Slane Theocracy

Slane Theocracy (スレイン法国) is a human nation of the New World and one of three nations neighboring Nazarick. One of the strongest countries in the region; it is a highly religious state, promoting human supremacy.

Background
Being one of the oldest established human nations, the Slane Theocracy has a history of six hundred years based on fierce adherence to their country's religion. The doctrine of the Slane Theocracy revolves around the Six Great Gods, who appeared six hundred years ago. While so, the country is divided into six different religious sects, each with its own specialized intelligence agency focusing on one expertise they're skillfully good at. Each sect is devoted to one of the Six Great Gods by the Scripture group's color.

Despite being split into different factions, the groups will still cooperate when necessary during times of crisis. They all acknowledge the threat of demons and other races in the world. Additionally, Slane Theocracy's civilization was said to be more advanced in technology than any of the neighboring countries that surround it. The Slane Theocracy also has an institutionalized divine magic training system that is comparable with the Baharuth Empire in terms of arcane magic. One in which they possess a magic school that focuses on training faith-based magic casters. The overall literacy rate for citizens living in the Theocracy is fairly high.

Humanocentrism
Although the Theocracy promotes the discrimination of non-humans and the supremacy of humanity, it only serves to be a tactic from the higher-ups in order to unify all the humans with a common goal and increase their national power. Unlike the common folk, the high officials aren't blinded by xenophobic beliefs and prioritize the survival of humanity. In order to protect humans from the threat of other races, they wanted to bind people together with faith in the Six Great Gods. It was to the point where they tried to keep all God-Kin within their country's borders, even going as far as to detain their wives/potential mothers.

At the same time, the Cardinals recognized the fact that their nation's philosophy has a flaw to it. They feared that their nation's ideology might lead them in a dangerous direction if the Theocracy ever ends up being bordered next to a powerful non-human nation like the Argland Council State. The Cardinals believed that it could play a major factor in radicalizing the citizens to come together and form a militant movement against that nation. As far as this event being the worst-case scenario, the common folk would possibly shout for war with the Argland Council State in order to destroy the enemies of mankind.

The citizens of the Slane Theocracy often viewed people with nonhuman ancestry living in their country as second-class citizens.

Theocracy - Elf War
Despite the Theocracy's prejudice towards non-humans, the nation once had a friendly relationship with the neighboring Elf Country. However, this relationship came to an end when the Elf King abducted and impregnated the ace of the Theocracy's Black Scripture. Fortunately, the Theocracy rescued her and the child that was forced upon her grew up to become Theocracy's strongest God-kin.

Afterward, at the urging of the child, a war of retribution was waged against the Elves. However, despite their superior military strength, the Theocracy's progress is slow since the Elf Country is mostly hard-to-traverse woodland and the do not want to waste their full forces on the war effort, resulting in the war going on for longer than some people have been alive and to continue to this day. Elves have also become favored products in the Theocracy's slave trade.

Conspiracies
In order to achieve their goal of allowing humanity to survive in the face of demi-human threats, the Theocracy began to secretly manipulate the affairs of other human nations for what they saw as the greater good.

One of their actions was to shepherd the Re-Estize Kingdom, a human nation completely protected from demi-human nations by its neighbors and natural barriers. They believed this would allow the Kingdom to safely raise powerful individuals who could save mankind. However, its life of peace instead caused many nobles to become arrogant and delusional, resulting in the Kingdom to becoming nothing but a cesspool of corruption.

Deeming the Kingdom to be a failure, the Theocracy shifted its focus to the Baharuth Empire. Since the Theocracy couldn't directly take control of the Kingdom lest they share a border with the Argland Council State, which would inevitably lead to a war, they instead planned on letting the Empire conquer the Kingdom.

The Undead King Arc
The Slane Theocracy decided to take action to further their agenda over the Re-Estize Kingdom by assassinating Gazef Stronoff, kingdom's strongest warrior and main obstacle for Re-Estize's conquest by the Baharuth Empire. To accomplish this task, the Sunlight Scripture was dispatched, and lured Stronoff aidded by foolish nobles of the Nobility Faction that were easily manipulated to think that all was their own plan. During the operation, the Theocracy had the Sunlight Scripture under observation. However, for some reason, they lost the whereabouts of the entire force.

