New File Added: The Chivalric Order of St. Huormad

[Barbaros74]

Downloads: A new file has been added by Barbaros74:

The Chivalric Order of St. Huormad (http://www.birthright.net/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=199)

This is an attempt to provide a chivalric order for use in a Birthright campaign that would be suitable for an adventurer of the right persuasion and ethos. Anuire is supposed to be rife with knightly orders but there are none to be found in the books except for those associated with the various temples - which are implied rather than stated. The Chivalric Order of St. Huormad is small enough to be unknown and can be easily introduced to a new or existing campaign. It’s also loose and adventurous enough to accomodate a player character without any problems - even if he has other allegiances.

[Sorontar]

Very nice. My speed-reading of the document found who started the order, but not who (or how) decided that Huormad was a saint. Has the concept of a saint ever been mentioned in canon texts or has it been properly added to the wiki? I can only find the following on the page for the Encyclopedia of Cerilia.

"Roele, Andu: First emperor of the empire of Anuire, brother to Haelyn, half brother to the Gorgon. Most Anuirean churches recognize Roele as a saint sitting at his brother's right hand and commanding the hosts of the heavens."

Sorontar

[Barbaros74]

I used the Saint title purely because of its christian relevance to anuirean religion and the structure of the clergy and the knightly orders. I cannot claim that it is canon but on the other hand no one can claim that it isn't.
You can approach what I made in one of two ways,

1. It's a perfectly good idea that a scion who lived a remarkably pious life or who performed significant feats is elevated to favoured status of the deity he venerated after death, i.e. sainthood. This adds depth to cerilian religion, adds complexity to the clergy and can be used as a role-playing tool by a player. There can be noble families or cities with a patron saint, clerics or paladins who worship a god through one of his or her saints whose portfolio is complementary or a subset of the deity's portfolio. The status of the newly-elevated saint is communicated to the clergy by the deity or the saint himself and he enters the dogma and takes a place in the clerical structure thereafter.

2. The pantheon remains exclusive to the major deities as we know them. No mortals can be elevated to stand near the gods after death. However, mortals believe that this can happen. So, scions who become particularly well-known for any virtuous or sinful reasons, are believed to be elevated to sainthood. This belief can be as widespread or limited as the DM wants. Cults and/or knightly orders are devoted to a saint and spread their belief or keep it exlusive. Such cults and orders may endure and spread or die out after one or two generations. There may be theological debate about the existence or validity of saints or about the precedence of one over the other that can spark a schism within a clergy or even a war between rival clergies. In any case, a particular deity is venerated through the non-existent saint and it does grant power and spells to the saint's followers.

Pick the approach you prefer for your campaign. Regarding Huormad, in the first case his existence as a saint is a fact while in the second case it's merely faith and the ones who decided that he is a saint were the founders of the order. In both cases, Cuiraecen is the recipient of belief and the provider of divine power, perhaps with Huormad as a medium in the first case.

I would argue that the information you referenced about Roele being a saint who sits at Haelyn's right hand and is recognized by anuirean clergy, makes a pretty convincing case for the first option being true and canonical.