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Sep 20, 2024 12:21 AM

Religious: Blai Artigas

catechisn't

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Blai Artigas

bughouse

Alicorn

Blai is tracked to be a cleric when he is in school. He is very good at knowing what he doesn't know: Creation is vast and full of things that both directly and indirectly thwart mortal understanding, because mortals are very bad at understanding things. The cure for this ailment is hierarchy. Even a god cannot (anymore) give individual marching orders to every bewildered ant in their purview. But they can order their servants and those orders can include how to further order their subordinates. Sometimes it is not clear how any plans are advanced by the movement of a divinity's mortal pawns, as scaffolding is placed and then does not feature in the final structure, as wax is molded and then burned to make way for silver. It would be a poor bit of scaffolding which, seeing that those like it were never part of the cathedral, deserted under the feet of the craftsmen, who likewise are not ingredients of the edifice. It would be a foolish craftsman who tried to embed himself in the mortar, and an unworthy one who abandoned his work to pursue leisure.

Blai is actually very insecure about being a cleric. He would prefer never to be promoted. At low levels of the hierarchy he can just do as he is told. At higher ones he would be operating in complicated enough situations to need to interpret orders. To make judgment calls! He pays extremely close attention in cleric training and it is not mostly about how to do that. But his anxieties are not important. No one asks the pliers in the glassworker's hand, as he creates the window in the wall of the temple, 'do you feel confident of this strike'.

He is stationed in the Worldwound. It's a relief, not that this matters. There's a lot of prior art on how to cleric a Worldwound fort. There are policy handbooks and checklists and best practices. He follows them all, submits for his superior's consideration a proposed flowchart for how to fall back to more minimal functionality during resource shortfalls, casts many orisons and a few higher circle spells, and plays chess, when "hurry up and wait" hours mount. Often just against himself when no one else is interested, though none of the policy handbooks say he's supposed to torture people for beating him at chess (or for losing, for that matter) so he's not sure why it's so disfavored as a pastime. Maybe someone else has an extrapolitical hobby of torturing soldiers for beating them at chess and word gets garbled.

He gets a book on chess variants, at one point, offered by and purchased from an adventurer who stops by their fort and is willing to play chess with him, possibly because Blai would not be authorized to torture him even if it came up. It has versions for more players, different arrangements of pieces, adjustments of the rules of engagement. He has pretty broad discretion in how to punish minor infractions in his fort, which is dizzying until he realizes he can sentence people to play weird chess with him, and then he's very satisfied with the arrangement. If enough people are late or drunk or thinking questionable thoughts or plausibly exhibiting cowardice on the battlefield, he can get three of them together all at once and play the one where there are teams and you get to use your teammate's captured pieces on your own side. It is a testament to his previous diligence that this does not increase the average weekly number of infractions recorded at the fort.

Then somebody conquers Cheliax.

It's the shortest war Blai's ever heard of. Four days. The Worldwound doesn't change in response to geopolitics, though, and his orders remain the same.

Then some months later his spells get pulled.

It's not just him, or he'd be really worried he'd done something wrong. It seems to be happening to loads of Asmodean clerics. Their lord is taking down the scaffolding. Something has been completed - or possibly abandoned, it's not for them to know. Nobody actually recalls him, even when he writes for orders, so ad-hocs some modifications to his routine to account for not having spells, and it happens that his men don't decide to tear him apart given the opportunity, so that's convenient. One of them even volunteers to learn chess. At some point the Worldwound closes, though that makes surprisingly little difference to daily operations, as the demons weren't ontologically dependent on the portal and will keep coming for a while.

And then Someone picks him up.

Like a chess piece lost at one board and emplaced on another facing the opposite direction, he has been fielded by his lord's enemy's ally - or something - mortals are not given to understand such things, but Iomedae is giving him spells now. Once he has satisfied himself that it's definitely Her, and his confused and grouchy men at the fort continue not to tear him to pieces, he writes to Lastwall, since that's where the Iomedaeans live.

To whom it may concern:

I have been in service at Chelish Worldwound border fort #11 for eight years in my capacity as a Priest of Asmodeus. Due to recent Events I found myself disempowered and then Re-empowered by Iomedae. Knowing not what Divine Arrangements have taken place to cause such a Result I nonetheless mean to submit myself humbly to my new God and carry out Her Instructions. I am unfamiliar with the chain of Command by which I am now to receive such, being that my customary Superiors are in an organizational Shambles on all fronts and most likely have not all been transferred to Iomedae's keeping in the same action. As of this writing I retain the obedience of fort #11's complement of Personnel but am unclear on prospect of Resupply, further Orders, projected Demon Incursion rate given the Closure of the Wound, possible Desertions, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Please instruct me as to who may be my superior in religious matters as of this time and what it is they would have of me most particularly vis a vis the Conquest of my Nation.

Iomedae's,
Blai Artigas

p.s. is it "Select" now? I have met Abadarans of different titles and do not know how many Iomedaeans have.

p.p.s. e4

He has the wizard copy it so he has one for his records and sends the original off.

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Lastwall

lantalótë

Select Blai Artigas,

Your identity and conversion has been verified by commune. Congratulations. (And, yes, it is 'Select'.)

At present you have no position within the church hierarchy and as such no superior per se. If you wish to be admitted to the church hierarchy you will be required to undergo instruction first. If you so request, a teacher can be sent to your location to provide such instruction without an interruption in your existing duties. However, due to the difficulty of travel and a shortage of senior instructors due to Events, it may be some time before we can send someone. If circumstances permit and more prompt catechism is a priority for you, you may present yourself at Crusader's Fort or at Vigil, where instructors may be more readily available.

