The High Clerics of the Andrytes

The Theocracy of the High Plains

The Andryte Church indirectly controls an overwhelming majority of the land. In the High Plains (Andrytus), there are no kings. Nobility ranks below the power held by the clergy. Below nobility are knights while the majority of the population are serfs. The nobility, however, are often lower-ranking brothers and sisters of the clergy tasked with assuring that the serfs carry out their labor in an orderly and timely fashion whilst teaching their servants the faith.

"It is an interesting system, I must say. Beat the masses down with ceaseless labor, fill their ears with rhetoric that shall clense them of their 'sins', and tell them that by slaving away in the fields they shall one day be shown mercy by the Bled Mother. Oh—and the privelege of being levied for an expedition beyond the Plains"

- Hieronymus, Philosohper

Their Word, Law

Law, at its most practical, is scattered within the tomes of the Bled Mother: The Book of Salt, The Book of Bleeding, The Book of Humors, and The Book of Andrytus. All of which were said to be written some millennia ago by the first humans to witness the gift that was the High Plains. Simple laws such as "thou shalt not kill, steal, or besmirch the name of the Mother" are frequently referenced. In later tomes such as The Book of Humors and the Book of Andrytus, more intricate laws and decrees were crafted to suit the modernity of civilization such as "destruction of one's property is prohibited" and "always pay what is owed". Order, however, is heavily stressed as before the Bleeding (the dawn of life within the High Plain), there was only the Salt: a barren wasteland bereft of life and sunlight.
In modern times, however, the law is always changing at the beck and call of the high clerics.

A Faceless Authority

The clerics within the capital city of Matre convene daily to discuss the ongoing politic within their territories. When presenting to the public, the clerics hide their faces and often have criers speak on their behalf so that none may recognize their voices. Many see this as a way of keeping justice faceless and unbiased while, in reality, this is done to protect the high clerics from being attacked or killed during times of uproar within the country.
When Old Kaltahg was destroyed, a group of citizens discovered the identity of one such high cleric. They invaded his home while he slept and killed him, burning his house down. The investigation carried on for nearly a year but there was no evidence other than a symbol of the Andryte faith: a feminine figure curled into a fetal position.