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Overview

The most important things to note about the Clergymen are that:

Despite the name, they are not male exclusive

They are never referred to as The Clergy, always The Clergymen

What They Stand For 

At their base, the Clergymen are a monotheistic religious sect hailing under an unnamed religion very similar to Christianity. Much like in Christianity, the Clergymen believe that a single God created the world and created man. The time frame of this creation is often disputed but it’s generally agreed that it’s around 7 days to a month. Where this religion differentiates from Christianity, however, is that the Clergymen believe that after the Devil was cast down he raged war against humanity to spite God. In retaliation, God granted humanity the powers of angels through his written Word to fight back the demon horde. These were the early Clergymen.

However, even with God’s powers this was a losing battle and the Earth was quickly being lost to the demons. To combat this, God sent his son as a sacrifice to ward off the horde. With The Son’s sacrifice, the demons were pushed back to Hell and humanity was saved. Eventually, the teachings of the Clergymen became more and more rare.

As time went by, the safeguards against Hell started to break and wear away. As such, the Clergymen were restarted.

Living Conditions

In a lot of ways, Clergymen get their inspiration for living conditions from medieval monks - they live in Monasteries scattered around the globe where their initiates are trained and taught privately. However, initiates are free to leave Monasteries at any time. This rule is often frowned upon when it comes to Queens, however.

Ranks

Clergymen are sorted into ‘ranks’ depending on how far they have gone in their teachings or what specification they have chosen. Often, Clergymen will go by their Rank instead of their real name once they have risen above the rank of Pawn. For example, Rook Isaiah Gibson often goes by simply ‘Rook’, especially when interacting with those outside of the Clergymen.

Pawn

These are the standard newbies of the Clergymen. Pawns are often used more for errands around Monasteries rather than actual fieldwork as they lack actual combat experience and/or knowledge.

Rook

The most common rank of Clergymen, Rooks are the regular foot soldiers of the Clergymen. Most missions are delegated to Rooks unless they are deemed particularly difficult and above a Rook’s capabilities. The Clergymen are a small sect and so would rather not risk the lives of their Rooks.

Knight

One of two specifications Ranks. Once a Rook reaches competency, they may choose to continue their training with particular focus on combat using weapons. Knights are particularly adept at using close combat weapons and enchantment magics.

Bishop

One of two specification Ranks. Bishops are particularly focused on battling using wards, holy magic and the power of the Word of God to dispel and destroy demons. The weapons of choice for Bishops tend to be more long range.

Paladin

A special Rank, Paladins are those that transcend Knighthood/Bishophood and instead master the arts of both Ranks. An especially hard Rank to obtain, Paladins are very few and far between and rare used outside of guarding Queens and Kings.

Queen

This Rank is given to the heads of Monasteries. Despite the implications of the title, Queens are not female exclusive.

King

Only those within the Council of Kings can obtain this Rank. Kings are the governors of the entire order of Clergymen. The Council is occupied by 12 Kings at all times and when one King dies then another is elected from the current Queens. Again, the Rank of King is not male exclusive.

Abilities

Exact abilities range from Clergyman to Clergyman, but at the heart of the sect lies a few abilities that are taught to them:

Holy magics - for the most part, holy magics encompass the use of magic that uses some sort of force. For example, the most basic form of holy magic involves simply pushing an object.

The Sight - simply called The Sight, Clergymen are taught how to see the unseen world. That is, they have the ability to see ghosts, spirits and malicious entities that normal humans would not otherwise be able to see.

The Word of God - though inciting passages from their Bible, Clergymen can call up their holy magic to create a number of effects. The most common use of the Word is to forcefully remove a malicious spirit from a possessed host.

Reading auras - this ability is not something a Clergymen has switched on all the time, unless they are a particularly adept Bishop or above. However, Clergymen have the ability to differentiate between a human and a human appearing entity by seeing their aura

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