Archbishop

Rumoured to speak the word of the gods, everyone highly respects and looks up the the archbishops as if they are the most important people in the nation. Their every step is applauded and blessed, with a short appearance on the street being the news of the week. It is considered a blessing to talk to an archbishop face to face, and a sign that the gods favour you.

History of the Profession

Being an archbishop is an ancient role, with years of history behind it. The first archbishops were originally religious leaders that ruled over multiple towns and villages, bringing peace and unity to the land. They were the people that created the nation of Ethra (although it was much larger back then) and created the first council of the church. Eventually, the archbishops decided to assign roles to each other, allowing them to focus on improving one part of the nation each.

A Holy Purpose

The archbishops are in charge of making most of the decisions in Ethra, leading the council and controlling the laws and taxes. They are intended to keep peace and harmony in the nation. As spiritual and religious leaders, they are believed to be led to make the right decisions by the gods. This means that an archbishop may not be externally removed from their job unless there is a unanimous vote by the other archbishops as people believe that all their actions have a holy reason, even though it might not be obvious.

Selection

To become an archbishop, a person must be a member of the clergy that has gone through the steps in the church to become a bishop. There is a set number of archbishops so a space needs to open up due to either resignation or death. Before being appointed, each potential candidate will go through a series of tests to ensure they are of perfect health (blessed by a god) and of sound mind, suitable for a highly demanding job. The remaining candidates will be taken to a bare room where they will remain for a week, without food, to meditate. In this time, the room will be infused with vieldra to allow for communication with the gods. For those that are still alive and well by the end are considered chosen by the gods, allowing them to move forward to the voting stage. Additionally, with the role of Archbishop of a University, a further step must be taken before the voting where candidates prove their proficiency of that particular type of magic. The voting stage then consists of the other bishops voting on their favourite until there are three left, before the overall winner is decided on by the other archbishops.

Sacred Rites and Ceremonies

The life of an Archbishop is steeped in ritual, from their sacred anointment to the mystical rites they perform throughout their tenure. These ceremonies are a way for the people of the nation to feel connected and seen by the gods, believing they bridge the gap to the divine world. Vireldra plays an important role during these rites as it is said to relax the body, allowing the gods a clear path to the mind.

Key rites include the Rite of Anointment; which officially bestows their title, the Rite of the First Flame; blessing the new scholars and their pursuit for knowledge, and the Closing Rite; a funeral rite for an archbishop or other important figure.

Archbishop of a University

In the years of the first council, the Archbishop of Education wanted to oversee the education and training of the young people so she decreed that a university shall be built. This was free further education that any citizen could access, provided they possessed strong enough magical abilities. Before this, education stopped at the age of 16 and only those that were wealthy could afford to send their children to further schooling. It provided a way for the poorer classes to gain more magical abilities and therefore better jobs. However, the school was soon overloaded and they had to tighten the admittance criteria. When she died, it was decided that the university shall be split into three, one for each type of magic; elemental, psionic, and sorcery, with each university being presided over by its own archbishop. This increased the overall capacity which allowed even more of the nation to access education it offered. These days, each Archbishop of a University presides over more than 10 times the amount of students the original university had. Their jobs include; ensuring the university is running smoothly, observing the admittance proceedings, dealing with any major conflicts and disagreements, and personally graduating all the students.

Tithes, Privileges, and Gifts

Each archbishop will be granted their own house and land, with all expenses paid and a large monthly allowance. They will also have a large office and apartment in their place of work. However, they are expected to be very involved with charity work and it would seem unholy of them to indulge themselves. For this reason, most archbishops choose to give away large amount of money to charities and spend most of their time in their apartment, leaving their family to occupy the house.

This luxury is paid for with the taxes of the people, giving rise to much controversy about the necessity of this when the money can be used for other parts of the nation. Around 30% of taxes is spent on the church, with an entire 5% being for the archbishops alone. In addition to this, archbishops also gain gifts and tithes from the people in an attempt to gain favour with the gods. This ranges from small offerings of flowers or food, to pledging a percentage of their wages.

Threats

Many people dislike the amount of power that the archbishops possess and protest that amount of control in a just few hands. There are also some that are against religion entirely, believing that we should be taking it into our own hands and not relying on the gods for guidance, while others are set to expose the lie that the archbishops are in communication with the gods. All of these groups are a huge threat to the livelihoods of the archbishops, with many failed and successful attempts on their lives. This means that each archbishop has a personal guard that follows them around everywhere, with public parades and visits highly monitored for any potential threats.