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Naming Our Church

By David W. Baker

The name of the Church in the Theocracy of the Pale is "The Church of the One True Path." Here's the story behind that and other related appellations.

Back in 2000, the Triad at the time decided that the Church would be referred to as "The Church of the One True Path." Some people at the time were passionate about the choice. The Triad's decision was based on an online poll of Pale players.

Personally, I wasn't passionate about it. I thought (and still do) that "Church of Pholtus" was sufficient and intuitive, but I tend to be a bit overly pragmatic. However, I believe in achieving consensus and sticking to it. Also, I am passionate about internal consistency in our shared world, so I've striven to be consistent in the use of "Church of the One True Path."

Why might you hear other terms?

"Church of <insert god>" is damn intuitive and what most roleplayers choose when they're not thoroughly indoctrinated within the regional flavor.

Also, some people used or advocated the other names within the Pale prior to the Triad deciding upon a name. You might see obsolote references, references by people not fully aware of our official decision, simple mistakes, or references from people who are just stubborn. :-)

Plus, consider that there are other Churches outside of the Pale. Nyrond has two Pholtan churches, the traditional Church of the Blinding Light and the progressive Church of the Bright Path.

Furthermore, a Nyrond Year One scenario - Answering the Call - declared that the Prelacy of Almor was a Pholtan prelacy. (To the best of my knowledge, no canon source had previously defined the Prelacy's religious leanings.) Answering the Call said that church was named something like "Church of the True Path." (Answering the Call may have also muddied the waters by declaring the Pale was ruled by the "Church of the Blinding Light," and that Nyrond had the "Church of the One True Path. Whatever the terms were, Answering the Call got our church's name wrong. Clearly, there were some coordination problems here.)

During the Pale debate, it was suggested that "Church of Pholtus" would have been the formal name of the church within the Great Kingdom. Since the Pale settlers purposefully split way from the Great Kingdom and this church, they would not choose that name, and would be very offended if someone suggested they were part of the "Church of Pholtus."

Again, most of this is just a bunch of information. My personal feelings deal mostly with consistency and with never-ending debates of things I consider of minor importance. I hope we continue to stick with "Church of the One True Path" for those reasons.