Sortisism

, sometimes Sortism, is a  that originated in the second century BCE in southwestern Alutra. With a basis in several different but similar folk religions, Sortisism into a fairly uniform denomination over time. A growing Jarader influence in the Abayadi basin from the late BCE into the early common era likely played a role in the commonization of Sortisism. The religion today is highly structured and centralized with its headquarters in Plenas, the of Ventora. The religion is based on the interpretation and meaning of, particularly in the form of the three , from which the religion takes its name. It is the dominant religion in Threazari and significant in Kleolaion, Threazari, Ovezia, Ventora, and Watan. Although once considerable in Esharat, the rise of H'Ejrad there affected the number of Sortisists early in the 20th century. Although regionally popular, the religion's adherents comprise just under 3% of the global population.

Basic tenets
Largely ritualistic, Sortisist practices focus on inferring the will of the gods as manifestations of the Sorti in an effort to discern destiny. The Book of Rituals, called Teletourgión, guides worship and divination services. Services take place in a temple called a pantheon so as not to exclude or dishonor any god whose influence might be desired. The fundamental doctrine of Sortisism focuses on the interrelationships and independence of the gods subject to the regulation of the Fates. On the Nature of the Realms (342 BCE), although not considered definitive, is the closest treatise the religion has to a. The work is credited to Nesur Zana y Gibosa, a 4th century BCE religious figure who spent much of his life compiling the various oral traditions into a more unified framework.

The Fates
The Sorti (singular: Sortis) are distinct from the deities. The Sorti are supranatural and supradeitic, transcending both yet affecting both in the manner in which destiny comes to pass. The Sorti observe activities for positive and negative efforts and even thoughts, balancing their weight in the process of shaping outcomes&mdash;a person's Luck. Despite this ostensibly free will, the ultimate destiny cannot be changed. Followers hold this is neither nor preordaining in that man or the gods can sometimes influence the manner in which destiny occurs.

Each Sortis has a role in the manner in which destiny unfolds. Their roles are complex and imprecise. To help understand them, the analogy of life as comparable to an onion developed..
 * Coka guides the genesis of the onion, influencing its germination and sprouting, thus determining fertility and birth
 * Aglaia affects the growth and bulb development of the onion, including size and flavor, similar to the manner in which an existence transpires
 * Kleio governs the susceptibility of the onion to pests, pestilence, and seniscence, accordingly regulating pain, the exact time and manner in which life ceases, and legacy

Deities
The deities represent various aspects of the physical world and characteristics of beings, especially humans. The gods cannot escape the sway of the Sorti any more than man can. Although the gods can be influenced, such as praying for rain or victory in battles, destiny is immutable. The effort, therefore, seeks to moderate the manner of the eventual outcome. For example, a man cannot change the fact he will die, but how he lives his life can influence his place in the afterlife and, with proper intercession, the gods may be influenced concerning the death experience.

While the gods have command over their realms, which are at the mercy of their god, control of the realms by the gods is not absolute. Each of the realms can be influenced by other realms. In addition to interactions between the realms, whether initiated by the gods or man's endeavors, the Sorti choreograph those interactions to derive the intended destiny. For example, rains from the water realm can wash away soils from the earth realm just as man could build structures to control the flow of rivers yet the Sorti could cause such a structure to fail.

Physical gods
The physical gods have preeminence over the major components of the universe:

Characteristic gods
Attributes of beings, especially man, fall under the dominion of the characteristic gods.

Afterlife
Sortisists generally believe in places for their souls in the afterlife. The virtuous will be rewarded with a place of serenity while the damned will be doomed to an eternity of torment.

Dicta
The Dicta of Sortisism establish the structure and general practices of the religion. They provide for the geographic organization, hierarchy, and governance of Sortisism.

Organization
Congregations of Sortisists form a parish as the primary organizational element with a congregatory as their meeting place. Each parish is led by an abbot who may be assisted by one or more deacons. A large parish may have deacons who focus their talents toward a specific god or gods, particularly efforts at deducing their will.

A group of parishes comprise a diocese under the guidance and administration of a presbyter. A number of dioceses within a geographic dominion fall under the leadership of an exarch. A dominion generally aligns with the national territory of a country. All of the dominions are members of and subject to the Sortis Synod, the governing body of the religion.

Patriarch
The Sortis Synod is itself is subject to the day-to-day oversight of the patriarch who is the spiritual leader of worldwide Sortisim. With supremacy in all theological and devotional matters, the patriarch serves for life or until retirement or inability to fulfill the duties of office. The current patriarch is Rodolfito Leocadio de Arreola Martínez.

Upon a vacancy, a convocation of all presbyters nominate candidates for the patriarchy and the grandee, who is the titular head of the Synod, makes the appointment from among those candidates. Although there is no requirement for the patriarch to be Ventoran, he has traditionally been so. Similarly, the patriarch may be male or female, but has always been male since the majority of presybters are male.

