Regents of the Church

The Regents of the Church of the Eightfold Gods are its senior priests. Their ranks include senior members of the various Cults, the heads of the Offices and the leaders of the various provinces and administrative districts of the Church.
The Regents together form the Convocation General, the governing body of the Church.
Those Regents with specific and geographic authority have considerable local power, exercised through the Provincial and District Convocations, but often find it hard to exercise influence directly through the Convocation General when compared to those whose role keeps them in the capital.

The High Regent

The overall leader of the entire Church is also the Head of State for the Sacred Republic, in which capacity they hold the title of Octarch. The High Regent is elected by the Convocation General on the death or retirement of their predecessor. In theory any priest can be selected for the role, and the choice is usually political rather than idealistic, but in reality the chosen candidate is almost invariably drawn from the Cult of Magic, and always from one of the Greater Cults.

Regents of the Convocation

The Regents of the Convocation are those who are responsible for the day-to-day running of the Church as an organisation and as a political entity. Somewhat detached from the religious and spiritual role of the organisation, they ensure that the Church and the Republic function smoothly.

• Regent of the Church (Regent) – Adviser to the High Regent and senior minister of the Church. There are four Regents, one for each of the greater cults. Their roles are largely administrative and lack direct authority, but the Regencies are usually seen as a stepping stone to the High Regency.
• Regent-in-Ordinary – Senior priest of the Church without specific responsibility. Many attain this rank simply as a matter of seniority, or through extraordinary service, especially within the Congregations. Most of them reside in Aethrea, to devote themselves to Convocation, and take little part in the daily duties of the church.

Regents of the Offices

The Offices are groups within the Church, and specifically within the Cults, created to address specific, immediate or ongoing issues. The Prime Offices cover what are broadly the core competencies of each cult, while the minor offices address short-term concerns. Their members have significant authority within – theoretically – strict bounds, and the Regents of the Offices are some of the most individually powerful people in the Republic.

• Prime Regent (Primarch) – The leader of one of the Prime Offices of the Church. The Cardinals are the serious power players of the Church, and the congregations are seen as the place to make things happen. It is unusual, but not unheard of, for one of the minor offices to be elevated to Prime status.
• Regent-in-Extraordinary – The leader of a minor office, essentially a committee formed to address a single issue. Regents-in-Extraordinary are usually selected from the ranks of the custodians, and most strive to balance the need to accomplish their commission swiftly and efficiently, and to string out the matter until it can be made the subject of a Prime Office.

Geographical Regents

The Church is divided, for administrative purposes, into the same provinces as the Republic as a whole, and further into a number of districts. Each city or major town forms its own urban district, while the country between them is divided into rural districts of varying size.

• Provincial Regent (Provincial) – Senior priest of one of the eight cults within one of the Provinces of the Republic. Only the greater cults have a Regent in every Province.
• Urban Regent (Urban) – Senior priest of a cult within a city.
• Peregrine Regent (Peregrine) – Senior priest of a cult within a rural district.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion