Confessor Order

The Holy Order of Sisters of the Confession House in Tethar, commonly the Confessor Order, is a contemplative religious order of women established in the 7th century of the Imperial Era, centered in the Confessor Abbey in the mountains of Tethar. The Confessor Order emerged in the period between the collapse of the Old Empire and the emergence of the New Empire, with the goal of gathering together all human, dwarven, and half-elven women who manifest the magical ability to manipulate the will of others, what the Order refers to as the power of "Confession".

The Confessor Order became the core of a new religious movement that sought to restore the expression of truth, justice, and mercy in everyday life, and reinvigorated contemplative devotion to the gods. This faith-based movement became very popular in the interwar era, and the Confessorite movement has culturally and socially embedded itself across the New Empire.

Today, the Confessors act as an unofficial law enforcement body in the Empire. The Confessor Order and its affiliated orders, the Templars and the Order of St. Ilhandriel, collectively wield considerable political power.

Name
The order itself is formally organized as the Holy Order of Sisters of the Confession House in Tethar, but is often referred to the Confessor Order, Order of Confessors, Confessor Sisters, or the Holy Sisters.

The territories under the temporal power of the Order are technically a separate political entity from the Order, but are usually treated as being coterminous given that both are under the rule of the Mother Confessor. Formally they are constituted as the Confessor State, but are variously called the Order State, Temple State, States of the Sisters, or the Matriarchal States. The Confessor State holds a seat in the Imperial Assembly on behalf of the Order, and is theoretically represented by the Mother Confessor; in practice, her heir is deputized to represent her in Imperial affairs.

Origins
The Confessor Order's origins are shrouded in myth and legend. It is known that the Confessor Abbey was founded in an abandoned dwarven settlement, built into the mountainside adjacent a cave wellspring, at some unspecified point during the fall of the Old Empire. The Order's legendary history maintains that their organization has existed for thousands of years, as a small circle of human women dwelling in the former dwarven cavern cities.

Exactly how the power of Confession emerged, who the first Confessors were, and how they came to be gathered at the temple is a well-guarded secret, revealed only to Confessors who swear an oath of secrecy. The Order has been always led by a Mother Confessor, who is attended to by two Mother Confessors-in-Waiting, one of whom is her designated successor. All other Confessors are afforded equal status.

The Order first emerged to the public in the 600s, during a time of immense strife and devastation. The Old Empire had been long wiped away, and its successor states constantly fought among each other. In the middle 7th century, the Orcish Khaganate was split apart in a twenty-year civil war between rival brothers who each claimed the supreme khanate. Orcish hordes raided in every direction, slaughtering and burning where they went. Kings and princes failed to respond, refusing to risk their own forces to distribute justice, creating a lawless environment. It is in this context that the first Confessors appear in lands north of the Tethar Mountains, offering to mete out justice and settle disputes by way of their magical powers as well as their education in ways of diplomacy. Within a century, their presence was well-established and many major cities founded chapter houses to act as local places of rest for travelling Confessors.

Rise and fall
The Order grew in size and authority, and shifted its mission from a purely contemplative and monastic one, to a mendicant avocation to create justice in lands that sorely lacked it. During this time a second monastic order was created, the Order of Templars, who were sworn to protect Confessors during their travels. The two orders came to act in close cooperation, with templar paladins stationed in the Abbey as defenders and tutors starting in 712. This marked the first time anyone other than a Confessor was allowed to enter the Abbey. Thereafter, the Abbey would allow some pilgrims and visitors, as well as permanent tutors to enter the holy temple.

In 819, the Mother Confessor Ilhandriel, her successor Jocelyn, and a third Confessor, Theophania, set out on a diplomatic expedition to the Orcish Khaganate, escorted by a motley band of knights and warriors. However, the meeting with the khans quickly soured as the orc factions squabbled among themselves and the tensions boiled over into physical confrontation. The three Confessors were murdered in the ensuing brawl, sparking the Second Orc War.

