Cardinal Dantius Landsholt

Titles: Protector of the Eastern March
Seat of Power: Clove
Arch-Diocese: Hazeroth Sub-Sector
A staunch ally of Ignato, Dantius Landsholt is keen to see
the Sector Synod remain stable and focused on the core hive
worlds and trade routes. Raised up from the Landsholt noble house of Clove, Dantius’ siblings include the Clovian planetary
governor Tesnius, the world’s High Tithe Master Arlatius, and
its Chief of Arbitration and Enforcement Helatius. Ignato
was happy to ignore the nepotism and power monopoly of
the Landsholts in electing one of their own as cardinal in
exchange for the continued support of the Clovian Synod
and by extension the Hazeroth Arch-Diocese. Unfortunately
Dantius is a poor cardinal at best, and his unflagging loyalty
seems to be the only thing Ignato can rely upon him for.
During Dantius’ time in office, the power of the Ministorum
over the worlds of the Hazeroth-sub has waned, numerous
splinter cults have taken hold on dozens of worlds, and power
has slipped away from the Sector Synod and back into the
hands of planetary governors and their own pet Ministorum
officials.
Most alarmingly, however, is the spread of the influence
and power of the Adeptus Mechanicus. From their forge
worlds of Synford and Idumea, the followers of the Machine
God have usurped the cardinal’s influence on many of the
sector’s principal hive worlds such as Guytoga, Samson IV
and Gunpoint. Only the tight-knit nature of the Landsholt
nobility has prevented such an occurrence on Clove. While
ostensibly this does little harm to the Imperium or the
Imperial Creed (the Administratum especially has benefited
from the increased trade and flow of manufactured goods as
a result of its labyrinthine tax laws), it does mark a shift in
the favor of planetary governors and Administratum officials
away from the control of the Sector Synod, a matter which is
always of great importance to the Ministorum.
Perhaps the greatest of Dantius’ failings, however,
even more serious than the diminishing influence of the
Ministorum in his sub-sector, is the messy situation known
as the Heresy of the Seven Silences. Under his very nose,
Dantius allowed a subversive cult to take up residence on
the cemetery world of Pilgrim's Pause and began converting
the righteous. It was not until the Cult of the Seven Silences
began to spread toward the core worlds along the pilgrimage
routes that he was forced into action by an outraged Sector
Synod. Even after numerous bloody purges, some members
of the Seven Silences still remain alive and hidden within the
Calixis Sector, a situation that could have been avoided had
Dantius identified the cult and acted sooner. Kregory uses this
fact to discredit any input to the Synod from Dantius and to
keep him largely out of Synod politics. Despite all of these
failings, however, Ignato has protected Dantius from the ire
of the rest of the Synod and supported the Cardinal for fear
of losing yet another ally to Kregory at such a delicate time
for the Calixian Ministorum’s unity.