Father Lennard

A highly placed priest within the church in Magra and strong adherent of the New Faith. He was a student and protégé of Patriarch Fortis up until Fortis was assassinated by a man Lennard suspected was an agent of the Inquisition, after which Lennard took up the banner of leader of the New Faith in Magra, eventually forcing his way into the office of the province's Patriarch.

### History

Lennard was born in Eliria, the son of a family of minor Nobles of the Mantle. He enrolled in the Divine Seminary and studied to become a priest, quickly becoming noted as a rising preacher. After his graduation Lennard spent time preaching in a number of parishes, until his radical views led to him being unofficially exiled to Anziotte.

In Anziotte Lennard met with and become the protégé of Patriarch Fortis, who was spearheading a campaign of reform within the church unified under the name of the 'New Faith'. Lennard quickly became a convert to the teachings of the New Faith, and began preaching its tenants; with a particular emphasis on the need for individuals to find their own ways to the top of the pillar.

The New Faith was quickly censored by the Faith and Lennard came under scrutiny by the Inquisition, but Lennard was careful to never advocate for anything overtly heretical, utilising Faith canon to support his arguments, and thus could not be sanctioned by the Inquisition. When Fortis was assassinated, widely thought to be the work of the Inquisition or the Secret Chancellery, Lennard took up the banner of leadership of the New Faith.

In the tensions leading up to the Anziotte Revolt, Lennard had a number of contacts with the Last Straw, though he never became a full member. Their aid was instrumental in uncovering Patriarch Cassius as a heretic that was planning a blasphemous ritual during the Day of Descension. Lennard publically denounced the Church hierarchy for allowing such a heretic to reach such a high position over the faithful, asserting that it was all the proof required to show that the practice of electing the Patriarch being done by the senior clergy had failed. Lennard demanded a return to the ancient tradition of election by parish and, in a ceremony unauthorised by the Church, was elected as Patriarch of Magra.

The Church hierarchy, dominated by the Old Faith, refused to recognise this election. When Lennard attempted to enter the Great Temple of Anziotte to complete his supplication to the Gods and be formally anointed, he found his way barred by Inquisitors and Champions of the Faith. This occurred simultaneously as the opening salvos of the Anziotte Revolt were being fired and, in the chaos, the two sides came to blows. However Lennard's followers vastly outnumbered the armed strength of the Old Faith and were quickly forced to retreat. Father Lennard completed his supplication and was anointed as Patriarch Lennard.

In the Anziotte Revolt, Lennard was a tentative supporter of the rebels. His open defiance of the Old Faith would no doubt draw retribution and the Imperial Legion coming to crush the revolt would no doubt not differentiate between 'rebel' and 'heretic'. The militant members of the New Faith defended the walls of Anziotte whilst the less outright in their rebellion gave aid and shelter to those displaced and wounded in the fighting.

### Appearance

Lennard is a well-kept and orderly man. Outside of his small Priest's cell in the Great Temple, he is always seen wearing his ceremonial priestly robes, dyed the brilliant white of the New Faith. He has taken to wearing the Patriarch's crown, and the richly inscribed Patriarch's robes over his own robes. He keeps his face shaved clean, and has brown hair styled back into a tightly-controlled bun.

### Personality

Lennard is widely noted and often reviled for his strong views in defence of the New Faith. He argues that all men err and thus the written accounts of Isatius could have erred in his stressing of the Lots as the divine order of the world, and preaches that it is up to all men to find their own way to the Gods through their own pursuits of love, law and will. Despite his often clashes with the Church hierarchy he does not reject the need for a hierarchical Church, or advocate for tolerance of other faiths.