Religion in Kathon

(Holy Katharine, broken on the wheel.)

The Triskaidekatheon

~80% of humans in Kathon follow this monotheistic religion (Called Orthodox Dadalism, Triskaidekism, or less commonly and somewhat pejoratively Synodism). 250 yrs. ago, Archbishop and Prolocutor John Temperance II banned direct worship of the Artful Creator and feted instead the 12 martyred saints (six Apostles, four Virgins, one Mother and one Widow) and intercessors of His Most High Holy Prophet, Daedalus. They are:

• St. Katherine, broken on the wheel, patron saint of mercy and women, invoked against pain and torture
• St. Erasmus, gutted about a windlass, patron saint of sailors, invoked against storms and intestinal ailments
• St. Bartholomew, flayed alive, patron saint of justice and men, invoked against tyranny and war
• St. Lepidus, maimed on the estrapade, patron saint of merchants, invoked against poverty and ill fortune
• St. Dianne, burned on the stake, patron saint of magic and mothers, invoked against infertility and ague
• St. Drotte, hanged by the neck, patron saint of cunning and alchemy, invoked against poisons and ill humors
• St. Margaret, pressed to death, patron saint of peasants, farmers, virgins, and kindness, invoked against starvation and pestilence
• St. Vitus, buried alive, patron saint of dance and actors, invoked against woe, tragedy, and poor performance
• St. Barbara of Thul, drowned, patron saint of love, rivers, and hearth, invoked against foreign invasion and betrayal
• St. Aegidius (AKA Giles the hermit), made to take hemlock, patron saint of scholars, invoked against headache
• St. Dorothea the Widow, chained to rocks and made to perish of exposure, patron saint of the elderly, invoked against aches, thirst, hunger, early death, and spinal ailments
• St. Kyriakos, beheaded, patron saint of children, invoked against possession and evil spirits

Each of the twelve months are given to the saints, spring and fall for the women and summer and winter for the men, with feast days on the last day of each month. The year is given to the Prophet Daedalus, and the first day of each year, the first day of spring, and the first full moon of harvest season are his main feast days, with many other throughout depending on region and custom.

The current Prolocutor is Adam Kindness IV. Tribute is paid from each church in Kathon to his twelve prothonotaries in the Holy City of Synod.

Months (Jan-Dec)

1. (Jan) Garnet    | St. Bartholomew
2. (Feb) Amethyst    | St. Drotte
3. (Mar) Bloodstone   | St. Dianne
4. (Apr) Sapphire    | St. Katherine
5. (May) Agate    | St. Barbara
6. (Jun) Emerald    | St. Kyriakos
7. (Jul) Onyx    | St. Vitus
8. (Aug) Carnelian    | St. Erasmus
9. (Sep) Peridot    | St. Margaret
10. (Oct) Beryl    | St. Dianne
11. (Nov) Topaz    | St. Dorothea
12. (Dec) Ruby    | St. Aegidius

Heretic Daedalists (Unitarians) believe Daedalus is the Artful Creator, and worship him directly. 83 years ago, the seventeenth Ecumenical Council repealed the death penalty for heterodoxy; however, heretical Daedalism is only practised by about 8% of Kathonites. During the Internecine Crusades, many holy artefacts both of the Unitarians and the Triskaidekists were lost in the Occidental Peninsula.

Gnostic Daedalists (Katharoists) believe that Daedalus and the Artful Creator are mortal enemies, at war for the souls of man. This sect was (nearly?) completely eradicated after the Inquisitions of Prolocutor Dominic Righteous I 166 years ago. Golden artefacts of the Witnesses Aurum (high priests of the Katharoites) are extraordinarily valuable.