Herpa the Mace

The Order of Herpa the Mace is a clerical order of the Hierarchy of the Eternal Flame. The order is open to both sexes, although the overwhelming majority of priests have been male since the schism of 714 TR. It sponsors the fighting order of the Red Shadows of Herpa.

The Order is limited to western Hârn. It is most active in the Kingdom of Rethem but also operates within the Thardic Republic. Orderial headquarters are in Golotha. The order also maintains five other major temples in Rethem (at Ithiko, Menekai, Senun, Shostim, and Techen) and three in Tharda (in Coranan, Moleryn, and Telen). The Coranan temple is covert and has only a handful of priests— and even fewer Terahni from the Red Shadows of Herpa.

The Senesharil of the order is Andraz of Enald. He is also the Viriahn of the order's Golotha temple. The order has two Markithai, one of whom is the Viriahn of the Menekai temple, the other of whom is the Aperahki of the Golothan temple.

History of Herpa the Mace

It is difficult to pinpoint a founding date for the Order of Herpa the Mace. Although the Hierarchy of Eternal Flame formally accepted the order in 623 TR, its priests are known to have been active in northern Rethem for at least two decades before then. Some of the order's theological and ritual traditions date back at least to the Corani Empire— possibly earlier.

In the early seventh century, the order seems to have consisted of semi-nomadic 'dervishes' who traveled from settlement to settlement in northern Rethem, relying upon 'gifts' of food and supplies from villagers. These gifts appear to have been made partly out of fear (as a kind of 'protection' money) and partly as a compensation for 'entertainments' that the priests and their Terahni bodyguards would provide when they came to the village: duels, mock combat, flame-handling, coal walking, fire walking and various feats of pain-endurance. These entertainments were in fact ceremonial rituals performed by the priests to impress the locals and recruit followers.

Herpa the Mace swore loyalty to Arlun after he established the Kingdom of Rethem in 635 TR, as did its Tehrani, now organized into a recognize fighting order, the Red Shadows of Herpa. The various 'entertainments' provided by Herpa priests and their Terahni appealed to many southern Rethemi who had grown accustomed to the gruesome public spectacles that had been put on by the now-proscribed church of Morgath.

The order began to proselytize in Tharda and temples were eventually established in Coranan, Shiran, Moleryn, and Telen.

During the reign of Obras, Arlun's successor (656-672 TR), the order supported royal athority, and the Red Shadows of Herpa helped the king to crush several revolts. The order's real rise to prominence, however, took place during the reign of King Nemiran (672-681). Nemiran made the office of Kemelras a paid royal position and appointed the Viriahn of the order's Shostim temple to it. To this day, the office of Kemelras has been filled by a member of Herpa the the order has enjoyed close connections with the crown.

Although it did not itself suffer directly as a result of Ezar's War (681-697), Herpa the Mace began experiencing internal conflict at the war's end. It would be difficult to spell out the details of the varying components— political, ecclesiastical, theological, personal, etc., but after years of simmering tensions, matters came to head in 714 TR when a large group of priestesses (with the support of a handful of male priests and a goodly number of Terahni) split off to form the Order of the Eight Demons. This schism, it should be noted, seems to have mirrored politicial geography. Most Thardic priests went over to the new order (as did those at Themeson keep along the border)— although the Thardic temples at Moleryn and Telen remained loyal to Herpa the Mace.

Since the schism (whose legitimacy was recognized by both the Apalankh and the Hierarchy at Lysara), Herpa the Mace has been seeking even closer connections to the Rethemi crown as well as engaging in a 'war of assassins' with the Eight Demons in Tharda. The order has re-established a covert temple in Coranan in order to carry on a temple war with the Order of the Eight Demons and conduct espionage for both the Senesharil and King Chafin III.

The Order's Name

The order takes its name from one of the brighter constellations of the northern sky. The mace-shaped pattern of the stars on the celestial firmament is viewed by the order as a symbol of Agrik's dominion over both heaven and earth.

The constellation is also viewed as a means of divine guidance. One of the bright orange stars in the 'mace head' is an irregular variable— and its fluctuations in brightness (ranging in magnitude from -0.2 through 1.1) are considered signs from the god himself. A meteor shower, seemingly centered on the constellation of Herpa, that takes place every year in late Agrazhar is also deemed of oracular significance by the order.

