Matron

*For the Admantine Ministry's counterpart, see Patron.*

The **Matron** is the leader of the Maudesian Ministry based out of the Grand Temple in Ducailles, capital of Maudet. The Matron is always female. The Adamantine Ministry has its own head, the Patron, who is housed in the Argent Tower in the City of Adamantium, capital of the Adamantium. Neither the Matron or Patron recognizes the existence of the other.

## History

The first Matron was appointed in **1A01** by Emperor Caecilius Volantus I of Maudet. Known to some as the "Warrior-Priest", she had been the only female general of Volantus' armies and a devout missionary of Sibylla, qualities that Volantus felt best embodied Sibylla's dual nature as a war-maiden and spiritual leader. She took on the name of Augora I, in honor of one of the Twelve Disciples. Her appointment caused significant frustration in the Adamantium, which had been developing its own Ministry independently of Maudet. Eventually, disagreements on the role of magic, and the position of men in the priesthood, led to a schism between the Adamantine and Maudesian Ministries. After Matron Augora II declared the Adamantine clerics heretics in **3A87**, the Archon retaliated by naming Grand Cleric Severian, a man and a mage, as Patron of the Adamantine Ministry.

## Duties

The duties of the Matron include the well-being of the Ministry, and its affiliated organizations, as well as the further spreading of the Ministry's message in the known world. However, if a Matron is too senile to rule, then her role is largely ceremonial.

Another known duty of the Matron is to accept the newly appointed senior arcanists of the Institute of Magic in a ceremony. It is rumored that some Matrons are also major players of the Great Game.

In extraordinary times, and in respect to Sibylla, the Matron may also be moved to declare a Crusade. These religious wars have mobilized armies of thousands to destroy the heretical enemies of the Watcher.

## Election

In the Maudesian Ministry, it is customary for a Matron to name her successor before her death, but this does not guarantee their ascension. Upon the death of the current Matron, every grand cleric is required to travel to Ducailles for the Grand Consensus. There, they elect a new Matron, usually from among themselves. The vote must be unanimous for a new Matron to be properly elected. Once crowned, the Matron takes on a new name as a symbol of her office.

## Prominent Matrons

### Augora I

Born **Olyssa of Montelleu**, Augora I was the only female general in Emperor Caecilius Volantus I's armies during his campaigns to spread the word of the Holy Tome, and unite the disparate cults of the Watcher. For her military prowess and her devotion to Sibylla, Olyssa became known as "the Warrior-Priest." In **-3D**, Volantus completed the construction of a Grand Temple to the Watcher and declared Sibyllism the official religion of the newly formed Maudesian Empire. The search for a suitable leader took four years. Eventually, Volantus appointed Olyssa as Matron, as he believed her dual role as warrior and spiritual leader best embodied Sibylla. She took on the name of "Augora" in honor of one of the Twelve Disciples. Her appointment marked the beginning of the Ministry Calendar and of the First Age. While it was celebrated with a full year of festivities in Maudet, it caused great consternation in the Adamantium, which had been organizing the Sibyllan religion for over a century while Maudet was nothing but a fragmented land of scattered tribes. In an effort to appease the Maudesian Ministry, the Archon's role was reduced to a ceremonial role while authority over the faith was given to the grand clerics.

The contemporary Ministry definition of maleficist mostly seems based on the sermons of Augora I, who defined them as people who use their magic to dominate hearts and minds, and who fuel their magic by spilling the blood of others.

Augora I is also known for compiling the Maudesian Ministry's interpretation of the Holy Tome. Her version has survived to the modern day with few alterations. The Chronicle of Lamentations is often believed to have been written by Augora I between **-31D** and **-11D**, though modern researchers now believe that Augora merely transcribed and translated an older oral tradition, mentioned as far back as **-182D** in Adamantine legal documents, from Rigoric into Lyriane, then the language of Maudet. In **1A08**, Augora also ordered the transcription of the Chronicle of Febrion, an ancient elven folktale which had been preserved through oral tradition. Emperor Volantus is said to have rewritten the Chroncile of Exaltations, first written in **-12D**, many times before allowing Augora to include it in the Holy Tome.

Augora I died in **1A18**.

### Ambrosia I

Ambrosia I reigned during the First Age; she attempted to order a crusade against her own temple after protesting mages barricaded themselves inside.

### Rayne I

Rayne I reigned as Matron in the early part of the Second Age.

During her reign, centuries of tension between the elven kingdom of the Sylvandale and the human empire of Maudet finally turned to open conflict in **2A09**, after the elves attack the human town of Rhett's Crossing. The following year, as the elven armies had captured the city of Montelleu and marched on the capital of Ducailles, Matron Rayne I called for a Crusade against the elves. Uniquely, among all Crusades, only Maudet is reported to have answered the call.

In **2A20**, after ten years of war, Maudet captured the elven capital of Aerasala, and dismantled the elven kingdom. At the conclusion of the Crusade, Matron Rayne I decreed that all Sibyllan nations should allow the newly homeless elves within their lands and cities; on the condition that they abandon their own gods and convert to the worship of the Watcher. The elves who converted were sent to enclaves, run down, walled-off districts within human cities where they are treated as second-class citizens. Those who refused to submit separated into nomadic clans known as the Sylvan.

