Exigo

## The Ceremony of Exigo

This Ceremony is conducted whenever a noble is stripped of their noble title. For lesser nobles without significant holdings, this ceremony may be carried out anywhere, but for higher nobles or house leaders, the ceremony always takes place on Andophael, in the Conciliabulum Minuo.

The supplicant is led into the chamber, and their hands and feet are manacled to two pillars in the center of the room. There are viewing chambers cunningly hidden along a raised walkway around the perimeter of the room, so that others may watch but from the Conciabulum they cannot be seen.

Generally speaking, any member of the church who is not an Acolyte may conduct the ritual, though typically the Church bureaucracy gives the official go-ahead.

For nobles who requested to be stripped of nobility, usually to join the corporates, a Priest conducts the ritual. For those poor souls excommunicated from the Communion of Humanity, an Inquisitor oversees the ritual.

The rank of the officiant is generally equivalent to the rank of the supplicant. Powerful nobles of the Greater Houses get a High Priest/Inquisitor, lesser nobles a normal Priest/Inquisitor. However, as the actual identity of the officiant is known only to the Church, and during the ritual the officiant represents the Church as a whole, even the lowest clerk of the most minor Priest can technically conduct the ceremony for anyone, as far as the Nobility is concerned.

A member of the Church enters the chamber, wearing a golden mask. This is to prevent assassination attempts, and stems from the time of the Blood Eagle, when many nobles were stripped of rank against their will. Concealing the identity of the clergy who carried out the ceremony helped keep priests alive.

A small hole cut into the roof of the chamber opens, allowing the light of the Andophael sun into the chamber. Under this pillar of light, the priest, using a silver dagger, cuts the clothes off the supplicant, and removes all jewelry and other badges of office.

Lights now illuminate four statues placed around the perimeter of the room, carved in blue marble, perfectly carved to appear like the supplicant's ancestors. If their House had an Emperox, a fifth statue is added. The officiant walks around the room, ritually turning the statues around, representing the ancestry of the supplicant turning their backs to them as they are cast out of their House.

Using a small bucket, he or she splashes water from a nearby glacier over the supplicant, and with the following words, the noble is stripped of title:

*<Name>, your lands and titles are yours no longer.*

*<Name>, your possessions and family are yours no longer.*

*<Name>, I cast you out of the Blessed Nobility, to enter no longer.*

*In the Name of <Emperox>, be gone from this place, noble no longer.*

### Mass Exigo

In the event that an entire house is to lose their nobility, the Church has the following ceremony.

In the Emperox’s Crypt on Imperial Prime, there is a large chamber, normally used to display the bodies of the deceased Messiah before internment in their House’s crypt. Along the walls are the banners for each house, even those who have not yet been elected. Along the walls are also large iron-grated doors, leading away and down into the House’s individual crypt.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the High Exarch blesses the gathered congregation, similar to the beginning of a regular service. The Exarch, usually flanked by the Council of Exarchs (although this is not a strict requirement), processes around the room, reciting the full “Latin” invocation for all Ten Virtues. They then deliver a short sermon, and proceed with the ceremony proper.

Using large poles with sharpened hooks on the end, either the Council of Exarchs or the pre-designated helpers proceed to the area dedicated to the House to be excised and use their hooks to rip the hanging off the wall. Gathering it on the floor, a helper douses the massive (50 ft x 20 ft) wall hanging in liquid fuel. Again using the hooks, the Exarchs carry the sodden fabric to the center of the room, positioning it on the plinth usually reserved for the display of the deceased Emperox. Using a sacred torch the High Exarch sets fire to the tapestry, while singing  the following in “Latin”:

*You, who were once our brothers.*

*You, who we called sister.*

*You, who were as sons to us.*

*You, who were as daughters.*

*You, who were of the highest, now become the lowest.*

*We cast you out, never to return.*

*Begone, woeful ones,*

*Forever shall this stain your memory.*

*Begone, woeful ones.*

The fire roars higher, and travels back to the wall, where it again bursts into a tall flame. The wall that once held the hanging is stained black, but due to the unique properties of the fuel used and the stone used to construct the hall, over time the wall becomes bone white, erasing the house sigil that normally adorned it.

Using a long length of golden chain, the Exarchs and helpers chain the doors to the House Crypt. A large kettle of molten lead is brought out, and the helpers slowly ladle the metal onto the knot of chain in the center until a large ball of metal is formed. Using their SigNet rings, the Exarchs push their designs into the still-soft lead, sealing it with the holy authority of the Church. The assemblage is once again blessed, and with a final Ten Blessings, is allowed to disperse.

#### Penalty for Altering or Destroying the Seal

The penalty for the destruction of the seal is described in Imperial Law as follows:

*Whomever—without the authorization of the Council of Exarchs and the High Exarch of the High Church of the Messiah-as-Emperox—willfully or recklessly disturbs or destroys the Grand Seal has committed a cardinal offense against the Empire and is guilty of the crime of Imperial Descration. Imperial Desecration is a Class A felony and carries a term of life imprisonment without the benefit of Life Extention Therapy ("LET") and a fine of 10,000,000 Imperial Credits, or whatever punishment the High Church deems appropriate.*