Church of the Meek
The Church of the Meek is a medium-sized holy order with 493 members. This holy order is known for being perceptive and agreeable, but also tough, one-dimensional, and bizarre. The Church of the Meek currently has 493 members throughout Is.
The members usually wear white robes with green lining, however the head priestswar white robes with yellow lining, and the high priest and priestess wear white robes embroidered with gold.
The high priest Eldermar Albion is an old human man. He is known for being more down to earth than Yelina; the type of person the commoners relate to.
The church has a small number of Paladins who travel from village to village to help protect the weak from whatever monsters are out there. The most notable among them is the Head Paladin Sadon Ashglade.
The six bishops of the Chuch of the Meek are:
The members usually wear white robes with green lining, however the head priestswar white robes with yellow lining, and the high priest and priestess wear white robes embroidered with gold.
Notable Members
The high priestess Yelina Montarac is an old human woman. She is known for being very graceful and empathetic, and she has an almost divine feeling to her.The high priest Eldermar Albion is an old human man. He is known for being more down to earth than Yelina; the type of person the commoners relate to.
The church has a small number of Paladins who travel from village to village to help protect the weak from whatever monsters are out there. The most notable among them is the Head Paladin Sadon Ashglade.
The six bishops of the Chuch of the Meek are:
- Renalee Marblewhisper, a farely young human woman known for being very beautiful and acting like she is above others because of her ahievements at her young age.
- Ibera Massoulleve, a human man known for trying almost anything to expand their holy order. He is often in conflict with the nobles.
- Tez Albizia, halfling man who is very known for his past in slavery before being saved by the Chuch of the Meek. Now he is very focused on helping other people escaping a bad destiny.
- Riordan Roquenet, a wood elf man who is known for going to small villages to donate food to children, often not eating anything himself for days.
- Jerrick Flameshaper, a human man who is the public speaker and face of the Church of the Meek. He has perfect physical health, and has a very charismatic nature.
- Partha Finecrusher, a human woman who is known for being very delicate and kind, and very good at maintaining stability. Her province is the slowest gorwing, but it has had the least amount of people leaving the Church.
Structure
The holy order has a head church in Hishos, from where the high priestess maintains the order. There are a total of six other large churches in different provinces in Is, each led by a single bishop that controls the decision-making of their respective provinces, with a few smaller churches and monestaries scattered throughout the smaller towns and villages. Each bishop has a number of young monks and priests under them, while each small church is lead by a pastor with just a few priests to spread the word, while still being under the control of the head church of their province.
Tenets of Faith
All followers of this Holy Order must live by the following tenets:
- They must seek to better the lives of the poor and the weak.
- They must never take the life of another sentient being.
- They must not give in to greed.
- They must donate any unnecessary riches to the church.
Worship
The only practices of the Church of the Meek are to come to a public prayer at least once a week in church, and also to partake in the monthly donations where everyone in the church gets a chance to donate money, food, or other items of value to the church for them to give out to the poor. If someone can't make it to the weekly prayer, they must do a prayer in private. And during the monthly donations, people should only donate if they have something they can spare. However, doing so, they gain good faith with Namaris and Nimara.
Priesthood
The Church of the Meek is led by the high priestess Yelina Montarac, with the high priest Eldermar Albion as her main advisor. While Yelina is the leader of the church on paper, both Yelina and Eldermar shares most of the decision-making. They both lead the main church in Hishos. Just below them are the six bishops, who each lead the other head churches in Is, who are responsible for decision-making in their provinces.
In order to become a priest of the holy order, one has to swear by their tenets in front of a pastor and live by them as a monk in a monestary for at least 5 years, and must be at least 30 years old, however many have to stay in monestaries for longer, as each monk needs personal approval of the head priest of the province in order to become a priest. Most people have to live as monks for over 10 years before gaining approval.
