Eastersphere

Easterspheres is a term coined by the media to roughly describe the respective zones of influence of Urcea and Caphiria within the Occidental world, especially with regard to religion. The concept was devised by the Levantine Times Union journalist Marco Enne following the Eight Points Agreement, and is based on different individuals being remembered in the Exsultet, an Easter-time prayer in the Catholic Church.

The Exsultet is a prayer offered during the Easter Vigil in both the Latin Rite and Caphiric Rite of the Catholic Church, used largely to proclaim the coming Easter celebration. At the conclusion of the Exsultet is the Prayer for the Emperor, a prayer for the Emperor of the Levantines's benefit, calling for him to receive "tranquility of lasting peace and heavenly victory with all his people." In the Catholic Church, this prayer was made optional by Pope Pius XII in 1955 as part of a broader revision to the Holy Week liturgies. In the schism era Caphiric Church, the name of the Imperator of Caphiria had replaced the name of the Emperor of the Levantines as one of the first liturgical changes, occurring on Easter 1616; some historians suggest that the name of the Imperator had already been substituted in decades earlier. The Eight Points Agreement provided that, in nations that retained the prayer, the name of the Imperator would be said in all nations on Sarpedon, excluding Vallos. Due to the Apostolic King of Urcea retaining the title and dignity of Emperor of the Levantines in perpetuity, Levantine Times Union journalist Marco Enne noted in 2015 that the Exsultet prayers thus function as a "quick shorthand of displaying the political and cultural capital of Urcea and Caphiria, respectively, abroad". Since, many clerics and politicians within the Levantine Union have criticized the use of the Exsultet as such, both on the grounds that it makes "a prayer of goodwill a sign of the profane" in the words of Urcean politician Livio Iarnán but also because the prayer "expresses the continued bonds of solidarity and goodwill between Levantine peoples rather than a display of dominance, submission, or influence" according to John Mulhouse, Archbishop of Stretton.

In the intervening years since both 1955 and the Eight Points Agreement, inclusion or exclusion of the Emperor or Imperator have been used as a sign of goodwill or independence from Urcea or Caphiria, depending on the circumstance. Two prominent examples occurred in the 2010s. In 2019, in the context of strengthening relations between Urcea and Stenza, the small Catholic Church in Stenza began to offer prayers on behalf of Riordan VIII at the request of the Government of Stenza. Inversely, following the Eight Points Agreement, the Churches in both Pelaxia and Zeshinava opted out of including the prayer at all in 2016.

Generally, the "Levantine" Eastersphere includes the members of the Levantine Union and Nysdra Sea Treaty Association as well as some Levantine allies abroad. The "Caphirian" Eastersphere covers most of Sarpedon and Caphirian possessions excepting Shenendehowa Bay. Several major exceptions exist in the Eastersphere that were provided by clarifications from the Holy See following the Eight Points Agreement. Zaclarian Catholics of all Rites were afforded the right to pray for the Imperator in 2015. While most Kiravian Catholics do not pray for either, Latin Rite Catholics within New Ardmore pray for the Emperor of the Levantines.