Silvius_church

The Church of Silvius

An introduction:

While most religions offer strict doctrine and lists of rules and special rituals, the Church of the Aspect Silvius makes no claims on high and noble ideals. Those with more interest in the less noble and more fun pastimes of good natured song, story telling, sex, ale and pranks will find this lord among fae has followers and faithful across the entirety of the land.

Silvius has his strongest base of followers within the City of the Falls. Bards, artists and vast numbers of people with various creative talents reside in this city of art and learning.

The freedom of choice that is the hallmark of his teachings is tempered by the tenet that his followers not act with intent to cause harm. The antics and sometimes immorality of his followers will be treated casually and as a source of humor within the church as long as no malice or harmful purpose is at the core.

A quote attributed to an anonymous bard,
"Love yourself and love the gift of life.
Share your good fortune and perhaps your neighbor's wife."

Clerical Ranks:

Thespian

1st Initiate
2nd Servant
3rd Aspirant
4th Jester
5th Dancer
6th Musician
7th Orator
8th Maestro
9th Artist
10th Artist Laureate

Prima Donna

A cleric, who has not been initiated but does faithfully serve, will remain a Thespian. Once ordained, the cleric is afforded the clerical rank of Initiate.

A cleric can become a Thespian in the service of Silvius simply by serving well and spreading the ideals of good-natured fun and entertainment. While these un-ordained clergy may be called the same as a higher rank out of respect for their divine blessing or their chosen means of artistic expression, that does not mean they are honored as if they possess that rank.

Players who wish to RP as an ordained cleric may take the liberty of selecting the appropriate rank from the appropriate Aspect up to the 3rd rank. For a character to rise to 4th through the 7th rank, they must undergo ceremonies as detailed below. No character will be elevated over the 7th rank unless they started the character as a Neonate and have excelled in RP and OOC leadership to justify such a prestigious role.

Please note, clergy ranks ARE NOT governed strictly by character level or character experience. Clergy ranks are very much IC and will include specific duties, primarily by fostering RP and acting as leaders and/or advisors to others.

For ease of RP for rituals and to show dedication to their faith, however, some level requirements do apply for assignment of church rank.
Thespian: Must have a perform of at least 5
Initiate: Must have a lore of at least 5
Servant: Must have a tumble of at least 5
Aspirant: Must pen a poem or song that does not bomb on the forums.
Jester: Must have an RP reputation for telling IC jokes (they do not have to always be funny)
Dancer: Must have the blessing of a senior PC ranked Musician (or DM controlled NPC), a Tumble of at least 10 and at least 2 Bardic levels.
Musician: Must have the blessing of a PC Maestro (or a DM controlled NPC), a Perform of at least 10 and 3 bardic levels.
Orator: Must have a Lore of at least 20 and 5 bardic levels with forum posted speeches and the approval of a PC Artist (or DM controlled NPC).

Beyond the rank of Orator, the clergy of Silvius must have clerical levels equal to at least the level of their rank plus one, in addition to any other requirements established later.

How to greet the clergy:

Clerics, in general, are treated with respect simply for their position as Holy Men or Women. Even when one wishes to be disrespectful, it is considered rude and common to do so without style. In fact, some of the 'best disrespectful' persons follow or exaggerate the niceties of greetings and add subtle comments designed to keep the cleric off balance or uncomfortable.

It is considered bad form and ill luck to court the disfavor of a holy person and the greetings offered are generally meant to show proper respect. However, it is not uncommon for members and clergy of Silvius who are familiar with each other to offer good-natured insults or barbs as a greeting. In fact, even during the formality of a royal gathering, friends among the clergy may greet each other with outlandish insults and angry stares before laughing and embracing with well wishes for each other's family or trade.

For the average layperson, faithful to the teachings of Silvius, greeting a member of the clergy is an exercise in tact and awareness to one's environment. It is expected that the clergy will be allowed to set the tone based on what the ordained feels comfortable with. While at an open-air festival, a particular ordained of the church may welcome the masses to rush over and smother him in handshakes and hugs, but another festival they may not want to be crowded.

The individuality of the clergy is amazing and the burden of learning how the ordained of this church prefer to be greeted is left to those who wish to greet them.

It is noted, however, that if one greets a member of the clergy with an offer to buy them an ale at the nearest tap... the greeting is universally accepted.

As a side note: As a blessing from Silvius, no member of his clergy can be poisoned by any substance placed within an alcoholic drink or laced into a smoking herb that is offered to them with professed friendship.

More about the Church:

Within the Church is a group called the Harpers. Only those who have secured their position as respected Jesters or higher rank may enter the ranks of this subsect of the church of Silvius. These Harpers are further divided into two groups: The Vigilent and the Harpies.

The Order of the Vigilent are a group who deal justice to those who deserve it, but may be beyond the reach of the more traditional peacekeepers. Many of the inspectors and investigators of the land are members of this Order and often serve as Captains in the ranks of a City Guard.

Ranks of knights and paladins cannot raid a Rogue's Den or track a criminal back to his hideout, but a member of the Vigilent does not have the traditions of chivalry or honor to get in the way of doing what needs to be done. Some even suspect that many of the Thief Lords are secretly members of the Order of the Vigilent.

