To be a priest of The Concord is to be a political figure. Were it not for the Divine Spheres and their belief, then it is very likely that The Concord would never have formed. The Church wields immense literal and implied power, both in this life and in the next. Priests acting in its name must intercede on matters political, moral and logistical on a daily basis. This experience is raised to ever greater heights when they attend The Summit, as it is the great centre of power for months to come.
But it is also a young church, influenced by those it split from, the ancestral beliefs of its people and from similar churches across the waves. There will be constant change in how it operates and what causes it champions or lets fall fallow.
As the Winter Summit approaches there is great change on the wind. The organisation of The Church at Summit, the result of declarations, the pursuit of new ones and the results of arcane research into the Divine.
Anyone Can be High Priest, I am Proof of This
In the madness of The Summit, words can be lost, intentions can be obscured, and belief can be squandered as easily as a small stone is lost in sodden mud. For the priests of The Concord, the intent of words and the dreams of action can be as important as their results as they speak to the paths of redemption and glory.
But many times the sanctified square has become a shouting match. A pitched battle of sharp tongues and droning monotony. Many times the needs of The Church have been lost in this verbal skirmish and tiring bureaucracy. Mines left untended, positions left unfilled and news left ungiven. The Civil Service scrambled but feared overreach into this, the most sanctified of councils.
The solution came from across the Sea. In distant Drummond where their church is led by the High Clerics of the Spheres. By infusing their High Clerics with executive power they are able to act swiftly. Plans were drawn up and the options for the Summit examined. Surely there was the ability to bring this knowledge to use in The Concord.
It became known as ‘The Council of Six’. It is to be a meeting of the Six High Priests that will augment the public process Church declaration, rather than replace it. In this the Church carries both its democratic Artebazzani roots and gains the ease of action of Drummond’s autocracy. Twice per Summit The Council of Six will meet, granting Church-derived titles to those who deserve them, resolving Church business that needs firm decisions and discussing how best to lead the people of Concord from this life to the next.
Game Information
The current Church meetings that occur at Midday on Day 2 and 3 are being replaced with ‘The Council of Six’.
The Council of Six is an open Council (similar to the Senate) held in the Church. The Council is attended by the following titles:
- The High Priests
- The Voice of the Church
- The Concordian Consular
- The Warpriest
- The Curate/s
Usually, only the High Priests and the Curate/s will be permitted to speak freely, although each of the other titles listed may indicate if they wish to speak, and barring exceptional circumstances will be given that right. Other individuals may attend, and may indicate if they wish to speak, but doing so will require a vote from the High Priests.
Only the High Priests will be voting members within the Council, with the High Priest of Cervitas breaking any ties. The Council will have some acute issues to resolve each Summit, but will also be responsible for assigning Church titles such as The Concordian Consular and the Voice of The Church.
Successful and unsuccessful motions will be announced at The Council, and also placed upon the motions board in the morning. The current voting windows have not changed and the function of church motions overall has not changed.
The creation of the Council of Six will be supported by the continuation and expansion of Rites (see the next Winds Entry) and other Church gathering moments. The intent is this will resolve many of the complaints about Church and how it functions at the game currently.
Simple Things for Heroic Folk
Rites and Ceremonies have ever been the backbone of the Church of the Divine Spheres, to the point where many peasant villages know the month by the yearly Rites conducted by their Priests and Preachers. Many citizens of The Concord might go years at a time without ever seeing a Ceremony - some of the more remote may never see one at all! These events of grandeur, and the miracles of the Grace of the Spheres that emerge from them, are anything but commonplace for most. For the Heroes of the Concord, however, twice a year these Ceremonies become less of an act of Grace, and more of a common act of piety - as if every day one could call on the power of life itself to reshape reality…
It is no surprise, then, that the Rites of the church - the mundane events that are common to even commoners - took some time to develop at Passage. Coming together as a community, simply for the sake of faith and piety, is a luxury that many of the Heroes find they simply do not have the time for, what with the demands heaped upon their shoulders. And indeed, it is a fair question to ask: ‘What use is simple prayer and devotion, when I have an army bearing down upon my people?’.
The teachings of the Heralds, those who come to teach us the true way to Grace, have always said that devotion is its own reward, and that the Spheres reward those who give of themselves and ask nothing in return. These words surely rang hollow to the knights and civilians of Bordevar who died in their thousands to an undead army to whom prayer seemed no protection. Nonetheless, devotion and faith have only grown in the lands of the Concord, as again and again the people see the power of the Spheres made abjectly manifest through the Ceremonies of their Heroes. Rites, and their prevalence, spread across the land even more than before, as pious travelling preachers carry the torch of faith to the willing, inspired by the Priests and High Priests’ example.