Demon incursions are expected to continue for some time, as a large number of demons was trapped on this side of the rift when it was closed. We expect incidents on average to become rarer, smaller, and less organized as this demonic population is depleted. However, some greater demons have been observed within the wardstone barrier since the closing of the Wound, and we believe one or more concerted breakout attempts will be made before victory is complete.

Please clarify fort #11's situation. You are not in contact with the new Chelish government? When did you lose contact? Are you in communication with the other Chelish forts? What is your current supply situation?

Please also clarify the following points about your personal situation: How many circles of spells did you have from Asmodeus? How many do you now have from Iomedae?

The following consists of advice, and not orders; as described above the church cannot at present lawfully command you:

1st, you should obey all lawful orders given to you by the new Chelish government.
2nd, absent such orders you should remain at your post and continue to oversee operations at fort #11.
3rd, you should adjust your procedures for running the fort as appropriate for the new situation. In particular, if you have not already, you should reduce punishments for disciplinary infractions. (The standard Lastwall garrison disciplinary handbook is included in this parcel for reference, though the policies therein may require some adjustment for the particulars of a northern worldwound fort) You should also, if you have not already, adjust your procedures around triage and rationing healing resources to account for having healing channels.
4th, if you are capable of communing with the Goddess you are strongly advised to do so sparingly. For any non-urgent, non-secret matter, the best practice - when possible - is to send your questions to Vigil where they may be asked more efficiently.

Hans Terzić, Commandant, Crusader's Fort

p.s. c5

Blai Artigas

bughouse

Alicorn

Commandant Terzíc,

Thank you very much for responding. I will write direct to you until further notice rather than sending again to Vigil until such time as I require a Commune. I was and again am 3rd circle.

I do not have reason to believe my Catechization is urgent given that the priority remains the maintenance of fort #11, & suspect that my absence to visit Crusader's Fort would Destabilize my personnel, as well as those of adjacent forts which remain without Clerics and at present require my visits for water. If my Fort should fail I will consider excursing to Crusader's after falling back to #9 however.

A number of ostensibly temporary Reassignments took place during the 4 day war. It has produced somewhat more than 4 days of Fog. The teleportation capable wizard who previously supplied #11 is dead, indisposed, reassigned, or deserted, without Notice that has made its way to me. Correspondence is coming to us with patrol groups by way of forts #2 and #45 which are close to forts held by other parties and historically supplied Overland. The route from there suffices for Letters but is not manned suitably for Grain and Meat and other Comestibles. We are in acceptable pantry for the next 7 weeks at normal ration or 10 at shortened including the assumption that I Create food on a daily basis. Fort #9 was more recently restocked and keeps greater reserves should we need to fall back for this or any reason. The Wizard supplying Forts #17-21 at least remains in communication but has had trouble drawing her Funding to make food purchases as well as finding their Cost greatly elevated in Chelish markets so it does not seem likely she can expand her coverage easily. But I am writing to other parties also about this to ascertain the new Regime's intended supply approach and do not suppose it your Concern.

1. Understood thank you.
2. Yes
3. Particularities of the northern border do not seem operative but the announcement of my intent to adhere to the new Handbook has been met with some small Dismay in the rank and file and 1 anonymous note requesting a return to my previous Policies. It is not clear to me if this falls under the category of "permissible appeal". For now I have overridden these minor objections. Spell allocations have been adjusted suitably.
4. Understood

Iomedae's,
Select Artigas

p.s. Nc3

Lastwall

lantalótë

Select Artigas,

I realized after sending my last letter that in addition to lacking a non-Asmodean disciplinary handbook you likely lack access to the Acts of Iomedae. I have corrected that now.

If there is conduct that is forbidden under Lastwall's disciplinary codes, but which was permitted by the Asmodean codes, then that would not qualify as "permissible appeal".

We have reports of Glabrezu in your vicinity. Details enclosed. Be Vigilant.

Hans Terzić, Commandant, Crusader's Fort

p.s. g6

Blai Artigas

bughouse

Alicorn

Comandant Terzíc,

Glabrezu arrived in advance of your letter. Thank you anyway, and also for the Acts, which I look forward to reading.

The complaint was not about which conduct was to be forbidden; the note being as follows: "Please, not sweeping! Does Iomedae hate chess?" I believe this a reference to my prior Habit of using punishment details to recruit test players for variant Chess rule sets in my book "100 Chess Varietals", which if it is material to the Ruling I can have copied for you in the #11's Wizard's unclaimed time. I had not been of the Belief before this that these Punishments were too lenient but find it necessary now to Reconsider.

Iomedae's,
Select Artigas

p.s. d4

Blai Artigas

bughouse

Alicorn

The Acts are mostly a history lesson in epic poetry form. It's actually pretty exciting reading if you can muddle through the dated language. There's theology in it too, tucked in around the thrilling battles and dramatic introductions of the supporting dramatic personae. It's... inadequate, as his sole lens into Iomedaean theology, but he's just managing fort #11, and he's pretty sure the undead -> demons transform goes through without loss of generality. They are bad and should die at least if they are near anybody (it's possible to interpret some passages as suggesting that if the demons were minding their own business in the Abyss it would be wrong to go and kill them?). Everything else is complicated and he is inadequate to navigate it alone but he will get instruction one of these days, it's not like he's being sought out for a lot of philosophical input by the soldiery.

Then he receives a summons to the constitutional convention and he sends a much more urgent letter to Vigil requesting that someone meet him in Westcrown and help him not make a terrible hash of that.

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