In addition, the Theocracy had received a prophecy of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord's resurrection. In response, the Black Scripture was deployed to slay it. The Theocracy even lends them their nation's secret weapon, the World Item of the Six Great Gods; the Downfall of Castle and Country.

The Dark Warrior Arc
A disaster struck the Theocracy when one of the Black Scripture members, Clementine, stole one of the Six Gods' treasures, the Crown of Wisdom, and went rogue. In response, the Windflower Scripture was sent out in pursuit of her to retrieve the item and execute the traitor.

The Bloody Valkyrie Arc
Another disaster struck the Theocracy when the Black Scripture encountered a powerful vampire. While the Black Scripture managed to partially brainwash the creature, this only caused it to indiscriminately attack anyone who approached it, forcing the Scripture to retreat.

The Lizard Man Heroes Arc
After the Black Scripture retreated back to the Theocracy, the captain had a meeting with the Cardinals. In the end, to avoid unnecessary losses, it was decided to let the vampire be and have a standard observation team to monitor it before gathering their forces and confronting it again. The Cardinals also figured that, if someone capable of defeating that monster were to appear, they would have to strengthen their national defense.

The Magic Caster of Destroy Arc
The Theocracy learned that the Baharuth Empire had formed an alliance with the newly-founded Sorcerer Kingdom, led by Ainz Ooal Gown, for their Annual War with the Kingdom. Not wanting to make an enemy out of him, the Theocracy sends a message to the Kingdom acknowledging his claim to E-Rantel and declaring neutrality in the conflict.

Later, when a human boy threw a stone at Ainz while the latter was claiming E-Rantel, Momon believed he might have been [Charmed] and his action was part of a Theocracy plot to incite revolt.

The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc
During a Supreme Council meeting, after learning of the Massacre at Katze Plains, it was concluded that staying neutral in the Annual War was the right choice. Weighing their options, the Council decided that the Theocracy would continue to focus on their war with the Elf Country while sending spies to the Sorcerer Kingdom. They also wanted to bring former Black Scripture members out of retirement and dispatch them to the Dragon Kingdom as an aid.

Later, Emperor Jircniv arranged a secret meeting with emissaries from the Theocracy in hopes of forming an alliance against the Sorcerer Kingdom. However, when Ainz Ooal Gown arrived unannounced, the emissaries assumed the Emperor had betrayed them and angrily left. Afterward, the Theocracy cut all ties with the Empire.

The Craftsman of Dwarf Arc
To speed up their invasion of the Elf Country, the Theocracy deployed the Holocaust Scripture to the battlefield. With them on the front lines, the nation is expected to overtake the elves in a few years.

The Witch of the Falling Kingdom Arc
The Theocracy had sent several spies to infiltrate the Sorcerer Kingdom. Unbeknownst to them, however, the nation's leadership was fully aware of their presence but chose to merely observe their movements for now.

When the Sorcerer Kingdom went to war with the Kingdom, the Theocracy sent the Black Scripture to the latter country when its defeat was certain. However, rather than aid them, they were instead ordered to recruit adventurers by offering them sanctuary. In the end, while failing to get some key individuals, many accepted the offer and migrated to the Theocracy.

The Half Elf God-kin Arc
and The Half Elf God-kin II Arc

Culture
The Theocracy preaches human supremacy and the persecution of other "lesser" races. With its religion revolving around the Six Gods and their descendants, the Theocracy is effectively divided into six different religious sects, each with its own unique culture and practices. One factor all groups shared is that the names of the people in the Slane Theocracy consist of a given name, a baptized name, and a family name.

In Mass for the Dead, it was revealed that the Theocracy follows a seniority system. Unlike other nations out there, they do not possess a culture that aims for reward. Instead, the people of the Slane Theocracy live to express their faith.

Religion
In addition to worshiping the Six Great Gods, the citizens of the Slane Theocracy hold their descendants in veneration. The preservation of their gods' bloodline is of utmost priority and they make an effort to ensure their legacy carries on to the next generation. To achieve this, the Theocracy practices polygamy. Not only is such a practice considered to be a rare occurrence, but the husband is also restricted to have two wives at most.

