Orders of Arim, Part II - Cloistered Orders

While most common folk will encounter a member of the Open Orders, and these are by far the most numerous, the cloistered orders probably form the spiritual core of the Faith.  Whereas the Open Orders deal only with administering the sacraments, and the Specialized Orders focus on particular tasks, the Cloistered Orders maintain the theology of the Faith, essentially defining what it means to be part of the Faith of Arim, and how the Faith functions in the world.

A Cloistered Order is defined as an order who can administer sacraments to any Mantled priest (but not Brethren or common folk).  They also forsake personal property and relations.  However, they are best known for their lifestyles: they generally live with others of their Order, devoted to a particular purpose, and often have little or no contact with the outside world.  Instead, they focus on their studies, researching and investigating esoteric knowledge, and offering vital insight to the Faith as a whole.

The single most important Cloistered Order, and also the the least likely to be encountered, is the Order of the Ancient Tome, also called the Browns.  Founded by St Barnabas, one of the original three Archons, they are (along with with the Whites and the Blues) one of the three oldest Orders of the Faith.  It is said that when Gregor, Jomar, and Barnabas brought the Faith to Timber, it was Barnabas' idea, for he was the one who wanted access the ancient libraries of that city to write his canon.  This canon is known to all the Faithful, for St Barnabas is the author of the Book of Names... it is he who collected all the ancient and holy gospels and legends, and created the first holy tome in the history of the Faith.

Today, the Browns are a small order, but their place remains vital.  They are the ones who produce the actual Books of Names, dutifully copying the tome over and over again.  However, they are also the experts on canon law and dogma, and the authoritative sources on what is or is not heretical.  They live lives in small monasteries, far away from the corrupt world, and are rarely visited, except by other priests, and the occasional Green who comes to pick up some new copies of the Book of Names.

In contrast, the Order of the Hidden Names (the Blacks) are much better known, by the nature of their duty.  Whereas the Browns focus on ancient legends and histories, the Blacks focus on the occult, and strange phenomenon found throughout the world.  They seek to understand the work of the Daemurg and demons and other supernatural events, so that they can both reconcile them with the Faith, and learn to combat them in the future.  While they often keep to their libraries, they also do field work, and are often known for their investigative abilities.

The Blacks were founded by St Sylvia, who was one of the first priests to convert the Tets and Burgens in ancient days.  Predating what we now consider Merovia, the Blacks were long associated with the four Dukedoms, as St Sylvia was known as a counselor to kings, and her counsel was highly valued for her insight into pagan practices.  The highest concentration of Blacks is still in Merovia (particularly in Burgen and Naever), but their dark reputation has spread far and wide, and they are often valued as advisors due to the belief they know some bits of folklore and magic that could give ruler an edge over his or her rivals.  St Sylvia herself was believed to be martyred on a mission to Ravar... it would be hundreds of years before that area would convert.

While the Blacks are well-known, in the North, the most commonly encountered Cloistered Order are the Order of the Sacred Cup, the Purples.  Their purpose is a bit strange... they trace their founding back to St Adrian the King, who was an ancient king of a hall that is between Vexspar and Krakspar in what is now Kraki.  Adrian founded the Order after abandoning the crown to his son, and vowing to keep the ways of his people alive in this new faith.  As such, the stated purpose is the preservation of the Dragon Relics... remains of the ancient faith of the North.  However, in practice, the order has a far more particular purpose: the practice of medicine.

The Dragon Relics allow the Purples to practice alchemy, along with a number of other academic studies, which have proven valuable for healing, and over the centuries their purpose has shifted toward healing, with the preservation of the relics being secondary.  They are also probably the least centralized of the Cloistered Orders, preferring personal exchanges of knowledge in a network of priests, as opposed to centering their studies around strongholds.  This is, of course, due to the nature of their niche: they need to be where the sick are.

Orders of Arim, Part II - Open Orders

The most vital duty of the Arimite clergy is the administration of Sacraments, and thus the most vital of Mantled Orders are the Open Orders, who deliver the Sacraments to the masses.  To date, three Saints have become known as Archons by initiating Open Orders, and these three Orders form the public face of the Faith of Arim.

