The Saintly Orders

In Jonatela, the saints are venerated as having shown the true paths for warriors and nobles to reach an understanding of God. As a result, the majority of saints venerated in Jonatela are those associated with knights and with martial prowess, or those whose followers take up military support roles. Saints that are common elsewhere, such as those of heralds, farmers, highborn women, and so on, are unknown, standing completely outside the Jonating religious worldview. Only warriors and nobles ever follow the saints, and it would be sacrilegious for a commoner or wizard to even consider such an act.

Only around half of warriors, and a third of the nobles, actually belong to organised saintly orders. Most others venerate the saints from time to time in their prayers, and acknowledge their importance, but they do not dedicate themselves as far as joining the orders, and taking the religious vows that they require. That this proportion is even this high is due to the pagan past of the nation, where almost all adults followed a patron deity of some kind; the tradition has greatly weakened with society’s conversion to Malkionism, but has never faded entirely, as it has come much closer to doing, for example, in Seshnela.


Jonating Membership of the Saintly Orders
NOBLE SAINTS
Jonat 850
Menena 520
Mistandar 380
WARRIOR CASTE SAINTS
Anazieta
 4,000
Carpattia
 3,800
Chielka
 2,800
Drezedan
 7,100
Elleish
 1,500
Gerlant
 5,600
Josselyne
 5,100
Ongaring
 570
Padelnik
 4,800
Roshant
 3,500
Talor
 3,700
Xemela
 3,000
Zemuron
 1,800
Zmes
 300
(Other)
 500
 

Saint Anazieta

Patron Saint of Surgeons

For centuries, relatively unskilled barber-surgeons from the commoner caste supplemented the wizardry and saintly healing orders among the Fronelan Malkioni. Where higher caste healers dealt with magical spells, healing draughts, and poultices, the barber-surgeons dealt with the corporeal body alone, cutting hair, stitching wounds, and performing amputations. Many saw this as an ‘unclean’ profession, tainted by blood and muck and by the necessity of dealing with gross and physical matter, something that ran counter to many Fronelan religious movements of the day. As a result, most Malkioni communities suppressed the surgeons, considering them not to be true healers, and reserving their use only for the poorest and most downtrodden members of society.

Anazieta lived in late Imperial Age Golaros, ministering to the injured too desperate and unworthy to attract the attentions of the organised healing orders. When Jonat Bigbear returned to Syanor from his sojourn in the south, he began to gather a warband about himself, dedicated to unifying the land under Malkioni rule. Anazieta joined that warband out of dedication to the divine cause, although, at first, her abilities and piety went unrecognised, among the great mass of other lowly camp followers.

But times were changing, and old certainties being set aside. Anazieta was determined, and outspoken about holding to the Malkioni creed, as well as highly skilled in her arts. After she saved a wounded wizard from bleeding to death when no Xemelan healers could be found, she at last gained the opportunity to prove that arts previously considered lowly could nonetheless be useful. Impressing the wizards with her knowledge of scripture, which she could quote verbatim despite never having learned to read, nor having undergone any formal study, she gained the support necessary to heroquest and prove that her vision, of remaining above worldly contamination through emotional distance and rigorous logic, was a valid path to follow.

Anazieta showed that the Xemelan path of compassion and self-sacrifice was not the only way for healers to remain holy. A ruthless logic, and a detachment from the worldly deeds that a healer, and especially a surgeon, must necessarily perform were a valid and alternative path, and one that required far less suffering on the part of the physician. The wizards were impressed by the application of logical thought to the messy, emotional, world of the healer, and, in due course, so was Jonat himself.

Jonat, using his new-found powers as monarch of the kingdom that now bears his name, raised Anazieta to the warrior caste, declaring that henceforth, those who repaired physical injuries should have the same status as those who dealt them. Anazieta dictated her grimoires to the wizards, and to a growing school of other barber-surgeons who wished to learn from her. The training academy that she founded at the royal court became the nucleus of her cult after her death.

