The Church Serpentine

The Church Serpentine is a large religious organisation that represents the dominant henotheistic religion of Cleocadia: sea worship. Though the Church possesses a central religious text, the Book of Salt, its doctrine is not formally codified. Belief is centred around the Leviathan, a higher being that animates the whole of the Great Dark Sea, as well as in a future anti-Cascade-like event called The Great Dessication. Adherents often refer to the Great Dark Sea as 'Leviathan', since they believe the two to be the same. The Church originated in Cleocadia out of various sea worship traditions sometime during the 3rd and 4th centuries AC. Its head is known as the Witness to the Flood. Both the Church and the Leviathan are symbolised by an ouroborous with a ridged back resembling waves.

History
The Church Serpentine has its origins in folk sea worship that started following the Cascade. Reverence for the animating spirit of the sea, most often called the Leviathan, began in response to the spontaneous flooding of the world. Sea worship grew during the Bloody Years as new settlements formed, with Leviathan Priests - people who represented the Leviathan's power on land - often becoming figureheads of these island communities.

Leviathan Priests had various roles: warding ships for safe travel across the sea, seeing that the dead were given proper rites, officiating marriages, tending to the sick, helping people dream, and so on. In the modern day these roles have largely been supplanted by Coalition officials, such as Coroners for medicine or Guard for protection, so Leviathan Priests are most often found in non-Coalition territories.

The Church Serpentine was founded by a number of Leviathan Priests and sea worshippers during the Glory Days, as there was a greater desire to see the interests of religious islanders represented in the new Orcish rule. These founders travelled the breadth of the Great Dark Sea, recording common beliefs in sea-worshipping communities along with a variety of law, principle and philosophy. Sometime during the Age of Piracy these texts were compiled into the Book of Salt, which has since served as the Church's central religious text.

Beliefs
The central belief of the Church is in paying respect to the Great Dark Sea. This primarily manifests in the Church's practices. For the most part the Leviathan is not believed to have given its followers any direct philosophy or moral principles, so on adherents vary in their personal beliefs. Many philosophies of the Church can be found in Waves, a chapter in the Book of Salt.

Leviathan
Nearly all sea worshippers are united in the belief in the Leviathan - the spirit of the sea. The Leviathan does not normally make demands of its followers, but responds favourably or unfavourably depending on one's reverence to it. If one respects the sea, they will travel safely. If one would conquer the sea, they will crumble to the waves.

As put forward by Book of Salt, the Leviathan is thought to trap the Abyss at the bottom of the ocean. Leviathan Priests should therefore act to contain, and eventually defeat, the Abyss. This does not necessarily ally them with the Hells, however.

Nature
One should respect the power of nature, which humbles all. No one entity - not even a higher being - is more powerful than the world they come from.

Life and Death
It is believed that all mortal life once came from the ocean, and that so much mortal life needs water to live. We come from the Leviathan, therefore, and so too do we return.

People who give their bodies to Leviathan are believed to have their minds used against the Abyss, since they give power to the Leviathan. This is especially true of dreaming Leviathan Priests, who should give back more magical power than they were given.

Self-Governance
The Cascade split the single Empire of Circadia into smaller islands. Some believers have interpreted this to mean that self-governance is best in this new, separated world, rather than attempting to relive the hegemony of the old world. Every island should be given sovereignty. Under these beliefs, such adherents oppose the Coalition.

Violence
Many believers advocate non-violence, seeing the Warlords as arrogant for attempting mastery of the sea. The malfunctioning of Roscoe's firearms underwater lead to a number of Priests as labelling the weapons 'unholy', though such beliefs are generally uncommon.

Magic
Certain Leviathan Priests practice magic by being granted Dreamscapes for their service to the Leviathan. Dreamscapes of these Priests tend to incorporate the sea in some way.

Most if not all Leviathan Priests use salt in their magic, whether that be for protective circles, blessings, or any other effects. It is believed that this arises from the Leviathan imbuing the salt with power. Therefore only salt sourced from the Great Dark Sea will have this property.

Salt is believed to specifically have warding properties since the Leviathan is said to use the Great Dark Sea as a ward against the Abyss beneath it. Salt, therefore, is believed to protect against demons and other Abyssal influences.

Rites for the Dead
Instead of burying or cremating their dead, sea worshippers send them out to sea on boats, so they can become part of Leviathan again. It is also believed that the Leviathan will use their mind to fight back the Abyss, not unlike the Hellfire of the Lords.

This practice resulted in many sea worshippers to suffer stigma during and following Ulthir's conquest, since it unintentionally provided him with dead bodies to reanimate for his Armada. In light of this, the Church has since encouraged its followers to only send a Memento out to sea, or to scatter one's cremated ashes there. This decision has proved unpopular with more traditional believers.

Seafaring
Leviathan Priests commonly bless ships with salt for safe passage across the ocean. Even among non-believers, having a Leviathan Priest on a ship is thought to give it good luck.