Another central part of the Slane Theocracy's religion is the Miko Princesses, who by description are the nation's religious figures vital in performing some of their important rituals. So far, there seem to be Six Miko Princesses, which are related to the elements of the Six Great Gods. Though seemingly an esteemed position of power, in contrast, it appears that the Miko Princesses are effectively living sacrifices. They are chosen from the population with great care and scrutiny, due to the items they are given from their pedestals, which pose many risks to the user.

In the Web Novel, the Six Miko Princesses comprises Miko Princess of Water, Miko Princess of Fire, Miko Princess of Wind, Miko Princess of Earth, Miko Princess of Light, and Miko Princess of Darkness. Likewise, all of them are users of priest-type 5th tier magic, but this is a national secret.

There also exists a special temple dedicated to the God of Water. Within this temple is a special chamber filled with water called "Eye of the Water God."

Politics
As a Theocracy, the Slane is governed by a Pontifex Maximus with a position similar to that of an Emperor, elected in a conclave by the Six Cardinals.

The Pontifex Maximus is assisted by a board of advisers from the highest executive authorities in the Slane Theocracy, the council. It consists of the representatives of the Six Great Gods, the Cardinals, and from the government the heads of Executive, Legislature, and the Judiciary, plus the head of the Research Institute in charge of magic affairs, and the Grand Marshal as the highest appointment-holder in the military. The council sits on a round table within a sacred room where everyone is equal. There are no superiors or inferiors on the table, everyone is a collaborator and a comrade, including the Pontifex Maximus. Cardinals are the highest appointment holders of the six sects that are devoted to the Six Gods. The position of a Cardinal is higher than that of a representative of governmental affairs; the demerit is that they get no wages so that people aspiring to become Cardinals would not be motivated to rise through the ranks by greed. Hence, there were many individuals who took high office with the intention of serving their nation. The current Cardinals are: There were only two countries that had the capability to set up national-level organizations. One of the two was said to have been the Slane Theocracy.
 * Berenice Nagua Santini, the Cardinal of Fire.
 * Zinedine Delan Guelfi, the Cardinal of Water.
 * Dominic Ihre Partouche, the Cardinal of Wind.
 * Raymond Zarg Lauransan, the Cardinal of Earth and commander of the Six Scriptures.
 * Yvon Jasna Delacroix, the Cardinal of Light.
 * Maximilian Oreio Lagier, the Cardinal of Darkness.

Military Strength
The knights from the Slane Theocracy are said to be far stronger than those of the Baharuth Empire.

Additionally, there are God-kin among them with great influence over the country. Those special individuals were viewed as demigods who are descendants of their ancestors known as "players." When compared to both the Kingdom's or Empire's clerics, the Theocracy's faith-based magic casters (clerics) are usually more skilled than any of them. The average skill levels in the Theocracy are generally quite high. Also, the Theocracy has at least five artifacts left behind by the Six Great Gods.

In the Web Novel, if compared with purely human countries, the Theocracy possesses the strongest national power of them all due to its powerful military presence. Let alone their national power, the Theocracy also has the top fighting ability on the continent than any other human country. For instance, they conducted military operations within the nations bordering the Theocracy with the intention of suppressing demi-humans and other races. On the other hand, the Theocracy is capable of conducting large-scale rituals or have the highest class of priest to cast resurrection magic.

The Slane Theocracy was also shown to have access to the Six Miko Princesses, whose usage of the Crown of Wisdom allows them to perform High-Tiered Magic normally impossible for humans to use or achieve.

There are Six Scriptures, who are deeply rooted into separate branches of the Theocracy:
 * Sunlight Scripture: The anti-demi-human response unit.
 * Black Scripture: The special black operations military unit.
 * Windflower Scripture: The intelligence and espionage unit.
 * Clearwater Scripture: The infiltration and undercover unit.
 * Holocaust Scripture: The assassination and counter-terrorism unit.
 * Ashendust Scripture: The sanctuary base guard unit.

After losing the entire Sunlight Scripture, several Black Scripture members, Kaire, and one of the Miko Princesses alongside her Crown of Wisdom, one of the Six Cardinals estimated that it will take at least ten years for the Theocracy to fully recover their military strength.

