Papetral Pontifect

## Heraldry

Coat of Arms and Heraldry of the Papet

The **Papetral Ponctifect** is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Papet in Arendor over the religions of the world, as well as an independent sovereign entity. It serves as the central religious point of reference chiefly among matters of religious freedoms and resolutions of war, though it has been referenced as a mediator in the past for resolving political and economic issues.

The Papetral Pontifect was governed autocratically by the High Pontiff Velzar for over nine centuries. However, after his death, it has been managed by Grand Matron Ishtar Savonis. In recent years, it has been restructured with more of a militaristic and colonial focus.

It is essential to mention that the Papetral Pontifect does not supersede or circumvent other governments. It is vital to the nature of the Papetral states that governments participate, in fact. Major polities are offered various protections due to their involvement. By nature of the associative nature of the Papetral states, it has little to no power without the activities of governments. It is more akin to a world forum capable of enforcing contracts with military might than a global government.

## Structure

The Papetral Pontifect is a supposedly global polity with the primary intent of mediation between cultures and civilizations. The express intent of the High Pontiff with its founding was rooted in the famous "Eddies of Culture" speech, in which he predicted that without a central governing force, cultures and religions would continue to come to blows and instigate conflict. It is only through an unaligned military body, a so-called "World Congressional," could such "eddies" be resolved without conflict.

For all of its history, there appears to only be resources provided to the Old World, with other lands outside of the world being relegated to their own devices or not heard from at all. The dominion of the Papetral Pontifect is limited by the lack of communicative efforts outside of these areas.

### Papetral states

#### Organization

The papetral state is the primary governing unit under the Papetral Pontifect. These follow one-for-one with the Dinamid Republic's Regions, and are thusly called regions even today, though *kingdom* or *empire* would perhaps be more appropriate. The papetral state is a region of relative cultural, geographic, and political homogeny in which the papetral state assigns power and religious leaders. These powers include, but are by no means limited to:

* Petition the Papet regarding major issues and seeking an official resolution
* Lodge grievances against their own governing bodies
* Ensure protections for their own religious and political practices
* Borrow money at artificially low rates of interest (see "Bundles of Reeds")
* Install religious leaders and districts of their own choice within the region
* Have their cults recognized and represented in global matters

#### Religious bodies

The operating seats of power help organize religions on behalf of a god, which helps unify otherwise disorganized mystery cults. Previously, the worship of gods throughout history has only passed through word-of-mouth, with few official religious bodies or offices taking precedence or ownership of their cults. Though most gods can be either communed with or contacted directly, some of the more abstract gods, such as Saclis, or absent gods, like Melakesh, require a unified body in which to disseminate information on proper worship and observance of religious practice.

Monks, deacons, and monasteries are all central to the Papetral Pontifect's decentralized structuring of religious interpretation. The more directly influential religious offices, especially that of the bishops, are solely to coordinate between the decentralized interpreters of the religion and the Papet itself.

The High Pontiff Velzar conceived of the "one-religion" representation with the Papetral Pontifect under a misunderstanding of how minority religions functioned; once issues were recognized, the cost of rectifying the problems of the institutions was too great. The patrimonial trickle-down of power made it so that religious leaders were under not obligation to represent minority religions, and thus only twelve religions are currently represented in Papetral matters officially.

#### Bundles of Reeds

The main method of acquiring political power is through a complicated financial instrument called a "bundle of reeds" or a recursive bond. This type of bond was created by Velzar as a means of using the deep reserves of the state of Falchios to position the Papetral Pontifect as a creditor to poorer governments, especially those that struggle under Goodfellow rule.

A bundle of reeds was a lump sum of electrum reeds, the currency minted by the Papetral Pontifect, that would incur a low rate of interest over time. Repayment was permitted in any denomination of currency in a date far in the future, sometimes as long as a century. The debt could not be paid early; it was only payable within one year of maturity.

The electrum reeds could then be melted down and made into gold and silver coins, which the local institutions could use to mint their own currency. The local governments were then obliged to use the new coinage to create bonds of their own with merchants or local banks, and from there, creating more bonds to help cover their expenses while keeping some for themselves - making the bond recursive. Hoarding the electrum was ill-advised, as even with low rates of interest, by the date of maturity, the institution would owe a significant amount.

Another recursive aspect of the bundle of reeds was the fact that if the debt could not be paid, the bond would automatically renew, only requiring payment of the original amount while interest would accrue. After the first renewal, which would almost always occur, the Papet would negotiate the aforementioned rights in order to incorporate the region into a Papetral state. However, the states would retain such autonomy and were only relinquishing some religious and economic rights, it was seen as hardly a governing body at all. In addition, it actually empowered local states and gave them certain protections, so the acceptance of bundles of reeds was seen as a boon rather than a sale.

