Holy Church of Achaea

The Church of Achaea, based in the Chrysalis Basilica within Shallam, is an organisation dedicated to the Ideals of Good. Guided by the Holy Codex bestowed upon them by Aurora, Goddess of Light and Deucalion, God of Righteousness, the Church strives to uphold Righteousness, Order, and Light while opposing Evil, Darkness, and Chaos. Two houses, the Guardians of Light (once called the Templars, then the Paladins) and the Empyreal Assembly (once called the Priests), form the bulk of Church membership along with the Laity of other Houses and Guilds.

History

The Church was founded by Imithia, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Pasiphae, when she held a Rite of Passing to commemorate the life and mourn the death of the last of the Offspring. Though originally composed of a few devout friends of Imithia, the Church grew quickly, eventually giving birth to the Templars and Priests. Though much different from their modern-day counterparts, they each played important parts in the functioning of the ancient Church.

Though based in the Delosian Basilica, the Church had many branches and chapels in other cities, including the Tower of the Luminai in Shallam. The Luminai were the most ardent opponents of the ancient Occultists and guided the Church's fight against them. Though denied by the Church, the Occultists claim that the Luminai and the Church perpetrated many injustices against them, including torture and the destruction of their scholarly texts. The Luminai, likewise, claim that the Occultists were responsible for the arson that destroyed their tower within Shallam. Two members of the Ancient Luminai survive today, Gladius and Dawn, who ascended into Mithraea, Goddess of the Sun.

The Church is also responsible for much of the highways within Sapience, built under the Archprelacy of Raphael I. Through their construction, the Church was able to extend its influence to a greater degree within Ashtan and Shallam, an influence that waned greatly in Ashtan, but continues into modern times within Shallam. The Church also had some influence within the Seleucarian Empire, whose founder, Nicator, the Church named Fire Saint.

The Modern Age has seen the relocation of the Basilica, and therefore the Church, from Delos to Shallam by the Logos, and the renaming of the Templar guild to the Paladins guild. In more recent days, both guilds have become Houses, and were appropriately renamed.

Prelates

The Church is lead by a council of four Prelates, with the Archprelate serving as their chief. The other three are the Mayan Prelate, the Justiciar Prelate, and the Imithian Prelate. The Archprelate is chosen by the majority vote of the other three Prelates, the Mayan Prelate is the Patriarch of Angels, the Justiciar Prelate is the Grand Champion of the Innocent, and the Imithian Prelate is chosen by the Church Patron.

Archprelates

#	Name	Term	Comments
1	Isildur	223-276	First modern Archprelate
2	Brigit	276-293
3	Aldair	293-334	From around 321 AF and onward, Aldair was a placeholder Archprelate only.
4	Dru	334-360
5	Roncli	360-279
6	Meri	279-386
7	Keturah	386-

Imithian Prelates

#	Name	Term	Comments'
1	Brinn	285-298'	First Imithian Prelate
2	Kyrienne	298-319
3	Alpine	319-340
4	Starrsong	340-368
5	Itkovian	368-	Longest serving Imithian Prelate

Green indicates Paladins/Guardians and Blue indicates Priests on both tables. For a list of Mayan Prelates, see the list of the Patriarchs of Angels on the Empyreal Assembly page.