Church of the Storm

Overview
Perhaps the most well organized and violent religion, the worshipers in this faith follow only one god; the god of storms, who waters the fields and smites his foes. The faithful are dogmatic and insistent of his superiority, and also convinced that they are his chosen. It seems only fitting that his followers come by majority from the lands of  Men of the Sea , who for hundreds of years have waged wars in his name; to bring the godless under their divine and undoubtedly wise rule. It was they who burnt the gods of tree and seed to ash and memory, and they who executed the dissenters when they rose. Like their god holds them as a shepherd would his flock, so too do their kings hold them; or, far more often, like wolves. Obedience to authority is seen as paramount within the faith, and those who do not share blood with the men of the sea are at best disadvantaged and at worst executed. When a man dies, should he be faithful and true, he is said to ascend into the heavens to live upon a cloud in paradise, in sight of the blessed kingdom of God, while those underneath it must face his justice, and his wrath. The greatest champion of this faith was the old empire of  Idar-Morbach , which rose to control lands from  Simmern  to the Bloody Shores, and drowned heathens and heretics wherever they could be found. Their luck changed, however, when they found an equal in both the Men of Mountains and the followers of Atesh, the former of whom repelled them from their perch atop their stony holdfasts, and the latter of whom slaughtered the faithful of the church with such ferocity that their god has never graced those lands since.

Ceremonial Practices
Holidays within the Church are a somber affair, where rich and poor alike are expected to attend sermons from dawn until dusk in the great cathedrals and churches of the faith. In reality, few of the rich do- for blind obedience to authority means that the authority may do as it pleases. The start of each crusade is marked by a holiday, as are the birthdays of each reigning monarch. These latter days are the only sort with any possible joviality- but that is entirely dependent on the ruler. A man prone to excess may declare a feast and a joust for all the land, while a somber, brooding man might call for a day of silence and prayer.