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State Religion - In many countries in the Western Buchlayne, AEtonism is the official state religion. In particular, the rulers of Esoria, Courriseux, and Stadhof have proclaimed AEtonism to be the only official faith in their countries. In addition, Kovlich, Margova, and the Throecian Empire are officially tied to Eastern AEtonism (although it could be argued that Margova does not follow the tenets of the faith very rigorously).
Restrictions: Priests of AEtonism (and usually most followers) are restricted as follows.
Commemoration Events - During festival time (held four times per year, in honour of the Hallowed Sixteen), a priest of AEtonism is very much duty-bound to carry out the celebrations and ceremonies of the faith. He is expected to attend, or even officiate, at ceremonies and cannot simply decide to ignore these duties. This can create problems for an adventuring priest who is "on the road" during festival time.
Function - Priests who are found to be deliberately breaking the Five Pillars and the Seven Aspects will be cast out of the priesthood immediately, and will usually undergo an intense examination by the Illumination (which will usually end with the execution of the priest in question).
Universal AEtonists are equally zealous in their wars against Holism, Bhuwani, local folklore, superstition, and other ancient "pagan" practices as they are against Eastern AEtonism.
As mentioned above, many countries in the Western Buchlayne subscribe to AEtonism as the state religion. The Pontifex Rex and his Archclerics, Prelates, and Jimlates are said to "have the ear" of the rulers of the Buchlayne and many people believe that the AEtonist leaders have too much of a say in political matters. Again, nothing is "black and white" on the Samothian World Continent, so for every ruler who counts on counsel from the leadership of the faith, there is another king or prince who defies the church. Political intrigue is the rule of the day.
While AEtonism strives to be a "church of the people" it is certainly not seen that way in the majority of peoples' eyes. The leaders of the faith have much to do with this perception, and many of them have been very content to rule by fear, bribery, extortion, and murder. Of course, the majority of the local priests and lay priests are not like this, and they administer to the faithful and help to improve the image of AEtonism among the common folk.
The Pontifex Rex is attended by a council of Archclerics. Each country in the Buchlayne and in Buchlayne Minor has an Archcleric representative who is the highest AEtonist authority in that land.
Below the Archclerics are the Prelates, who are responsible for individual cities and the surrounding areas (called "Clerical Realms"). In major urban centers, the Clerical Realm will be divided among several "Jimalates", a sub-prelate rank who will report to the overall Prelate of their Clerical Realm.
Below the Jimalates are the High Priests, Priests, and Lay Priests who preach and convert on a local, neighborhood level. Most people in their lifetime will meet only their local priest, and perhaps, if they are lucky, their High Priest.
The Eastern AEtonists use a similar hierarchical structure but there is no main leader; instead, a Court of Archclerics convenes to establish religious doctrine and guide the faithful.
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