The Way
Seven Paths.
Seven Virtues.
One Way.
Overview
The Way of Virtue – often simply known as The Way – is the religion that was adopted across the Empire when it was founded.
At its core, The Way of Virtue teaches:
- Human souls are immortal and, upon death, will eventually be reincarnated as a newborn child.
- Reincarnation is not instantaneous. The soul must first travel through the Labyrinth of Ages before being reincarnated.
- Those who follow the Paths of Virtue pass through the Labyrinth more quickly and with greater integrity of their soul; wicked souls are trapped in the Labyrinth for longer and perhaps forever.
- The Way teaches that all laudable human qualities are rooted in the Paths of Virtue. For example, the Freeborn commitment to Truth is actually an expression of Courage and Pride.
- Souls who attain sufficient purity of spirit, predominantly through perfection of Virtue, pass through the Labyrinth to enlightenment. These individuals are called paragons.
- There are some priestly ceremonies that require dedication to a single Virtue. Dedication is practiced by those who have a calling, such as priests, pilgrims, exemplars and paragons.
- For most Imperial Citizens, dedication is not required. It is sufficient to know of the Paths and how they can positively influence this life, and the next.
The Way of Virtue is promoted and protected by The Imperial Synod and is shaped by Imperial Theology.
The Paths of Virtue
Imperial doctrine currently states that there are Seven Paths of Virtue that make up the Way. These are:
Further reading for religious PCs
- The history of the Way
- The Labyrinth of Ages and the Paragons and Exemplars
- Paragons and Exemplars
- Citizens, priests, pilgrims and dedication
- Liao
- Religious Skills
- Idolatry, blasphemy and heresy
- Malign spiritual presences
- Symbols, icons and trappings
- The Way and the non-human
- The Imperial Synod
- Imperial theology
This selection of articles can be downloaded as a PDF book (or as html only)