The saint had shown, not just that compassion was unnecessary for a healer, but that, at times, it could impede their judgement and compromise their effectiveness.

Entry Requirements: Must be a non-combatant member of the warrior caste. For social, although not religious, reasons, most surgeons in Jonatela are women.

Abilities: Amputate Limb, Cauterise Wound, Cut Hair, Extract Teeth, Ignore Patient’s Screams, Stitch Wound, Understand Human Anatomy.

Virtues: Determined, Focused, Pragmatic.

Scripture: The Rule of Anazieta

Common Blessings—Bless Dexterity, Harden Heart, Remember Duty
Special Blessings—Bless Stitching, Bless Surgical Instruments, Resist Infection, Splint Bones, Swiften Healing

Rune: Craftsmanship

Grimoire: The Chirurgeon’s Manual  (Boil Pitch, Clean Away Blood, Extract Missile, Immobilise Patient, Let Patient Breathe Freely, Muffle Screams, Re-Knit Bones, Sharpen Knife, Tighten Stitches, Triage)

Icons and Images: Most depictions show the saint sitting cross-legged, and using a knife or pair of pliers to treat the head-wound of a calmly kneeling patient.

Saint’s Day: 7th Fervidor, the day that Jonat raised the saint to the knight caste.

Other Side: Saint Anazieta’s node on the Saint Plane is a hospital and surgery, starkly decorated and free from dirt or stains. Surgical treatises line the walls, as do a wide range of interesting appliances and tools.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Despite their clear opposition to most Xemelan ideals, Anazietans do agree with their fellow saintly cult on the matter of violence; their ability to heal sits in logical opposition to the power of harm, and they may not use weapons except in self defence. Very few learn any combat skills at all, lest they be compromised, although the shedding of blood and the infliction of injury for the greater good of the patient (for example, medical amputations) is wholly justified by their ruthless logic.


Saint Chielka

Patron Saint of Equerries

A priestess of the pagan horse goddess Redalda during the seventh century, Chielka was a respected member of her community, charged with protecting and caring for the clan’s horses. One day, a sickness began to spread among the herd, and all of her prayers and magics were helpless against it. In desperation, the clansmen sent out for a greater priestess who could help them, but, instead, a stranger came to the village from the north, praying to the Invisible God for deliverance.

Distrusting the ways of wizardry, Chielka was furious at this interference in her role as guardian, and challenged the stranger to a duel of magic. The two were taken up into the hero plane, where they contested for three days, pitting the pagan arts of the Redaldan horse-cult against the sacred logic of Malkioni wizardry. When the pair returned to the mortal world, the horses were all cured of their affliction, and Chielka had seen the error of her ways and converted to the true faith. The stranger, whose name was Bertorl, welcomed her into the fold, and she became a missionary for the cause.

For the remainder of her life, Chielka put aside all of her old ways, and dedicated herself to forging a path that combined the beneficial aspects of Redaldan practice with a truly spiritual outlook. She replaced superstition with logic, and sacrifices with prayers, finding blessings and spells that would allow others to follow her in future. Her cult grew only slowly after her death, a tiny minority in a land that remained largely pagan. During the Third Age, when the care of horses became restricted to the Nemuzhik, her followers at last received the recognition that was their due, and became the saintly cult for all women who supported their menfolk in that manner.

Entry Requirements: Be a member of the warrior caste. Most followers are women, and are not professional warriors as their fathers are, although, in theory, men are also free to follow the saint.

Abilities: Breed Horses, Grooming, Horse Doctor, Ride Horse.

Virtues: Love Horses, Prudent.