The Confessor Order underwent a schism as the next Mother Confessor chosen was considered far too young by many, prompting several Confessors to leave the temple. The Confessor Order and its allies were unable to coordinate the defense effort and the first half of the war was an unmitigated disaster as the human and dwarven kingdoms were overrun. The nadir of the war came in 833, when a raiding party of orcs trekked across the rocky desert, scaled the Tethar Mountains, and sacked the Abbey. The temple was plundered, its towers burned and toppled, and many of the Confessors were butchered. Only the ancient library survived intact, through the efforts of the dwarven priestess Dagny.

The sack of the Abbey, along with Orcish invasions of Eldunari and Skyshroud, galvanized the resistance. Despite the destruction, it hardened the resolve of the Confessors-in-Exile, who rallied around templar paladin Lucan Xilocia, who was the companion of Ilhandriel, and the surviving Templar Order. With the organizational efforts of Eldunari quartermaster Arya Hafwen, the combined forces of the alliance triumphed over the orcs by 842. The New Empire was founded in the aftermath, and Lucan pioneered the revival of the Confessor Order.

Rebirth
Lucan was chosen among the Templars to be Lord Protector of their order, a prestigious position that tasked him with personally overseeing the defense of the Abbey and the protection of the Confessors. He was instrumental in rebuilding the Confessor Order after the war. The schismatics and stalwarts of the Confessors reunited under the new Mother Confessor, who relied on Lucan as an adviser and tutor. In all things, Lucan deferred to the Mother Confessor's authority, but he used his centuries of expertise and intimate experience with the Confessors to shape the reborn order into a force of good and law in the Empire.

Over the course of the 900s, the Confessors obtained expanded landholdings surrounding the Abbey, and in various places throughout the Empire, regaining control over and restoring its many destroyed monastic communities. This was partly justified by the war to the south, and the desire of the Abbey to secure its boundaries against incursion and to increase its resources. When the Empire increased its military presence during the latter stages of the war, several Confessors were dispatched by the Order along with a contingent of Templars to serve the war effort. Confessors mostly served in the rear lines to enhance discipline and keep order, but some were sent on special missions behind enemy lines, and Sister Berengaia served as overall commander of the Templar expeditionary force. The war ended in a stalemate and negotiated peace, where Gestrin annexed most of Tethar and southern Mocryae; the rump states joined the New Empire.

There are, today, 93 Sisters who have been consecrated as Confessors. Forty-nine of them, including the Mother Confessor, reside in the Abbey. Eighteen sit in residence at the capitals of the major states of the Empire to advise the chiefs of state of the largest Imperial estates, including the Mother-Confessor-in-Waiting who lives in the capital to advise the Emperor. The rest of the Confessors, some 26 of them, travel the Empire and make regular circuit through major towns and cities of the Empire to regularly settle disputes and mete out justice.

While formally separate Orders, the Confessors, Templars, and Ilhandrielites have worked in concert to build a powerful and wealthy confederation of territories and institutions, effectively under the authority of the Mother Confessor.

Ilhandrielite Order
The Confessorite movement that arose after the emergence of the Confessor Order became popular during the 7th and 8th centuries. It inspired a reform movement in many temples and monasteries pushing for a greater focus on religious devotion, temperance, and learning. Despite the widespread nature of the movement, which has seen many temple states convert to Confessorite theology, imitators of their monastic code and lifestyle didn't emerge until the Orc War crisis. As the Confessor Order was on the verge of collapse, the various Confessorite monasteries banded together into a federation of independent monastic communities, with the intention of spreading the Confessor Way if the Order happened to fall. This very nearly happened after the Temple was sacked in 833, but the Confessor Order survived the war and was restored. The communities who had dedicated themselves to their cause were organized as the Order of St. Ilhandriel, named for Mother Confessor who had supported the dissemination of the Confessor Way and died at the hands of the Orc khans. The Ilhandrielite Order has continued to put into practice the beliefs and ways of the Confessors' monastic rules, modified for those who lack the power of Confession.