As the Heroes once again begin their preparations, to journey once more to Passage for the Summit, strange reports begin to pass in from congregations far and wide across the nation. Some congregations have begun to report seeing a distant figure watching them - garbed all in white and gold, with a veil across their face. Whilst these reports have predominantly come out of Weiland, commonfolk have been reporting this figure - the same description each time - observing their rites across the length and breadth of Concordian lands. More importantly, perhaps, they are also reporting that these Rites sometimes produced Miracles…
Game Information
Six Rites, one to each Sphere, will be performed at Summit. These meetings are open to all, though of course aimed at those who aspire to the particular worship of each specific Sphere. You may attend as many or as few as you like, and while most will not cost a thing other than your time (roughly half an hour, depending), some might have a single key as a cost for one reason or another.
The times for the Rites, which will be put up on the Church board and in other places (and a copy can be requested for your particular camp if you wish), are as follows:
Arcadian: 1:30pm, Day Three
Anarch: 9:30pm, Day One
Cervitas: 1:30pm, Day Two
Lumos: 4:30pm, Day Two
Panoply: 6:30pm, Day One
Stallia: 9:30pm, Day Two
If for any reason a Rite is called off, a note will be posted to attempt to reschedule it in as many places as possible.
While the Curate is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the Rites are performed, High Priests are encouraged to run their own, and other priests of that Sphere may also perform the Rite if they wish. Information as to what is needed in a Rite, as well as ideas for what to run (if you wish to run one but don’t know what to do) can be acquired from Bishop-Curate Roennfeldt at any time.
Harsh Voices in Distant Rooms
While The Senate can move great amounts of money and mobilise The Concord through legal decree, it is The Church that can guide the Commonfolk towards great and good action. A simple declaration of intent could burn down villages in righteous fury, a change of doctrine could doom souls, an inquisition could reveal the greatest dangers of the age. Already The Concord has seen this done, with the raising up of the first Concordian paragon, through the changing of Church doctrine to be further from Artebazzan and the declaration of spiritual crimes of war.
Over Winter it appears that a great amount of the Church motions were functional, but of little wide reaching influence. However, as the Summit approaches something strange is occurring. There are thousands of priests from across The Concord who do not attend the Summit. Be it a lack of notoriety, funds or need. But for many their influence is valid as any of those heroic priests who would attend and there is little stopping them making their voices heard aside from distance. But in the age of The Concord, surely that can be overcome.
For the first time, motions have begun to appear upon the Church Voting Board on behalf of priests who are not present at The Summit. These distant preachers bring wide ranging and possibly insightful perspectives to those heroic priests who can attend and while their motions may be inflammatory, they have every right to speak it.
While not exhaustive, three of the motions present can be found below:
Caleb of Carningsfield, Priest of Cervitas proposes the following declaration:
“The Triaminites of The Dendarri are here to corrupt the souls of The Concord towards false gods. It is the belief of The Concordian Church that any foreigner who is a Triaminite brings harm and should not be protected by Concordian law.”
Gerlinde Van Heskel, Priest of Panoply proposes the following change in doctrine:
“The current understanding of Heralds and Eternals is inherited from the fallible minds of men and may be incorrect. It is the orthodoxy of The Concordian Church that we do not know the identities, pursuits and divinities of all the Heralds and Eternals.”
Red Marrow, Priest of Anarch and Arcadian proposes the following change in Church function:
“The nature of a Throne is too essential to be decided upon by any one member of The Church. The Voice’s Veto cannot replace the Church Veto if the matter at hand is the confirmation of a Throne candidate chosen by The Senate.”
Game Information
During the coming Summit there will be Church motions present that may not originate from the player base, instead they will represent the opinions of the wider Church community in the same way that many of the auctions available represent the larger economic circumstances of The Concord. These motions will be harder to argue, given that their proposer is not present, but they are valid attempts all the same.
The motions from the previous Summit have been collected and their effects (if appropriate) have been put into action.
That Which Threatens, I Will Destroy. For my Wrath Know No Bounds.
While the Shardcircle and the Church of the Divine Spheres have experienced a number of occasions where their relationships have become tense, there have always been a handful of pious individuals who believe that the two groups can work together in harmony, and have striven to foster peace between them. As the papers and documents outlining experiments and research come in on the two new Ceremonies that the Schools under the direction of the Shardcircle have been working on, this co-operation finally reaps its rewards.
Piles of documents, mostly old and pulled from ageing stacks of parchment, have been dug from chapel, library, and church - all sent through to be sifted through and poured over by the zealous seekers of knowledge in the Schools of magic. Stallian churches and priests are always the most enthusiastic to share their knowledge (though their submissions are always freshly written copies, just in case anything should happen to them), but hearing the great works being attempted - a scourge of the undead and an effort to save their souls from damnation - priests across the Concord have searched through their archives to try and find anything useful they might have to help support the research effort.
