The Pentarchy of Khemra
Many priests of the various deities of the Nine aspire to create a world-wide heirarchy that spans all of Scarterra.
Thus far, only the Keepers of Khemra have managed to do this. Based out of @tower, in the nation of Khemarok, the Penarchy stands as the ultimate voice in the affairs of Khemra's faithful.
"The Pentarchy" is so named because it is presided over by the five Pentarchs including the highest ranking members of the Dawn Order, Day Order, Zenith Order, Dusk Order, and Eclipse Order.
Structure
The Keepers are very traditional and prefer to rely on traditional methods and strategies until that stops working and then make small careful adjustments due to changing times and circumstances.
The heads of Khemra temples regularly correspond with each other and make reports to the Pentarchy and the Pentarchy sends letters and directives back to their lower ranks.
As much as possible, the Pentarchs try to give the other Pentarchs autonomy. The Dawn Pentarch corresponds with Dawn Keepers around the world without directly consulting the other four Pentarchs. As do the other four with their own order.
When major events or changing circumstances impact all of Khemra's faithful, is when the Pentarchy meets as a council, discusses events thoroughly, and then votes on a course of action.
Culture
At least for the last few centuries, the Pentarchy rules with a light hand. They don't have the economic or military might to force their dictums to be accepted outside the borders of Khemarok, so essentially all of their eddicts and proclamations are essentially suggestions.
The Pentarchy usually makes sure that their eddicts are not overly onerous to follow. Usually their intent is provide meaningful guidance and their broad goal is for the Keepers worldwide to speak with one voice, or at least give the impression that they speak with one voice.
Public Agenda
Their public agenda is to aid Khemra's faithful in upholding the Compact around all of Scarterra.
History
For much of the Red Era, the Keepers were pretty much as fragmented as all the other religious factions but they wanted consistency and hieararchy more than the others so they often built local heirarchies over wide geographic territories.
Ever since the theocratic nation of Khemarok was founded, they tried to establish themselves as the leaders of all Keepers worldwide, but they didn't have enough logistics or ships to make it practical to oversee overseas Khemra temples. Also, many Khemra temples valued their independence.
During the time of the vampire lord, Vladimir the Conqueror, Vladimir's many enemies were force to organize and the Keepers were eager to do so because they like organization and they hate undead. This finally precipitated the Sun Temple of Duraleon the opportunity to rule over a relatively united global mass of Khemra worshipers.
Most astonishly, the Pentarchy managed to convinced human Keepers, dwarf Keepers, and elf Keepers to report to the same body. Something the Guardians and Masks continue to find an impediment to their goals of creating a Scarterra-wide hiearchy.
By the time of Vladimir's final death, about 7 in 10 Keepers paid homage to the Pentarchy. After 1800 years of diplomacy applying carrots and sticks to the holdouts, the Pentarchy now has the nominal allegience of roughly 19 in 20 Khemra priests and priestesses. The main holdouts are mostly nomadic or seminomadic Keepers in various barbarian tribes, especially non-human tribes.
Military
The Pentarchy has hundreds of affiliated holy warriors answering to the Dusk Pentarch. This is not enough to form a true army to enact their whims, but it is enough to allow them to provide competant escorts to their messengers and diplomats. A vital service given that the Pentarchy is managing so many subordinates in so many far flung places.
What about the Night Order?
Khemra Night Order #1 by Me using Night Cafe
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