The Alight

The Alight is the head of the Rukhmarite Church and the ruler of the Vestaltir. Endowed with supreme authority upon all matters of the faith, and considered to hold the same temporal power that a king would in any other nation, the one who holds this position is arguably the most powerful individual upon the Pretheyan continent.

Religious Significance

The Alight is considered to be Rukhmar's chosen representative upon Pretheya and an executor of her will. It is believed that he can communicate directly with the Firebird, and can both petition her on matters of importance and receive guidance from her. Because of this, the word of the Alight is considered to be infallible, and contradicting it is heresy. All pronouncements made by the Alight are treated as both law and objective truth within the Firebird Church, and so a tremendous amount of weight is placed upon his words.
Their role within the Firebird Church has three core components: One religious, one administrative, and one diplomatic. On the first count, matters of religious doctrine are often brought to the Alight for his consideration, and the Simurgh must seek his approval before adding any new elements to Rukhmarite canon or amending the Tome of Flames. Additionally, the Alight will often be contacted to resolve disputes that have arisen between members of the clergy, or to provide a verdict on an issue which two or more priests cannot agree upon.
The Alight's administrative responsibilities involve overseeing the funding allocated to various projects, such as the construction of new Eyres, charity initiatives and alms for the poor, and the maintaining of the bread doll, within the Firebird Church. He additionally maintains frequent correspondence with both his Parotias and Flockbearers, who often need consult with him on matters of the faith, and so a significant portion of his time is dedicated to writing letters.
As the representative of the Firebird Church, he is also expected to frequently converse with heads of state of the various Rukhmarite countries in Pretheya. Owing to the great distance between Flame's Providence and the rest of Pretheya, this is primarily done through exchanged correspondence, but sometimes kings will make the journey to visit the Vestaltir in order to speak with him in person. Very rarely, in times of crisis or otherwise great import, the Alight may leave the Vestaltir himself to journey to another country: Such as for example when, after becoming independent from the Sassanian Empire, the king of Ressengia wished to convert to Shahru. The current Alight at the time travelled all the way to Ressengia in order to perform the initiation rite himself, as a way to celebrate the Ressengian peoples' embracement of the faith.

Political role

The Alight is also the political head of the Vestaltir, having largely the same duties and responsibilities as the kings and queens of Pretheyan nations. He is responsible for the creation of new laws in the realm, is the sworn liege of the Ashborn nobility, and the supreme commander of the Vestaltir's army; although on the rare event that the tiny force actually go into battle he is not expected to lead them himself.
When dealing with representatives from other countries, the Alight insists upon separating the affairs of his political position as ruler of the Vestaltir, and his religious position as head of the Firebird Church. Publicly, he maintains that he does not allow the interests of either position to influence his role in the other, but almost no one who wasn't born yesterday believes this. Foreign dignitaries who do business with the Alight in the context of speaking to the ruler of the Vestaltir are always conscious of the fact that the man before them also heads the Firebird Church, and that if they displease him, he may several months later - for what are most certainly unrelated reasons - have them declared a heretic, and exiled or worse. This makes negotiating with him incredibly difficult, and has forced the rulers of Pretheyan nations to have to cowtow to his almost every demand.

Type

Religious, Clerical