Regnum Caelorum

The Regnum Caelorum was the official state temple of the Teluna Empire, now a religious institution still spanning the three continents and maintaining control over religious matters for most political institutions. The headquarters for the temple is located within the former capital city of Iriden within central Irida, with major temples in the Nine Bastions holding Pontifical Headquarters for their respective ecclesiastical districts.

The history of the Regnum Caelorum begins with Tarekles II Teluna, grandson of the empire's founder Tarekles I Teluna, and responsible for the majority of bureaucratic and diplomatic foundations of the empire. Beginning as a religious advisory committee, the Triumvirate of the Regnum Caelorum quickly expanded into official governance over religious law and temple lands. This basic function would continue, subsuming lesser shrines and cults into their infrastructure, until Tarekles III Teluna restructured the empire following the War of the Oathbreakers and institutionalized the Regnum Caelorum as the sole authority on temple matters through-out his domain.

The collapse of the empire following the War of False Gods created a power vacuum within the structure of the Regnum Caelorum, as the Emperor in title was held as the true head of the temple. The temple itself broke away from its traditions upon declaring the Emperor Verinas IV a heretic and calling a civil war between temple and imperial loyalists. After the collapse of the empire and loss of the Teluna dynasty the Regnum Caelorum lost fully half of its holdings to local warlords and petty tyrants, until the Pantheum in Iriden was itself raided by the sorcerer-warlord Kalandra. The ruling Exarch Lazaros Aldricsen forced the ruling triumvirate to submit to Iriden authority, enfolding the Regnum Caelorum into the City-State's government.

## Structure

The leading power of the Regnum Caelorum is the Triumvirate, the three heads of the church representing the trinity of Greater Gods. These three meet regularly to discuss matters of import, from church doctrine to major events to the appointment of the Pontifices. The triumvirate rarely perform religious ceremonies save those to appease their personal gods. They are based within the Pantheum in Iriden.

A Pontifex is the head of a major temple overseeing religious affairs within an entire region of the Teluna Empire, reduced to overseeing individual Bastions in the post-invasion era. The pontifex of a region is responsible for ensuring religious orthodoxy is adhered, preventing corruption within the church, and assigning the flamines of the temples in their jurisdiction. They also oversee the religious rites within their own temple, normally within a capital or otherwise influential city.

A Flamen is the head of a proper temple, normally stationed inside of a city or major town, or a secular leader's chapel if no more appropriate location is available. Flamen oversee the religious rites for their local area, traditionally a duchy or major county, and maintain contact and instruction with the priests of local shrines in smaller towns and villages under their jurisdiction.

Beneath the flamines are lesser priests dedicated to local shrines or chapels, or the service of higher priests. Most of these have some training from their local flamen or even a major institution, and have dedicated themselves to their local area's spiritual guidance. Local priests are normally the highest religious authority the majority of the population will ever meet, even in the major cities headed by the Pontifices.

### Assets

The Regnum Caelorum held vast territory through-out the old empire in the form of temple lands - Those lands given directly over to the administration and ownership of the temple either by local officials or higher authority up to and including the Emperors themselves. Small cities, entire towns, and multiple monastery fortresses are loyal to the temple itself before their local rulers, giving the temple further power through military force and resources.

Approximately 15% of total land within the empire belonged to the Regnum Caelorum's administration, either directly or through lesser vassals in prefecture or nobles sworn to the temple. This land was normally given following the empire's expansion, but also acquired through tithe and administrative takeover of smaller religious institutions.