Orthodoxy

Preface
The Orthodox Faith is an originally CivEx faith inspired by its real life counterpart. Before this point there had been few directly Orthodox Faiths (barring the ROM).

From a single Church, it became a major religion, outliving the religion of the Great Tree but also eventually ‘reconciling’ with the Catholic Church to provide a united front against the threats to Christendom. The two Churches remain separate but work together and share a discord, which was previously Orthodox only.

Alongside this it has maintained a presence in three Civ servers: CivEx, Re:Civ and CivClassic.

Governance
The governance of the Orthodox has varied massively. In the beginning, when it was very small in terms of manpower and churches, it was centralised under one Patriarch. As it grew whilst some Churches by necessity came under the Patriarch the branches in Piedmont and Nordran were essentially autonomous.

The theme of autonomy continued to the point now where each Church is mostly independent, with the Ecumenical Patriarch being bestowed with authority from the Council of Patriarchs. Underneath them is a variant system of followers and a growing monastic community.

The governance of the Faith is most similar to irl Orthodoxy and the Ecunmenical Council of Adina was the first major Synod of the Faith. It established the course of succession- whereupon the convening Patriarchs would decide the successor to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

In terms of day to day management, loose control is exercised by each Patriarch with works of lore, and major architectural constructions being a matter for the collective.

The Orthodox Church sometimes works in consultation with the allied Church of Light in terms of broader aims.

Well-known Converts

 * Crusher6581- F.A.R. of Odresh
 * DreadedNova- Icenia
 * Pirater- Sovia-Unitas, Adina
 * 5Point0- Order of St Marcus, Master Mason

Inception and Deviation from Catholicism
The Orthodox Faith initially started in 2018. The Frankonian Empire as it was then known had launched in CivEx First Light as initially one of the major nations. It was based architecturally on Napoleonic France and specifically required a Church established.

ImperatorMendes, not new to the genre and having held menial roles in multiple servers saw this as an opportunity to do something unique.

Plans were drafted for a Church of St John, to be established as the Catholic official religion of Frankonia. During this process less and less did Catholicism appeal generally and with competition with the Catholics of Antioch, the Church eventually drifted to Orthodoxy by the time of construction. Finally the Church was announced.

The Church gained its first prominent members during this period, but signs of upcoming conflict began to manifest itself.

In now deleted posts, Saren_Solaris, member of Bastion and Antiochan Catholic, called for a ‘Solarian Inquisition’. To the amusement of the Emperor and a few hours carefully monitoring snitches, nothing of importance happened.

Rising Prestige and Competition
For a while the fledgling Patriarch remained in Frankonia, which expanded to incorporate the neighbouring states of Normandy and the Isle of Gelie, forming Britannia. Elections were held and Imperator was elected a Member of Parliament, quickly passing three motions regarding a variety of issues- and formally establishing the Church in Britannia. Developments in Britannia would slow, though they would eventually centralise into the Capital of Montgomery, utilising the old Norman settlement.

Meanwhile the general feeling was still one of insecurity. The ‘Solarian Incident’, the still ascendant Great Tree religion and the relative infancy of the Faith all contributed to this. The Patriarch’s world-generated house had also been completely flattened, in an attack allegedly by the Arlingtonians. The Patriarch planned to create a Keep of some sorts to both protect his assets and to act as a home for the Faith.

To the North of Antioch in a disputed territory between Antioch and Ancompton was castle ruins. The initial plan was to renovate these and turn them into a Coastal Keep. Ancompton started that the purchase of this land would destabilise fragile relations between the two as it would explicitly be a claim of sovereignty. Despite this there was an attempt to negotiation between parties, with the Antiochan side declining the purchase. Allegedly rumour from the Antiochan side said that the attempted purchase rattled them- in terms of proximity to their capital and the ambitions of the Fledging Faith. Necessary action was discussed, indeed more salacious rumours were of outright holy war. The authenticity of the later point was very much disputable.

