Shining the light of knowledge, how the Keepers play politics
The goddess Khemra's primary followers call themselves the Keepers of the Compact, which is commonly shortened into just "the Keepers"
Khemra is the goddess of the sun, but the Lady of Light doesn't need her priests and priestesses to help her with physically lighting up Scarterra.
She needs their help metaphorically lighting up Scarterra. Khemra is the goddess of literacy, wisdom, and tradition and these are the things most Keepers focus on bolstering in Khemra's name.
Khemra, named by Zeta Gardner
The Keepers seek Order
Khemra is a goddess of law and order, so it surprises, so Keepers usually try to shore up the local powers that be. Most civilized lands in Scarterra use some form of hereditary titles with a feudalistic governing model and the Keepers approve of this. They believe feudal monarchies provide a good combination of stability and flexibility."Many believe that the Keepers love of law and order eclipses our love of justice and that we blindly support tyrants and oppressors. This is simply not true. We do not support the supposed 'order' of a mass grave or a slave pen. We support just rulers such as King Henryk. Khemra herself did not let her love of her order cause her to blindly serve Turoch, she led the Divine Rebellion in order to usher in a better Scarterra. We follow her lead and we oppose tyrants. The Kingdom of Uskala is technically orderly, but you won't see any Keepers on King Drosst's advisory panel."
Baron Alban, aka 'Baron Tollmore', does not have a mass grave of bodies underneath his throne, but he is still smothering his people with oppressive taxes and the Keepers are helping him do it. Queen Gwendolyn launched an unjust war of conquest against Fumaya and the Swynfaredian Keepers haven't so much as wagged a finger disapprovingly. Don't want to disrupt the status quo of the realm! The Keepers will support good kings and queen too, don't get me wrong, but they are serving the crown on the head, not the goodness of the ruler."Refusing to bend the knee to a brutal vampire king is not the flex you think it is. Damn near everyone in Scarterra doesn't King Drosst, but until and unless a Keeper puts a stake through his heart, all the Keepers bluster on this is empty air. King Drosst is the worst tyrant 'alive' today, and the Keepers don't support him. Drosst is still only one man. Scarterra has lots of bad kings and queens that the Keepers can't or won't do anything about it.
The Keepers seek wisdom
Khemra is the goddess of literacy and tradition, so it should surprise no one that Keepers support education as one of their primary political goals. Many Khemra temples boast impressive libraries and most Keeper acolytes spend a large portion of their early ecclesiastical careers working as copyists. The Keepers bend over backwards to get their own scholars in positions to tutor the sons and daughters of the nobility. While the Keepers certainly have an upper class bias, they also support schools for commoners. They sponsor many schools to help peasants learn at least basic reading and math skills, and sometimes they give the children attending free food to help offset the fact that a child in school is not working on his/her family's farm or workshop. The Keepers value knowledge and literacy for it's sake, but they are not naïve to the fact that educating the young peasants and princes gives them a chance to innudate the next generation with Khemra-friendly values.Components and tools
I am aware that many Scarterrans don't have a flattering opinion of academics or 'scroll heads' as some like to call us. Many view as superfluous and soft, but this is a foolish notion. Knowledge is power, and even so called soft knowledge can be surprisingly useful in the right situation. The Keepers of the Compact have more scroll heads among our ranks than any other Nonagon faction. Even if they aren't directly affiliated with us, most secular sages and academics are at least on friendly speaking terms with the Keepers and this expands our knowledge and reach. The bureaucrats that quietly run the day-to-day operations of Scarterra are mostly drawn from or mentored by the sagely community and this indirectly gives us influence over how nations are governed." -Aurum Zara of the Dawn, chief historian of the Fumayan KeepersFew Keepers would admit it openly, but they have a secret weapon to use against rulers who truly displease them. The Keepers are the foremost historians and chroniclers in all of Scarterra. Keeper historians claim to be free of bias and only concerned with the truth, but they are still mortal and thus have mortal biases which crop up in their writings. Would you rather be remembered as "Ivar the Fierce" or "Ivar the Boneless". Whether they admit or not, many rulers fear alienating the Keepers simply, so chroniclers write about their rulership favorably.
Participants
Keepers who play politics
The Keepers' members are divided into five orders each with a separate function: Dawn (orange), Day (yellow), Zenith (white), Dusk (red), and Eclipse (purple). Officially, the Zenith Order is the political arm of the Keepers. Keepers are not stuck in any one Order for the entirety of ecclesiastical career, and it's relatively normal for a Keeper to rotate through several orders over his/her ecclesiastical career.
by Me with Hero Forge
by Me with Hero Forge
by Me with Hero Forge
The Keepers political targets
Keepers tend to think globally and act locally. Locally they want to become an advisor to whoever the king or queen is. The King of Fumaya makes a point to try to curry favor with the entire Nonagon but currently, his primary diplomatic advisor is a Keeper and his royal investigator is a Keeper. In the Elven Empire, the empress barely bothers pretending to care about the entire Nonagon. Keepers are found in every level of the imperial government there and the local Keepers are practically a branch of the government. If the Keepers can't get one of their own into the royal throne room, they will take a [page out of the Masks' playbook and try to win over the lower level nobles starting with the dukes and working their way down to the barons. They also have the backdoor entrance into politics by influencing the low level bureaucrats who actually handle the day-to-day running of a nation.What is "the Compact" and how does it apply to the Keepers?
Symbol of the Nine by Pendrake
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