Church of Sammael

Once upon a time, the leadership model of the Church of Samael was not that different from the Michaelite model, with a Patriarch governing all religious matters in a given domain, the equal of the other Patriarchs governing other similar domains. As Antiquity ended, however, and the Treaty was formed, the world fundamentally changed. Angels withdrew to heaven, Fay withdrew to the Dream, and the Dragons, with nowhere to go but the material realm to which they belong, agreed to slumber for ages to come. One of the big ‘winners’ of this Treaty were the Angels. It was now agreed upon that they, and not the Wyld, would be the primary caretakers of the common folk. And while once the Tyrant dragon Behemoth ruled the Roman Empire through his noble scion bloodlines, the collective pushback of the others had caused the Empire to crumble and forced the Tyrant dragon into captivity, deep below his own erewhile Throne : Rome.

With Behemoth's nobles in disarray (they would later find footing again, some who stayed in Italy as local nobles, others who went to conquer parts of Francia for themselves, as French nobility), it was the Church of Sammael that seized control over Behemoth’s former crown domain. Such is the power of dragons, however, that even when they slumber, their superior souls still shape the ones around them. The Samaelite patriarch of Rome may once have seen himself as the equal of the other patriarchs, but he and his successors have lived on top of Behemoth for too long for such a sentiment to survive. They became more and more convinced that it was Rome’s Patriarch who should rule over all other clergy. Now, so many generations later, this has become self-evident. The patriarchs of Rome, as they slowly but certainly seized overlordship over their Church, became known as ‘popes’ and to this day rule the Church with relative autocracy.

## Universal Domain

Any priest in service of Sammael, be it secular or monastic may have access to the 'Law' domain.

## Secular Clergy

Broadly speaking, there are two branches within Samael’s Church. Whereas one of them ‘leaves the ordinary world’ to retreat in a monastic life (see monastic clergy, below), others have the duty of living in society and among society. Provinces are governed by bishops, aided in their work by Deacons , and on the ground level by Priests and Pastors who are responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of the people of their own parishes. In addition to the Universal Domain (Law), they may get access to different clerical domains, as indicated below.

* Court Chapelains and upper-class clergy get access to the following Domain options : Nobility , Dragon, Knowledge.
* Lower clergy tends to get access to : Community, Protection,Trade

## Monastic Clergy

These clerics tend to withdraw from regular society in one way or another and take a series of monastic vows. Though all dedicated to the service of Sammael, there are distinctly different orders to be found throughout the Church.

## Church Privileges & Restrictions

### First Estate

As the Church is to shepherd the souls of men, it is to stand above them. Churches do not pay taxes, they receive them. As part of the Ancien Regime society, the Church holds its own set of laws and privileges by which its members are to be judged. Like nobles, they stand above common courts.

### Non occides (‘thou shalt not kill’)

The Church is to care for its subjects, for better and worse, and though it can punish, Angelic priests are not allowed to kill. At this point the Church must relegate to the Nobles, who are expected to perform executions etc on behalf of the Church. In short, as part of the Treaty, the Scions of Dragons have been granted the violence-monopoly, so are the only ones in society with a ‘license to kill’ , albeit of course within the restraints of the law.

### Necromantic Monopoly

Following the Treaty, the Angelic churches claimed monopoly on the Art of Cain. Though some nobles or even wizards are capable of learning such spells, they have to be granted specific permission by the church, or find themselves outside the law.

#### Non in Vanum

Regardless of who you are, and what position you hold, ‘trivial necromancy’ is a great sin. And though there are a great many regulations, it largely comes down to this :

* Animated dead are never to be stitched/modified in any way,
* Can only be used in the case of ‘bellum iustum’ , meaning that the conflict has ‘proper cause’.
* Temporalis : when the war is finished, the dead must rest again.