Scripture: The Rule of Saint Chielka

Common Blessings—Bless Stables, Bond with Horses
Special Blessings—Bless Foaling, Bless Horse, Bless Tack, Support Rider

Rune: Beast

Grimoire: The Equerry’s Manual  (Calm Horse, Command Horse, Cure [Horse Disease], Galloping Run, Heal Horse, Horse’s Scent, Mare’s Fertility, Sense [Predator], Strengthen Horse, Understand Horse)

Icons and Images: The saint is always shown either accompanied by a horse or with a horse-head emblem. She is usually shown in rich clothing, rather than in more practical dress, to emphasise her ties to the Nemuzhik, and always has her hair in a ponytail.

Saint’s Day: 6th Nex, the date of the saint’s conversion to Malkionism.

Other Side: Chielka’s node on the Saint Plane is a broad hilltop plain dotted with trees and rich fodder. The plain is centred on a magnificent set of stables that keep themselves perpetually clean, and is surrounded by a high stone wall that obscures all view of the land beyond.

Advantages and Disadvantages: The followers of Chielka, often called equerries, are dedicated to their charges, which they value as highly as the life of a Nemuzhik (and, obviously, higher than that of a mere peasant). This devotion at once makes them useful to warriors and nobles, because of their skills, and yet undesirable, because no man can have their undivided attention.


Saint Drezedan

Patron Saint of Equestrians

Drezedan was born into an Imperial Age pro-Malkioni family within an unremarkable lowland clan. He proved skilled at arms and became a clan warrior, dedicating himself to the path of Saint Talor. When he was aged in his mid-twenties, Loskalmi armies under the control of the Middle Sea Empire invaded the lands to the north, seeking to impose the misguided and oppressive God Learner Heresy on its peoples. The Janubians fought back against these foes, but with little cohesion between them, they were beaten back by superior organization and military tactics. In these early exchanges, warriors of Drezedan’s clan served as mercenaries, despite the distance of their own clan territory. They suffered greatly for it, with many of the more experienced warriors falling to the enemy. After some impressive acts of heroism, Drezedan found himself as the war leader for the clan’s mercenary warband, and its most experienced surviving military horseman.

One day, as the warband readied itself to enter the fray against their Imperial foe, as Drezedan led the prayers for their victory, a giant flaming horse appeared in the sky, and charged at the enemy. Taking this divine sign for what it was, the warband surged forwards, imbued with a miraculous strength and the ability to shatter the heretic’s magic. The saint himself was especially blessed, and afterward duplicated the feat at will, and taught it to others in his entourage.

No God Learner army could stand against them, and other clans began at last to rally to Drezedan’s side, acknowledging him as a mighty hero. It was not to last; in 797 the God Learners sent a demon to destroy the holy war leader when he was unprepared, and he became a martyr through their deceit and treachery. His secret power lived on, preserved by a growing cult that venerated his memory and which would later form the nucleus of his official order.

Entry Requirements: Must be a knight.

Abilities: Cavalry Tactics, Tend Horse.

Virtues: Courageous, Determined.

Scripture: The Deeds of Saint Drezedan

Common Blessings—Raise Morale, Resist Heretical Wizardry
Special Blessings— Bless Ambush Site, Bless Horse, Bless Lamellar Armor, Bless Lance, Bless Sabre, Bless with Strength, Slaughter Heretics
Curses—Curse Foreign Warband

Rune: Death

Grimoire: The Book of Righteous Tactics  (Fearless Horse, Inspiring Sign of Victory, Kill Crippled Horse Cleanly, Panic Infantry, Righteous Strength, Shatter Spear, Slashing Blade, Trample Peasant Soldier)

Icons and Images: The saint is shown mounted fully armoured, and holding a raised sabre in one hand. He is frequently shown trampling enemies beneath his horse’s hooves.

Saint’s Day: 27th Aestival, the anniversary of the Burning Horse Battle, at which the saint performed his first miracle.

Other Side: Saint Drezedan’s node on the Saint Plane takes the form of a large hilltop fort consisting of three tall keeps arranged in a triangle and connected by curtain walls.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Followers of Saint Drezedan take an oath never to retreat in battle unless ordered to do so by a noble.