Grandee
As titular head of the Sortis Synod, the role of grandee is largely ceremonial. Its most significant authority is the selection of the patriarch from among candidates presented by a convocation of presbyters when a vacancy occurs.

The position of grandee originally served to tie customary faith traditions with the formation of by granting the secular leader a role in religious matters. Notably, the grandee does not have sanction to influence religious matters which are the prerogative of the patriarch. This distinction permits non-Sortisists to serve as the titular head of the religion.

Following the formation of the Kingdom of Ventora in 956, the grandee was the monarch of Ventora. Historically, the majority of Ventoran monarchs have been Jaraders. Since the 1961 royal train derailment in which King Florián III and the entire royal family were killed, the regent of Ventora has served as grandee in the stead of the monarch. Isidro Duarte Arias, a Sortisist, is the current grandee.

History
Sortisism has its foundations as several similar folk religions in southwest Alutra from around the fifth century BCE. As trade began to grow, the practices spread. With the introduction of the concept of the nobility and larger, more hierarchical governance through the Haksar tributary system in the last half century BCE, Sortisism started to become more structured. During the first common era millennium, the religion grew more centralized and hierarchical. It saw moderate expansion during the second millennium due through a series of consuaciones which carried the faith both eastward and northward. Since then its following has seen some decline as the numbers of people who are in general has increased, a phenomenon affecting most religions.

Early period
While the exact origins of Sortisism are lost to history, scholars agree it has its basis in the beliefs and practices held by numbers of people in southwest Alutran plains. These disparate folk religions tended to share a focus on the Fates (Sorti), with a variety of "helpers" as a means of interpreting the will of the Fates and devining destiny. Some groups considered certain gifted persons as those "helpers" while many other groups developed various for this role. Present-day scholars believe the advent of these helper gods relieved the religious leader of blame when intercessions did not yield desired results. The theory holds the religious leader could only ask for intercession of the gods with the Fates but the Fates are completely independent of the gods. The division of aspects of life and nature with which the gods might even play a role lends to this concept as well.

Increasing trade and travel beyond one's immediate geographic region led to the spread of Sortisist concepts. In the mid-, Nesur Zana y Gibosa, the noted Sortisist scholar, began compiling the similarities and disparities of the various folk religions during his extensive travels in southwest Alutra. Zana became well known in religious circles, both for his wisdom and compassion as well as his distinctive green. He is credited with writing On the Nature of the Realms which began the standardization of Soritisist beliefs and practices. Zana's travels and his willingness to share his written work, including efforts to teach others to read, resulted in him gaining the moniker El Boetio (lit. "The Helper") and played a large role in spreading Sortisism.

The Lávar River lent to propagation northward into modern-day Kleolaion, particularly during the period between 300 and 200 BCE. Gradual expansion continued with the Alutran Steppe, with its nomadic and migratory routes, becoming another route for dissemination but eastward. This brought the religion into modern-day Threazari and, as it began to drop southward, into today's Ovezia and Watan during the early centuries of the common era. The introduction of the Haksar tributary system in southwestern Alutra led to H'Ejrad becoming more dominant in Abayadi coastal regions, but Zana's travels, reputation, and writings served to keep Sortisism relatively strong in the inland areas of the region.

Structuralist period
In conjunction with the civil administrative structures introduced by the tributary system during the last half century BCE and the rise of the Montañan and Coastal Confederations in the mid-200s CE, a tendency toward clustering began to take hold among Sortisist groups. Zana's On the Nature of the Realms facilitated this as the writings underpinned common beliefs and practices. By the 300s, the religion had grown enough to begin establishing more formal parish and diocese boundaries and, thus, setting the future hierarchical structure of the religion. Scholars believe the growing numbers of Jaraders in west Abayadi coastal regions served as a catalyst for the incipient centralization in Sortisism.

Around 400, the presbyter of the diocese in had become aware Soritisist practices in the north, particularly present-day western Kleolaion, had become centered on Kleio almost to the exclusion of Coka and Aglaia. He called for sending avocatos (advocates) north to "correct" followers in that area back to acknowledging all three Fates (Sorti). These first formal efforts, which lasted into the 500s, led to further concentration and the creation in 434 of a "first among equals" among presbyters, the grand presbyter. Initially any presbyter could be elected grand presbyter. By the 600s, however, the presbyter of Ascara, capital of, was typically elected when a vacancy occurred.

