Arathracian Sanctuary
An Arathracian Sanctuary is a fortified stronghold that survived the Fall of the Yophenthean Empire or was established subsequent to the Yophenthean Empire. There are well over a hundred active sanctuaries in the West and they serve today much as they did in the past as strongholds of the Arathracian Faith where spiritual and military training is undertaken and as a refuge for the faithful. The leader and head of an Arathracian Sanctuary is called an abbot. A minority of historic sanctuaries have been deconsecrated and serve purely secular functions.
History
After the Fall of the Yophenthean Empire, the central authority of the emperor and high sunpriest no longer existed. The power of the Arathracian Sunfather rose in the century following the fall, but there was no centrally administered system to defend the local inhabitants from plundering sky raiders, marauding humanlikes, and even the depredations of local criminals. The Arathracian Sanctuary became the small civic unit where law, order, and the practice of the Arathracian Religion could be defended. The abbot of an Arathracian Sanctuary became something akin to the supreme administer of religious and political justice and the sanctuaries are thought to be the cause of the survival of Arathracianism. During the Middle Ages of Chaos, the sanctuaries became a refuge for persons eschewing the Cults of Chaos and some Arathracian Sanctuaries can proudly boast that they never succumbed to the tyranny of chaos rulers. Ancroidhloabh, Tiadessa, Yaihog, Erracrumel and Oiglic are among the number that survived. Arathracian Sanctuaries governed the adjacent manors which provided support. Additionally, the sanctuaries often received tithes from faithful Arathracians when there was no other ecclesiastical authority of the church present. During and after the Isbajutha, fallen Arathracian Sanctuaries were won back by the deeds of Arathracian knights and soldiers.
See Also
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