The Anthelian
The City of Delphi is governed by the Anthelian, a closed and labyrinthine order of high interpreters, seers, historians, and enforcers. They are not priests in the traditional sense—they are judges, archivists, and theologian-bureaucrats, charged with protecting the Oracle from misuse, and the world from truths it cannot handle.
The Anthelian wear deep indigo robes adorned with seal rings, bronze keys, and slate tablets, each marking their rank and jurisdiction. Within their halls, prophecy is not poetry—it is evidence. Oracles are cross-referenced, codified, and in some cases, sealed for a later age.
Their authority is supreme within Delphi. Not even kings speak to the Oracle without filing proper invocation requests, usually months in advance. To violate these laws is not heresy—it is temporal treason.
Some whisper that the Anthelian have withheld prophecies, rewritten destinies, or buried dangerous futures beneath the city. Others say they keep a "Counter-Oracle", a hidden chamber where prophecies deemed too potent are locked in darkness and guarded by mute watchers.
Regulation of Prophecy:
- The Invocation Docket
Anyone wishing to speak to the Oracle must file a formal request called an Invocation Docket, reviewed and approved by multiple levels of the Anthelian hierarchy. Time, place, and permitted scope of inquiry are strictly limited. - The Seal Rite
When a prophecy is deemed dangerous, it is ritually sealed—bound in script and wax, locked in the Counter-Oracle, and guarded by a sect of mute sentinels who have ritually surrendered their names and speech to serve fate without question. - The Codex Communion
Each week, senior Anthelian gather to perform this solemn rite: reviewing archived prophecies, updating redactions, and cross-referencing signs with recorded visions. It is part prayer, part audit. - The Silence Watch
A vow of silence is sometimes taken by mid-ranking interpreters when guarding a prophecy in transition. They fast, refrain from speech, and cover their faces with wax-sealed linen until the prophecy is either fulfilled or sealed away.
The Anthelian Seal Classification System
"For every future, a lock. For every lock, a judgment."
—From the Book of Containment
Seal Class: Aetheria
Level: Minimal
Access: Open to trained interpreters
Description: Harmless or routine prophecies—dreams of weather, harvests, or civic outcomes. Frequently archived and sometimes shared with city officials or the public.
Seal Class: Pythia
Level: Moderate
Access: Sealbearers and above
Description: Prophecies involving noble families, minor divine influence, or political tensions. Requires oversight but is not inherently destabilizing. Sometimes selectively released to manipulate diplomacy.
Seal Class: Veilbound
Level: High
Access: Custodians and above
Description: Prophecies that include war, mass death, divine omens, or dramatic historical shifts. May involve warnings of assassination, invasions, or plagues. Only reviewed during Codex Communion.
Seal Class: Nullis Vox (“No Voice”)
Level: Forbidden
Access: Votive Eye and Pale Tribunal only
Description: Prophecies containing blasphemous content, direct divine rebellion, the death of gods, or revelations that undermine the authority of the Oracle. These are not read—they are locked and buried beneath Delphi. To speak them aloud is treason.
Seal Class: Obscura Primus (“First Darkness”)
Level: Cataclysmic
Access: Pale Tribunal only
Description: There are fewer than five known. These prophecies threaten the nature of time, fate, memory, and existence itself. These are stored in the Counter-Oracle, protected by the Mute Watchers and sealed in triple-glyph stone caskets.
Structure
The Pale Tribunal (High Council) – Three anonymous figures, masked, whose sole purpose is to decide the fate of catastrophic prophecies
The Votive Eye – Elite interpreters with clearance to hear direct Oracle utterances.
The Veilwright – Ritual enforcers who guard The Oracle.
The Custodian – Oversees prophetic records and the Codex Chambers.
The Sealbearer – Authorized to redact and restrict visions.
The Echo (lowest) – Novices who transcribe dreams and minor prophecies from other seers.
Tenets of Faith
The Future Is Sacred
Prophecy is not a gift—it is a burden. To see what is to come is to carry the weight of its consequences. The future is not for the many, but for the few who can interpret it without breaking it.
Truth Is Dangerous
Knowledge of the future can unmake nations, destroy lives, or empower tyrants. Not all truths are fit for daylight. It is the divine duty of the Anthelian to determine what must be known… and what must never be.
The Oracle Is the Mouth of The Gods
The Oracle does speak for the gods. To approach the Oracle is to ask the gods a question—and gods, once stirred, cannot be put back to sleep. Thus, all interactions with the Oracle must be guided, sanctioned, and protected.
Order Preserves Destiny
Chaos is not merely political—it is metaphysical. The Anthelian prevent the unraveling of fate by filtering, regulating, and preserving prophecy through ritual and bureaucracy.
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