First and foremost, there is the Order of the Heavy Mantle, who are also called the Whites.  When a commoner thinks of the Faith of Arim, they almost certainly think of the Whites.  The local abbot who runs the village church, the Vicar of a major town, and the Bishop of a great city are all always Whites, who are tied to a particular geographic place in a very specific hierarchy.  They also administer the lands and holdings of the Faith, and have a significant amount of political power.  The Primate is almost always a White (with the recent exception of Augda, who was actually of the Black mantle).

The Whites were founded almost a thousand years ago, and are believed to have been the Browns believe they were the first Mantled Order.  Along with the Browns and the Blues, they are considered an Ancient Order, meaning their founding is apocryphal.  However, it is agreed that they were founded by St Gregor, first of the Archons, who knew Arim when the latter had clothed himself in flesh (it is tradition, but not canon, that the Archons each have had a personal vision of Arim).  St Gregor, along with St Barnabas and his cousin St Jomar, were said to have brought the Faith of Arim to the city of Tiber, and established the worship as we know it today.  In particular, St Gregor is said to have formalized the Sacraments, and the rituals and liturgy used today are called the Gregorian Protocols, for the man who wrote them down.

It should be noted that White organize slightly differently than other Orders... due to their numbers, they have multiple Bishops within a Primacy (essentially, the Primate functions as the "Bishop of Bishops" within a geographic area).  With in the Primacy of Lloegyr, there are six Dioceses: Caerlot (which is always administered by the Primate), Kenton (with parishes in Merleton and the surrounding villages), Timber (which had a parish in Roost), Lothan (with parishes in Senton and the surrounding villages), Lamark (which included Bessex and the entire Lamar peninsula), and Farpont (responsible for the entire Eastern Shore).

In contrast to the Whites, who are geographically tied, the Order of the Sublime Sea, or Blues, spread far and wide, but have few really bases of operation.  An order of proselytizers, their function is to travel into areas that do not yet tend their sparks, and convert them.  They are remarkably good at what they do: they are universally affable people, both likable and respectful, who possess a number of valuable and rare skills as well as an unshakeable faith.  Their modus operandi is to enter an area and live amongst a foreign people... learning their ways while merely demonstrating their own faith.  Through the strength of their character, they typically earn a few converts... who promptly learn to read, write, and gain superior trade craft in a field like medicine.  Most villages that encounter a Blue are turned within three years; the entire culture of the Wahla (the most recent converts to the Faith) gave up their old ways in less than ten years.

The Blues, like the Whites, trace their roots back to one of Arim's original three Archons, St Jomar.  Whereas the nature of the other two Ancient Archons means that there is a fair bit of evidence for their existence, the acts of St Jomar are completely shrouded in legend.  She is the one who was charged with the conversion of the Tiberians and actually gaining an audience for St Gregor's sermons.  He was already an old woman at the the time of the legendary Tiberian mission, and numerous local legends around the world claim a visit from her in her younger days.

The last Open Order is more recent, a development that came about in Southern Merovia several centuries ago through the work St Franna of Cutane (St Franna is considered the patron saint of Cutane, coincidentally).  The Order of the Unending Walk, or the Roses, wear pink mantles and eschew any sort of home, but rather bring the Sacraments to individuals who may not be part of a parish.  In areas with larger stretches of land, the Roses are absolutely vital, and they are also called upon to administer the Sacraments to travelers in lands where Arim has no permanent presence.  Generally, they serve as an alternative to the White mantles when establishing a church is not necessarily feasible.  They are relatively rare in Lloegyr, and are generally known only in Wahla, when there were no existing temples appropriate to the Sacraments already in existence.  

Killing or Murder?

There is no real prohibition against killing in the North.  There are, however, plenty of ways to sully one's honor while killing someone.  While it's relatively easy to avoid "murder," (that is to say, dishonorable killing), the finality of death means that certain issues of honor become much more pertinent in such matters.

