Church of Man

Followers of the Church of Man, also known as Maninism, believe that Man, a singular deity, created the world many thousands of years ago. The first chosen people of Man were the Old Ones, who he granted the gift of tool-making and speech. However, the Old Ones would eventually be brought down by their own hubris and greed. As the Old Ones perished, Man granted many more peoples the gift of tool-making and language, with Dogs being his new chosen people. As Dogs were the constant companions of the Old Ones, they are viewed as the inheritors of the divine favor from the Old Ones. This particular belief is expressed in many ways, ranging from open bigotry against non-Dogs to those who believe that Dogs were merely the first new people to be granted the divine gifts and that they aren’t much more special than other peoples of the world.

Origins
In the year 23 BRM, Ulrik Hirsch was born to a small, peasant, dog family in the rural farmlands north of the city of Sheperdford. Ulrik's family expected that the young dog would continue the family tradition of a simple farming life. However, at the age of 16, Ulrik would begin experiencing divine visions that would slowly open his eyes to the divine nature of Man. Being raised as a Stautarian, Ulrik was hesitant to believe his visions and the supposedly divine messages being sent to him by Man.

By his 21st birthday, Ulrik was seeing visions almost once a week, and sought out someone to open out to about his speculations of the divine nature of his visions. Ulrik began to converse with the Priest Bertrand Devos, the head of his local Stautarian Church. Priest Devos was skeptical of the divine nature of Ulrik's visions, and initially tried to attribute them to a Stautarian cause. During this process of attempted reeducation, Ulrik's visions became stronger and more frequent. The persistence and consistency of these visions caused Devos' own faith in the Stautarian way to begin to fade, as he was slowly convinced of the divine nature of these visions in a way separate from the Stautarian church.

By the time Ulrik was 22, he and Bertrand began to collaborate together in trying to understand the meaning and purpose of Ulrik's divine visions. Working together, Ulrik and Bertrand began to keep track of patterns in Ulrik's divine visions and seeking out resources that seemed to align with these visions. Through these efforts, the Early Divine Manual was written by the two of them. It was completed in late 1 BRM.

Reveal of Man
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Subservience to Man
The Church of Man is focused on the ideas of subservience to Man, and the ethics of being a good dog or person.

Being a Good Dog
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Bishops as Religious Leaders
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The Early Divine Manual
The Divine Manual is the collection of scripture written by the Ulrik and Bertrand prior to the Reveal of Man

The Proper Manual
The Proper Manual is a series of additional chapters after Ulrk and Bertrand's original writing in the Early Divine Manual.