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In Tierra, the concept of religion is one synonymous with the veneration of the dead. This is not, in most cases, a matter of ancestor-worship or a general reverence for the deceased, but the exaltation of a particular list of individuals—men and women of high birth and great accomplishments who sacrificed their lives in the name of a good and noble cause, and who as a result have been elevated after death to a position of mastery over all things. These exemplars are known collectively as the Sainted Martyrs, and to Tierrans of particularly faithful inclination, all things good and ill may be accorded to their will and their design.
There are hundreds of such remembered individuals, sorted into Pantheons based on the manner of their martyrdom. Saints of the Pantheon of the Blue are those who gave up their lives to protect the innocent and powerless: the defiant victims of tyrants, those who drown saving others from shipwreck, those who treat the victims of plagues only to fall victim themselves. Saints of the Pantheon of the Green are those who gave up their own lives in the pursuit of knowledge: those who perish exploring the unknown, or devote their lives so wholly to study that they forgo all other things. Then there are the Saints of the Pantheon of the Red, perhaps the best known, who fall in battle for an honourable cause and to meaningful ends, in a moment of utmost martial heroism.
Other Pantheons exist as well, but the Saints of the Blue, Green, and Red are the best known, and the Orders devoted to their examples are by far the most numerous and well-established.
Ultimately, the Saints are worshipped through emulation, through a desire and an demonstrated willingness to live the virtues which have led them to martyrdom. For those who would devote themselves further, there are the Knightly Orders, institutions established in the name of a given Sainted Martyr, whose members not only seek to copy a Saint's good works in life, but their manner of death as well. For example, those who join the Orders of the Blue, or the Orders-Succorant, devote their lives and deaths to alleviating the suffering of the poor through charitable works. Those who join the Orders of the Green, or Orders-Aspirant, devote their lives to the pursuit of knowledge above any obligations to fortune, family, or even safety. Those who join the Orders of the Red, or the Orders-Militant, seek glorious death through battle.
Of these, it is the Orders-Militant which are the most recognisable, for the Knights of the Red have long come to the conclusion that to achieve a heroic death in battle, one must first be given every aid in achieving a state of martial prowess. To that end, the Orders of the Red maintain chantries within their shrines and chapter-houses, where those members of the Order with the ability to Banecast put their powers to good use by imbuing weapons and armour with special properties through prolonged and careful ritual. Such a process results in suits of armour impervious to musketry at all but the closest ranges, and blades capable of shearing through steel as if it were paper. It is this armour and these weapons which the Knights of the Red bring into battle, where they have forged a much-deserved reputation as paragons of war.
But to wear banehardened armour and wield a baneruned sword is a prospect far beyond the reach of most. The possession of such rare and expensive equipment is yet another privilege of the Baneblooded aristocracy. Baneless commoners may join a knightly order, but they will never aspire to knighthood. Instead, they become Seekers of Martyrdom. In theory, such individuals are to follow the path of virtue and self-sacrifice just as Baneblooded Knights are. In practise, Tierran Seekers serve as menial labourers within their order. It is they who clean the shrines and chapter-houses, who cook the meals and wash the clothes and empty the chamberpots. In many ways, their lives are no different from those of any other servant, but with the added burden of religious obligation.
Of course, there are reasons why men and women volunteer to be Seekers regardless. For some, the chance at guaranteed work, room, and board are more than enough. Others volunteer as true believers in a given Order's mission. Most, however, enter such a life in hopes of a greater reward. A Seeker who lives a virtuous life and dies a fitting death is believed to ride with the Saints themselves, just as members of the Baneblooded aristocracy do. Through such a means, a common-born Seeker might become the equal of a lord or a king, their funeral pyre freeing them not only from the decaying shell of their mortal existence, but the restraints of their birth and class as well.
Banebloods, however, may aspire to an even greater legacy—they may achieve Sainthood themselves, should their lives be sufficiently virtuous and their martyrdoms sufficiently spectacular. In Tierra, as it is in Mersdon and Callindria and many of the other Northern Kingdoms, such a thing is decided amongst the Knightly Orders. When an individual is nominated for Sainthood, a beacon must be lit in their name, within sight of the chapter-house of another order. For a year and a day, those who support the candidate's elevation must shield the flame against the elements, the seasons, and the efforts of those who might be opposed. If the flame lasts the course, then a new Saint is named, a Knightly Order is founded in their name, and a chapter-house is built around the beacon flame, to guard it forevermore.
Such a process is the major difference between the Sortitionist, or Mersdonian Rite and the rival, Ascensionist Rite. In the latter, Sainthood is not seen to be bestowed by acclamation or through the approval of existing Knightly Orders, but through a being known as the Mother of Ascension, who demonstrates the worthiness of a candidate for Sainthood by working miracles and other wonders on their behalf. In much of the Northern Kingdoms, Ascensionists are a minority. In the League of Antar, however, they are the majority, many of the founders of that country having been early adherents. Many of Antar's unique institutions and social arrangements may be attributed to the influence of Ascensionist principles, which have shaped the League's society in great and subtle ways, much remarked upon by theologians and historians alike.
Of course, such distinctions and details are of little consequence to the common Tierran. To them, it is enough to say that the way in which they and their forefathers have venerated the Saints is correct, and that any foreigner who does otherwise is wrong. In the Unified Kingdom, the Ascensionist Rite is considered a disfavoured minority at best, and outright heresy at worst. Yet so long as the heretics in question remain far away across the Calligian Sea, such matters will be of only secondary importance to all but the most zealous of the faithful.