Around 6,500 Ilhandrielite monks exist across Ovaicaea, situated in dozens of monastic institutions. The Ilhandrielites are not unified under any common hierarchy, and each monastery, abbey, or priory is functionally independent. In practice, they obey the Mother Confessor.

Central beliefs
The Confessors, and the attendant Confessorite religious movement, holds certain core beliefs and tenets, referred to as the Confessor Way or Confessorism. In some ways, they are not very different from other monastic orders in Ovaicaea. Confessors do not deny the multiplicity of the gods, and welcome adherents to many deities. They allow for its members to honor the gods as they see fit, to honor their household spirits and ancestors, and to participate in the public rituals of their community. Such things, far from being forbidden, are encouraged as part of celebrating all aspects of the divine. The Confessor Way differs in that it places an emphasis on developing a personal, devotional relationship with one or more gods. For many, this has meant pursuing a cenobitic monastic lifestyle, living communally with others and committed to a contemplative life of study and devotion to a particular deity.

For the Confessors themselves, this was a consequence of their unique situation; the sisters of the Order are born with special mystic powers, which require training and focus to control. The sisters believe that their powers are gifts from the gods, and that by studying and honing their powers they are serving and honoring the gods. Due to the raw power of their abilities, the Confessors seek to bring all women and girls who exhibit the power of confession into their monastic community, and train them in self-control. The Confessor Order has developed a code of virtues, emphasizing temperance, self-sacrifice, and the practice of restraint and good judgement. Many practice asceticism to achieve self-mastery, though this is not required.

For the monastic communities that have developed in imitation of the Confessors, this code of conduct has reinvigorated devotional practice, and inspired a widespread movement of social reform and charity. Outside of monastic life, the Confessor Way has influenced popular piety among civil communities, especially in cities. Festivals have emerged in market towns, with feast days dedicated to one or more gods or to the sanctified dead. Particular among these is the commemoration of Mother Confessor St. Ilhandriel's death, a three-day feast day of mixed celebration and mourning.

Outside of monasticism, the Confessor Way has become a popular religious movement that has transformed the practice of religion across Ovaicaea. For the people of the West, the collapse of the Old Empire and the disappearance of the dragons instilled an apocalyptic despair, and confidence in existing religious institutions quickly eroded. The emergence of the Confessors and the dissemination of their ideas among monastic communities and temples initiated a social revolution. Many people of the West adopted the Confessorite emphasis on personal devotion, mercy, peace, and charity in everyday life, and came to see the Confessors as prophets of a new spirituality. Moreover, the West came to see the Confessor Order as heralds of a new path towards peace, who would free the West from Orcish hegemony and restore the Empire. As events came to pass, this hope appeared to be fulfilled. Today, the majority of temples and ecclesiastical states adhere to Confessorite theology and encourage the growth of monasticism.

Abilities
The mysterious array of powers that are born to all Confessors is referred to as confession. This power most famously manifests as the ability to supernaturally charm a person upon physical contact, rendering the person without will or inhibitions, and compelling them to tell the truth and follow the Confessor's instructions. A sufficiently skilled Confessor can use this power at a distance, though it is very difficult and exhausting. In general, the power of confession is usually used in a limited way, to elicit the truth from those that willing submit to the Confessor's hand. More forceful use of this power is very taxing on both the Confessor and the confessed. Confessors learn to finely control this power, so as to conserve their energy; it is also honed so that they do not accidentally kill the subject, as an uncontrolled confession can permanently obliterate a person's will and mind. The Confessors have other powers, such as the ability to magically exude the force of thunder, to sense the presence of divine or magical auras, and to lace their very words with magical potency.

The Order have trained its sisters in the wise use of this magical power. Most sisters commit themselves to lives of contemplation and religious study. However, some Confessors seek to use this power for good works, and seek a life of mendicant service to the public. They are trained in diplomacy, law, history, politics, rhetoric, logic, and the martial arts in order to become adept dispensers of justice and truth throughout the land. Confessors trained in this way are experts in various subjects and are trusted to mediate conflicts and resolve issues of truth and justice. While it is technically the local authorities that provide justice, the advice of a Confessor on a case is valued and usually heeded, and the Confessors are frequently employed to extract the truth from participants in a legal or criminal matter.