Theology, and Ritual Practice

Herpa the Mace is the most mystical of Hârn's Agrikan orders. Its priests believe that in every living being— and indeed in everything that exists— there is a tiny spark of the divine essence of Manrasusha, the First God of primal fire. Agrik, orderial theology suggests, seeks to 'ignite' these sparks, turning them into flaming pyres that will burn away all else and leaving the pure, uncorrupted Eternal Flame of Manrasusha himself— at first in the individual soul, then in Kelestia as a whole.

Followers of Herpa the Mace engage in a number of consciousness-altering practices. Some of these practices, like meditation, are designed to help the follower focus upon the fiery spark in his soul to the excusion of all else. Others, like ecstatic dancing and the ingestion of hallucinatory drugs, are intended to place devotees in a state whereby Agrik can enter into them and set those sparks alight. Still other activities, like fire-walking, handling hot-coals, and the deliberate self-infliction of pain are designed to be purgative— to help 'burn away' all in the soul that is not part of that fiery spark. As a general rule, only the most basic forms of mystical practice are taught to laity and Terahni; the priests reserve much for their own.

In the course of their mystical activities, priests of Herpa the Mace sometimes experience an 'inspired' or 'enthusiastic' state, where the deity himself seems to have entered into them or even to have possessed them entirely. This is often accompanied by speaking in tongues, the utterance of prophecy, the granting of visions, or the performance of unusual (often violent or self-destructive) acts. Some priests seem to be more prone to such experiences than others.

Politics

The Order of Herpa the Mace is on reasonably polite terms with most other Agrikan clerical orders. The main exception to this is the Order of the Eight Demons, which is viewed by the order as a group of dangerous, heretical, schismatics. In Coranan and Golotha, cities where both orders maintain temples, tensions are especially high. Only the threat of a crackdown by the Red Guard in Coranan or of reprisals by the primate in Golotha keeps an open temple war from developing. Most clergy of Herpa have a bitter hatred of the Eight Demons and support the continuation of the covert 'war of assassins'.

There are also tensions between Herpa the Mace and the all-female orders of the Kukshin and the Crimson Dancer, although the migration of those two order's to Orbaal two decades ago has reduced direct contact with them to a minimum.

The order is intimately involved in Rethemi politics and has an extremely good relationship with the crown. Since the reign of King Nemiran (672-681 TR), the order has maintained a temple at Shostim, the royal seat. Since that time, the Kemelras of Rethem has also been selected by the crown, who has always appointed a priest of Herpa the Mace— usually (but not always) the Viriahn of the Shostim temple. The private chapels in the king's residences are maintained by Herpa priests and the king's personal chaplain is also of the order. The current king, Chafin III, is under some pressure from the order to (1) take action against the Eight Demons and their fighting order the Cohorts of Gashang and (2) to launch a massive cruasade against the rest of Hârn (beginning with Kanday or Tharda). The Order also has numerous supporters among the kingdom's nobility, including the earls of Ithiko and Techen.

Herpa the Mace is also involved in Thardic politics, although not to the same degree or in the same way. The priests at the Coranan temple seek not only to assassinate their enemies in the order of the Eight Demons, but also to subvert the Republic's government through bribes, threats, and occasional assassinations. A disorganized Tharda, they believe, will be more easily conquered when the time comes for the great Rethemi-led crusade

By contrast, the Moleryn and Telen temples of the order are far less antagonistic— both to the Eight Demons and to the Republic. They are also is also on mildy strained terms with the Rethemi leadership of the order.

Land and Wealth

The Order of Herpa the Mace does not hold any land other than that upon which its temples are built. Its wealth comes primarily from tithes given by its fighting order, the Red Shadows of Herpa which holds Menekai castle and surrounding lands in northeastern Rethem, and from its lay followers (which, considering the order's political connections in Rethem, are often quite substantial). The Kemelras, who is traditionally of the order, is usually able to exact occasional 'gifts' from the other orders but these are given to the bishop personally rather than to the order as a whole. The Shostim temple is the wealthiest of the Herpa the Mace temples; the secret Coranan temple is the poorest and survives only with assistance from the Sensharil.

Introduction

History of Herpa the Mace

The Order's Name

Theology, and Ritual Practice

Politics

Land and Wealth