Apseldian Lanterns

The Lanterns back a lot of coups against governments they view as oppressive, but most such coups fail.  Even if they succeed, most Lantern back revolutionary governments do not last very long.   Apseldia is an exception.  Apseldia has endured for over two centuries surviving wars and famines.   After two centuries in power, the Apseldia Lanterns have grown distinct from their counterparts elsewhere.  The Apseldian Lanterns rarely admit it, but they have essentially become "The Man."   There are Lantern clergy and associate theurgists in nearly every arm of the government. Some Lanterns are even judges and peace keepers, two professions most Lanterns generally have a low opinion of. There are even Lanterns who help collect taxes. Some hard line Lanterns consider that practically heresy.   To avoid accusations of power broking, the Lanterns as a whole are uncharacteristically quiet during Council meetings.  The Lanterns can and do participate in Council votes but they don't normally create or lead voting blocs or make lots of speeches.  When a Lantern does want to play Council politics, he will talk to people one-on-one between Council votes.       Most Lanterns train on the job following a single mentor through the field, but Apseldia has a training monastery with a standardized curriculum that some whisper is not that different from a Khemra training monastery, just with more singing. Most Lanterns are inducted as initiates as young adults, but most Apseldian recruits are oblated as children. Most Lanterns have to aggressively recruit to maintain their numbers but the Apseldia monastery has so many people knocking on their doors asking to join that they cannot accept everyone who wants in. They have to have entrance exams. Something non-Apseldian Lanterns say smells like something the Keepers would do.