There's really only two ways to violate one's honor directly by killing another person.  One is to attack through stealth or ambush, without giving the other person a chance to defend against the attack.  To a lesser degree, attacking without giving fair warning is also an Honor violation... the distinction is whether you possess an unfair advantage, or if resistance is impossible.  The other is to attempt to conceal your crime... that is to say making the death look accidental or from natural causes (this would deny your victim's family the opportunity for revenge).  Generally, if the other person knows one intends to attack violently, these are not issues.  The most common practice of dueling is not to strike until the other person's weapon is bared (this is not a necessity, but if the other person has their sword ready, it's hard to say they're not aware they're about to be in a fight).

This is not to say that killing another person is not a risky proposition to one's Honor.  This is because there are several prohibitions against violence... some stronger than others.  For example, attacking family or striking one's betters are considered sins against Honor.  Most notably, those with Unstained honor (Honor 5, 6, or 7) must consider the following:

• Are they about to do violence to another individual sworn to their liege or a priest or priestess of their religion?  Doing so would be disrespect to their liege or religion
• Are they about to do violence to another of higher status?  Doing so would be a refusal to acknowledge status.
• Are they about to attack a guest?  Doing so might violate the guest rite.

To avoid such pitfalls, there are a number of formal conventions to follow when issuing a challenge of violence.  

To avoid these pitfalls, there is a tradition of the Long Walk... a formal duel.

(Continued in The Long Walk)

The Long Walk

A duel doesn't need to be a formal affair... one person issues some sort of challenge, the other person bares steel, and they fight to the death.  However, when nobles and priestesses fight, there are more complex issues... issues that can stain one's honor if not heeded.  To avoid these issues, the tradition of the Long Walk has developed.

The Long Walk is not a necessity, but rather a precaution.  Observing the steps of the Long Walk ensure that an attacker doesn't suffer any damage to his or her reputation (if properly observed, the Long Walk ensures that a character does not commit an Honor violation).  The drawback?  It's named for the amount of walking around and waiting an individual must endure before seeing their quarrel resolved.

The Long Walk starts with declaring your intentions... to your liege.  One then goes to get a blessing from one's priest or priestess.  These two actions are vital... a liege must give his or her permission, and the religious leader ensures the action will not result in violence against the faith.

The next step is to issue the challenge... to clearly state a grievance (which can be nearly anything), a means of redress (which doesn't have to be reasonable), and a consequence (which is almost always death or injury).  It is important to realize that one may duel based upon a grievance such as "I don't like  your nose," and the redress could be "cut it off."  A common address when one merely wants to kill someone is "Your birth offends me, leap over the moon or I shall end you."  ("Leap over the moon" is a common metaphor for the impossible).

The individual challenged must address this, or be displaying cowardice in the face of danger (a level 5 violation).  Further, if the challenger does not address the challenge, they imply consent to any sort of danger you might impose on them, at any time (that is to say, any violence you do against them does not cause an honor violation).  However, they need not be in a particular rush... as long as they respond in a reasonable amount of time (generally thought to be about a day, plus the amount of time it takes the messenger to travel) the Long Walk continues.  The challenger can either fulfill the redress, or offer terms.

Terms are traditionally very specific.  They include the size and location of the fighting ground, whether armor or shields are to be used, and time of day.  Note that terms such as "first blood" do not apply... the fight continues until it stops.  However, if the individual challenged is of higher shared status than the challenger, he might name a champion (note that if two individuals don't share status, the challenger doesn't have to accept a champion).  

After the terms are accepted, the duel can happen.  There are generally no issues or limitations, and violence can occur without concern for honor.   At any time, the challenger can simply attack... and hope that their recklessness does not cost them Honor.

Orders of Arim, Part I - Mantled Orders

The Faith of Arim has grown around the acts of Saints... individuals of legendary devotion to the Faith who, in their piety, see to the prosperity of the faithful and the proper care of their Sparks.  These saints are generally of two sorts... Heroes of the Faith, which include martyrs and others who have done great deeds that the Primate of Tiber choose to recognize, and the Archons, who found a Mantled Order.