Rayne I also struck the Chronicle of Febrion, Sibylla's elven disciple, from the Holy Tome, and ordered that all Ministry art including elves be destroyed. The only piece to survive the destruction was a mural by the legendary artist Henri de Myedes depicting Febrion. Henri de Myedes pleaded with such grace and passion that Rayne relented, and allowed his mural to remain as long as Febrion's ears were cropped to obfuscate his race.

### Giselle

Giselle reigned during the late Second Age; she was a commoner who was elected after the electorate became locked in a gridlock. In **2A83**, she granted the Right of Nullification to all grand clerics; to purge Institutions of Magic that considered irredeemable.

### Augora II

Augora II was elected in **3A86**. That same year, she presided over the debate on the practice of dowsing, which had been unsuccessfully investigated by the Ministry several times, in an effort to find out whether it was magical in nature. Matron Augora II declared that the practice was freely permitted by the Ministry, on the grounds that dowsers never attempted to use their skills for nefarious purposes.

In **3A87**, after learning that the Adamantine Ministry had revised the Holy Tome to reflect their interpretation of the Watcher's second commandment, that magic best serves man by ruling over him and not the other way around, Divine Augora II demanded that the Adamantine Ministry conform to Maudesian teachings. When the Adamantium refused, the Matron declared their entire clergy heretics. The Archon retaliated by appointing Grand Cleric Severian, who was not only a man but a mage of the Institute of Magic, as Patron of the Adamantine Ministry. In the north, the Adamantine Ministry became known as the "Red Ministry".

Augora II's death in **3A99** was celebrated in the City of Adamantium, and declared a holiday by the Patron. Four Crusades were eventually called against the Adamantine Ministry between **4A40** and **5A10**, though they did little but cement the separation between the two Ministries.

### Florence I

Florence I was elected in **3A99**; she declared an Crusade against the Adamantium; the invasion however was delayed for 40 years due to the devastation caused from the Third Scourge.

### Margaux I

Margaux reigned in **4A46**, during which she commissioned the writing of the Recitation of Adalia.

### Rosamund

Matron Rosamund was born as Linette Belliard to the wealthy, and noble, Belliard family, and was also one of many granddaughters of Queen Asha Campalla of Lysadore. Linette was groomed from birth by Matron Lutensia II to become her successor. At the age of nineteen, she achieved the rank of Revered Mother. After Matron Lutensia II died in **5A16**, Linette ascended, becoming the youngest Matron in history.

In **5A65**, Matron Rosamund granted the status of Anointed to Athilde of Crechy, a warrior renowned for defending the innocent. Athilde had been protesting taxes on the poor set up by the Count of Rosfort. She was arrested, but the Matron ordered her released before she could be executed.

Records describe Rosamund as a "radiant beauty". She was featured in a large number of erotic art and literature, which gained popularity among Maudesians. The Knight-Paladins took steps to eradicate this material, or prevent it from reaching the Matron through other means. Allegedly, Rosamund remained unaware of the fact that she appeared in erotica.

Matron Rosamund died after fifty-five years in power. She left a legacy as one of the most compassionate women to ever occupy the post. She was succeeded by Augora III.

### Augora III

Augora III was a sister of the Maudesian Emperor Alphonse Pelleneur. Her ascension after Matron Rosamund's death in **5A71** was controversial due to her close connection to the newly elected Emperor, as well as the fact that she had not obtained the rank of Revered Mother. She was said to have ruled the Ministry with an iron fist, and enjoyed bonfires fueled by the bodies of maleficists.

Ser Noland Brissard, one of the templars who served Augora III as a Knight-Paladin, was allegedly also her lover, and puppetmaster.

Augora III died in **5A85** under suspicious circumstances, causing her brother to call for a hunt to uncover the conspirators, which led to the imprisonment of many Ministry members and three executions. In the end, no one was convicted of killing Augora III, and her death remains a mystery.

### Estelle II

Estelle II reigned from **6A32** until she gave birth on the steps of Ducailles' Grand Temple in front of a crowd of devout Sibyllans; she was removed from her position shortly afterward for violating her vow of chastity.

### Florence III

Florence III is the current Matron, and has reigned since **8A87**.

Due to the Ministry's close relationship with the Maudesian Empire, as well as her friendship with Emperor Maxence, Florence III attempted to pressure the templars of Blackwall to overthrow its Viscount, Aldan Perrin, in **9A21**, because he charged exorbitant fees to Maudesian ships. However Knight-Commander Gulian resisted her attempts to pressure the Templars to become involved with local politics. This all changed when Perrin actively attempted to expel the Templars from Blackwall by ordering the knight-commander's assassination, in the hope of doing away with any possible claimants to his power. This plan backfired when Josselyn Stannard succeeded Gulian and, shortly thereafter, led a counterattack against the Viscount's Keep with a stronger number of templars at her disposal. Perrin was eventually overthrown, and Daltain Marlowe was appointed in his place by Arlette, the Grand Cleric of Blackwall, at the advice of the Matron.