Slane Theocracy

Slane Theocracy (スレイン法国) is a human nation of the New World and one of the three major human nations neighboring Nazarick. It is a religious nation that worships the Six Great Gods and is considered to be the strongest human nation in the region.

Background
One of the oldest established human nations, the Slane Theocracy has a history of six hundred years based on fierce adherence to their 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.

However, despite being split into different factions, the groups will still cooperate when necessary. Each sect holds respect for the six gods beyond their own, and 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 comparably on par with the Baharuth Empire arcane magic one. In order to protect humans from the threat of other races, the Slane Theocracy binds people together with faith in the Six Great Gods.

The Undead King Arc
The Slane Theocracy, at the request of some corrupt nobles from the Re-Estize Kingdom, sanctioned an assassination on Gazef Stronoff. To accomplish this, the Sunlight Scripture led by Nigun Grid Luin, were dispatched. The officials of the Theocracy had the Sunlight Scripture under observation during the operation, but for some reason, they lost the whereabouts of Nigun's entire force.

The Bloody Valkyrie Arc
Another disaster struck the Theocracy, when the Black Scripture encountered an abnormally, strong vampire. While the Black Scripture succeeded in partially brainwashing the creature, it lost two of their own in the confrontation along with a holder of one of their gods' relics.

The Lizard Man Heroes Arc
Due to the incomplete mind control, the vampire attacked anyone who entered its area indiscriminately. The Cardinals ordered the Scripture to withdraw and placed a standard observation team to monitor the vampire.

The Magic Caster of Destroy Arc
During the annual war between the Re-Eztize Kingdom and Baharuth Empire, the Slane Theocracy would periodically send a message, stating their disappointment between the two nations for quarreling over an area that rightfully belongs to the Theocracy. However, despite its self-righteous claim, the Theocracy never committed any military endeavor to enforce its point. After the Sorcerer Kingdom and Baharuth Empire form an alliance and it's announced to the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy sent an envoy with a different message, declaring neutrality in the conflict. As a result, the Theocracy conceded the territory of E-Rantel to Ainz Ooal Gown, as he's truly the rightful owner.

The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc
After cleaning the sacred room and offering thanks to the Six Great Gods, the council sat together on the round table for a meeting organized by Raymond Zarg Lauransan to share the latest details about the war that Ainz Ooal Gown participated. In a previous session of the council it was concluded to not engage with the extremely powerful magic caster that could control a mighty Death Knight on its own and tacitly acknowledged the war between the Empire and the Kingdom while remaining a bystander. The witness records of the composition of the 500 strong army at the battlefield from Thousand Leagues Astrologer, who had locked herself in her room and refused to leave, were distributed and everyone now had to acknowledge that the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown was mighty enough to be a threat to the Theocracy with his army of Death Knights and Soul Eaters with his newly established nation.

After the faint hope, only the two Godkins of the Black Scripture with the best backup prepared would be able to deal with this, as the normal members of the Black Scripture would not be enough, despair painted the face of everyone present again after Raymond revealed that Ainz Ooal Gown used a single spell in rivaling the magic of the gods to kill half of the Royal Army and they concluded that it is highly possible that Ainz Ooal Gown is an entity known as "Player". They were at odds how Ainz Ooal Gown, Honyopenyoko, Jaldabaoth, and Momon stand in connection and because of the danger where against making contact with either the Sorcerer King or Momon or setting Momon against the Sorcerer King and decided to gamble in sending an emissary to the Emperor and draw him on the their side after denying that he might be controlled by magic means in hope he is not loyal to Ainz Ooal Gown.

Surprise was drawn after Raymond stated that E-Rantel was ruled in peace with no revolts under the undead king and the citizens are living ordinary lives with the Death Knights are used as city guards, Elder Liches as public servants while Soul Eaters are used to pull cargo wagons. The Supreme Council lamented about the losses they received, like Kaire's death, and decided to focus on their war with the elves with sending a messenger to the Dragon Lords to talk about the elves instead of taking risks using the Downfall of Castle and Country on the Sorcerer King. The request to disclose the "Advent of the Gods", the occurrence of players every 100 years, was rejected once again and decided to send the retired members of the Black Scripture to aid the Dragon Kingdom against the Beastmen Invasion.

The emissaries from the Slane Theocracy planned a secret meeting with the Bloody Emperor, with the assistance of the High Priests of the Baharuth Empire. However, the emissaries left before talks could initiate, after Ainz Ooal Gown stumbled across the gathering.

The Craftsman of Dwarf Arc
In order to speed up the invasion of the Elf Country, the Slane Theocracy deployed the Holocaust Scripture. With the Holocaust Scripture on the front lines, its expected that the Theocracy will overtake the elves in a matter of only a few years.

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 share is that the names of the people in the Slane Theocracy consist of a given name, a baptized name and a family name.

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. To achieve this the Theocracy practices polygamy, but not only is it rare to occur it's restricted to two wives.

Another central part of the Slane Theocracy's religion are the Shaman Princesses, who by description are the nation's religious figures vital in performing some of their important rituals. So far, there seems to be six Shaman Princess, which are related to the elements of the Six Great Gods. Though seemingly an esteemed position of power, in contrast it appears that the Shaman Princess 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.

