The dominant faith of Vlandia is the Church of the Word, a scripture-centered tradition that teaches obedience to lawful authority, restraint in violence, and duty to one’s neighbors. Its core doctrine emphasizes keeping oaths, honoring agreements, protecting the weak within one’s charge, and treating lawful authority as an extension of moral order. The faith is woven into daily life not through ecstatic ritual but through routine observance, record-keeping, and public witness.
Vlandic worship is sober and structured. Shrines stand at road crossings, toll gates, bridges, and castle gates, marking places where oaths are sworn and contracts witnessed. Small chapels appear in villages and garrison towns, maintained by local clerks of the Church who keep records of vows, marriages, and deaths. Larger churches exist in fortified towns, where senior clergy advise lords, witness charters, and maintain archives. Public prayer is common before musters, journeys, and legal proceedings, but displays of extreme piety are viewed with suspicion. Faith in Vlandia is expected to be steady and restrained rather than fervent or performative.
The Church of the Word is closely tied to law and administration. Clerks are trained in reading, writing, and record-keeping, and many stewards and justiciars receive their education through church instruction. This has made the Church a backbone of legal memory in the Marches. Oaths sworn before church witnesses carry special weight, and breaking such oaths is considered both a legal and moral failing. The Church does not command armies, but its refusal to witness oaths or recognize a claimant’s legitimacy can weaken a noble’s standing.
Vlandic doctrine stresses responsibility over zeal. Violence is accepted when it serves lawful defense, protection of roads, and the enforcement of oaths. Unlawful violence, raiding without writ, and betrayal of sworn duty are treated as moral failures as well as crimes. The faith teaches that the measure of a person is not in ecstatic devotion but in whether they keep their word, fulfill their obligations, and protect those bound to their care. This has shaped a religious culture that aligns closely with Vlandia’s legal and feudal order.
Compared to other faith traditions across Calradia, the Vlandic Church is notably restrained. It does not demand the eradication of other religions, nor does it pursue forced conversion as state policy. Other faiths are permitted within Vlandic lands so long as they do not interfere with lawful authority, toll collection, musters, or the binding of oaths. Foreign shrines and private worship are tolerated in port towns and trade centers. Open proselytizing that undermines feudal obligation or encourages refusal of lawful service is restricted, not on doctrinal grounds, but because it threatens social order.
This tolerance is not born of pluralism but of pragmatism. Vlandia’s leaders value stability above religious uniformity. As long as a community pays dues, answers musters, and respects the authority of the crown and its lords, its private beliefs are largely ignored. Clergy of the Church of the Word often view foreign faiths as misguided rather than evil. They consider error to be corrected by example and lawful conduct, not by fire or decree.
Despite this tolerance, cultural bias against foreign religions is common. Many Vlandians regard unfamiliar faiths as untrustworthy, strange, or socially disruptive. This prejudice is cultural rather than doctrinal. People may distrust travelers whose gods they do not recognize, question the loyalty of mercenaries sworn to foreign rites, or bar outsiders from witnessing local oaths. Such attitudes are widespread in villages and garrisons, even where the Church formally permits other beliefs. This creates quiet friction rather than open persecution.
Within Vlandia, religious life is woven into routine rather than spectacle. Bells mark the start of legal proceedings. Oath days are observed publicly. Festivals commemorate the founding of churches, the blessing of roads, and the dedication of bridges and forts. These observances reinforce the link between faith, infrastructure, and lawful order. The Church’s greatest temples are not sites of miracle-working, but of archives, oath halls, and witness chambers where the memory of the land is kept.
The Vlandic faith does not promise spiritual freedom. It promises moral structure. To live rightly is to keep one’s word, respect lawful authority, and bear responsibility for those under one’s charge. In this way, the Church of the Word mirrors the Marches themselves: restrained, hierarchical, and designed to hold a fractured land together through shared obligation rather than burning devotion.