The priesthood of the Faith exists for a single purpose: to attend to the Quality of Mercy through the Seven Sacraments.  These Sacraments are the core of the faith: the reason Arim created the priesthood was to see that the Spark received the proper attention.  However, there are only a handful of priests that actually see to the Sacraments... the vast majority of priests serve some special function within the sprawling organization that is the Faith of Arim.  These functions require specific study, which is why all priests of Arim take a mantle... it denotes what their function is, and how they fit into the Faith's hierarchy.

Of note are the "Gray Mantles" which are not actually part of an order.  All those who join the Faith are Gray Mantles (called Brethren) until they join a Mantled Order.  Nearly half of all priests, however, are Gray Mantles, and they fulfill the vital functions associated with day-to-day tasks... these range from cleaning the altars to tending the gardens to manual labor to caring for orphans.  Generally, if there is an unskilled task to be performed, Gray Mantles do it.

However, Gray Mantles are not Mantled, and therefore suffer no restrictions on their behavior.  By the same token, they are not allowed to administer the Sacraments in any manner.  Instead, this privilege happens after an individual receives the Sacrament of Mantling, which creates them as a mantled priest. This (typically) requires them to give up all worldly ties (i.e. Status and marriage).  In return, they receive the ability to administer the Sacraments, and become Abbots (Status (Religion - Arim) 2)... which allows them to direct any Gray Mantle they might encounter.

Mantled Priests exist in a particular hierarchy, where Abbots answer to Vicars of their Mantled Order (and only their Order), Vicars answer to Bishops (who are generally the highest ranking individual in an Order in a given area), and all priests answer to a single Primate (who alone has the ability to command all members of the Faith).   There are exceptions... generally the Order of the Heavy Mantle (called the Whites) have multiple Bishops in a single Primacy (as Whites are the most numerous order, and most tied to particular locations).  Further, there are rarely enough priests of the Sublime Sea (called the Blues) to justify a Bishop in any given Primacy, as they spend most of their time abroad.  However, the import an thing to understand is that a White Bishop and a Black Abbot do not answer to each other... they have their own chains of command that lead to the Primate.

There are four different kinds of Mantled Orders... each will be described in a subsequent entry.

• Open Orders include the Whites, the Blues, and the Roses.  These are the only Orders that can administer the sacraments to the unmantled (and as such, they are the most common).  Priests of Open Orders almost always display their colors, and are easily identifiable as priests due to the nature of their calling.
• Cloistered Orders include the Blacks, the Browns, and the Purples.  They are different from the Specialized and Hidden Orders in that they can administer the Sacraments to any Mantled Priests (but not Brethren or common folk) and that they have to forsake personal property and relations.  Generally, they focus on esoteric knowledge (such as the Blacks and the Occult, or the Purples and the body).  
• Specialized Orders include the Golds, the Greens, the Yellows, and the Drab.  The difference between a Cloistered Order and a Specialized Order is that priests of Specialized Orders cannot administer sacraments to anyone outside their own Order, even Mantled Priests of a different Order.  They generally have a very particular function (for example, the Golds are guards, the Greens are messengers).  
• Hidden Orders include the Reds and the Silvers.  These Orders are invisible and their membership secret (to the extent that they may actually hold Status outside of the Faith).  They have very particular roles that require their identities to remain unknown.

Heorot Fealty

With the upcoming game being partly focused on fealty, it's probably a good opportunity to explain how fealty works (in the Heorot sense, at least).

The King does not command subjects directly… it's not an Honor violation to disobey your king.  Instead, it's an honor violation to disobey your liege, and the King rules by commanding the loyalty of the Earls of the Heorots.  It is the Earls who see to order within Lloegyr, and to whom most nobles are sworn (and who will keep the peasantry in line if they try to revolt). It's this relationship of fealty that give the King his power:  the most powerful individuals in the realm are bound to obey him.

