Apostles of Doom

Stevos chuckled. “Isn’t that why people pray to saints? Because they have the ear of their god?”

“Well, yes, but there are so many saints, not to mention archons, I sort of assumed that it was more like passing a message along or something,” Teragdor replied.

Stevos grinned wider. “You have an exceptional understanding of how things work in Tierhallon. You are absolutely correct. For a saint, and the majority of archons, to get a private meeting with Tiernon is extremely exceptional. Large group meetings and gatherings are the norm. If you are lucky, you get to bow personally to him, get a few moments of conversation every hundred years or so. Tierhallon is a very large organization.”

Teragdor nodded. “I have always assumed it would be, considering how large the church bureaucracy is in Astlan, the huge number of saints, and I have no idea how many archons.”

Stevos nodded. “And that is just for Astlan; now add the rest of our localverse and then all the other localverses that the Five Siblings operate in — it’s almost mind-boggling.”

“I know. I am having trouble just keeping track of the names the three of you have mentioned in our conversations,” the priest said humbly.

Stevos grinned again. “Very understandable. It took me some time to learn the hierarchy. Of course, I went to saint school, so that helped.”

“Saint school?” Teragdor asked. He also suddenly realized they were having a very weird conversation in the common room of a tavern. He glanced around to see if they were being overheard.

Stevos saw him looking around and made a small waving motion. “I’ve shielded our conversation so that what we are saying will seem to be in an unknown language. It is similar to a Ritual of Overlooking, only for conversations. People will basically ignore what we are saying.”

“That’s a relief!” Teragdor said.

Stevos nodded. “But yes, there is a saint school that new saints have to go to. Someone has to teach you all about answering prayers, channeling mana to priests, collecting mana from priests. We also get much more in-depth teaching on church dogmata.”

Teragdor’s eyes widened. “Truth literally from the mouth of Tiernon and not filtered through mortal misconceptions!” He shook his head. “It must be amazing.”

Stevos shrugged. “It is a lot more accurate than what they teach in the Planes of Man, and we have plenty of very high authorities. And unlike the church here in Astlan, it is possible to actually get Tiernon’s opinion.”

“Tiernon’s opinion?” Teragdor was shocked by the idea that his god might have opinions rather than pronouncements.

Stevos grimaced. “Perhaps I should have said his judgements, but sometimes, if it involves a new issue, it can be an opinion. If it involves the provinces of another Family member, he may need to consult with them before issuing a judgement or pronouncement.”

Now it was Teragdor’s turn to grimace. “Seems rather, uhm, democratic.” He hesitated on using such a controversial term.

Stevos grinned, acknowledging the potentially insulting term. “I know, but they are all Family and they have a shared operation with overlapping interests. We don’t see that as much in Murgandy and the Federation, where Krinna, Namora and Hendel don’t have large presences.”

“I have never met anyone from those churches. I’ve met a few Torean Rangers,” Teragdor noted.

“Hard not to run into the Rangers in any far-flung region. They love to explore and discover,” Stevos agreed.

Teragdor paused for a moment before asking something that he was not clear on. “So on this point of the large Tierhallon organization?” He paused and Stevos nodded for him to continue. “I am not exactly sure who the other members of this ‘project’ are and the exact structure you have.”

Stevos nodded. “It’s actually a very unusual arrangement; as we’ve hinted at, we are trying something new outside the normal channels.”

Stevos sat back a bit, thinking of how to describe things before continuing. “All saints in Astlan ultimately report to the senior prophet of Astlan. Those of us who operate regionally also report to a greater saint in our region. As you know, this region isn’t officially staffed at the church level, nor is it at the Tierhallon level. So I sort of side report to Feronus Tibius, the Greater Saint of the Cythanian Federation.”

“So then when you received my petition, you went to him?” Teragdor asked.

,” Stevos said. Teragdor nodded; everyone knew of Baysir Tomgren. “He had been coordinating with Moradel, the Attendant Archon of Astlan, in regards to the mana-stealing demon. Moradel is the head of the archons in Astlan; the archon equivalent of the prophet of Astlan.”

Teragdor shook his head, trying to put this together. “You have all mentioned Moradel; he is part of your team?”