Saint Jonat

Patron Saint of Jonatela

Jonat is the highest saint of the Kingdom of Jonatela, its founder and namesake, the patron of the land itself and, by necessary extension, of its ruling nobility. He was born among pagans, the younger son of one of the many ruling chieftains of that time. Although his family imitated the true Malkioni way in their style of rule, they worshipped the storm god and made sacrifices to the lowly guardians of the earth. Jonat quarrelled with his father and his elder brother over the succession, going into voluntary exile rather than tear his land apart with strife.

He travelled to the southern land of Seshnela, heart of the Middle Sea Empire, the greatest political power in the world. There, he joined the court of Emperor Bajenyl, and learned the true ways of nobility, so much more grand than those of his homeland. The Emperor welcomed him, for he had few allies from outside the borders of his own land in those days, and Jonat became a trusted confidante. But his aim was always higher than that, for he sought the secrets of Kingship itself, the rites that would allow him power beyond anything known in Syanor up until that time.

He converted to the true faith, and heroquested to gain powers of rulership and authority, soon acquiring secret magic forbidden by the wizards of the Empire. But the wizards, and the other nobles, had more worries on their mind, for the Empire itself was riven with rebellion, tearing itself apart even as Jonat walked the paths necessary to build something new. He left before his achievements could be discovered, and returned to the plains of Golaros.

There, he overthrew his brother, who had become chieftain in his absence, and had debauched himself by taking a harem of commoners. Guided by the power of Malkion, he learned how to adapt the Seshnelan rites of kingship to his own land, and began a campaign to unite the land. Some rivals he defeated in open battle, others through diplomacy, or by defeating their priests, but his rise was unstoppable. In 993, he founded the Kingdom of Jonatela and proclaimed rule in the name of the true faith.

After Jonat’s death, his family established a holy shrine in his name, and quested to prove his true ascension to sainthood. Such proof came quickly, and the family shrine grew to become a cult that embraced all noblemen in the realm, united by their power over their subjects and by their dedication to the throne.

Entry Requirements: Must be a male member of the Jonating noble caste, and swear an oath of fealty to the crown.

Abilities: Beat Peasants, Eat Huge Feast, Flatter Allies, Know Court Gossip, Spy on Rival, Undermine Rival.

Virtues: Domineering, Ruthless.

Scripture: The Life of Saint Jonat

Common Blessings—Bless Regalia, Intimidating Presence
Special Blessings—Bless Blade, Bless the Land, Bless Locks, Bless Throne
Curses—Curse Disobedient Subjects, Curse Pagan Priest, Curse Rival.

Rune: Mastery

Grimoire: The Book of Authority  (Detect Poison, Fortify Bodyguard, Manly Vigour, Quash Dissent, Roar of Command, Sense Assassin, Subdue Peasants, Terrify Subject)

Icons and Images: A number of contemporary images of Jonat still exist in the royal citadel, revered as especially holy icons. Most other icons imitate these portraits, although often in stylised form. Jonat is shown as a muscular and determined man, and is almost always portrayed as of inhuman size, typically around eight feet tall, so that he towers over lesser mortals. Images show him in royal robes, bearing a sword and sceptre, and wearing the crown and other royal regalia. Sometimes, he is standing on the bodies of his enemies.

Saint’s Day: 1st Fervidor, the anniversary of the proclamation of the Kingdom of Jonatela.

Other Side: Jonat’s node on the saint plane is a towering castle, resembling, yet even grander than, the royal citadel in Okarnia. The upper levels of the castle are filled with great halls and trophy rooms, while below stretch extensive crypts filled with the bones of the saint’s enemies.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Simply being a noble in Jonatela is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Nobles have authority over all lesser people, including the other Nemuzhik castes, but must also be constantly wary for other nobles seeking to usurp their power, whether directly or otherwise. The higher the status of the noble, the more privileges he has, and the more he must fear those who wish to take them away.