However, the Patriarch heard of these rumours and acted accordingly. Sovereignty over a strip of the Kasai jungle was purchased from Kasavadi for 17 stacks of iron- 11 upfront and the remainder over two weeks. The Orthodox Coastal Fort was finished soon afterwards. Plans for a new Church were discussed alongside this. The new Church came with assurances from the Chao of diplomatic immunity and security. Indeed the Kasai would become a strong ally of both Churches. On the 20th of February in the region of Siraksem, the Church of Cyril VI was constructed. One of the key aspects of the Church was the Tomb of Pirater, which was well-maintained throughout the server’s lifetime. The Coastal Fort would soon become the centre of Orthodox philanthropy projects, specifically the WFAI (World Food Initiative) which provided food grants to fledgling nations and newfriends. The fertile ground of the Kasai Jungle would make the Church a large exporter of Cocoa and Melon products. This charity would later take over other locations, including the Nordrani Wastes Inn. Ties to the Nordrani Crown were expanded and their formerly pagan Temple of the Mountains was converted to Orthodoxy.

This gave the Church some prominence now and the Antiochan vassal state of Piedmont officially converted and began work on an Orthodox Cathedral. During this period the decision was made to expand the Faith into Astoria, known for at the time for being a thriving nation- later known for its political strife and turmoil. The result of this would be the Patriarchate gaining various political offices and influence in the new Orthodox states of Marche and Diuettis, all splinter states of Astoria. The Church would also begin to walk a very fine balance between support of the embattled monarchy and oligarchic forces.

Growth in the Political Realm
Upon arrival in Astoria, with permission of the incoming Chancellor MattDB a small church was constructed. With dual citizenship granted, endemic problems became clear to see with the nation. These would eventually come into common view.

Street violence was common, and the former Orthodox standard held by the Patriarch since the Church’s inception in Frankonia was lost to a violent mugging. It was not recovered. The Church of Maximus III and other religious buildings came increasingly under attack. Whilst the Temple was well protected, the Great Tree ‘daughter shrine’ was repeatedly defiled and at one point the gold in the Orthodox Temple towers was stolen. The new Chancellor was good friend of the Church, eventually converting to Orthodoxy. His main contribution to the Faith however, was the suppression of near weekly outbreaks of violence.

However following an attempt to rid Astoria of a Senate he found to be useless, self-serving and inactive, the Chancellor MattDB was ostracised and went into self-imposed exile. The monarchy was restored and this created a new climate in the area. To the South the proclaimed Grand Consul set up his own fiefdom, called Diuettis.

The new state of Diuettis was supported by the WFAI. Imperator, now a dual citizen of both countries, ensured smooth relations between Astoria and Diuettis, as the official Ambassador. By this point however, Astoria was much weakened, the Crown Princes Logan_the_Hermit, MattDB has all gone to form their own nations (Pathos and Diuettis) whilst Astoria was suffering from domestic terrorism, rise of the populist Nox, and inactivity.

During this period the Antiochan Centre of the Faith was attacked and sacked, and in solidarity both Catholic and Orthodox worked to fix it.

Sharks began to circle and the Empire of Kano fabricated claims on Astoria, once the senate frustratedly voted to be annexed by Kano. The vote was overturned by the monarch when populist Senator Nox, tabled a motion of no-confidence in the monarch. This was vetoed yet again, but now the Senate was paralysed by political disagreement. Meanwhile the Kanoan Empire had not enforced claims, and Diuettis grew stronger from former Astorians. In turn the Astorian state now voted to join the Empire of Diuettis.

The Empire of Diuettis enjoyed a brief, but unsustainable renaissance, its territory reaching its greatest extent. A Cathedral was built early on the site of the planned new Capital. The later Patriarchs Clocktower_Echoes and Tukidoki would herald from this location as Bishops.

In a brief but bloody conflict, the allied Britannian King Crusher6581 was temporarily pearled and the Cathedral desecrated (quickly repaired). ImperatorMendes, now Exterior Consul of Diuettis hosted a summit at Norlund, to settle the true state of claims. Kano did not attend and due to low activity the partitions suggested never took place and Astoria remained de facto Diuettan. This event would later lead to the formation of the United Factions alliance, encompassing mostly Orthodox nations. The Patriarchate stood on the security council as head of the Orthodox militiamen.

