Cardinal Kregory Hestor

“It is a fool who tells a man how to run his own house; especially when he is only a guest and there under the sufferance of much wiser men.”
–Cardinal Kregory Hestor, Drusian Arch-Diocese
Titles: Blessed of the Saint, the Black Cardinal
Seat of Power: Thical
Arch-Diocese: Drusus Marches
Just as Scintilla and Golgenna Reach are the administrative
center of the Ministorum in the Calixian Sector, so the Drusus
Marches are its spiritual center---or at least so Cardinal Kregory Hestor continually likes to remind the other members
of the Sector Synod. Well into his second century, Kregory is
a massive, corpulent man, made rich by the coin of pilgrims
and full of self-importance. As the Cardinal of the Drusian Diocese, his domain includes the highest proportion of shrine
worlds of any within the sector, including the most sacred
worlds of Maccabeus Quintus and Sentinel, both blessed by
the presence of the Saint. Thus, Kregory sees himself as at
very least the equal of Arch-Cardinal Ignato, if not his better.
In fact Kregory believes that the center of all Ministorum
activity and power should reside in the Drusus Marches and
not the Golgenna Reach. He sees Scintilla as a corrupt center
from which Sector Lord Marius Hax and the noble families
manipulate the Calixian people, and therefore as a world
unsuited to the purity of purpose and calling the church
represents. He would rather increase the distance between the
two so that the Ecclesiarchy can shake off the shackles of
Administratum meddling.
To this end, Kregory has spent decades undermining
Ignato, subverting his allies and slowly siphoning off
Ministorum resources and servants to increase the power of
his own diocese. Principle among his weapons has been the
world of Maccabeus Quintus and its cult. Playing a deadly
game of brinkmanship with Ignato, he has carefully fanned
the flames of discord on Maccabeus to keep things tense
between the cult and the Tarsine Synod, while being sure
not to spark a war which would wreck his own power base.
Because of this Ignato has been loath to take more direct
action against Kregory, and in the interests of the stability
of the region and the Sector Synod has allowed him minor
victories on more than one occasion. However, with each
victory Kregory has been growing bolder and more vocal
in his demands for greater independence from the control
of the Tarsine Synod, a path which will no doubt lead to
confrontation between the cardinals sooner rather than later.
Kregory is not without his own weaknesses however
and the situation on Protasia is a constant embarrassment
to the cardinal. Ignato takes great pleasure in pointing this
out whenever the Synod convenes, especially Kregory’s
ineffectiveness in bringing the light of the Emperor to that
world. Of course, Protasia is also the concern of the Sector
Lord and the greater Calixian Imperial authority, and so
Kregory often blames any lack of progress on the bungling of
the Administratum, limited Imperial Guard deployments, or
some such other excuse. Kregory is aware, however, that the
longer the conflict goes on, the more strain it puts on his own
reputation as a paragon of the Ministorum and the faith his
allies have in him to eventually win the support of the Sector
Synod to usurp Ignato’s power.