Seraph of Sanctum
The Seraph of Sanctum, a staunch traditionalist, has been a problem for years with the changes of the Compact. With the Mourning Isles Traditionalists splintering away and declaring a new Dominus, attempts are made to win him over.
Alis wrote to the Seraph of Sanctum, with Damiana's words and using Zara's connection to him to try to win support for Aureth becoming the new Dominus and opposing the Anti-Dominus Waldo. The Seraph responded to both Alis and Zara, seeming supportive but suggesting he needed to confer with the Faith.
Aureth has written a private letter to the Seraph of Sanctum because he feels pretty strongly that he needs to stand on his own two feet and reach out to the Orthodox himself. Diplomacy, honesty, and humility are the best diplomatic tools that Aureth thinks he has at his disposal, and he attempts to marshal them as best he can, particularly in writing to a conservative voice who nevertheless can't be happy about all the bloodshed, chaos and blasphemy that rives the Faith. But after all, an Anti-Dominus without clerical support is just a heretic shouting on a hill somewhere!!
The letter he composes reads as follows: To His Holiness, the Seraph of Sanctum,
With the passing of Beloved Orazio, the Faith of the Pantheon has called for a Convocation. It is upon the occasion of that Convocation that I write to you seeking advice and succor, for wisdom at the heart of Orthodoxy must be sought, particularly at a time, as now, when the Faith is plagued by internal as well as external threats. Grandmaster Preston, godsworn Carnifex, is the voice of Orthodoxy at my right hand, but while I have tremendous faith in him personally and as a knight, you and I both know that his years have not yet brought him the wisdom of gray hairs.
Seeking to court you with false traditionalism, the upstart Waldo Bellerive claims to represent a time when the Church was more orthodox than it is now, to reject those changes that began with Beloved Aldwin and that have been balanced in the ensuing years by Beloved Orazio and by our own work. I know that the labors I have undergone for the Triad of the Lost are still under debate by the learned clerics of Orthodoxy, and even now I humbly await their judgment. I have sworn my oath to shepherd the flock, and to protect the Church, and I will do so to my utmost, even unto my last breath, whenever that may be.
Many men who have sat this seat before me have a history of noble blood. I do not. I have some history of noble patronage, in that I have been raised up by duchesses and princesses who sought to sponsor me before society, but I have always, always been an independent voice, and many have accused me of being too progressive merely by virtue of the goddess for whom I was first Archlector and to whom my first oath was sworn. Perhaps that is so. But I write to you now with the force of truth. You know me to be a friend to the traditions of the Church. I have done more to build the social and economic power of the Church in every way since Beloved Aldwin elevated me to my post as Legate than anyone else. And the simple truth is that I was able to do that because before I was ever a priest, I was a man of business.
What has mattered to me more than anything is the success and stability of the Church as an institution. You know that I do not dissemble because you have seen the truth in my history. And you know that these men who claim tradition broke sanctuary, burned the Grand Cathedral, and assassinated the Dominus who -- while he was Lycene -- you know well to have been no true radical.
Waldo Bellerive is a liar and an upstart who chose loyalty to a secular authority above loyalty to the Church. Dominus Orazio, Legate Bianca and I fired him before he ever stood upon a hilltop somewhere and claimed the power to excommunicate anybody. Deny him the clerical support he does not deserve, stand with the true Faith, and you will find that I become a Dominus who is always ready to listen to what the Orthodox have to say.
The counsel I seek is this: how may I best assure you and those in the Oathlands who have those concerns? How may I best preserve our sacred institutions?
In faith,
Aureth
Acting Dominus
The letter he composes reads as follows: To His Holiness, the Seraph of Sanctum,
With the passing of Beloved Orazio, the Faith of the Pantheon has called for a Convocation. It is upon the occasion of that Convocation that I write to you seeking advice and succor, for wisdom at the heart of Orthodoxy must be sought, particularly at a time, as now, when the Faith is plagued by internal as well as external threats. Grandmaster Preston, godsworn Carnifex, is the voice of Orthodoxy at my right hand, but while I have tremendous faith in him personally and as a knight, you and I both know that his years have not yet brought him the wisdom of gray hairs.
Seeking to court you with false traditionalism, the upstart Waldo Bellerive claims to represent a time when the Church was more orthodox than it is now, to reject those changes that began with Beloved Aldwin and that have been balanced in the ensuing years by Beloved Orazio and by our own work. I know that the labors I have undergone for the Triad of the Lost are still under debate by the learned clerics of Orthodoxy, and even now I humbly await their judgment. I have sworn my oath to shepherd the flock, and to protect the Church, and I will do so to my utmost, even unto my last breath, whenever that may be.
Many men who have sat this seat before me have a history of noble blood. I do not. I have some history of noble patronage, in that I have been raised up by duchesses and princesses who sought to sponsor me before society, but I have always, always been an independent voice, and many have accused me of being too progressive merely by virtue of the goddess for whom I was first Archlector and to whom my first oath was sworn. Perhaps that is so. But I write to you now with the force of truth. You know me to be a friend to the traditions of the Church. I have done more to build the social and economic power of the Church in every way since Beloved Aldwin elevated me to my post as Legate than anyone else. And the simple truth is that I was able to do that because before I was ever a priest, I was a man of business.
What has mattered to me more than anything is the success and stability of the Church as an institution. You know that I do not dissemble because you have seen the truth in my history. And you know that these men who claim tradition broke sanctuary, burned the Grand Cathedral, and assassinated the Dominus who -- while he was Lycene -- you know well to have been no true radical.
Waldo Bellerive is a liar and an upstart who chose loyalty to a secular authority above loyalty to the Church. Dominus Orazio, Legate Bianca and I fired him before he ever stood upon a hilltop somewhere and claimed the power to excommunicate anybody. Deny him the clerical support he does not deserve, stand with the true Faith, and you will find that I become a Dominus who is always ready to listen to what the Orthodox have to say.
The counsel I seek is this: how may I best assure you and those in the Oathlands who have those concerns? How may I best preserve our sacred institutions?
In faith,
Aureth
Acting Dominus