In practice, however, these three main religious groups are more independent of each other than the above might suggest. The brief history of the three institutions should serve to illustrate this.
After the collapse of the Theocracy of Tekhos in 1188, the Laranian Church revived, and from being an underground religion soon flourished into a powerful religious and political force, owning much land.
In 1193 the Order of Hyvrik was formally created, a joint venture between the Laranian Church and the King of Kanday, Andasin I. The intent in creating this Order was to bolster the numbers of Laranians actively working in the Church's service, without the strict requirements that becoming a full priest entailed. For in its origins the Order of Hyvrik was for the most part a lay organisation. It was only at the end of the first decade of the thirteenth century that the Order came to have a priestly core, and to adopt full religious duties. It remained, however, under the jurisdiction of the Laranian Church, and its lands - largely the gifts of secular lords - were to be administered by lay members of the Order.
In 1222 the King founded the Order of the Checkered Shield. It was only some years subsequently that it was fully handed over to the Order of Hyvrik to be administered/sponsored by them. This had two major effects on the political relationships between the groups: the Order of the Checkered Shield fell under the control of the King and the Laranian Church (who had done much in helping to establish the Order), not the Order of Hyvrik to the extent that is more normally the case with clerical and fighting orders; and, knowing the necessity of a strong force on the northern borders, the king gave the Order of the Checkered Shield the right to elect their own grandmaster, hoping that in so doing he would minimise the amount of politics involved in the decision.
The Order of Hyvrik was not, however, totally without power over the Order of the Checkered Shield. From the first they maintained a strong presence at the chapter houses of the Fighting Order, and though they had official influence only in matters of religion, they were able to exert pressure through their wealth. And though the Order of the Checkered Shield gained much land during their initial conquests, the Order of Hyvrik managed to slowly subvert much of these holdings to their own control, as the Kandayan border shifted northwards, leaving peace behind it.
During the latter half of the thirteenth century, the Laranian Church fell into disrepute in Kanday. Cases of priestly corruption and vice were numerous, and many became disillusioned with their spiritual leaders. This would have amounted to little, however, had not an alternative to the Church existed - the Order of Hyvrik. Though a subsidiary offshoot to the Laranian Church proper, the two had come to be seen as separate, particularly since few cases of corruption were uncovered in the Order. The effect of this increased support for the Order of Hyvrik was to enhance their reputation as a fully religious group, quite able to administer to the spiritual needs of the people. The Laranian Church was pushed into a position of administering its own holdings and catering to the needs of the top echelons of the nobility. Meanwhile the Order of the Checkered Shield continued to maintain its solid position, keeping much of its independence between the two groups who sought to control it.
Another significant development that this scandal prompted was a discussion on the nature of corruption, sin, and redemption. While this debate at first took place between priests in the context of the clerical church members, it struck a chord with the Laranian populace at large. Over time the discussion has broadened to include the fate of souls, both clerical lay, who have sinned against Larani, and those who have never followed Larani; a fuller discussion of this schism is available in the document on the Laranian Church.
In 1309 the Laranian Church instituted a holy cleansing of those unbelievers who do not follow the dual pantheon of Larani and Peoni. This has met with little tangible effect, probably due to the reluctance of the Peonian Church to become involved, the lack of numbers in the Laranian Church, and the possible subvertive activity of the Order of Hyvrik (though they do not officially oppose the cleansing).
The current situation, in 1320, is largely a stand-off between the two religious groups for control of the Order of the Checkered Shield, which is largely independent of both of them, being a strong political power in its own right. The Laranian Church has began to regain some of its lost prestige, while the Order of Hyvrik continues to be the "popular" Laranian group, which is to say that they cater for many of the smaller settlements and families.
The schism originated as a result of the investigations into priestly corruption in the Laranian Church at the end of the thirteenth century. The requirements and opportunities for redemption of those who had been found to have sinned against Larani were discussed then among the priests.
Later, as the investigations turned up more incidents, the debate became much wider in scope, and was continued by many Laranians, both clerical and lay.
In essence the question that is currently unresolved, and on which there is a major division among all groups, is this: is it possible for those who have sinned greatly against Larani to redeem themselves, in this life or the next, so that they might eventually spend eternity in Tirithor? However, many other questions and twists on this are hotly debated throughout Kanday.
Though this battle against infidelity has been waged for more than ten years, the results are not terribly impressive. The Laranian Church does not have the numbers to do the job by itself, particularly among the peasants and villagers; the Peonian Church has rather distanced itself from the move, though it does not interfere; and there are rumours that many among the Order of Hyvrik subvert the intentions of the Church by harbouring those who would otherwise be expelled.
The main "victims" of this crusade have been small groups of wanderers and vagrants who have always wandered about the Kand region. Many of these have been found to be of uncertain faith, and ordered north or east.