Zeltranite Clergy

> From the Realm of Spirits to the Physical Plane, Zelatraius watches us; Lest we fall to Hell and it's minions. Zelatraius divine providence will claim those who stand in opposition and blessed be, those who run.
>
> - High Lord Grathin's opening remarks to the Zeltrus populace.

## Overview

The **Zeltranite Clergy** was founded thousands of years ago by the god Zelatraius himself. Several thousands of years ago, the God threw aside his arms and began to create his nation brick by brick, man by man. For his nation, he needed an order for them to follow, so he established the Zeltranite Clergy. He wrote the Zeltrydessey himself and penned the core beliefs, summarized below, himself over the course of 62 days and nights. For this reason the number 62 is believed to have some sort of spiritual or religious relevance to the Zeltranites.

The Clergy, unlike many other religious organizations or belief systems does not discriminate based on race or gender. They do however, discriminate based on belief. If one is to be of differing belief to the holy book, they are usually at the very least Exiled from the nation. At worst, they're imprisoned for life or put to death. Those who are known to openly oppose the Zeltranite belief are executed with impunity.

Their core beliefs are summarized as follows:

* Honor Zelatraius at all times, give him thanks for his grace and protection.
* Pray to Zelatraius at least once a day. If missed, penance is paid in blood through self-flagellation. (Spanking is acceptable punishment for children).
* Kindness to our brothers in times of prosper and pain. Those under god are brothers in arms and hearts.
* Uphold the Zeltranite honor, strength in our god and our pride. To besmirch him is to besmirch one's self and nation.
* Other Gods and Deities are enemies of Zelatraius. Treat them with express vilification.
* Challenge heretics at the first sign of heresy. Give no quarter to those who threaten Zeltranite pride. To let them live would be a stain on the honor of our god.

## Relations with Bolucea and Leyanthe

Long ago, during The War of the Plain, Leyanthe was an opposing force to the Clergy. They fought for many years and ended up spawning The MageHunter Guild in the process. After many years of toil, Leyanthe surrendered it's independence and became a territory of Zeltrus. In return they are allowed to pursue Arcane arts, so long as they pay tribute to Zeltrus through belief. It is unknown how closely they truly follow this agreement in the current day and age, especially due to the Arcane's seeming relation to the 5 Rulers of Hell.

The Clergy's current biggest enemy is Bolucea. Many wars have been fought between the nation of Zeltrus and Bolucea. The most recent conflict to strike between the nations isThe Stoneridge Conflict, in which Zeltrus overtook many of the plains in the central area of Tyrragor. After this a shaky peace was founded between the two nations.

Currently, after the start of The Peninsula War, the Church has extended it's reach to the Cerris Republic and pushed into the bottom of Bolucea by supporting the rebels with numbers and supplies in return for belief and grants to build places of worship.

## Hierarchy of the Clergy

The hierarchy of the Clergy was decided by Zelatraius. The only way to move up through the heirarchy is by appointment from a higher power within the Church. That being said, new appointments are still usually considered after one proves their merit or through serving for an undefined period of time.

Since inception, the Church's hierarchy is as follows:

* Zelatraius
* High Lord
* Lord
* Arch-Bishops
* Bishops
* High Priests/Priestesses
* Priests/Priestesses
* Friars/Nuns
* Paladins
* Deacons

## The Clergy and the Welkan Event

The Clergy, in 0 AA, almost immediately after The Welkan Event, established a perimeter around itself separating the land from Welka. As they are the neighbor to the land, they commonly see refugees making their way into the country. Sometimes, exiles are sent into Welka under the guise of a holy mission of some sort.

The Zeltranites plan to retake Welka, and in doing so, plan to merge the land into itself to expand to over half of Tyrragor. They regularly search for mercenaries to be hired to go into Welka and try to cleanse the Welkan Curse from the land. From 0 AA to the current date, they seemingly haven't succeeded a single excursion, but they are nothing if not adamant.