Petrana is caught up in a battle for ecclesiastical dominance between the Church of the All-Father, a monotheistic faith that encourages 'worship of the saints' (incorporating ex-pagan gods), and the worship of the the more common pantheon of deities worshipped outside the city.

The Church of the All-Father

The (essentially) monotheistic faith of the All-Father originated in the North and has been known in Petrana for nearly 1000 years, though it only gained any sort of popularity since a young priest of this faith named Joachim came to Petrana some 600 years past and defeated the Tyrant-Sorcerer Kurgan in a day-long battle that ranged all over what is now the Labyrinth.

The faith has gained in power, (and wealth, as it resides in the grand Cathedral of Petrana) teaching that all the major and minor deities that the laity know of are agents of the All-Father, and as such, are part of the grand hierarchy which the Father heads. Though many priesthoods dislike this message, it carries great popularity with the populace at large, who feel that they are then less likely to have bad fortune in a trade transaction if they accidentally forget to make an offering to the God/Saint of Wealth, since they are adherents to the All-Father, who is actually 'in charge' of that deity, and can put in the good word for them.

The High Priest of the All-Father in Petrana is Cardinal Saval, a tall broad-shouldered man of middle-age; he has an imposing presence, partly due to the elaborate costumery and headdress of his office. He has been scheming and manipulating for a number of years in an effort to establish The All-Father as the state religion and himself as the primate of all faiths; success is still many years in the future, especially with the opposition of the priests of Eollana, but Saval has fortitude, courage, and, above all, a tenacity which would do credit to a steel-jawed bear trap.

The temple holds its main ceremonials on the first day of the week, the day usually treated as a holy day; they are complex, and exhibit considerable showmanship.

The temple is adorned with polished white stone of exceptional purity of color. The entire temple complex rests on a carefully manicured meadow-like lawn.

Truly orthodox practitioners of the faith (common in Petrana, though they are far less common to the North) teach that only the All-Father is a 'true' god, and that the other servants are or were once 'mere' servants who have since either achieved minor deification, or in fact are merely believed to have done so by their worshipers who have lost sight of the 'facts' in the mists of history. This makes the faith of much more like 'saint-worship' in Petrana.

Eollana

The cult of of the triple-faceted earth mother, Eollana, is the largest and wealthiest of all the faiths prevalent in the region. Eollana herself is represented as gamine, mother, and crone, representing the three major facets of life and womanhood - youth, birth, and death. The sect is primarily a fertility cult, and many of Caercala's women subscribe to its beliefs' it is also popular with those involved with agriculture and husbandry, the farmers and stock raisers of the countryside surrounding the city. Women who desire children, regardless of their other religious affiliations, will come to this temple and pray for the goddess' blessing.

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