Clarityism

Clarityism (Chiarezzismo) is a henotheistic religion originating from the beliefs of Fortunan Mythology. Clarityism is one of Urth's smaller religions, but it plays a major role in the Fortunan Archipelago where it was first founded. Most followers consist of Fortunans with around 35,000,000 followers worldwide, the majority located within Fortuna and the Aspirian Isles. Clarityism was formed based off the works of Guiliano Bardi where Unus, one of the major gods of Urth, created the Aspirian Isles as a haven for his chosen people. In recent years Clarityism has been used by the Fortunan Government to set High Commander Tristano Lyone as a deity, also known as "The Chosen One" by Claritists, based off of a prophecy by the prophet Leonardo Marchello.

Clarityism
Symbol of Clarity
Belief	Henotheism
Deity(ies)	Unus Daughters of Unus The Chosen One
Region(s)	Fortunan Archipelago, areas of large Fortunan populations
Founder	Guiliano Bardi
Founded	968
Origin	Fortunan Mythology
High Priest	Francisco III
Churches	~80,000
Followers	~35,000,000
Denominations	Bardic Marchellic

History

Prophet Guiliano Bardi

Clarityism was first formed off the works of the prophet Guiliano Bardi in the early 9th century who received visions and prophecies from an unknown being. Following his first recorded vision, Bardi left his home in Emili and set off on a journey through mainland Yasteria to better understand who sent him the vision. During his 10 year trip, he experienced other religions such as Islam and Christianity while continuing to receive dreams and visions, all of which he recorded. Once his journey came to an end, Bardi came to believe that the one who spoke to him was Unus, the main deity from Fortunan Mythology. He came to believe that the people of the Aspirian Isles were Unus' chosen few to care for, such as other parts of the world had their own higher beings to take care of them. Upon arriving back to the Fortunan Archipelago, Bardi set to work compiling all of his findings, visions, and dreams into a book to be better understood, titling the book "The Book of Clarity: A Clearer Understanding of Unus' Plan for Us," better known as simply "The Book of Clarity."

Within this book, Bardi first explains that there are multiple deities around the world based around the regions of their followers. He further twists Fortunan Mythology to where there is just one major deity, Unus, that controls the fate of the Aspirian Isles instead of the multiple small deities. Also in the book Bardi shares his visions and prophecies that he received during his travels. In 851, Bardi published his book and worked diligently in having it distributed throughout the islands, all the while traveling between the islands to further teach his beliefs. Many people began following Bardi and spreading the ideas and beliefs of the book across the archipelago, favoring the teachings of Bardi over their previous religions. By the 860s, Bardi gained thousands of followers who found this new religion more clearer and understandable for Aspirian inhabitants. By his death in 864, his ideas had spread to every corner of the archipelago, marking the beginning of Clarityism.

Foundation

With the ideas and beliefs set by Bardi beginning to firmly root itself into the region's culture and backed by King Valence III of Fortuna, religious leaders decided to come together to set a base for this new religion. In 968, religious leaders from around the region came to the Council of Destino where the base of Clarityism was set such as who was head of this religion, which days were to be kept holy, and which chapters should be put in or removed from the Book of Clarity. One of the major debates that took place during the council was on whether there was more than one higher deity, and if so who should they worship. Within Bardi's writings, he accepts that there were other beings at work in other places of the world but that Unus should be the one worshiped as his domain was over the Aspirian Isles. Bardi also put the many goddesses of Fortuna as merely lower deities of Unus who acted as servants, this was of concern as Unus and the goddesses were usually considered at the same level. Through much debate and a few leaders walking out, a canon for Clarityism was finally solidified. The council would last six months of tiring debate and discussion, but by June of 968 the base of Clarityism was founded and the first high priest, Ferdinand I, was elected to lead this newly created religion.

Birth of Marchellic Clarityism

Following the Great Civil War in the 1640s, a young noble and noted nationalist by the name Leonardo Marchello started receiving dreams which he interpreted to be visions from Unus himself. Within his writings, Marchello describes that in the future a great leader would rise up and reunite the islands as they were before. Marchello states that Unus allowed for the split of Fortuna as a punishment for the rampant corruption and leniency towards outside beliefs, but a time would come where Unus would reveal "The Chosen One" as a sign of forgiveness. In 1657, Marchello had his writings distributed and personally presented himself to the current high priest at the time, declaring himself a prophet of Unus.

Marchello's writings quickly led to controversy, especially around his self declaration as a prophet, with many stating that Marchello was merely delusional due to the war. However, many of those who were disheartened by the split of their nation accepted Marchello's writings as canon, believing and hoping in The Chosen One's arrival. These people became known as Marchellic Claritists, who demanded the church to raise Marchello up to the level of Bardi and demanded that his writings to be placed into the Book of Clarity. Fearing that their hope in a reunited nation would lead to revolution and chaos, religious leaders in the church, who were under heavy influence of the aristocracy, denied these demands and instead declared all Marchellics as no longer part of the church.

Following Marchello's death in 1672, a little less than one tenth of Claritists were Marchellic while the rest considered themselves Bardic. Bardic Claritists would remain to be the more popular denomination due to its support from the aristocracy, however this would later change in the 1900s as Marchellic Clarityism quickly gained more popularity with the rise of nationality and later Tristano Lyone's rise to power.

Beliefs

Henotheism

What makes Clarityism quite unique is the worship of one deity, Unus, however there is no denial of the existence of other deities, also best known as Henotheism. The belief first stemmed from the writings of Bardi who was heavily influenced by his journey. In his writings, Bardi describes that he believed that there was more than one higher deity, each influencing their part of Urth. In the beginning these higher deities came together to create Urth, but then went their separate ways to gain followers for themselves. This gives an explanation of why there are multiple religions which have their own higher deity to worship. Since Unus was believed to have given influence over the islands off Yasteria, Bardi states that it was Unus who they must worship to gain prosperity and protection.

Unus

Clarityism is formed around the worship of Unus, the creator of the islands of Fortuna. During the creation of Urth, it is said that Unus created the islands as a haven for his followers from the dangers of the mainland. His influence is considered to only be based around the islands of Fortuna, however his influence can be spread to other parts of Urth as more believers are introduced to Clarityism.

Daughters of Unus

The Daughters of Unus can be traced back to Fortunan Mythology where a majority of daughters were based off preexisting goddesses. The Daughters were believed to have been created by Unus to act as his servants or messengers to help with caring for his area of Urth. This idea most likely stemmed from the idea of angels from Christianity and Islam, the two major religions that Bardi came into contact on his journey.

Denominations