Saint Padelnik

Patron Saint of Fortitude

Saint Padelnik was born in northern Jonatela to one of the more prosperous wizard clans. Highly religious from an early age, he took the moral teachings of the Church to heart, and often berated his fellows for their lack of piety. In 1163, he moved to the southern highlands to take up a position on a bishop’s support staff. Once there, he became inflamed with righteous anger at the behaviour of many locals, especially of the impious reivers, and spoke out loudly against them. He began to gather supporters and eventually obtained permission to act more directly against these foes to the natural order.

Over the following years, he went on expeditions with many warbands, often launching punitive raids against reiver strongholds. His spells were powerful, but his aura of holiness was such that he also performed many miraculous feats beyond the means of ordinary wizards. He demonstrated immunity to the effects of weather and cold, and could inspire whole warbands to march and fight in the most difficult of conditions. He fasted for many weeks at a time, yet never showed any signs of weakness or debility. Once, he kept a whole warband in full fighting trim for weeks on a diet of only snow and frozen moss.

In later life, Padelnik retired to the town of Kredivan, where he became bishop. He was over a hundred years of age when he surrendered his spirit, and passed into Solace. Although he was a wizard, many warriors revered his name as a holy man willing to put himself at risk to defeat their foes, and his followers eventually formalized a saintly order in his name.

Entry Requirements: Must be a male member of the warrior caste.

Abilities:  Resist Cold, Survive on Minimal Rations.

Virtues: Frugal, Resilient.

Scripture: The Life of Saint Padelnik

Common Blessings—Ignore Hunger, Raise Morale, Resist Temptation
Special Blessings— Bless Rations, Bless Shelter, Bless Shield, Bless Spear, Continue Marching, Ignore Wounds, Resist Cold, Stay Awake
Curses—Curse the Lawless

Rune: Strength

Grimoire: The Book of Fortitude  (Cure Dysentery, Eat Snow, Feel No Cold, Feel No Pain, Fight On, Ignore Exhaustion, Inspire Followers, Piercing Spear, Reinvigorate, Resist Storm, Smite Bandit, Stretch Rations)

Icons and Images: The saint is shown with a staff in one hand, and the other raised with palm held forward.

Saint’s Day: 25th Brumastide, the saint’s birthday.

Other Side: Padelnik’s node on the saint plane takes the form of a large, plainly decorated, church with heavy stone walls, which always remains warm despite standing in a wasteland of ice and snow.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Followers of Saint Padelnik must not eat to excess, something that often sets them apart from their fellow warriors. They must sleep out of doors for at least one night every month.


Saint Roshant

Patron Saint Against Werewolves

Roshant achieved knighthood in the first decade of the fourth century. As was the custom in those times, he became a Man of All, combining the arts of warrior, leader, and teacher in one person. (Heretics outside Jonatela say that he was a worker, too, but such an absurd claim is rightly rejected by Syanoran scholars). Rather than live in the cities of the coast, where the Brithini were still influential, he travelled into the interior of Fronela with a number of followers, and there established a new settlement.

The community, which lay nestled in the vast forests that covered much of Fronela in those days, was a holy one, where everyone knew his or her place and lived in accordance with scripture and moral practice. At first the community prospered, but then it came into conflict with the werewolves that dwelled within the deep forest. At first, there were skirmishes and raids, but when Roshant and his followers defended their crops and their land, striking back against their foes where necessary, the attacks became more frequent. The werewolves even sent evil spirits against the righteous, tormenting them, and battling with their guardian essences.

Roshant led raids against the part-human foe, always driving them back into the forest when he faced them head on. Yet the werewolves delighted in ambush, trickery, and evil magic, and it became clear that there could be no victory so long as the battle was purely physical. Instead, Roshant led a new fight against them, on the spiritual planes, setting their evil spirits against the true word of God. At last, he faced and defeated a great spirit wolf within which their power resided, breaking its teeth and de-clawing its feet.

