Church of Oghma

The Church of Oghma was the primary religious organization devoted to the worship and service of Oghma, the Lord of Knowledge.

Dogma
Knowledge was supreme, especially in its purest form—the idea. Though weightless, a simple idea could move mountains and cast aside empires. Knowledge was power, but must be used responsibly. Hiding knowledge was never a good thing. The voices of singers and bards was to be appreciated and always listened to. A follower of Oghma would not stand idly by while a singer or bard was attacked.

Organization
The church of Oghma was open to all, welcoming people of every race and every philosophy, and while clerics could be of any moral alignment, they tended to be neutral, lawful neutral, or chaotic neutral. The only requirement was that would-be clerics vowed to follow the faith of Oghma and devoted themselves to collecting, preserving, and applying knowledge.

The entire organization recognized the Grand Patriarch of Oghma, who up until 1358 DR was Cullen Kordamant of Procampur. However, Cullen, along with most of his supporting clergy, vanished during the Time of Troubles. The Grand Patriarch's disappearance sparked a schism within Oghma's faithful, resulting in two branches of the Church and the formation of the Orthodox Church of Oghma who were based in the Domes of Reason in Procampur.

Titles
The common clergy within the Church of Oghma were referred to as loremasters. Acolytes were called seekers and senior seekers. A seeker would be recognized as a true servant of Oghma when two priests discerned their true loyalty to the god. Titles for venerated members of the clergy included Loremaster Amanuensis, Loremaster Venturer, Loremaster Bold, Lore Scribe of the God, Wise Anticipator, Inspirator, Inspirator High, Atlar, Higher Atlar, Loremaster High, Loremaster Most High, Eye of Oghma, and Divine Hand of Oghma. Titles specific to the Oghmanyte Church of Sembia and the Pursuers of Pure Knowledge in Mintar included, in ascending order, Advocate, Accomplished Advocate, Loremaster of the Twelfth, Loremaster of the Eleventh, etc., Loremaster High, Learned One, and Patriarch. Regardless of rank, followers of Oghma addressed each other as 'Brother' and 'Sister'.

Classes
The church included clerics, monks, and specialty priests called lorekeepers, as well as a small assortment bards and wizards. It was common for clerics to also train as bards and occasionally as wizards and even loremasters.

Orders
The Church of Oghma did not officially sponsor any knighthoods or militant orders, but it did sponsor or support numerous bardic colleges, monastic fellowships, guilds of herbalists and naturalists, and orders of honor or merit for scholars. The most notable included: The church also often worked closely with the Harpers.
 * The Children of the Passive Voice: An erudite monk order that defended abbeys and libraries;
 * The Companions of the Silver Strings: An order of valiant bards who served the Church of Oghma;
 * The Fellows of the Forest: A society for naturalists; and
 * The Order of the Gilt Laurel: An honorary society for authors of historical fiction;

Activities
Due to the split within the Church, many loremasters of Oghma were not welcome within regions of Faerûn where the Orthodox Church held sway.

Symbol
The holy symbol of the Church of Oghma was a blank scroll, plain and partially unrolled.

Shrines & Temples
Much of the Church of Oghma's power was centered within Sembia. Candlekeep, being the center of lore in Faerûn, was also a sacred place for Oghma. Other temples and libraries devoted to Oghma and his church included the Tower of Thought in Selgaunt, Leaves of Learning in Highmoon, Library of Curna in the Shining Lands, and the Font of Knowledge in Waterdeep.

Relationships
The church had strong ties with New Olamn bardic college and the Scriveners', Scribes', and Clerks' Guild in Waterdeep, and was financially supported by the Estelmer and Majarra noble families in the City of Splendors.

Possessions
They often wore Oghma's symbol, a silver scroll on a chain, as a necklace.

History
During the Time of Troubles in the, the Grand Patriarch of Oghma Cullen Kordamant disappeared without a trace, and reports on his current whereabouts from Oghma were confused and conflicting. As a consequence, a schism formed in the faith. The main branch, the Orthodox Church of Oghma in Procampur, believed that Kordamant had ascended to the House of Knowledge to serve as Oghma's proxy, and he remained the only true Grand Patriarch of the church until Oghma named a successor. A rival group, the Church of Oghma in Sembia, went ahead and named a new Grand Patriarch anyway, which the Orthodox Church refused to accept. The church in Sembia also disagreed with the Orthodox Church on the dissemination of knowledge, teaching that knowledge must be tested and proven "worthy" before being released to the public. Later the Church of Oghma moved its base to Cormyr, renaming itself the Oghmanyte Church in Exile. This schism continued unabated for over a century, a fundamental sickness in the faith, or more likely an assault on it from some external entity.

Undryl Yannathar, a former Grand Patriarch of the Oghmanyte Church in Exile, retired from his position some time before 1455 DR. Advised by the rakshasa Kalkan, his followers traveled to the nation of Akanûl, gathering new followers in that land. After Yannathar's death, a former Orthodox priest of Oghma, the dwarf Landrew, helped found a new group that broke away even from the Church in Exile, calling it the Church of All Tomorrows. The Church of All Tomorrows taught that Oghma's knowledge was incomplete, for Oghma could never unerringly foretell the future. The Church of All Tomorrows offered Oghmanytes the "true power" of knowledge of the future, which Kalkan gained from an ancient Imaskari magic item known as the damos. The group planned on sacrificing a servant of Oghma's Orthodox Church in order to formally end its ties to Oghma and embrace the mysterious Voice of Tomorrow as its patron. They were nearly thwarted by the deva Demascus, but Demascus himself became the sacrifice.