To be a member of the Order of the Vigilent, one must achieve the station of Jester. Entering the Order means leaving the service of the clergy for a time or even completely. Within the Order, they have their own ranks:

Private - Approval by a PC Captain (Or DM possessed NPC)
Sergeant - Approved by two PC Captains (Or DM possessed NPC's)
Captain - Approved by a PC Constable (Or DM possessed NPC)
Detective - Approved by two PC Constables (Or DM possessed NPC's)
Constable - Approved by a PC Inspector (Or DM possessed NPC)
Investigator - Approved by a PC Commander (Or DM possessed NPC)
Inspector - Approval of a PC Commander (Or DM possessed NPC) and a DM
Commander - DM approval

The rank of a Vigilant applies only within the city-state they are assigned to and the surrounding areas. Commanders meet twice a year; once publicly and once privately. During the public meeting they handle inter-city matters of justice and peacekeeping, including appointing Justicars who have the authority to met justice in the regions between the jurisdictions of the city-states.

Petty crime is often ignored by the Vigilent and left to the local guardsmen to police, though criminal activity that results in harm to others will earn their direct attention. It is because of this differentiation between "harmless" and "harmful" that many criminal gangs will deal harshly with their own people if they draw the attention of the Vigilent.

Each city-state, of course, has their own concept of what is 'harmful or harmless'. Darian o'Dell is far less tolerant than the City of falls and the City of Falls is much less tolerant than Ravenslost.

Justicars set their own levels of tolerance and roam widely. They have no authority in the city-states, besides arrest authority. Outside the jurisdiction of the city-states, they have both arrest and sentencing authority IF the local settlement lacks their own judge or the ability to deal with the repercussions of sentencing the criminal.
Justicars may be appointed by a DM based on RP merit.

The Harpies are keepers of rumors and prestige. One does not want to earn the ire of the Harpies. Once the Harpies issue a black mark on someone, their stained social station rarely recovers and few will retain respect for those thus marked.

Matters of faith, ideology, and politics are not of importance to most Harpies. The style, classiness, artistic expression and other fashions of culture and taste are the bread and butter of the Harpies. The secular nature of the Harpies has lent them to allow followers of other faiths to join their ranks as long as the individual has shown themselves to have excellent taste and style. These outsiders to the Harpies most have earned praise before submitting to join the ranks of the Harpies. Those who are not followers of Silvius are limited in their advancement more strictly and rarely rise into the hierarchy of the sect.

The station of a Harpy does not correspond to ranks within the clergy of Silvius. It is quite possible for a high ranking member of the clergy to hold a low position among the Harpies while a highly placed Harpy may otherwise have no clout outside the circles of socialites.

Each station within the Harpies requires a consistency in RP of both forum posts and IG in addition what is noted below:

(1) Adherent - Requires an invitation into the world of Harpydom by a PC Courtier or DM controlled NPC.
(2) Tattler - Must earn a permanent point of status from a PC Influencer (or higher) or DM controlled NPC
(3) Whisperer - Must earn a point of Permanent Status from a Courtier (or higher) or a DM controlled NPC
(6) Influencer - Requires a DM's approval
(8) Courtier - Requires a DM's approval
(12) Critic - Requires a DM's approval
(15) Sub-Rosa - Requires a DM's approval

(20) Master Critic - Requires a DM's approval

On becoming a member of the Harpies, one is granted a measure of power in a variety of critiques they may offer.

By giving and taking these self-styled labels, harpies can bestow great interest and notice on a person or group or remove these labels and leave them in disgrace.

Status - There are two kinds of Status; permanent and temporary. Each station has a set amount of Status they can give out as indicated by the (#) next to each in the listing above.

Temporary Status only lasts for time as decided by the one who offers it. Generally a Harpy will issue a Temporary Status point for a season. Those who have managed to consistently earn temporary status are more likely to be granted the honor of permanent status.

Permanent Status is offered much less freely because it ties the Harpies' own status to the one they issue it to. If the person they grant permanent status to falls from grace, the Harpy is unable to recover that point of Status. If a Harpy loses too much Status in such a fashion they will lose station.

If, for example, an Influencer with six points of permanent Status was to issue three points that became stained, they would lose their station and become a Whisperer again.

Critics may give something called Social Status. Nobility, well-known landholders, and members of the Court are granted the equivalent of up to five Permanent Status points.

Praise - Oddly enough, Praise is not restricted to a Harpies station and yet counts nearly as potently as Permanent Status. Praise of a person or group takes the form of a personalized positive critique. These critiques of Praise are often kept and displayed, especially by merchants and eateries. Small time merchants and public officials may not rate important enough to warrant the limited points of Status a Harpy may issue, but Praise may be more liberally offered.

For those who receive Praise, it is something they value greatly as it is rare that the common folk pay attention to high society, status and black marks. However, no number of black marks can take down a handful of letters of Praise tacked on the wall of ones establishment.

Aside from these, and mentioned already, there is a label that can leave even the very popular with a stain on their reputation that they may not ever be able to fully wash away. Such a label is that of a 'Black mark'. If a Black mark is issued to a person or group and not questioned by the superiors of the Harpy who gave it, that person or group will find that no self-respecting Harpy will attend any function they hold and may even abandon any function that a "Black mark" is invited to.

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