After that, the power of the local werewolves was broken, although there were occasional troubles from more distant foes, and the colony resumed a largely peaceful existence. In later years, after his death, warriors who fought against lycanthropes sent prayers to Roshant to guide them, and followed the teachings he had established. There are no werewolves now where Roshant lived, and his cult survives only in Jonatela, close to the spirit-haunted land of Telmoria and the dark woods of Darpador.

Entry Requirements: Must be a member of the warrior caste.

Abilities: Hunting, Tracking, Wolf Lore.

Virtues: Brave, Resilient, Self-sufficient.

Scripture: The Life of Saint Roshant

Common Blessings—Bless Sword, Sense Ambush
Special Blessings—Bless Defensive Wall, Bless Food, Bless Hunting Bow, Bless Lantern, Seek Wolves, Strength of Purpose
Curses—Curse Evil Spirits, Curse Werewolves, Curse Wolves

Rune: Death

Grimoire: The Ring of Steel  (Armour of Faith, Blade of Pure Metal, Break Wolf, Calm Horse, Find Food, Scent Foe, See by Starlight, Ward Away Spirits)

Icons and Images: Contemporary images of Saint Roshant emphasise his role as a warrior, and downplay or ignore any trappings that might indicate his role as a noble or wizard. He is usually shown brandishing a sabre, and wearing a green hooded cloak.

Saint’s Day: 24th Vernus, the saint’s birthday.

Other Side: Roshant’s node on the Saint Plane is a walled fortress whose courtyard encloses an entire village. It is perpetual night, lit only by the everlasting torches of the fortress and village, and the twinkling stars above. Beyond the walls stretch only impenetrable forests from which dark and horrible sounds issue.


Saint Zmes

Patron Saint of Weaponsmiths

Zmes was a blacksmith who lived in the Janube valley to the north of Jonatela during fifth century. Malkionism was new to the region in those times, and, while he himself was born into that religion, pagan beliefs and practices still heavily influenced all the traditions of smithying. The pagan cult of Gustbran held away over the smiths of the day, with its demands for burnt offerings and superstitious ideas about the art of metalwork. Zmes knew that there had to be logical laws underpinning metal and its craft, and that it was possible to work metal without the need for pagan idols and primitive rituals.

He quested to learn new techniques of metalwork that did not rely in ungodly magics, and taught them to other Malkioni craftsmen. As his fame grew, he engaged in many contests against the followers of Gustbran, proving the superiority of Malkioni methods and rational magic over pagan traditions. He pioneered new ways of making armour and crafted weapons of unparalleled quality. His greatest triumphs included his mastery of the spells that would work iron, a metal that the old traditions said was unworkable and whose nature made it resistant to normal magics. Once he could demonstrate all the arts of the blacksmith, the followers of Gustbran were broken, for they could only work the inferior metal of bronze.

One time, the great hero Talor approached Zmes, and asked him to forge a sword that could slay a beast invulnerable to all lesser weapons. Once Zmes had finished this masterwork, Talor and his companions placed their prayers into the weapon, enhancing it yet further, creating a blade of truly great and holy power. With this, the Laughing Warrior slew the Tarjinian Bull, one of the deadliest chaos creatures to squeeze its bulk through the Gate of Banir.

After his death, Zmes’ many students established a guild to spread his techniques and discoveries among all the Malkioni peoples of Fronela. In more recent times, the Order has declined in its original home of the Janube Valley, replaced by newer Orders of more generalist craftsmen, but it remains strong in Jonatela to the south, and among the specialist guilds of Loskalm.

Entry Requirements: In Jonatela, must be a male member of the warrior caste. Requirements may be different in other lands, depending on the local status of smiths.

Abilities: Craft Armour, Craft Weapon, Evaluate Metal, Resist Heat, Work Bronze, Work Iron.

