....·····.....·····/                                   \·····.....·····....
  ·  .  .  ·  ·  . |          Help on:  Enoch          | .  ·  ·  .  .  ·
····.....·····.....\                                   /.....·····.....····

Enoch is the martial god of righteousness, justice, law and order, and the power
of the forces of good. Only Aramon rivals him for power in the heavens. An
intense struggle to the death exists between Aramon and Enoch, as they have been
arch enemies since they were both gods of minor cults for 1000s of years. It is
Enoch's goal to rid the world of all chaos and evil by the most righteous,
moral, and expedient means possible. As such, his aims are always calculated to
efficiency. Those standing in the way of the righteousness of Enoch are against
him. Goodness and light will prevail, and Aramon must be destroyed. Enoch is a
vindictive god. He will not tolerate insolence, and he will often exercise his
will on the world directly through the priests of the Order of Enoch.

Worship of Enoch

Worship of Enoch involves much strict adherence to established ceremonies.
Prayer is required every day, and if it is learned by others that they have been
neglected, penance must be taken upon ones self to make up for it. Every
Saturday is a required full day of worship and total contemplation. Work on
Saturday mornings before noon is strictly forbidden. Those who do not adhere to
this risk excommunication by the Order of Enoch.

All worshippers of Enoch are proficient in some kind of weapon, even if it is
something as small as a kitchen knife. Enoch is a martial god, and his
worshippers emulate this as best they can. There are only two holidays for
worshippers of Enoch. One is The Day of Ascension, which is a day thousands of
years ago which signifies the birth of Enoch as a god in the heavens. It is
held every May 15th, and much ceremony surrounds it. All of Sigil turns out for
military parades on that day. There are massive feasts, preceded by long
readings from The Book of Enoch, and a mass led by the Pope, the closest mortal
to Enoch. It is said that Enoch speaks directly to the Pope often, giving his
worldly worshippers needed direction. The other holiday is held at the
beginning of winter, and it is called Dark Remembrance Day. This day signifies
the beginning of the long war with worshippers of Aramon. It is a day of
rememberance of Aramon's treachery, along with that of his worshippers. During
this time, it is very common for people to disappear, being taken away by The
Inquisitors' Order to be questioned in the truth of Enoch. Many do not return.
This time is used to weed out the weak who do not have conviction to stand up
and face evil righteously and morally.

Worshippers of Enoch do not ever kill without a purpose before hand. They are
often very proper, and they do not overindulge in the pleasures of the flesh
or in that of drink. They are always one to run to the defense of the weak or
needy, especially those who are defenseless, such as women and children.
Everything they do is with the idea of furthering the causes of justice and
righteousness for Enoch. Anything done in the name of Enoch is an act of
goodness and righteousness. Evil is brutally destroyed, with no thought given to
ever allowing enemies to repent. They are slain without mercy.

History

For thousands of years Enoch and Aramon have been at one anothers throats in the
heavens, and their earthly followers have been trying to kill one another for
just as long. It was not until around fifty years ago that Enoch came to greater
power, overwhelming the goddess Ceris and gaining power by pushing her followers
away in the southlands of Derlith, and stepping into the resulting gap. The
fledgling Order of Enoch had moved into the Kingdom of Sendral as a minor cult,
and they ended up gaining popular support due to several bad decisions by the
monarchy as to how they treated the masses of peasants in Sendral. Peasants were
offered salvation in return for service to Enoch. The resulting peasant revolt
saw the Monarchy deposed and executed as evildoers. The Pope then stepped in and
formed a new government around the Order in Sendral. Using the paladins of the
Order of Crusaders and the priests in The Inquisitors' Order, he crushed all
resistance brutally and ruled all with an iron merciless fist. Everyday order
was formed around the worship of Enoch. Failure to adhere could mean
excommunication, which  often leads to being stoned to death by the masses, or
tortured to death by Inquisitors. "Cleansing the soul" is what the Inquisitors'
Order calls it. Currently, the Pope has two goals. One is to route out and
destroy all remaining bastions of the worship of Ceris in his lands. The other
is to seek out and destroy the agents of Aramon wherever they may be found
throughout the world. The Order of Crusaders is used for this purpose primarily.
Advisors are placed in every town in Derlith in some form or another. The Free
City of Highport has given the Pope much trouble of late, as it insists on
freedom of worship within its borders! However, they have been spared invasion
simply due to the fact they still will not allow open worship by the Cult of
Aramon, no matter what they say about religious freedom. Many high clergy in
the Order, however, are very concerned and outraged at rumors that Highport
will be opening a new Church to Ceris inside its gates. Nobody knows what the
Pope will do about that, but it is said that military intervention is possible
should the Council of Highport allow the decadent church to open, with all of
its disgusting and immoral worship practices, and its open degradation of youth.

The Priesthood

The priesthood of The Order is extremely hierarchical. All clergy must follow the
orders of their superiors. Failure to do so can result in "slashing of the
cloth", which is what it is called when a priest or priestess of Enoch is thrown
out of The Order. Followed is mandatory one month of imprisonment and penance,
and then exile for one year. In addition, the Inquisitors have to screen them to
be sure they are "true" to Enoch. After all, who would do such a terrible thing
as to renounce holy service to him but an agent of Aramon or some other
dark god?

The majority of clergy of The Order are men. There are a few priestesses, but
they are very highly discriminated against and do not often rise high in rank.
Different ranks in The Order hold different bureaucratic responsibilities. The
highest ten priests, or "The Lightbringers", are the ones who make most of the
decisions of every day operation of The Order. However, the Pope has final word
on everything should he step in. The Pope names his successor, and if he dies
without designating one, the most senior priest of The Lightbringers becomes
Pope. New members into The Lightbringers are directly appointed by the Pope
himself. It is the primary responsibility of all clergy to further the worship
of Enoch to all lands, and to destroy agents of Aramon wherever they may be
found. They are also often likely to involve themselves largely in any local
politics, and will always try to build new churches wherever they find any
place where there is not one.

Roleplaying Notes

Players playing clerics of Enoch need to be vehement about the destruction of
evil. All kinds of evil. Remember that anything that can be seen to be having
any effect  against the ways of Enoch or The Order can be twisted always to be
considered "evil" by definition. Any kind of disorder is bad. Stealing is never
tolerated, unless it is gaining to Enoch in some way. Enoch priests will seek
out and destroy priests of Aramon at all costs of men, money, and resources.
Undead are the willing agents of Aramon, and thus they are similarly treated.
Priests of Enoch will always try to  convert other players, by talking up the
righteousness of Enoch. Think about any time you've run into a rabid born-again
Christian, trying to tell you how you are doomed unless you take Jesus into your
heart, and will not leave you alone. That is what a Priest of Enoch is like, but
other than preaching of Christian love Jesus has for you and how he died for
sins, he'd preach to you about how it is your duty to follow the righteous path
of Enoch at all costs, as to do else would be to be without a soul. Priests of
Enoch will never abate when it comes to debate about their religion. Enoch is a
righteous god, and he is the only true god there is. All others are pretenders.