For most of its history, Pantheism has been the dominant religion in the country, as it has been for the rest of the northern part of the continent. In the major cities, temples and churches to the major gods are all present, including the more unsavory ones, such as Tark and Cyris. In smaller towns and villages, there may be a single church dedicated to the worship of all the gods. Depending on the church, there may be priests of all, some, or even only one of the gods.

Churches are places, typically buildings, where priests work to tend to those who come to worship. A temple is a religion place where people come to pray, but there isn’t a priest to minister to them. There are places that have temples that are physically larger than churches.

Overall, religion isn’t a major part of Shildarian culture. As with most countries, there are the very religious and those who aren’t particularly so. Most priests follow their particular church’s hierarchy for theological issues, but for the most part follow the nobility and Shildarian law. In those cases where there is a conflict between the edicts of the church and the edicts of the crown, the crown has enforced the law on the church. Priests have been imprisoned and worse for following their faith over the law.

Recently, Iola has become increasingly active in forcing their atheistic ideology on their neighbors. As they increase their hegemony, the countries to the east of Shildaria have become more and more difficult to deal with. Iola now demands people who enter the country to deny the existence of all gods. There are many who do so without too much worry, as they don’t use any methods to determine whether or not they are telling the truth. That said, Taeoch has become closer to Iola, and have begun abandoning religion as well. This movement has started infiltrating Shildaria, typically in the northeastern and eastern provinces.

Religions other than Pantheism are illegal in Shildaria. This new atheistic movement has become an issue, as Iola and Taeoch are the more important trading partners in the area. Enforcing a ban on atheism the way Iola has against religion has not been tried, with the northern and eastern Dukes opposing the edict and the southern Dukes clamoring to keep the faith in this trying time.

Let me know what you think! I’ll see you next Thursday.