive healing support roles, which is serendipitous, in that the 2e to 3e conversion came during this campaign, and bards received access to healing. (non-divine healing spells are a product of Alexandria's martyr-boom) Paladins, then, are more justicar or protector than warlord. Druids on the mainland (ie: of the non-elven variety) are actually rare outside of lizard-man cultures, and are tolerated despite not fitting into the church hierarchy. 
Additionally, as the central figure here is a human self-elevated to divinity rather than a divine avatar, its far more humanist in term, which is where the compassion element derives from. But, make no mistake, it's order first and compassion second more often than not as far as the church is concerned. -gm