Virtues: Attention to Detail, Hard-Working.

Scripture: The Life of Saint Zmes

Common Blessings—Bless Forge, Bless with Strength, Bless Tools
Special Blessings—Bless Blade to Stay Sharp, Bless Sword to Ward Away Ghosts, Bless Sword to Wound Chaos, Bless Sword to Wound Pagan, Bless Sword to Wound Sinner, Bless Sword to Wound Undead.

Rune: Smith

Grimoire: The Perfect Blade  (Cut the Uncuttable, Enchant Bronze ritual, Enchant Iron ritual, Extend Sword Blessing ritual, Lighten Armour, Reinforce Armour, Shimmering Blade, Slice Through Armour)

Icons and Images: The saint is usually shown hammering out a sword on an anvil, but some depictions show him holding aloft a sword glowing with an inner light.

Saint’s Day: 7th Frigidor, the Saint’s birthday.

Other Side: Zmes’ node on the saint plane is a large, windowless, workshop, with walls of solid stone, perpetually hot from the forge fires that burn untended, yet never go out. Beneath the workshop extend vaults full of iron ingots and marvellous weapons and armour of all kinds, all of which are somehow unfinished or imperfect, the failed experiments of a consummate perfectionist.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Jonating weaponsmiths are members of the knight caste, not commoners, like other craftsmen (who are not generally allowed to handle proper weapons). As a result, they are expected to fight when the need arises, and are trained to do so, although, in practice, they are too valuable to be allowed to see much direct action. Each requires a patron, usually a noble, although some powerful warrior hero bands also have their own smiths.


Foreign Saints

Saint Carpattia

The cult of Saint Carpattia, patron saint of guardsmen, is seen as low status by most Jonatings. It has, nonetheless become the most important cult among those warriors unable to attain knight status, and therefore performs a role closer to that of infantry saints such as Dalan in Seshnela. The chivalrous aspects of the cult are downplayed, and even other Carpattians look down on Jonating followers as an inferior imitation of the true cult elsewhere.

Saint Elleish

The long tradition of female warriors in Jonatela has actually handicapped the followers of Saint Elleish, the patron saint of knightly women. This is because, in Jonatela, many of the other knightly saints accept women among their followers – although Josselyne, Padelnik, and Gerlant are exceptions. Across much of the region, the Order of Saint Elleish is unimportant, although it can have local influence where leaders have been successful in casting themselves as successors to the old pagan warrior woman cults. The local order does, however, reject the role of wizard for its followers, and remains solely interested in martial prowess, contrary to its wider stance elsewhere.

Saint Gerlant

Saint Gerlant was almost unknown in Jonatela during the Imperial Age, when the local Church was  instead influenced by the local Fronelan saint, Talor. Jonat encountered the Household of Flame during his time in Seshnela, where Gerlant was and remains the single most significant of all the saints. He invited many followers of the cult to Fronela during the days immediately before and after the founding of his kingdom, and they played a key role in the forging of modern Jonatela. Today, the Household of Flame is second only to the local cult of Saint Drezedan among the knights of Jonatela, although it remains administratively entirely separate from its Seshnelan counterpart. The Rokari followers of the saint regard their Jonating fellows as heretics, isolated from the true faith, even though they follow the specific teachings of the saint quite rigorously.

Saint Josselyne

Perhaps the most widespread of all the Malkioni knightly orders, that of Saint Josselyne appeals particularly to the Jonatings. The warrior saint’s emphasis on physical strength and the importance of maintaining a powerful defence speaks to ideals of Jonating masculinity and to the principles inherent in the design of the zamats. The order maintains a separate hierarchy in Jonatela, distinct from those of other lands, but has little interest in the larger doctrinal disputes that plague some other saintly orders.