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

He is assisted by a board of advisers from the highest executive authorities in the Slane Theocracy, the council. It consist of the representatives of the Six Great Gods, the Cardinals, and from the government the heads of Executive, Legislature and 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 then 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. The current Cardinals are:
 * Berenice Nagua Santini, the Cardinal of Fire.
 * Ginedine 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 Dracrowa, 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 also Godkins among them with great influence over the country as demigods left behind by their ancestors known as "players". Apparently, when compared to the Kingdom or Empire's clerics, the Theocracy faith-based magic casters (clerics) are usually more skilled than any of them. The average skill levels in the Theocracy are also generally considered quite high. In addition, Theocracy has at least five artifacts left behind by the Six Great Gods.

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.

Foreign Relations
The Slane Theocracy is feared as one of the strongest human nations in its corner of the world. While there exists various political and cultural issues with the neighboring nations, many people see the Theocracy as a necessary evil. In an ironic twist of fate, the actions of the Theocracy have allowed the neighboring human nations time to advance into their own strong societies as they would have disappeared from history, in the face of encroachment from the more populous demi-human nations.

Re-Estize Kingdom
In the past, the Slane Theocracy had assisted the Kingdom in the hopes that the nation could become the one that would save mankind. However, peace and prosperity caused them to fall, and the Kingdom rotted from the inside. As a result the Theocracy supported the Baharuth Empire in wiping away the disgrace of a human nation.

Currently religious tensions exist between the Kingdom and the Theocracy, though the nations do not appear to be openly aggressive. Conflicts exist behind the scenes in cases such as espionage and small clashes between different parties among the Kingdom. In addition, adventurer parties such as Blue Rose have been known to interfere in the Sunlight Scripture's demi-human purges.

The truth for the existence of the Re-Estize Kingdom was to allow humanity to grow and thrive far away from the more dangerous elements of the world as well as to produce strong individuals to make humanity stronger. Unfortunately, due to their more safe and comfortable lifestyle, the plan ultimately backfired. This resulted the Kingdom to became nothing more than a cesspool of corruption and incompetent rulers that even the Theocracy wished to eradicate. Going so far as to help the Empire in secret to accomplish this, the only reason they have not yet done so as the nation bordered the Argland Council State and that their country is not yet ready to face a war in two fronts.

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.

After massacre at the Katze Plains and the founding of the Sorcerer Kingdom, the Theocracy became wary of the Empire and the Emperor, who allied himself and its nation to the undead king but they decided to send an envoy to the Empire to see if Emperor Jircniv was still on the side of humanity. When Ainz Ooal Gown walked in during their meeting, the envoy to assumed the Emperor had sold them out and left. Afterwards, the Theocracy severed all ties with the Empire.

Argland Council State
Slane Theocracy's doctrine promotes discrimination and eradication of all demi-humans and non-humans. The formation and existence of a nation of demi-humans is seen as a grave threat to the supremacy of humanity. The Slane Theocracy's military has been known to wipe out entire villages of demi-humans in zealous fervor to their doctrine.

Despite the nation's obvious hatred of all non-humans, it knows its military limits, as the Cardinals were reluctant to wage a direct war against the Argland. This reluctance has also prevented them from expanding and conquering the Re-Estize Kingdom, whose nation lies at the doorstep of the Argland Council State.

Sorcerer Kingdom
So far no official contact has been established between the Slane Theocracy and Nazarick 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 live 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 an official conflict with that country for the time being, however they have sent spies to infiltrate the capital to acquire more information about it.

Dragon Kingdom
Dragon Kingdom pays tribute to the Slane Theocracy each year in order for the Theocracy to dispatch troops against the beastmen harassing the Dragon Kingdom.

Currently, the Theocracy decided to honor its agreement by sending the former retired Black Scripture members to their aid as their current forces have been severely depleted due to the unexpected loss of the Sunlight Scripture and weakening of several current Black Scripture members.

Elf Country
Originally, the Theocracy and the elves had a cooperative relationship. That ended when its reigning monarch kidnapped and violated one of the Slane Theocracy's Godkin. Presently, the Elf Country and the Slane Theocracy are engaged in a war.

Known Characters from Slane Theocracy

 * Zesshi Zetsumei
 * Cedran
 * Beaumarchais
 * Kaire
 * Clementine
 * Nigun Grid Luin
 * Belius
 * Londes Di Clamp
 * Captain of the Black Scripture

Trivia

 * The Slane Theocracy is the only nation with a population register so as to aid in finding proper candidates for the position of the Shaman Princess.
 * The Rubik's Cube was introduced by the Six Great Gods and is a popular toy in the Theocracy.
 * The Theocracy has a magic school that focuses on training faith based magic casters.
 * 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.
 * Although this nation promotes the discrimination of non-humans and the supremacy of the 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 blind by xenophobic beliefs and prioritize the survival of humanity.
 * The Theocracy tries to keep all God-Kin within its borders, even going as far as to detain the mother.
 * There is a slim possibility that the Slane Theocracy's banner is actually the Six Great Gods' guild flag.
 * Ainz believes that most players are willing to support the Slane Theocracy as any of them in the New World would want to help out humanity. That was the reason why Ainz was on guard against players and kept his distance from the Slane Theocracy until now.