The Guides of Arlom

The Guides of Arlom are the faction within the Church of Arlom, the god of Civilization which concerns itself with spreading Arlom’s teachings to those outside the larger communities. They will often travel with groups of settlers hoping to start a new village in the wilderness. The priests and church warriors will share the burdens of the journey with them and protect these settlers. The typical size of a group of Guides that may accompany a group of settlers would consist of one senior priest, four acolytes and ten non-ordained warriors. Paladins sometimes travel with the settlers on the initial journey for their protection, but often don’t stay long term and leave the group once the location of the settlement has been reached. The Guides provide protection, healing, advice and will share in the burdens of starting and running the village. The priests will hold services at shrines that they consecrate to all that wish to attend, and the church warriors will take shifts with the militia as well as guard the shrines. Service to the community is paramount to how the Guides operate. There have been stories of priests tending to a farmer’s fractured foot in the morning and then spending the rest of the day tending to the farmer’s field themselves that same day and every other day as they are needed. The priests charge nothing for these services and ask for no favors in return. In smaller communities with no law enforcement, they act as local constables and judges to maintain order while the communities build up their infrastructure. Each priest is also skilled in a variety of tasks that help communities grow such as cooking, farming, ranching, sewing, leather working, hunting, fishing and woodcraft, so that they can teach the settlers if there is a lacking knowledge in these fields. It is for these reasons that in many larger cities in the Kellerian Empire, the Church of Arlom is one of the most powerful organizations there and why most of the oldest buildings in said cities are Church of Arlom structures. When a new group of settlers leaves a community to start a new settlement separate from the parent settlement, the local church sends Guides to accompany them as well and thus the cycle and spread of Arlom, his teachings and civilization continue.