Church of Henddinas

**The Church of Henddinas**, more commonly known simply as **The Church**, is the dominant political and religious instution of Humanity in Umbralume. While primarily devoted to Saint Cuthbert, and organized along quite similar lines to other Cuthbertine churches across the multiverse, the Church also conducts rituals and rites to Pelor, reflecting the syncretic nature of faith in Umbralume, and includes the priests of the Sunfather just as it does those of the Saint.

There is essentially no separation of church and state in Walpole or Herbstwald and little such separation in much of Otranto. Often the rule of law is adjudicated by lawyers and judges ordained by the Church. All institutional education is handled by the Church, although different sects sometimes establish their own schools and training grounds.

## Organization

The Church of Henddinas, headquartered in Henddinas, is organized in a manner reminescent of the Cuthbertine churches found on many other planes.

### **The Clergy**

**The Clergy** of the Church are what their name suggests; the clerics and priests of the Church who perform rituals, hold services, and tend to the sick and needy. Priests are the only people permitted to work silver and so provide Hunters with the weapons they need to combat Werewolves, Vampires, and Devils. Pelorian priests also perform the vitally necessary funeral services that provide some measure of assurance that the buried will not rise again as one of the Undead, and at least the certainty their soul will find rest.

Despite including the priests of Pelor in its hierarchy, the Clergy, and indeed the whole of the Church, is always led from the **Grand Cathedral** in Henddinas by the Vicar of Saint Cuthbert.

### **The Hunters**

**The Hunters** fill a role in the Church that is essentially a fusion of the role played by the Crusaders and Witch Hunters in other Cuthbertine churches. The Hunters are organized into numerous orders, although all ultimately answer to the First Hunter.

The Hunter orders are more training schools than proper military organizations and while most Hunters of a given order will wear similar or identical uniforms and wield similar weapons, owing to their shared training, and all will wear badges of their order, most prefer, at least where other Hunters are concerned, to work alone or in small groups of no more than a handful at most. Indeed, it is far from uncommon to see Hunters, particularly the Sacred Blades, leading groups of townsfolk against the horrors of Umbralume.

#### **Ashen Hunters**

Elder Hunter Archibald Otto's **Ashen Hunters** were a Hunter order in ages past. They utilized alchemy to explosive effect, but were eventually declared heretics.

#### **Delvers**

Dungeoneers, the **Delvers** are speciailst Hunters who descend into the catacombs, tombs, and dungeon ruins of Umbralume on behalf of the Church, typically to seek out and destroy monsters lairing in such warrens, or to retrieve sacred artifacts and relics.

#### **Executioners**

**The Executioners**, commanded by Elder Hunter Martin Logan are an order consisting primarily of Pelorians and which exists solely to slay Vampires.

#### **Harrowers**

Inquisitors of a sort, **Harrowers** hide their identities and move about the nooks and crannies of Umbralume's urban centers. These Hunters are allegedly skilled at recognizing the subtle signs of lycanthropy and vampirism and serve as a first line of defense against their outbreak.

#### **Graveguards**

**The Graveguards** are an order that is rather reactionary in nature when compared to other, more proactive, orders. Rather than seeking out threats and monsters within or without Human settlements to slay, the Graveguards, as their name suggests, serve as tomb wardens. It is the duty of the Graveguards to guard tombs, mausoleums, and graveyards from both necromancers and stitchers trying to get in, and the Undead trying to get out.

Some Graveguards choose specific locations to guard for their entire career, while others travel from graveyard to graveyard, never staying in any one place for very long.

#### **Sacred Blades**

Oldest of the Hunter orders and led by the First Hunter himself,the **Sacred Blades** are named for the blessed silver bastard swords they famously wield. The order is also known for being of the mentality that the commoners can and should fight back against monsters and thus can often be found at the fore of torch and pitchfork wielding mobs.

## Angels

Angels form an important part of Human culture and religion in Umbralume, as they do on most planes, and are seen as warriors and healers alike, and most of all as the defenders of Humanity and a light in the endless dark.
Angels in Umbralume, as elsewhere, tend to divide themselves into hosts of like-minded individuals. Umbralume is home to numerous groups of Angels, and unaligned Angels, but primarily the Golden and Ivory hosts. While none of the Angels are, strictly speaking, part of the church, many of them, particularly these two hosts, work quit eclosely with the Church.

### **The Golden Host**

**The Golden Host** is devoted to Saint Cuthbert and focus on martial strength. The host bases itself in Canino, Otranto, although there are many of its angels in Henddinas. Canino is where many Hunters are trained, and the angels are a daily presence in the young Hunters' lives. Within Canino is Angelotorre, an imposing stronghold, part church, part fortress, on a rocky crest that overlooks the ocean. The Golden Host's Angels dwell in a series of narrow spires and interconnecting chambers in the upper levels of Angelotorre, forbidden to all but the Angels themselves.
Because it is centered in Otranto, the Golden Host deals with stitchers, necromancers, and their nightmarish creations more frequently than the other hosts. These Angels have developed a fierce determination to destroy every trace of the Undead and their twisted creators.
Unlike the angels of the Ivory Host, the angels of the Golden Host always travel armed. When a new Hunter sets out from Canino to Herbstwald or Valahia, a Golden Host Angel always accompanies them on their journey.
Ablirane, a mighty Solar Angel leads the Golden Host.

### **The Ivory Host**

Devoted to no particular deity, the Angels of the **Ivory Host** are based in Henddinas and vital to the safety of the city. Residing primarily in the spires and towers of the city's grand cathedrals, they are not an unfamiliar sight to the city's inhabitants as they travel in small groups to visit the centers of healing in the city and tend to the sick and wounded.

The Ivory Host also assists the peopel of Henddinas by helping to maintain watch on the city's outer walls and to help reinforce protective magical barriers and wards. To the Angels of the Golden Host, and even some of the members of the Church, the Angels of the Ivory Host are seen as overly sentimental. They often travel without weapons, preferring to use their magic, and engage in battle only when the conflict can't be resolved another way. In addition to their role in maintaining magical wards and healing the sick, Ivory Angels are known for their staunch opposition to the undead, and are seen as the protectors of the dead and the slayers of the Undead and those who would create or aid them.
Tasara, a Solar Angel, leads the Ivory Host.