Hastus Arvannis

> *"The sacrifices must continue. The Harmony must never be broken."*
> - Hastus Arvannis
>
>

Lord Cardinal **Hastus Arvannis** is a cleric of the Faith Eternal and a member of the Court of Empress Valendra the Sixth of the Holy Advari Empire.

## Biography

By the year 0304 PCU according to the Tantalus Cluster calendar, Arvannis had served three Advari monarchs, and held a prominent position in the court of Empress Valendra the Sixth, holding authority over a number of ships, including the *Cloak of Mercy*. He was present at a ceremony where a number of devotees of the Faith Eternal took their own lives in sacrifice, and afterwards sycophantically congratulated Empress Valendra on the ceremony.

Despite his obsequious nature, Inquisitor Castian Vadric knew him to be part of a whispering campaign against the Empress. After the *Cloak of Mercy* was involved in a violent first contact with ships of the Tantalus Cluster's Avalon Exploratory Initiative in the Callandra Nimbus, Empress Valendra deliberately kept the information from Arvannis and trusted investigation of the matter only to Castian Vadric. However, Arvannis, along with High Cleric Darsellia Lantris and the Master Conservator, was fully aware of the nature of Vadric's investigation through his contact with Revion Jedrish Carradin of the *Cloak of Mercy*.

Several weeks after the arrival of the Avalon Expedition Fleet in CDC-41-Gamma, Arvannis, along with other members of Valendra's court, were absent from a ceremony to elevate new clerics into the Faith Eternal even after the Empress requested their appearance, much to her frustration. Empress Valendra and Castian Vadric subsequently overheard him in conspiracy with High Cleric Lantris and the Master Conservator to suppress knowledge of the arrival of the Avalon Fleet and to ensure its destruction.

When Valendra ordered Vadric to return to the Callandra Nimbus to track down the Avalon Expedition Fleet before Arvannis' forces could destroy it, Arvannis ordered that Vadric be followed. Tracking three Centran warships, Vadric was captured by the CSV *Shabayev*. Arvannis' two vessels subsequently engaged the three ships, destroying the CSV *Bracewell* and CSV *Republic* before the *Shabayev* could escape deeper into the Callandra Nimbus.

Following a visit to Sirianadin, where Valendra announced that the traditional sacrifices of Advari subjects would not take place in the presence of High Cleric Lantris, Arvannis countermanded Valendra's orders, having Factotum Rimad preside over a ceremony to send 577 of the Empire's subjects from Sirianadin to the Diaconate Reaches for sacrifice. Valendra was outraged to learn this, but Arvannis confronted her, outright describing her as a powerless figurehead. When Valendra demanded that Arvannis explain his conspiracy, he agreed to do so, but openly doubted that she would be able to understand it.

## Personality

> *"If the people are given cause to question the Faith and to defy its strictures, then knowingly or not, they will bring us all to damnation."*
> - Hastus Arvannis
>
>

Arvannis is a devoted zealot of the Faith Eternal, who is determined that the Advari people not stray from its strictures and practices. He is willing to conceal information contrary to the Faith's beliefs, insisting that evidence of the Avalon Expedition Fleet be suppressed and planning for its destruction, to ensure that the people are not, as he sees it, led astray. Arvannis retains a copy of the Fourth Canticle, an ancient religious text that was ordered destroyed in the reign of Valendra the First. Publicly ingratiating towards Empress Valendra the Sixth, he is privately dismissive of her and has little regard for the authority of the monarchy, being willing to commit treason against the throne to achieve his goals. It is not clear whether Arvannis' actions are out of concern for protecting his own position, or out of genuine religious belief.

## Relationships

### Empress Valendra the Sixth

> *"I am an old man. I have watched fool after fool sit on the throne and think themselves a ruler. But you... are a curiosity. Less malleable than your predecessors, less incurious. Perhaps this time I will show you the depth of your delusion. But I warn you. For all your belligerence you are a creature of faith, like all the rest here. Truth denies faith. You may find it better to die with your beliefs, than to live without them.."*
> - Arvannis reveals himself to Empress Valendra the Sixth.
>
>

Unctuous in manner, Arvannis is publicly sycophantic and flattering to Empress Valendra the Sixth. Nevertheless, he is privately dismissive of the Empress and is secretly conspiring against her with High Cleric Darsellia Lantris and the Master Conservator to suppress knowledge of life outside CDC-41-Gamma in order to preserve the Faith Eternal. When Valendra confronted him over his countermanding of her orders to end sacrifices, Arvannis bluntly told her that he regards her as a little more than a figurehead. While he agreed to explain the nature of his conspiracy to Valendra, he openly doubted that she would be able to understand it.

### Castian Vadric

> *"Whatever Arvannis and the court are planning is treason against the throne, we should confront them."*
> - Castian Vadric to Empress Valendra on Arvannis
>
>

Arvannis' public relationship with Inquisitor Castian Vadric is barely civil, with Vadric being fully aware of Arvannis' conspiracy against Empress Valendra, and that Arvannis suspects him of being in a relationship with her. Since his discovery of Arvannis' conspiracy to suppress information of life outside the nebula, Vadric considers Arvannis to be committing outright treason.

### Darsellia Lantris

> *"Even in her ignorance, I would not dismiss the Empress so easily. Would it not serve our needs to learn more about these outsiders, if only to understand what we face? If they were to somehow uncover the Mechanism..."
> "That will not happen. The Wheel has remained hidden from our own people for ages beyond counting. These newcomers will not find it."*
> - Darsellia Lantris and Hastus Arvannis, on the Avalon Exploratory Initiative
>
>

Cardinal Arvannis and High Cleric Darsellia Lantris share a common goal in preserving the Faith Eternal and are willing to conspire against Empress Valendra to achieve this. Nevertheless, Arvannis was dismissive of Lantris' suggestion for a more measured approach in dealing with the Avalon Expedition, arguing that it would be destroyed before any greater understanding of it was necessary.

## Appearances

* Volume 1
	+ *"Inclement Weather"*

* Volume 2
	+ *"Dust and Shadow"* (mentioned)
	+ *"The Promised Land"*

* Volume 3
	+ *"Contact, Wait Out"*
	+ *"Beneath The Banner"*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Inclement Weather*
2. ↑ *Contact, Wait Out*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 *Beneath The Banner*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 *The Promised Land*
5. ↑ *Dust and Shadow*
6. ↑ *Theirs Not to Make Reply*
7. ↑ *The Fourth Canticle*