Timothy Slatten

High Disciple Timothy Slatten

Timothy Slatten eased back into his chair.
"Let me see then, what are the charges? Use of magic, conspiracy against the church, blasphemy, assault, misrepresentation..." he tossed the piece of paper aside and looked at the chained man in front of him. "Frankly, I'm surprised She hasn't gotten rid of you Herself. You are a miserable little creature, aren't you?"
The man looked up at him. His eyes were red but he did not cry now. He spoke in a shaky voice. "I've already told you, High Disciple, I were only following what me friend taught me - "
Timothy slammed his fist on the arm of his chair, making a loud thunk. "And I still say that is no excuse! You know full well that -" he shuddered "- spellwriting is against Her will! You knew what you were doing. You knew what you would have brought upon us!"
The man hung his head and said no more.
Timothy tossed his head. "Get him out of my sight. Bring him back when he repents."
The guards footsteps clacked on the stone tiles as they dragged the prisoner away.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Timothy was never particularly fit himself - multiple accounts tell of how he had to be assisted up the steps to the great hall of Kavala's castle by two of his aides, and of his evident discomfort as he did so. It is suspected he had some kind of breathing difficulty, something that could ironically have been easily fixed by a simple Ailmentwrit.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Timothy Slatten was born to an unknown woman near the beginning of the 7th century, although his exact birthdate has never been established. When taken in by the Church of the All-Seer, he was judged to be about 3 years old. As a child, his exploits were not notable - at least, no contemporary references are found of him before his 20th birthday, and biographers have not written of his childhood. From the few records that do exist from this time, we know that he and his family were devout church-goers and that his parents died when he was young.
At age 20, Timothy's name resurfaces once again in the official records. At this time he was ordained as an Initiate of the Church of the All-Seer, and began to attempt to convert others to the religion. This was not unusual, and indeed still occurs from the many churches that are around today. However, Timothy's rates of recruitment were unusually high - ledgers from the Church's records show that he netted 100 converts in a single month in 722. These figures seem to have been the cause of his rapid promotion to Disciple, and Timothy began giving sermons at age 23.
Timothy began with standard speeches on the All-Seer's divine will and her disapproval of those who crossed it, nothing out of the ordinary for the time. However, as he continued to speak his sermons began to include anti-spellwriter sentiments - copies of his sermons from private libraries show a tendency to criticise Ailmentwrit users as perverting the course of the All-Seer's plan. These sentiments grew in influence over 2 years until Timothy began preaching overtly against spellwriters.
By this time, Timothy was losing popularity with the other Disciples of the church, but they couldn't remove him from his position due to his popularity with the churchgoers. Timothy's sermons had attracted more and more people, particularly those who resented the literary establishment; those with little creative talent and no interaction with spellwrits were his most fervent supporters. His sermons were attended by the hundreds, and he had begun traveling to other towns to speak. Timothy might have been subdued by the other disciples nonetheless, but when speaking at Jerrinville there were reports of him receiving a sign from the All-Seer.
The audience for his sermon were listening quietly and reverently as he began, and nodded along with much of the speech. Loran's account of the Spellwriter Trials states,
"I watched in slight disbelief that anybody could agree with this Slatten character. He seemed only to be on the podium to preach in ignorance, discarding all the good things that spellwrits had achieved. I was about to turn and go, but as I did there was an explosive crack from the speaking platform. Timothy disappeared briefly from sight, before a flash of light occurred and he became visible again. The crowd muttered noticeably and Timothy looked faintly stunned. I was not sure what I had seen - to this day I still do not know. Somebody in the crowd called out "The All-Seer Speaks!" They repeated it, and the crowd took up the chant. Timothy raised a hand to quiet them and continued his sermon."
From that day on, Timothy's teachings were unquestioned. Other Disciples of the Church were afraid to criticise him in public, and began adapting their sermons to match his style. Some left the Church and ceased to practice in an official capacity as Disciples, and some were slavishly dedicated to Timothy's agenda and ideas. He rose once more through the ranks until he reached High Disciple, at that point effectively the most powerful position in the church. It was then that he began his more devious work.
The Mother Supreme of the Church was ageing and ill, and was unable to put up a fight against Timothy's slow control creep even if she wanted to. Timothy began to militarise the Church - he exhorted members to attend training that he set up, in order to "defeat the spellwriting infidels". He supplied them with weapons from daggers to pikes and sent them on patrols, at first covertly but with increasing confidence and bravado. They began to bring him prisoners and, at this point, the local lords and ladies were unable to keep him under control. Timothy became the de facto leader of a large area of land. He accused Lord Kavala of being a spellwriter, and the next day Kavala's castle was overtaken by his fanatics. Timothy set himself up in the castle, after, of course, burning down the library. He then began to conduct trials, convicting so-called "spellwriters" (often no more than people trying to cure an ailing relative by reading from a herbal book) and sentencing them to torture or death. Timothy continued this for over 5 years, until the Riders appealed to King Adraz. Adraz sent an army to the castle and extracted Timothy, burning him at the stake.