Later after the Fall of the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Theocracy's military forces had gained an immense growth in numbers and power due to the Black Scripture's successful operation of convincing several of the Kingdom's adventurers to flee and migrate from the Kingdom and into the Theocracy to save themselves.

Foreign Relations
The Slane Theocracy is the strongest human nations in the region. While there are various political and cultural issues with the other neighboring nations, many see the Theocracy as a necessary evil. In an ironic twist of fate, Theocracy's xenophobic actions allowed its neighboring to advance into their own societies, as they would normally have disappeared in the face of encroaching demi-human nations.

Dragon Kingdom
The Dragon Kingdom pays tribute to the Slane Theocracy in return for military aid in their war against the Beastman Country; a deal which the Theocracy honors. However since the Theocracy was unable to meet its obligations with the Dragon Kingdom due to a shortage of manpower, the Dragon Kingdom then turned to becoming closer with the Sorcerer Kingdom. To prevent their loss of influence in the Dragon Kingdom, the upper echelons of the Theocracy planned to send military aid in the form of the many adventurers from the fall Re-Estize Kingdom to fight the beastmen.

Elf Country
While the Theocracy and elves initially had a cooperative relationship, that ended when its reigning monarch kidnapped and violated the Theocracy's strongest Godkin. Ironically, however, this incident would actually become a boon to the Theocracy, as they managed to rescue the kidnapped Godkin and the child that was forced upon her ended up becoming even more powerful than her mother. Presently, the Elf Country and the Slane Theocracy are engaged in a war.

As revealed by the Council of the Theocracy, they themselves bear no grudge against the Elves and their grudge and hatred is focused solely on the Elf King due to his actions against their Godkin. In fact, the Council itself admitted that if they could help it, they would prefer and allow the innocent elves to escape their conflict against their country and the Theocracy themselves would like to bring their war against them to a swift end by simply killing the Elf King.

Re-Estize Kingdom
In the past, the Theocracy secretly shepherded the Kingdom in the hopes this would allow humanity to grow and thrive, as well as produce several strong individuals. However, this backfired, as their relatively peaceful lifestyle caused them to become nothing but a cesspool of corruption that even the Theocracy wished to eradicate. Aside from this, the two nations also had problems due to religious differences.

The only reason the Theocracy did not conquer the Kingdom themselves was due to fear of retaliation by the Argland Council State. Instead, they planned to on having the Kingdom be conquered by the Baharuth Empire. To this end, while there was no open war between the Theocracy and Kingdom, conflicts existed behind-the-scenes in the form of espionage and small skirmishes.

When the Sorcerer Kingdom went to war with the Kingdom, finally spelling the nation's downfall, the Theocracy made no effort to aid their neighbor. However, still wanting to salvage something of their initial project, the Black Scripture was sent to the Kingdom to recruit powerful Adventurers, hoping for them to continue to serve humanity. To do so, the Theocracy offered these individuals sanctuary within their borders while not restricting them from immigrating to other human countries afterward. In the end, while failing to recruit adamantite level individuals, dozens of high-ranking adventurers accepted the offer. The Cardinals also wanted to retrieve the Kingdom's royal treasures, but this plan was abandoned due to a lack of man power.

Overall, the Theocracy did not seem bothered by the Kingdom's downfall. They only worried about the former nation's territory potentially becoming a spawning group for undead and of the various covert operations that they had conducted within their borders being exposed.

Baharuth Empire
The Empire has made many appeals to the Theocracy for its assistance in sharing their teachings on divine magic. However, the Theocracy has yet to make any response back to the Empire's request on the issue.

In truth, the Theocracy has long been monitoring its activities and political movements and considered it to be the more successful nation compared to its neighbor, the Re-Estize Kingdom, which they considered a failure. Because of this, they planned to permit its conquest of the Kingdom.

After the massacre at the Katze Plains and the founding of the Sorcerer Kingdom, the Theocracy became wary of the Empire, as they allied themselves with an undead. The Theocracy thus sends an envoy to the Empire to confirm if Emperor Jircniv was still on the side of humanity. However, when the Sorcerer King walked in on their meeting, the envoys assumed the Emperor had sold them out and left. Afterward, the Theocracy severed all ties with the Empire.