The fruits of their labour have borne fruit, though perhaps not quite as dramatically as they had hoped - though with significant consequences for theologians and sceptical mages alike. Two ‘new’ Ceremonies have emerged, partially tested but theoretically sound, pieced together from all of the information that could be gathered in both Anarch and Lumos - and many other patchwork pieces of obscure lore between. While the Headmaster of the De Re School of Embers, Louis De Re, is reportedly ‘inflamed’ about the result, one cannot argue that the results are both dramatic and useful. What may be of more concern are the additional revelations on the nature of undeath and its damage to the soul; although whatever those revelations are, they are being held quite close to the chest of the Headmaster.
From Lumos, drawn from the power of The Setting Sun, comes an aegis of protection, to ward off the maladies of the darkness and blight of the soul. This powerful blessing reacts to protect the one who wears its mantle from anything that would taint the body or mind with lingering foul effects of the Arcane or the Spiritual. While it is not a physical shield, and cannot protect the body from injury, the light of hope banishes any attempts to possess, madden, or damn those upon whom it rests, granting them a depthless well of passionate hope for humanity’s progress.
From Anarch, drawn from the power of The Phoenix, comes something new. The bold scholars set out to draw down a great flame that would sear away the undead where they stand, and redeem their souls so that they might gain the opportunity to attempt the Journey, rather than being abandoned into the void. There was practically no background to research from, and so with this great vision in mind they began from scratch. Some looked to draw upon the elements of the sun, others the raging fire, but even as they researched their grand designs, they ran into roadblock after roadblock. Practically despairing, it was not until they came together and focused on the first principles of the matter that success was found.
The scholars found that the true key was the power of change already in the souls of the living, a source of redemption that blazed with purity. Drawing on the natural sources of the world for inspiration was insufficient to save the soul, only a valiant and righteous soul had the power to redeem another. Drawing together their research, they put together a final submission - one that asks as many questions on the nature of the soul as it answers. The Ceremony they have created calls on the power of The Phoenix to bless its bearers with the ability to draw upon their convictions in order to change the fate of the damned. Fire of brilliant rainbow hues flares along their blades as they bare their very souls to their foes, burning the undead with fury, and sending their cleansed souls crashing from the world and off into the Journey where they may finally attempt their passage there. This is not without effort, as to affect another's soul - even a corrupted and weakened one - is no small thing, but for those who have lost loved ones to the blight of the Onyx Aristocracy, this breakthrough and the further research it could herald is a true blessing from Machine, and prayers to Stallia and Anarch ring out throughout the lands desecrated by the undead attacks.
Game Information
The Andashi School of Gifts and the De Re School of Embers have created two new ceremonies over the Summer Season. They are as follows:
| The Sunburst Armour | Lumos - Magnitude 10 - The Setting Sun - Enchantment |
| Performing the Ceremony | |
| Performing this Ceremony takes at least two minutes of Roleplaying. This ceremony targets a character or characters who must be present throughout, but need not be one of the priests performing the ceremony. This ceremony is an Enchantment. | |
| Effects | |
| The target character is immune to the next Arcane or Spiritual wound (of any severity) they would receive. When they are given the wound by a member of The Concord team they can inform them of this effect and return it. This does not affect physical wounds.
As long as they are enchanted, the target experiences the following roleplaying effect: You are filled with a wellspring of hope and faith in the progress that humanity has made, and continues to make. You feel compelled to thank those who work to improve our species through invention and the creation of new things. This effect lasts until the end of the event, or until it prevents a wound from affecting its target, whichever occurs first. Additional targets: This ceremony may be cast on additional members of the same band for +4 magnitude each. | |
| The Phoenix’s Burning Flame | Anarch - Magnitude 6 - The Phoenix - Enchantment |
| Performing the Ceremony | |
| Performing this Ceremony takes at least two minutes of Roleplaying. This ceremony targets a character or characters who must be present throughout, but need not be one of the priests performing the ceremony. This ceremony is an Enchantment. | |
| Effects | |
| The target character may spend 1 energy to call ‘Magic Fire’ with a melee weapon. This does not require the character to complete a normal spellcast, it simply uses the magical effect.
As long as they are enchanted, the target experiences the a roleplaying effect: You can feel the burning potential for change within your soul. You know that you can become better than you are. You are driven to admit your sins and seek forgiveness. You do this not in shame, but glorious shining joy. Additional targets: This ceremony may be cast on additional members of the same band for +3 magnitude each. | |