Saint Menena

The patron saint of wives has long been popular in Jonatela, but, in recent centuries, has become restricted only to noblewomen, in contrast to her previous, much wider, appeal. The cult is unimportant and barely organised, serving only as an outlet for the inclinations of the more religious ladies, and is entirely overshadowed by those of other, more active, saints.

Saint Mistandar

During the Imperial Age, the primary cult among Malkioni merchants was that of Saint Sestercian, who taught merchants how to acquire wealth without greed or conspicuous consumption. This never fit well with lifestyles of the Jonating nobility, and once they had taken control of all trade for themselves, the moral decline of the order only accelerated. Into this vacuum stepped the Seshnelan order of Saint Mistandar, encouraged by the success of the Household of Flame. The new order saw no conflict between Jonating concepts of noble luxury and the maintenance of a proper Malkioni code, arguing that personal wealth was a necessary consequence of the enrichment of the realm. The Sestercians soon crumbled, and Saint Mistandar became the only significant merchant saint in Jonatela, followed by many of the nobility. If anything, the Jonating branch of the cult remains truer to its ideals than does that of its homeland, subsumed as they are by the austere theology of Rokarism.

Saint Ongaring

Ongaring is the patron saint of travellers, and his interdenominational Order works to connect all churches across the West, carrying messages and other important goods between them. Arguably, Jonatela is one place where the messengers are needed more than anywhere, because of the frequent disagreements and lack of central organisation between the various factions of the Syanoran Church. Yet, while recognised for its important and neutral role, as it is almost everywhere, the Order of Saint Ongaring has generally not been successful in coordinating the activity of the rival churches, and often finds its activity hampered by political rivalries. As always, the Order strives to remain neutral in all disputes, and many of its members are actually from the Janube, only theoretically considered equal in status to Jonating warriors.

Saint Talor

Saint Talor has always been popular in Fronela. Saint Bertorl, regarded as the founder of Malkionism within Syanor, was himself a follower of Talorite ideals, and a member of his church. Throughout much of the Imperial Age, therefore, the order of Saint Talor the Laughing Warrior was the most important of all the warrior cults among the Syanoran Malkioni. With the foundation of the Kingdom of Jonatela and the spread of the Household of Flame, the Talorites began to decline, but their influence never entirely faded. The followers of the saint today reject the relatively dour attitude of many of their fellow knights, rejoicing in the life they have now, rather than focusing on an uncertain future. A few tend towards outright hysteria, a dangerously unpredictable, if highly unorganised, faction within the order.

Saint Xemela

The Xemelans of Jonatela are no longer as numerous as their Anazietan rivals. The cult remains true to its ancient ideals, as it does elsewhere in the world, demanding self-sacrifice and empathy from its followers. Such concepts are alien to many Jonating Nemuzhik, who regard themselves as superior to most other humans, and see no reason to invite suffering on themselves even to aid others. The cult, therefore, remains heavily supported by foreign aid and membership, especially drawn from the Janube valley to the north. Xemelans are regarded as strange people by their peers, and cannot entirely overcome the suspicion of the commoner caste. They are rivals to both the Anazietans and Niatrans, both of which have fundamentally different philosophies, and the constant theological and political disputes between the three healing cults make them far less unified and effective than those in other lands.

Saint Zemuron

The Zemuroni are specialist chaos-hunters, a role as important in Jonatela as elsewhere in the West. However, the ideals of the Order, which emphasise both chivalry and abstention from worldly desires, are completely alien to the common Jonating mindset. The order does exist in the kingdom, and remains true to its philosophy, but only at the expense of ostracism and deep mistrust from many other Nemuzhik. Their usefulness is undeniable, yet their peculiar philosophy makes it hard for them to attract followers, except perhaps from among those disenchanted with the Jonating way of life. As a result, they tend to occupy their own fortifications, away from major settlements, maintaining themselves by acting as mercenaries as required.


Back to the Malkioni home page
This page was last updated 11th June 2011 by Jamie Revell