Argland Council State
Since their doctrine promotes discrimination against demi-humans, the Council State, a nation in which various species coexist, is seen as a great threat to the Theocracy. As a result, the two nations actively hate each other from a citizen's point of view.

However, both nations' leaders are aware of their military limitations and thus hesitant to wage open war against each other, as that would most likely result in mutual destruction. In a way, this causes both nations to keep each other in check, with neither wanting to overreach for fear of provoking the other. For example, the reason why the Theocracy did not conquer the Kingdom is that that nation exists as a buffer country between itself and the Council State, and citizens would certainly want war if the two nations suddenly became neighbors.

With the emergence of the Sorcerer Kingdom, the Theocracy's leaders briefly entertained the notion of an alliance with the Council State. However, that idea was almost immediately dropped since, even if they managed to defeat their mutual enemy, the two nations would then most likely go to war over the spoils.

Sorcerer Kingdom
So far, no official contact has been established between the Slane Theocracy and the Sorcerer Kingdom besides two small skirmishes during Nazarick's first emergence into the New World, and Shalltear's clash with the Black Scripture.

If the Theocracy learned of the existence of Nazarick, being a potential power base for unholy creatures who lived there, it would mean great calamity for the human race. When Nazarick did reveal its existence to the world, claiming the large swathe of the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy chose to remain neutral.

After E-Rantel was annexed by the newly arisen nation of non-humans, the benevolent actions of the Sorcerer King and relative peace of E-Rantel confused the higher-ups on how to proceed. Due to the reports about the power of its army, lack of reliable information, and ongoing war with the Elf Country, they decided not to proceed any further on establishing any official conflict with that country for the time being. Instead, the nation decided to send its own spies to infiltrate the capital of the Sorcerer Kingdom to acquire more information about their situation.

Despite their general contempt for the inhuman nation, due to its pro-equality to all races in contrast to the Theocracy's central human radicalization. The Theocracy has secretly cooperated with the Sorcerer Kingdom, regarding the inhuman nation's declaration of war of annihilation, against the failed state of the Re-Estize Kingdom.

Due to the Kingdom's massive corruption in its government, and the degradation of its nobility in decadence from its relative peacefulness, the Theocracy had initially wanted the Baharuth Empire to conquer the Re-Estize Kingdom. However, ever since the Empire was assimilated into the Sorcerer Kingdom, that thought began to change and shift elsewhere. Learning about the Sorcerer Kingdom's declaration of international war against the Re-Estize Kingdom, due to the foolish actions of a single nobleman, the Theocracy had quietly condemned their fellow human nation to its demise. They deem and admonish the sheer stupidity of the one nobleman who was responsible for sparking the war to happen as a prime example of the Kingdom's failure. Seeing how this war will play out, the Theocracy has instead decided to take advantage of the Sorcerer Kingdom's war by recruiting several of its most talented adventurers into their nation by inviting them to immigrate to their borders for their own safety. This operation was done by taking advantage of the fear the adventurers had knowing that they might become the next target of the Sorcerer Kingdom's invasion and be slaughtered together with the rest of the Kingdom. As a result, while the Sorcerer Kingdom was busy massacring the civilians, the Theocracy silently carry out their operation in the hopes of trying to strengthen themselves, having the kingdom's most gifted join the ranks of their military forces.

Ironically, the Slane Theocracy is the ones ultimately responsible for spurring the creation and public debut of the Sorcerer King and his Kingdom due to the Black Scripture's usage of Downfall of Castle and Country against one of the Sorcerer King's Servants, motivating him to take more proactive/destructive moves against the various human nations in order to strengthen his defenses and hunt down the ones responsible without restraint.

