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Religion
Common Information
The existence of gods or higher deities are a common fact for the people. After all the twelve gods are scientifically provable, if one has the knowledge to comprehend. Religion belongs to the everyday life of everyone. That does not mean, that everyone is overly religious. In reality most people take religion for granted as in: “There is a temple in my village with a priest and they preach things. But I don't really care.” There are often individuals who are more religious and try to follow the commandments of their chosen deity. These are often in the temples and see themselves in the favour of their deity. Thus religion has a greater impact on some people than on others. There are very rarely people who despise the deities and those who follow them. After all the temples preach good things and the followers try to help the people. One might just disagree with some. But the gods contradict each other enough to offer variety. Everybody believes at least in something and follows a deity more or less. This often depends on thinks like tradition, people, family, status in society and personal experiences. The people are virtually raised into religion. The life of a typical person in the view of religion starts with their birth. After birth they receive a birth blessing from an available cleric. The blessing shall protect the newborn from evil influence until it is old enough to enter a church. This happens through the initiation, which happens often at the 12th year of a person. After that they are a follower of their god. Some individuals start a noviciate to become a cleric some day, others just continue their life. The life ends with death and again it is the clerics who burry the remains and bless the grave. If the person has lived a life in favour of their god, they may enter their paradise in afterlife. There might be only two options why one does not follow the gods anymore. First, one has lost their faith in them or the clerics, which is a rare sight. (Many player characters claim they have lost their faith, but never tried to seek out a temple.) Second, they have experienced another form or religion, which is mostly the case with isolated people or savage tribes. Some people that are often described as uncivilised do not believe in gods. Instead their religion is shamanism or animism. They believe into the ghosts of their ancestors or the nature itself.
The Role of Clerics
The role of a cleric is different for each deity. Of course a cleric has to represent their deity accordingly and follow their codex of behaviour. This comes with a lot of obligations towards their own church and that of all twelve. The clerics of different churches feel compelled to work with each other, protect each other, protect the order of the twelve, work against demonic influence and spread their faith. But a cleric is not only a servant of their god. Their duties are deeply associated with the society they live and work in. Clerics often accompany members of a community from the womb to the tomb. They bless births, initiate, bless marriages, bless funerals, provide assistance, advice and pastoring and interpret the will of their deity to the followers. Clerics are intermediaries between deity and people. They belong into the everyday life of the people. They are seen as the direct representants of the highest powers in the eternal fight against the evil. The acts of a cleric should always be contingent on that and in that way they are treated. A cleric, even a novice, is in any case a person of respect. One might be hostile towards a single cleric or towards a whole community for different reasons, but only a big bully would show that open often facing the consequences. Usually one can identify a cleric by their robes. If a cleric knocks on a door, the inhabitants will usually let them inside, listen to them and believe them. They are assigned to act as judge if no suitable person can act as such.