Fealty is a completely voluntary obligation: a liege must offer it, and the vassal must accept.  Once accepted, the liege owes continued largesse to the vassal (which is represented by the Vassal merit).  However, the vassal may end the arrangement at any time: he returns the gifts of the lord (and mechanically, gives up the benefits of the Vassal merit, if he has it).  When a new king is crowned, the Earls reswear fealty to him (or do not… see below).

At the next game, the opportunity will be given for people to swear to the King: all you need to do is publicly make a statement of loyalty.  The king can then offer a gift… if you accept it, you are now the King's vassal (and can buy the Vassal merit).  

However, there's some important things to remember:

• To swear to the Heorot king, you really can't have another liege.  To swear directly to the king as a vassal, when you're sworn to, say, one of his Earls, is a violation of your agreement with your lord.
• You do not offer the King gifts… this is a grave insult.  The king offers you gifts, and if you accept them, you are considered bound to the king for as long as you hold that gift.  If you give the gift back, then you are free of any obligation, but it's also a pretty clear statement that you no longer support the King.
• The King is under no obligation to allow anyone who isn't loyal to him to hold land, title, or even keep his neck.  In fact, it's expected that if an Earl doesn't swear fealty, there will be a reckoning, and it will likely be violent.  If you're an Earl who swears, receives a gift, and then returns it, well, you better have your guards in place, because you can expect a visit.

Remember… there are no laws.  The King wants to control powerful Earls.  There's two main ways to do this. First, he can court powerful Earls and make them loyal, or he can make those loyal to him powerful Earls.  How he does so is a matter of Honor, and the ability to enforce his will.

Heorot Men Marry Late, and the Primacy of Player Decisions

First, the actual setting material.

Heorot men typically come of age in their mid-teens, when they are physically capable of battle.  The Heorot rite of passage is typically a test of mettle: the month of Geor is typically reserved for all kinds of tourneys and games, and when a boy competes in his first games, he is considered a man.  Coincidentally, this seems to be about the same age that women begin menstruating, and so both men and women reach maturity about the same time.

However, Heorot men typically marry relatively late, particular since the Guth War.  The heroes of that generation... Castus, Burgred, Finn, Oswulf, Walder... all started their families relatively late in their lives (in their late twenties).  The first legitimate child born to one of Castus' close friends was Aldred, who was born when Burgred was already in his mid-twenties.  The King himself was 28 when his son was born, and Ala, the King's only legitimate child, was not born until the King was 35.  The reason for this was relatively practical: until it seemed that Castus had a legitimate chance of winning the war, having heirs was of secondary importance.  Even then, there was a general sentiment that the kingdom should be won before children be had, and most men of this generation delayed starting a family.

This sentiment was passed down, in a manner, to the current generation.  The general attitude amongst Heorot noblemen who are old enough to remember the Guth war, but not old enough to have fought in it, is that one should accomplish something before he marries.  As such, the many heirs of this generation... Aldred of Timber, Nulte of Lothan, Lud of Kenton (generally those of age to have fought in the Merov War)... are unmarried.

While this was a cause for concern amongst the Earls for some time, with the death of Nulte of Lothan without issue, this has quickly become a common topic of discussion in Heorot Halls (when they're not talking about rebellions, succession, and murder, of course).  There is a prevailing attitude that it is time for the eligible Heorot bachelors to find themselves wives, and get to making new bachelors for the decades to come.

From a meta-game perspective... all of this background is about twenty minutes old as of the time this blog was published.  The facts have always been true, but there has never been a reason given for why the named characters of the setting married so late.  Instead, the dates came about from players all picking their ages independently, and when I put them on a timeline recently, some demographic information became apparent.

There's some thematic elements of this game I try to hammer home (i.e. honor), because they're vital for the tone of the game.  If players do not understand or address Honor, or hospitality, then the storyteller has to reinforce that element.  Other elements, however, I try to leave alone, and justify in the game.  This is one of them... the ages at which your characters marry and have children might not strictly reflect the source material, but in the end, it's better to allow players to define the setting, and use it to come up with interesting additions to the setting.