User blog:TheSweeper/Before: The Abbey

 I believe that before the Abbey of the Everyman rose to prominence, there were multiple cults, possibly hundreds, that worshiped the Outsider and all depicted him differently but all saw his symbol, the Mark, the same no matter how they depict him due to his Mark being to same no matter who it is given to. We know the ancient people worshiped the Outsider and his shrines are found across the Isles. Since the cultures on the Isles are all very different, it makes sense that different people would depict the Outsider differently.

For example, one cult might have worshiped him as lord of light and life and his Mark is given to those who are worthy while another cult might have worshiped numerous gods that gave 'their' Mark to their champions. The Abbey of the Everyman would obviously be intolerant to these religions that would welcome magic as a gift from god(s).

There were most likely also cults that worshiped god(s) but despised magic and viewed the Outsider as a devilish spirit, similar to the Abrahamic God and Satan/Lucifer. The official reason why the Abbey would be intolernant to religions that also despise magic is that their ideology centers on the belief that the universe is home to many dangerous spirits and forces which the Abbey might believe that these cults are actually worshipping. However, what most likely is the true reason is that the Abbey wishes to remove all other 'competition' in order to control the common people.

