Chapter of Holy Endurance
Ilmatari Healers
The Chapter of Holy Endurance is a sect of Ilmatari clerics and priests dedicated to the equal aid of all suffering people, no matter their social class or race. They are primarily based in the Kingdom of the Eastern Isles, with their headquarters being the Cathedral of a Thousand Shards, a world-renowned hospital in New Haven's middle tier. Apart from offering healing and humanitarian support to those down on their luck, the chapter also has wandering clerics dedicated to spreading what the order believes is the true word of Ilmater: that the surest way to comfort suffering is to ease it.
Structure
The chapter is partitioned into two separate sects; the Worthy of Ilmater and the Tenders of Ilmater. The Worthy are made up of clerics who protect and run the chapter's various temples, as well as the wanderers who spread the true word of Ilmater across the world. They are led by a High Chaplain, who is responsible for the running of all the chapter's temples and the distribution of humanitarian aid to those in need. The Tenders are priests who specialise in healing magic as well as the more conventional healing arts, and most of them are generally found in the hospitals or aid houses, tending to the numerous sick and injured who come through their doors everyday. The High Priest leads this sect of the chapter, and is responsible for making sure the hospitals are equipped and well-ordered to deal with its patients.
Public Agenda
The Chapter of Holy Endurance has the noble agenda of aiding as many suffering people, whether that be through sickness, injury, grief, or poverty, as they possibly can, without draining their resources to a crisis point. Although anyone is welcome through their doors, they have a definite triage system in place to filter the most needy through first. Typical of Ilmatari, those who suffer the most are the most honoured in Ilmater's eyes, and this means that the person closest to death is more likely to receive treatment (or a comfortable path to the afterlife) than someone coming in from an infected but treatable wound. Donations to the chapter are appreciated in return for treatment, especially if they have the means to give back, but the priests do not actively encourage this to the point of making the patient feel uncomfortable or unwelcome.
History
The Chapter of Holy Endurance was first founded on the 21st Mirtul 1036 RH by Ilmatari cleric Gregor Arìeth, as an offshoot of the church of Ilmater. Arìeth was concerned that the Ilmatari faith was leaning more towards the prolonging and enablement of suffering rather than tackling the root cause of it. He came to blows with the other priests, who believed that Ilmater was there to comfort, not cure; Gregor believed otherwise, claiming that the Crying God did not care to see people suffer in his name, but rather raised up out of it in ways that he himself never could be. Taking this unselfish principle with him, along with a portion of the priesthood that agreed with him, Arìeth formed the Chapter of Holy Endurance out of a small house in New Haven's lower tier. For two years the sect helped as many people as they could, mostly free of charge, with whatever problems came their way. Donations were small due to the poverty of the area, but eventually they found royal patronage from Princess Danitha Valenrus, the eldest daughter of King Aron. The royal attention chagrined the other Ilmatari, who had been keen to curry royal favour for many years in an attempt to build a bigger temple. Being unwilling as they were to move from the lower tier, the Ilmatari church missed out on an opportunity that Arìeth swiftly took the king up on; a burned-out stained glass workshop in the city's middle tier was ripe for conversion into something the chapter could use. In 1038 RH, re-construction work started on the building that would become the chapter's headquarters and the first hospital in the world: the Cathedral of a Thousand Shards. Arìeth died before he could see it fully completed, but his legacy was continued in the appointment of his son, Brann Arìeth, to the role of High Chaplain. Brann went on to steer the Chapter of Holy Endurance down a path of expansion and righteous charity that has continued into the present day. The Ilmatari sect now has several aid houses (small hospitals) across the Eastern Isles and many wandering clerics that take their services around most of the world. So great is their influence that most people see a Holy Endurance cleric as what all Ilmatari are, even though this remains far from the truth.
Ilmater sees all suffering
Founding Date
21st Mirtul 1036 RH
Type
Religious, Holy Order
Deities
Location
Controlled Territories
Related Ethnicities
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