When first becoming a priest, one has to serve one of the smaller churches. Most people serve in their own province, but they can be sent to other provinces if there is a need of extra priests. Before they can become pastors, they first need to work in service under one of the bishops, and before entering the service of a bishop, one needs to have been a priest for at least 2 years, and then gain a recommendation from their pastor. Only about 20% of recommendations get accepted.
After serving under a bishop for at least 5 more years, that bishop can recommend them for a promotion to a pastor. In order to become a pastor, at least three of the six bishops needs to approve of the priest, then the recommendation is sent up to the high priestess, who also needs to approve of the promotion
Currently there are only six head churches, so pastors can't normally become bishops. However, whenever a bishop dies, or when the order expands to a new province, a vote is held among all the bishops to decide which pastor will be put into the open position. If a bishop died, each other bishop will hold a meeting deciding on one pastor from the deceased bishop's province. Once the bishops agree on a pastor, the high priest and priestess both have to approve of their choice. If they don't both approve of the bishops' choice, this process will be repeated until a replacement is found. If a new bishop is needed because of expansion, each bishop can recommend only one pastor from their province, then the head priest and priestess will have to agree on one of them to promote.
If the leading high priest/priestess dies, they will be replaced by the advisory high priest/priestess. If the advisory high priest/priestess dies, they will be replaced by the bishop who has held their position for the longest.
In order to become a priest of the holy order, one has to swear by their tenets in front of a pastor and live by them as a monk in a monestary for at least 5 years, and must be at least 30 years old, however many have to stay in monestaries for longer, as each monk needs personal approval of the head priest of the province in order to become a priest. Most people have to live as monks for over 10 years before gaining approval.
When first becoming a priest, one has to serve one of the smaller churches. Most people serve in their own province, but they can be sent to other provinces if there is a need of extra priests. Before they can become pastors, they first need to work in service under one of the bishops, and before entering the service of a bishop, one needs to have been a priest for at least 2 years, and then gain a recommendation from their pastor. Only about 20% of recommendations get accepted.
After serving under a bishop for at least 5 more years, that bishop can recommend them for a promotion to a pastor. In order to become a pastor, at least three of the six bishops needs to approve of the priest, then the recommendation is sent up to the high priestess, who also needs to approve of the promotion
Currently there are only six head churches, so pastors can't normally become bishops. However, whenever a bishop dies, or when the order expands to a new province, a vote is held among all the bishops to decide which pastor will be put into the open position. If a bishop died, each other bishop will hold a meeting deciding on one pastor from the deceased bishop's province. Once the bishops agree on a pastor, the high priest and priestess both have to approve of their choice. If they don't both approve of the bishops' choice, this process will be repeated until a replacement is found. If a new bishop is needed because of expansion, each bishop can recommend only one pastor from their province, then the head priest and priestess will have to agree on one of them to promote.
If the leading high priest/priestess dies, they will be replaced by the advisory high priest/priestess. If the advisory high priest/priestess dies, they will be replaced by the bishop who has held their position for the longest.
Granted Divine Powers
Followers of the Church of the Meek are bestowed powers from Namaris and Nimara. Most commonly, the priests of the order gain the powers of Clerics of either life or light domain, while warriors following the order gain the powers of Devotion Paladin. Very rarely, when they manage to convert people who truly regret the actions of their past, then can sometimes attain the powers of a Redemption Paladin.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The Church of the Meek has a lot of influence in Is. However, most nobles don't like them, as the church almost has more power among the commoners than the nobles. This means the church is threatening the control of the nobles who are supposed to control the province, but the nobles can't publicly oppose the church.
They also refuse to partake in warfare in any way. They only seek to protect the people of the country, not go to war oversees. The church offers protection to anyone leaving the military, or anyone not wishing to be sent to war.
They also refuse to partake in warfare in any way. They only seek to protect the people of the country, not go to war oversees. The church offers protection to anyone leaving the military, or anyone not wishing to be sent to war.
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