Continuing expansion of Jarader influence in southern Alutra gave rise to the 755 inception of the Sortis Synod as a central authority of the religion under the direction of a patriarch. The original seat was in Ascara,, considered the most prominent city of the Sortisist world of the time. The 959 formation of the Kingdom of Ventora unified the former Coastal and Montañan Confederations as a single civil authority under Clemente I, a Jarader. In response, Patriarch Ablan Hiureo Antus moved the Synod's seat to Plenas, the kingdom's capital. He further designated Clemente as grandee in an agreement which gave allegiance to the monarch but recognized the patriarch's authority in matters of faith and religious administration. Although risky, the move was carefully crafted to intertwine royalty with the religion in order to protect the religion from being subsumed by H'Ejrad. Scholars believe it worked since it provided that a significant number of Sortisists in central and northern Ventora would be loyal subjects to the monarchy, thus helping to secure the new king's sovereignty. The fact the titular head of the church need not be a practicing adherent remains a unique feature of Sortisism to this day. The contentious relationship between H'Ejrad and Sortisism was a contributing factor in the development of Ventora's 1282 Canon of Obligations which committed to, among other things, freedom of religion throughout the kingdom.

Consuasión period
Proselat de Cruto y Vaces (1241–1306), a noted Sortisist theorist, expounded on the need to share the benefits of the religion with everyone to ensure their best being. He stressed the importance of centrality in ensuring the true understanding of the Sorti while also recognizing the significance of practices appropriate to specific and local circumstances. His thinking was embraced by Sortisist leaders. Building on the concept of the earlier avocatos sent to Kleolaion, in 1312 Patriarch Saencro Kaces Rémicao called for sending forth to bring the religion further afield.

By the 1400s, it became fairly common for Ventoran to underwrite consuadidors (missionaries) in rivalry with one another, if not for increased power, then at least greater prestige or influence. In addition to fostering the faith, the consuasiones were seen as a sort of strategic competition, less resource intensive than wars and far less dangerous than dueling. These missions required the approval of the patriarch, thereby solidifying the central authority of the Sortis Synod. The degree of funding and where the consuasiones were sent played a role in the degree of their success. Trade also continued to play a role in the spread of Sortisism and the religion grew quickly in Threazari, Ovezia, and Watan. As a result, in 1485, the Synod designated each national territory as a dominion under the enlightenment of an exarch, the last major change in the structure of the religion.

The consuadeo era was at its peak around the early 16th century. Under a derivative concept, the exarch in Watan called for strengthening the faith within the region as a response to the Watanese Enlightenment. Many Sortisists of the time were concerned the rapid growth in scientific knowledge would take away from the fundamental dependence of the religion and its beliefs on the nature and vagaries of the Sorti. After Teófilo IV became the Watanese amal, he decreed the Não Busque Rules, or "Do Not Seek" rules, in 1521, inaugurating a period of repression that would last until 1730. Under the rules, beliefs considered contrary to Sortisism were banned and could result in public hanging. An estimated 2,500 people were executed under Teófilo's reign.

Izabel I Morre of the Barroso ascended to the Watanese throne in 1546, ushering in the period of the Morre Trials. She embarked on a campaign to compel non-believers to either convert to Sortisism or leave Watan under pain of death. She hired mercenaries, called entrevistadors, to carry out her policies. The ramifications of these efforts lasted long after Izabel's time in power, eventually accounting for at least 100,000 executions for alleged heresy. Such heavy-handedness is credited for the rise in Ovezian separatist feelings, ultimately leading to that country's independence from Watan in 1731. Ovezian theologian Pao d'Urẽça denounced the repressionism of the Morre Trials and was highly critical of the patriarchy for permitting such cruelty over the course of centuries. He called the patriarchy corrupted for failing to prevent the "perversion of Aglaia through the suppression of the growth of human knowledge." This helped foster a new era of liberalization throughout the Sortisist world.

Modern period
Civil reforms in Ovezia led to a general liberalization throughout Sortisism during the 19th century. Religious leaders became more accepting of science and technology, determining the newfound knowledge allowed for better understanding and interpretation of the Fates. This led to greater connections with the physical gods in the interests of increasing enlightenment as well as with the characteristic gods to facilitate cognizance of both the practical and religious implications. While the Sortis Synod has never explicitly condemned the excesses of the repressionist era associated with the Morre Trials, the religion took a more tolerant view of other religions which also brought a more compassionate philosophy to Sortisist doctrine.

Haksar emperor Husrak h’Assar Ha-Qayyet declared himself dayashafir in 1900 and began an effort to expand Jarader influence in the Abayadi basin. His fervor in this regard was a significant contributing factor leading to the First World War. Haksarad entered Esharat in response to Velorenkan intervention there, ending with h'Assar becoming Lord Protector of Esharat in 19xx. As a result, H'Ejrad became the preferred religion and the number of Sortisists declined significantly in that country. The impact of this continues to the present day.

Following the widespread devastation around Vanatas caused during both the First and Second World Wars, the Sortis Synod resolved to focus on the religion's values and beliefs with a desire to avoid the human suffering and tragedies begot by those wars. In this regard, Sortisists lobbied against involvement in the Third World War which some scholars believed had an impact on keeping many southwest Alutran countries out of the conflict. Today, the number of practicing Sortisists has seen a slow but fairly steady decline. A growing trend toward irreligiousness globally is responsible for similar declines in most major religions.