Reconciliation with the Catholics and the Late-Game
Just a week has passed since the Norlund Summit. At this point, events on the server slowly wound down. One of the last major events was the Tournament at Burgundy, where the server’s best fighters were invited and headlined by what was described as a ‘Pope Fight’. The Patriarch was defeated in the headline bout by Pope Leobonet, but placed well in the overall tournament, beating the eventual champion. This meeting was a catalyst to mend relations with the Catholics. Soon for the sake of unity in Christendom the two sides ‘reconcilled’- remaining separate but working in partnership. They now shared a discord and the Catholics contributed a Church and Cathedral to overall holdings.

As First Light faded the Church membership and vitality was at its peak.

Arrival of the Orthodox
On the 6th of July, negotiations with the Free City of Weizenburg to host the Church concluded. One of the suggestions was that perhaps the Church could set up in their Classics nation also, Pacem. Whilst this work is currently postponed due to architectural issues, this was the main driver of the Church initially to Classics, and to avoid the kind of inactivity some CivEx groups had suffered.

Adinan Orthodoxy
The Faith vanguard arrived, with the Patriarch joining the Federation of Adina. On the 17th of July, the Faith’s arrival was heralded by the construction of St Isidore of Seville and a census which revealed 15% of the nation now belonged to the Orthodox Faith. On the 17th July - 20th July the First Ecumenical Council was convened, confirming long-standing traditions into writing and furthermore realising the vision of an autocephalous Church.

The State of the Faith in Adina is a small, growing minority peacefully coexisting with the Indojoan majority. The Ecumenical Patriarch, ImperatorMendes in the First Federal Elections was elected Judge by a modest majority. There was also a failed Presidential bid some weeks later. A second census held after elections showed that the Orthodox faith had made slight gains in the country, contrasting with the complete absence of Catholicism.

Another development was a proclaimation by the Adinan Monarch officially lifting any restriction on the Orthodox Faith by use of a veto.

A Great Theology
Following comfortable establishment in Adina, work continued to find a suitable place to headquarter the Church provisionally for further growth.

In this period Orthodoxy in comparison to beforehand, had gained some ground in terms of recognition- including independently of the official structure.

After some deliberation the Commonwealth was decided upon as a suitable location and works began. Efforts were nearly jeopardised by an Adina v. Astonia/Nipplerock war to the southern border of Commonwealth. The Temple designed was the largest yet, had ornately decorated domes and served in an unofficial regard as the Ecumenical Patriarch’s retreat. It was finished on the 5th of August and was then nominated as Coryphaeus' Rock.

During this time much more thought began to be given towards the Church’s future direction, later expansion into an RP server, but also towards theology in general. Reffelruz then came into contact with the Church, creating a universal ‘map’ of all the religions and their history. A pan-religious summit began to be planned.

On the 11th of August the Church conducted its first ever wedding ceremony in Adina between Matanic1107 and Pirater. Construction of Brewery sites enabled the procurement of large amounts of alcohol to be used in ceremonies. Inevitably after a few newfriend greets and special occasions, the kegs would run very low.

The 'Church of Cana' was created on the Isle of Fortuna in Adina, alongside its unique legend:

"The Church of Cana, is a unique Church. Originally the site of a monastery allegedly containing the nails of the one true cross. Through extreme economic hardship the Church began to brew alcohol to pay its bills. However a miracle is said to have occurred, whence water stored inside the vats miraculously manifests itself as wine and otherwise. Despite some saying it could be a cheap parlour trick, many including gamblers down on their luck visit the Church in order to taste the spirit and hope some of its luck transfers to them." During this period the old legend and practices of the church began to be compiled in the hopes of preserving some of it to posterity.

At this point, ImperatorMendes was elected President of Adina, the first non-Indojoan to hold this title. Having served a long period in religious office, he began to make arrangements to hand the reins to other theologians, who could continue the movement onwards.

Part of this was the Humble Grant- a mechanism confirming the honorary rights of non-landed Patriarchs to other Patriarchates. Likewise these domains were formalised- with heraldry and the associated rights. This brought the number of officiated clergy to its highest number.