As noted by the Ruling Council of the Theocracy, they are unsure on the matter of how to deal with the Sorcerer’s Kingdom, due to not knowing the full might of the inhuman nation’s military, whose overall strength was compared to a bottomless black hole, the Theocracy itself is unsure of it is the wisest course of action to declare open hostility on them. Due to this, the Theocracy’s government has instead entertained the idea of becoming and submitting to them as a vassal state similar to the Empire and from there gain credible information on the Sorcerer Kingdom from the inside and from there, begin to weaken and destroy it from the inside. However, knowing that the normal citizens of the Theocracy did not have the same information available to them regarding all the facts regarding their situation, they would likely never accept the vassalization and likely make the country descend into chaos by instead rioting in protest. This in turn has caused the council to instead consider allying with their long term enemy the Argland Council State, however due to their long term hostility, knew that this was impossible or at least extremely difficult to make happen. Overall, the Theocracy has instead decided to settle their war against the Elf country before moving on to the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Roble Holy Kingdom
Relations between the two nations was a bit volatile due to some religious differences between them. However, they still share a common enemy that are the demi-human tribes that live in the Abelion Hills.

After the founding of the Sorcerer Kingdom, which they considered a common threat, the two countries attempted to form an alliance against the non-human nation. However, talks were slow due to their religious differences and were most likely abandoned following the Holy Kingdom swift in perspective towards the Sorcerer Kingdom after the Sorcerer King personally saved their nation.

Known Characters

 * Antilene Heran Fouche
 * Cedran
 * Beaumarchais
 * Kaire
 * Clementine
 * Nigun Grid Luin
 * Belius
 * Londes Di Clamp
 * Captain of the Black Scripture
 * Quaiesse Hazeia Quintia
 * Ian Als Heim ( Mass for the Dead )
 * Enhela Read Gahi ( Mass for the Dead )
 * Rufus
 * Faine
 * Nazaire

Trivia

 * The banner of the Slane Theocracy resembles the seven-branch menorah, or candelabrum, one of the oldest symbols of Judaism.
 * The Slane Theocracy is the only nation with a population register so as to aid in finding proper candidates for the positions of the Miko Princesses.
 * The Rubik's Cube was introduced by the Six Great Gods and is a popular toy in the Theocracy.
 * Slaves are a popular and expensive commodity in the Slane Theocracy, especially elves. The elves themselves are psychologically broken and their ears are mutilated. Elves who have skills and are good looking are worth a huge sum, about the same as a magical weapon.
 * There is a slim possibility that the Slane Theocracy's banner is actually the Six Great Gods' guild flag.
 * According to the author Maruyama, if the Slane Theocracy collapses, so will the Kingdom, Empire, and the Holy Kingdom that will fall to monsters soon after.
 * The Slane Theocracy did not have royal families of their own in contrast to the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, and the Roble Holy Kingdom.
 * Unknowingly to the Slane Theocracy's higher ups of the connections between the incidents, their nation has already have had up to three altercations with the Sorcerer Kingdom, more specifically with the Sorcerer Kingdom's true core of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, each ending with a massive blow to the Theocracy's military that left their nation shorthanded.
 * The First incident being Ainz Ooal Gown annihilating Nigun Grid Luin and the rest of the Sunlight Scripture and the loss of one of their national treasures. An incident that effectively caused the dissolution of the Scripture and leaving a giant hole in the Theocracy's military.
 * The Second incident being Ainz Ooal Gown in his adventurer persona, Momon, killing and defeating the traitor and former Black Scripture member Clementine in battle and destroying the stolen Crown of Wisdom, a national treasure of the Slane Theocracy and a vocal point in their arcane military before they could retrieve the item.
 * The Third incident occurred when the Theocracy's strongest; The Black Scripture encountered an unknown Vampire, who was unknowingly a Floor Guardian of the Tomb and suffering massive casualties with two members dead and a user of one of their God's treasure's being severely injured that eventually killed her days after during the scuffle.
 * Although unknown if true or false, it's been implied that the Slane Theocracy were the first ones to coin and invent the system of the Adventurer's Guild during after the chaos caused by the Evil Deities done in order to stabilize the war-wrecked human nations victimized by the deities rampage.
 * Due to its age as the oldest surviving known human nation and its own deep ties to the Six Great Gods, Slane Theocracy is shown to be perhaps the only Human nation to be aware of the periodical appearance of Players in the New World every 100-200 years or so. This is seen where the Six Cardinals mentioned the legends about the “Descent” of “Gods” every 100 years and refers to the event as the “Advent of the Gods”.

Gallery
Teokracja Slane