Pontiffiary

Pontiffiary is a religion whose tenets aim to impose order and justice through hierarchy. Most cities and large towns have a Pontiffiary presence of some degree, but only large cities have a Shrine of Steel. The nerve center of Pontiffiary is the Cathedral of Steel and is home to its leader, the High Pontiff.

History
The religion arose circa 5 C.E. in the city of Voronov. Prompted by the recent fall of the Kwilaniho-Hadriga Empire, Pontiffiary was birthed as a philosophical movement from a Hanyeli noblewoman’s metaphysical contemplations. The stability offered by Pontiffiary appealed to both peasants and merchants, and the movement spread across the Western Plains relatively quickly. The founding noblewoman, her name lost to history, eventually took the title The Pontiff Preeminent, claiming divine power from this massive following; all contemporary accounts seem to support this claim. She eventually disappeared from the historical record and was venerated by her followers thereafter as Our Lady the Pontiff Preeminent.

The Cathedral of Steel
The hierarchical philosophy of Pontiffiary lead to. Finish later.