Education

Timothy studied in the Church of the All-Seer, beginning the programs of an Initiate which included basic literacy, memorisation of scripture and training in public speaking. Other than that he is not reported to have had any formal education.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Timothy changed the direction of the Church of the All-Seer for ever with his radical policies. During his time it was in its heyday, with thousands of adherents and private armies to rival those of many sovereigns. As the leader, he had vast influence and indeed used this to secure policies that were advantageous to himself and the church. The policy of peasant semi-autonomy adopted by Lord Dikar has been linked to meetings between him and Timothy by historians.
After Timothy's death, some of his loyalists broke off to become a sect of the Church of the All-Seer preaching his teachings. Naming themselves The All-Seer's Prophets, this group retreated to the wilderness and became incredibly isolated. They treat Timothy as a martyr and vow to avenge his death with all their power. Their known hides are monitored by the Rider troops.

Failures & Embarrassments

After Timothy's execution, the Church of the All-Seer underwent a tremendous collapse. Those who were preaching in tandem with him went back on their words to avoid being burnt at the stake after him, and it quickly lost the mass support that it had. His supporters either drifted away or arrested for their crimes, and most forgot about him after a few years.

Intellectual Characteristics

Timothy seems to have had exceptional speaking capabilities, as well as an easy ability to memorise. However, when asked to write without the restrictions of a sermon or similar address during his training in the Church Timothy was unable to produce anything of worth. This could well have been the reason that he resented spellwriters and called for their arrest and punishment in his later life. Timothy was also able with sums, but did not seem to show much enthusiasm for them.

Morality & Philosophy

Apart from the obvious belief that spellwriters did not deserve to remain alive, Timothy was remarkably progressive for his time. He was one of the first advocates for peasant autonomy, and indeed much of the work for this since his time has been based on his arguments.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Many historians and psychologists have pondered over what Slatten's motivations were to commit the atrocities that he did. Some draw links to his dead parents being unable to control him and undermining his faith in the effectiveness of spellwrits, Ailmentwrits in particular, while others point to his life as a Church ward and isolation from the rest of the world. The only evidence penned by his own hand is a scrap of paper from what appears to have been a longer text - Slatten was found in front of a blazing fire with empty shelves around him when arrested, and it is presumed that he burned his works. The scrap of paper reads:
"When spellwriters ask for forgiveness, they ask in vain. For they contravene Her teachings by many counts, the scripture is certain on that. And as Her chosen one, any way they hurt me is hurting Her."
Many have pointed at Slatten's close personal links with some of those he ordered executed, and how they were typically his opponents in society or in the Church, to correlate with this passage. However, without the full text it is unlikely that history will ever know his motivations.

Age

39

Year of Death

744

Circumstances of Death

Execution by fire

Gender

Male

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Bald

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Dark

Height

5'11"

Known Languages

Timothy was known to speak both the Common Tongue and Splika, the language of the sermons of the Church of the All-Seer. It is suspected he may also have known at least two other dialogues, but there is no consensus on what these were.