Ministry of Enlightenment

The Ministry of Enlightenment, often referred to as simply "The Ministry" by those living in the Midaevian Empire's vassal states, is the Empire's law enforcement and intelligence agency charged with maintaining both internal and external state security, restricting the worship of religions other than the Church of the Four Gates, stamping out the illegal use of magic, and generally ensuring the loyalty of citizens and vassals to the Emperor. Led by the Hierarch of Enlightenment, who is also one of the Imperial Praefects, the Ministry is widely feared across Erru due to the broad powers it enjoys and the harsh punishment it metes out on any who would defy the Emperor's will.
Background
The Ministry of Enlightenment has existed in one form or another throughout the entirety of the Empire's history. The earliest iteration of the agency took shape following Emperor Juranius' first conquests, when a cadre of loyal zealots positioned themselves across his newly acquired lands, integrating themselves into the developing Imperial society and keeping watch for signs of heresy or disloyalty so that the Imperial Banner could stamp it out before it took root.
The Ministry's power reached new heights with the appearance of the Imperial Praefects. Until then, they had relied on soldiers and hunters to combat enemy magic-users, with victories being won only at high cost. However, once the power and effectiveness of the Praefects was realised, the impetus shifted towards the creation of a centrally-controlled intelligence-gathering organisation, which would be able to learn all it could about a target before assigning agents to eliminate it with ruthless efficiency.
As a result of this, as the Empire grew in power, so too did the Ministry. Whenever the Emperor's armies finished enveloping a territory into their borders, the Ministry would quickly move in, establishing a branch in the largest city in the territory as well as several smaller, secret locations where prisoners could be held and interrogated or from which surveillance operations could be undertaken.

In current times, the Ministry is one of the largest organisations in existence anywhere in the world. They are responsible for everything from the organisation of witch-hunts to uncover bands of heretics, assassinating enemies of the state, capturing illegal magic-users, spying on foreign nations, ensuring the loyalty of the citizenry and weeding out rebellion or resistance movements.

Command and Administration
Governance of the Ministry is the responsibility of the Hierarch of Enlightenment. The only Praefect permitted to ascend to such a rank, like all of the Hierarchs they are directly appointed by the Imperial Household. The Hierarch is then responsible for appointing and overseeing the Regional Seniors of each of the Empire's provinces, territories and vassal states, all of whom hold the rank of Ecclesiarch. Information on all of the Ministry many vast operations is held in the Ministry of Enlightenment complex in Verus, which also doubles as the headquarters for the Imperial Praefects.
Personnel
The Ministry draws its recruits from a multitude of different sources, including the Imperial Banner, the Imperial Navy, other Ministries, and even the remnants of a conquered nation's spy networks. Provided an applicant is able to demonstrate loyalty and capability, the Ministry is often willing to overlook their past if it means adding a valuable new tool to their arsenal. Although the Imperial Praefects exist within and draw their funding from the Ministry, they are considered to exist separately from its rank structure. Ultimately, they answer only to the Emperor. It is for this reason that a Praefect is appointed as Hierarch of Enlightenment; if any regular mortal were to take the position, it is possible the Praefects would simply ignore their commands. Due to the sheer size of the Empire, in addition to the hundreds of agents and officials, the Ministry also maintains a network of spies and informants possibly numbering in the tens of thousands. No one outside of the Ministry knows the true scale of this network, but it is widely believed that their agents can be found everywhere from the tiniest woodland hamlet to the courts of vassal kings and the boardrooms of the Empire's merchant companies.

Founder: Emperor Juranius (supposedly)
Leader(s): 

• The Emperor of Midaevia
• The Hierarch of Enlightenment

Sub-groups:

• The Imperial Praefects
• Under-Ministry of Corrections
• Under-Ministry of Internal Affairs

Headquarters: The Ministry of Enlightenment, Verus
Locations:

• Verus
• Emberhull
• Tethoris
• Skaldenburg
• New Calderon
• Ksaroukhari 
• Hadeer
• Siltentower 

Type

Government, Secret Service