Patron

*For the Maudesian Ministry's counterpart, see Matron.*

The **Patron** is the leader of the Adamantine Ministry based out of the Argent Tower in the City of Adamantium, capital of the Adamantium. The Patron is always male. The Ministry of Maudet has its own head, the Matron, who is housed in the Grand Temple, located in Ducailles, the capital of Maudet. Neither the Patron or Matron acknowledges the existence of the other.

## History

There had been tensions between the Adamantine Ministry and the Maudesian Ministry since Emperor Caecilius Volantus I decreed Matron Augora I head of the Sibyllan religion in **1A01**. In an effort to appease Maudet, the Adamantine Ministry transferred authority over the faith from the Archon to the grand clerics. However, despite repeated petitions, the Maudesian Ministry refused to recognize the grand clerics of the Adamantium, on the grounds that they admitted men into the priesthood.

In **3A87**, when the Maudesian Ministry realized that the Adamantine Ministry had been preaching that magic best served man by ruling over him, Matron Amara II demanded that the Adamantium conform to Maudesian teachings, which states that "magic must serve man, and not rule over him." When the clerics of the Adamantium refused, she declared them all heretics. In response, the Archon appointed Grand Cleric Severian, a man and a prominent member of one of the Adamantium's Institutes of Magic, as Patron of the Adamantine Ministry. Outside of the Adamantium, the Adamantine Ministry was widely reviled and dubbed the "Red Ministry".

The Patron celebrated Matron Amara II's death in **3A99**, declaring it a holiday. The newly appointed Matron, Florence I, retaliated by calling for a Crusade. As most nations were still recovering from the Third Scourge, it took decades for this retribution to materialize. Eventually, the Maudesian Ministry called four Crusades against the Adamantine Ministry between **4A40** and **5A10**, which did little more than solidify the schism between the two. The beginning of the Fourth Scourge put an end to the Crusades against the Adamantine Ministry.

In **9A27**, with the help of several high-ranking magisters, a select group of Adamantine Templars, and Ser Silas Reeve, the Inquisitor liaison to the Adamantium at the time, Magister Urien Hirceles arrested the Patron and five of the highest-ranking magisters in the City of Adamantium. After the resulting trial, Magister Urien assumed the role of Patron, and led a violent purge of the Adamantine Ministry.

## Election

As in the Maudesian Ministry, the Patron is elected by the grand clerics, usually from within their ranks, but whereas the Maudesian Matron is chosen through a unanimous vote at the Grand Consensus, the Patron is elected by simple majority. The Archon casts the deciding vote in case of a tie. Like the grand clerics, the Patron occupies a seat on the Magisterium.

Since Archon Hanthius lifted the rules prohibiting mages from participating in politics in the Seventh Age, the Patron has always been drawn from within the ranks of the first arcanists, and as such also operates as Grand Arcanist. The Patron is always male, a fact that has caused frustration among some female magisters.

## Known Patrons

* **Severian I** – first Patron. Appointed by the Archon in **3A87**
* **Urien Hirceles**– A magister who became Patron in **9A27** after staging a coup against his predecessor