Immolation of the Korinthians

The "**Immolation of the Korinthians**" in 451 A.U. was a pivotal event within the history of the Kirvan Church, resulting in a "soft-schism" within the international church, and bringing about the final unification of the government of the Shantine Empire with the Shantine Kirvan Church.

## Background

*See also: Grand Strategy 1*
For years prior to the Immolation of the Korinthians, power within the Shantine Kirvan Church had been increasingly consolidated within the person of Shantine Empress Theoboda Kataph, much to the apprehension of many Kirvans both outside the Shantine Empire and within it.

Notably, the Immolation took place roughly five years after the Highveldt Crisis, an event which similarly involved conflict (albeit indirect) between the Empress and a Shantine Patriarch, and which brought into focus the question of Kirvan leadership and the separation of church and state within the Shantine Empire.

## Arrest of the Conspirators

The event began with a ruthless 24-hour operation by Grandmaster Arren Kane's Knights of Adarnum, wherein Patriarch Balmor Wenceslas of Korinth and hundreds of his supporters were seized and extradited to Bishant on charges of treason against Empress Theoboda and conspiracy to assassinate the Empress and Grandmaster Kane. The Patriarch's alleged accomplices included the Korinth chapter of the Knights of Adarnum, which was said to be populated by radicals linked to the tenure of former KoA Grandmaster Halifax Novascotia.

The operation was also notable for being the first use of the Knights of Adarnum's biomantic super-soldiers, the Seraphim.

## Execution

Empress Theoboda condemned Wenceslas and the other conspirators to public immolation, with millions assembling outside the Great Basilica of Bishant to file past the execution pyres. Theoboda and Grandmaster Kane presided over the burning, with Kane lighting the pyre of the Patriarch and delivering a speech promising vengeance to those who would oppose Bishant, Kane, or Adarnum.

As the burning proceeded, Theoboda received an angelic visitation: The fires were seen to redouble in strength and the Kirvan angel Leandra emerged, drawing the flames into a twisting firestorm to give herself shape. Leandra proclaimed to the assembled crowds that Theoboda was the Patriarch of Bishant and was a living prophet of Kirva, and that her reign would bring about a "Golden Age" for the Shantine Empire and for Kirvanism.

## Reactions

Shantine subjects and Kirvans throughout the cosmos proclaimed their adoration for the Empress, with the other Shantine Patriarchs recognizing her as the spiritual leader of the Kirvan Church. Patriarch Latakon of Highveldt presented the Empress with a hand-lettered copy of Adarnum's hagiography, telling her that "the Prophet-King is the only worthy example that remains for your majesty to follow."

The execution was harshly censured by others, including Patriarch Semar Salath of Aeldrum, who called the proceedings "a disgusting miscarriage of justice", saying that "this is Adarnan tyranny, not Kirvan faith. Thalran burned Kirva's enemies once, too." The Aeldman Cardinal of Idolmar wrote a concurring statement, saying that "Aeldrum should not be in a defensive alliance with a power that recklessly stokes the fires of unthinking zeal."

## Aftermath

The executed Wenceslas was replaced as Patriarch of Korinth by Preacher Mataxes, whose first act as Patriarch was to ritually burn his predecessor's residence and to purge and banish large swathes of the Korinthian clergy.

Leandra's divine manifestation fomented a crisis within the international Kirvan Church, as Theoboda wrested any pretense of independence from the Shantine clergy. Now able to declare that her every edict was vetted by an angel of Kirva, and with no apparent contradiction from other accepted Kirvan angels, Theoboda attracted fanatical support from not only the Shantine public but from millions of Kirvans abroad. The Empress and her advisors were able to negotiating a "soft-schism" with the Aeldman Kirvan Church, in which the Shantine and Aeldman churches recognized each other but the Aeldman government retained a close watch on Shantine religious activity in-country.

## Notes

1. ↑ Leandra was a hitherto obscure Kirvan angel, only dimly hinted at in the most generous interpretations of ancient texts. Leandra had manifested in the mind of Theoboda after the death of Patriarch Jan of Bishant, promising Theoboda that she could become a living prophet of Kirva were she to seize leadership of the Kirvan Church. Leandra's visitation during the execution of the Korinthians was her first public appearance to the wider cosmos.