The economic impact of these bonds was dramatic. Especially in regions with former Goodfellow rule or locations torn apart by war, the velocity of currency was quite low and there were cultural inhibitions toward merchants and guilds. The forced velocity of currency through recursive bonds meant that transactions took place more frequently, inspiring mercantilism and marketplaces to emerge as local currencies were established. The local currencies instilled cultural pride and resonance, diffusing the hesitance after Goodfellow occupation. In addition, the bonds created by local lenders helped to build local economies on credit that otherwise wouldn't have ever existed.

### Pontifecture

The main method of ensuring cultural stability and continuity for papetral states is the Pontifecture. Each region is assigned a particularly popular or culturally significant mystery cult as a part of its Pontifecture, and this cult receives military protections, political support, and monetary compensation from the Papetral Pontifect to dominate and suppress other mysteries.

If another mystery cult gains traction in spite of these methods, the High Pontiff is presented an Inquiry by either the Archbishop appointed to the region, or by a reigning government body.

### Offices and positions

The byzantine nature of the Pontifect can be best explained in a system of branches of ordinance and internal hierarchies established by the High Pontiff over time. Though there is no equivalence between offices of different "halls," their interactions are most often headed by the Hall of Cardinals.

Each branch held duties respective to their "hall" and at times these overlapped, were mutually exclusive, and tended to go through yearly reformations to suit the needs of the Pontifect. In general, the halls can be seen as the following:

* The Hall of Ministers carried out duties of worship and helped administer services to the local population
* The Hall of the Inquisition ensured mystery cults did not threaten the welfare of a population
* The Hall of Presbyters defined religions and recognized saints
* The Hall of the Papet managed the treasury and administrative duties

The precedence is as follows:

Note that for every position, a *vicar* also exists who takes on the title of their assigned office and acts on their behalf, at times as an enforcer and as an emissary.

## Controversy

Criticism of the Papetral Pontifect follows a few moments of logic that have recurred throughout its long history. Prominent critics were found even in the initial calls for such a governing body as early as Velzar's initial appearance during the Thirty-Year Siege; as the Papetral states expanded in influence in the Eight Era and beyond, further criticism came from states and polities that had little use for the Papet's negotiating power, especially the Auber of Vostok Manda, a group whom the Papet has denounced on many occasions.

### Religious egalitarianism

Most of the criticism from orcish religious leaders throughout history has been on how the structure of the Papetral states does not hold every god in equal standing with one another. The regional influence and divisions favor greater networks of mystery cults as opposed to widespread mystery cults that worship a single deity. This is seen the most with the tens of thousands of variations of the Saclis mystery, each worshipping a different heroic avatar (including The Great Eagle and Bucephan), and each receive greater representation in the Papetral Pontifect despite each individual cult only amassing on average a dozen or so members.

In contrast, the Cult of Orcus in the Ninth Era had millions of worshippers, yet had no influence within the Papetral Pontifect because of their extrajudicial acts in other nations, making them a "hostile host" in the eyes of the Papet. This also negatively affects the Old Faith, as its diverse forms of worship cannot be grouped together as easily, despite it being one of the more widely practiced "unlisted" religions.

### Economic-military architecture

According to many early Pracian, and later Merovian, academics and scholars, the structure of the Papetral states is little more than a looming military threat that keeps formerly independent kingdoms indebted and enslaved to a central bank. This was initially predicted to result in the destruction of smaller religions, especially the Old Faith, since they would not be able to compete with the more politically powerful religions of the aristocracy.

Later scholastic theorists have analyzed the effects of this architecture and note that the economic leverage the Papet has over the Old World, in addition to a considerable military presence, means that it functions less as a "World Congressional" or even an ecclesiastical organization, and more like a world government thats power of denouement and banking authority mean that it can economically cripple nation-states that do not align with the rest of its participating governments, as well as intervene inappropriately in local conflicts.

Despite these criticisms, the Papet has been embarrassed on numerous occasions militarily which indicate that its use as a military body is minimal. Furthermore, its ability to intervene in state- or even vassal-level conflicts is one heavily reliant on local authority. As once deduced by Butogne: "the Pontifect has as much might as a notary with a sharp writing instrument," insofar as that is all they can spare in most cities.

### Subversion of the Papet

It is well understood by this point that the Papetral Pontifect is easily infiltrated and its offices abused by subversive powers, as was the case in recent memory.

The incident that fulfilled these fears was organized by the Niocletians, whom had been cemented as a subversive force in governments and in religions worldwide. Throughout history, multiple powerful figures have noted that their appearance in halls of power was emblematic of internal conflict, and later the Papetral Pontifect passed insufficient reforms that were designed to oust Niocletians if they were identified. However, identifying Niocletians is notoriously difficult, and by CE 953 every single high office in the Papetral Pontifect was filled by Niocletians. It was in CE 969 that Ishtar Savonis had the High Pontiff locked within the airtight Dragon Vault, where he was found dead months later from asphyxiation.

### Inequality of states in the Papet

Despite holding financial leverage over virtually every region in the world, wealthy nations have far more capabilities and power in the Papetral Pontifect than poorer regions.