The Reformed Temple of New Velothis
is the foremost organization promoting Tribunal Temple reconstruction,
as well as the de facto civil religion of the Independent State
of New Velothis.
Read on to discover its story, reason for being, sacred mission, and more.
is the foremost organization promoting Tribunal Temple reconstruction,
as well as the de facto civil religion of the Independent State
of New Velothis.
Read on to discover its story, reason for being, sacred mission, and more.
THE FOUNDING OF THE TEMPLE
The seeds of what would become the Reformed Temple of New Velothis were planted in November of 2018, by three people who NV citizens will likely know as Calden, Ildemyne, and Varistrane.
At the time of the Temple's founding, Calden was a new worshipper of ALMSIVI who had come to faith through an Elder Scrolls Online roleplay guild initiation that had had more spiritual resonance than he'd expected it to. After some bad experiences that had come as a result of involvement in esoteric spiritual communities on the internet, he was hesitant to attempt to find or create community based around the Triune Way. Originally, in fact, he planned on going completely solo. The only plan he had that came even close to building a Temple was to be the creation of an uncredited chapbook based on his own experiences, meant to help any others going through similar.
Of course, they say that if you want to make the Three laugh, you should tell Them your plans. Varistrane, an acquaintance (at that time) of Calden's who had been a follower of the Triune Way for some time already, began to find common ground with Calden in matters of faith soon after that. As they further got to know each other on that basis, they both began to ask the same questions: "Are there more of us? How can we find them?"
The answer was soon to come, as Ildemyne, another of Calden's longtime friends, began to feel the same pull-- initially to Almalexia, but later, to Vivec. Prior to this, Ildemyne's primary interest in the universe of The Elder Scrolls was the Khajiit, not the Dunmer, but various dreams and signs led them to the Triune Way all the same. This development hardly signaled the beginning of the effort to rebuild the Temple, as that would not come much later, but it certainly signaled the beginnings of a community of Faithful, small as it was.
As the intrepid founders learned to work together as a team, and the community grew under their guidance, it became clear that each of them had a role to play in the rebuilding of the Temple in this world. These roles were ones that they seemed to fall into naturally-- Varistrane as esoteric mystic, Calden as teacher and guide in matters practical, Ildemyne as stabilizing force. And eventually, each of them, through independent revelation, came to receive a title. Calden, following the example of AYEM, became Initiator and High Cleric. Varistrane, following the example of SEHT, became Prognosticator and High Diviner. And Ildemyne, following the example of VEHK, became Justiciar and High Ordinator.
Each of the Lotus Triadic, as they are now called, had cursed skin of their own to shed, and prisons of their own from which to escape. And each of them has done so, by and through the will of ALMSIVI. But through these trials, they have learned the skills necessary to do what must be done for both the Temple and New Velothis as a whole.
At the time of the Temple's founding, Calden was a new worshipper of ALMSIVI who had come to faith through an Elder Scrolls Online roleplay guild initiation that had had more spiritual resonance than he'd expected it to. After some bad experiences that had come as a result of involvement in esoteric spiritual communities on the internet, he was hesitant to attempt to find or create community based around the Triune Way. Originally, in fact, he planned on going completely solo. The only plan he had that came even close to building a Temple was to be the creation of an uncredited chapbook based on his own experiences, meant to help any others going through similar.
Of course, they say that if you want to make the Three laugh, you should tell Them your plans. Varistrane, an acquaintance (at that time) of Calden's who had been a follower of the Triune Way for some time already, began to find common ground with Calden in matters of faith soon after that. As they further got to know each other on that basis, they both began to ask the same questions: "Are there more of us? How can we find them?"
The answer was soon to come, as Ildemyne, another of Calden's longtime friends, began to feel the same pull-- initially to Almalexia, but later, to Vivec. Prior to this, Ildemyne's primary interest in the universe of The Elder Scrolls was the Khajiit, not the Dunmer, but various dreams and signs led them to the Triune Way all the same. This development hardly signaled the beginning of the effort to rebuild the Temple, as that would not come much later, but it certainly signaled the beginnings of a community of Faithful, small as it was.
As the intrepid founders learned to work together as a team, and the community grew under their guidance, it became clear that each of them had a role to play in the rebuilding of the Temple in this world. These roles were ones that they seemed to fall into naturally-- Varistrane as esoteric mystic, Calden as teacher and guide in matters practical, Ildemyne as stabilizing force. And eventually, each of them, through independent revelation, came to receive a title. Calden, following the example of AYEM, became Initiator and High Cleric. Varistrane, following the example of SEHT, became Prognosticator and High Diviner. And Ildemyne, following the example of VEHK, became Justiciar and High Ordinator.
Each of the Lotus Triadic, as they are now called, had cursed skin of their own to shed, and prisons of their own from which to escape. And each of them has done so, by and through the will of ALMSIVI. But through these trials, they have learned the skills necessary to do what must be done for both the Temple and New Velothis as a whole.
WHY WE RECONSTRUCT
We get this a lot, actually. Obviously, the land we now inhabit is not Morrowind, and obviously, Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec do not physically walk among us. Because of this, a lot of TES lore purists would argue that there isn't really a point in what we do, since there's not a factual basis for our religion. In response, we would ask them to kindly show us a religion that is one hundred percent based in observable fact. There aren't any, so we don't see why we should be held to higher standards.
Please don't take this to mean that we're some sort of atheist parody of "organized religion," like the Pastafarians or the Church of the SubGenius. The beliefs and practices of the Temple are very sincerely held, and maintained with the goal of re-enchanting a disenchanted world. We only bring up this argument as it's an unfair standard, and one that we refuse to engage with besides to show how silly it is.
In the grand scheme, though, there are many reasons why someone would choose to reconstruct the Temple-- as many as there are Temple faithful-- but most, if not all, of them come down to the simple fact that many of us got our start as Elder Scrolls fans who found something in ALMSIVI and the Tribunal Temple that took on spiritual meaning for them. And sooner or later, we began to find others with similar experiences, and a community slowly began to form. New Velothis was founded partially as the evolution of this community.
Please don't take this to mean that we're some sort of atheist parody of "organized religion," like the Pastafarians or the Church of the SubGenius. The beliefs and practices of the Temple are very sincerely held, and maintained with the goal of re-enchanting a disenchanted world. We only bring up this argument as it's an unfair standard, and one that we refuse to engage with besides to show how silly it is.
In the grand scheme, though, there are many reasons why someone would choose to reconstruct the Temple-- as many as there are Temple faithful-- but most, if not all, of them come down to the simple fact that many of us got our start as Elder Scrolls fans who found something in ALMSIVI and the Tribunal Temple that took on spiritual meaning for them. And sooner or later, we began to find others with similar experiences, and a community slowly began to form. New Velothis was founded partially as the evolution of this community.