The divine magic that suffuses them also imbues them with immense physical strength and hardiness, compared to ordinary humans, but this is also thought to severely shorten their lifespans. Confessor belief is that they are the means by which gods of justice, truth, and mercy channel their presence onto the mortal world, through the abilities they display. The raw power of the gods being focused through them is more than a mortal body can handle, and eventually becomes too much. A Confessor saying is that "the shortest candle burns all the brighter", referring to this common belief.

These powers only manifest in women of human and half-human heritage, including half-elves, halfings, dwarves, and half-orcs. Roughly one in every half a million persons has the potential to become a Confessor. It is not known to what extent Confessor powers manifest in humans and half-humans in Gestrin, Aendrilad, or the Far East. To date, virtually all Confessors have been found and recruited from the territories now falling within the New Empire.

Abbey of Tethar
The heart and soul of the Confessor Order and the wider Confessorite movement is the Abbey of the Confessors in Tethar, a monastery complex situated in the western edges of the Tethar Mountains. Despite the name, the Abbey is not part of the kingdom of Tethar, and has long held political autonomy as an independent ecclesiastical state. It is named for the mountain range that has mostly protected it from attack. Only once has it been threatened by assault, when an orcish clan scaled the mountains by stealth and sacked the Abbey in 833.

The Abbey's origins are mysterious, as the Confessors are notably secretive of its own origins and protect certain aspects of its history as a sacred mystery known only to consecrated Confessors. It is known that it was constructed within a dwarven settlement in the mountainside, but it is not known what purpose the building served in ancient dwarven times. One theory is that it was a temple or shrine, while another that it was a simple dwelling place. Below the Abbey is a cavern wellspring, the source of the mighty Eldunari River. It is rumored that secret rites of initiation are conducted there, and that the Confessors engage in divination by means of water-gazing.

Over the centuries, further houses and towers have been constructed above ground, including a reception hall, a granary, a garden, an armory, stables, the Ilhandrielite monastery, two watchtowers, a belltower, and a Templar chapterhouse, surrounded by a stone wall and earthworks. The Ilhandrielite monastery contains also the servants' quarters, as the local chapter of the Order of St. Ilhandriel acts as the staff and servants for the Abbey. Below ground lie the great hall, the library, the Mother Confessor's chambers, the martial arts training hall, two feasting halls, teaching rooms, meditation rooms, guest rooms, and dormitories for the Confessors, the apprentices, and the resident tutors.

There are typically 49 Confessors in residence at the Abbey, including the Mother Confessor; some 87 apprentice girls styled Confessors-in-Waiting; and the Keeper of the Library, who is an honorary member of the Order. They are attended by eleven clerics, eight martial arts tutors, nine doctors, five class-group tutors, and two assistant librarians. Alongside them are a community of 112 Ilhandrielite monks, mostly servants that work in the Abbey; and a Templar garrison of 12 Paladins, 33 knights, and a company of 150 sergeants-at-arms, who are attended by a small community of 30 Templar monks. The Abbey complex has a usual population of around 500 to 510 people at any given time.

Mother Confessor
The position of Mother Confessor is of immense importance. While nominally she is first-among-equals and head only of the Abbey and its immediate territory, in practice she is the guide and ecclesiastical mother of a large network of religious houses, temples, dependent orders, and a community of faithful encompassing much of Western Ovaicaea that profess the Confessor Way. The Confessor Order has periodically come into conflict with secular rulers and the traditional religious establishment over the power the Mother Confessor wields over this network of affiliated persons and organizations, most especially in the century just prior to the Second Orc War.

In that she can directly instruct and command the active Confessors, the Mother Confessor wields much soft power over the administration of justice and the safekeeping of peace throughout the Empire. The Confessors advise kings and sovereigns on matters of jurisprudence, education, religion, and administration; many make circuits throughout the realms and constituent states, interceding in disputes to provide quick and immediate justice or mediation to prevent feuds and violence. Though it is a rare practice, a Mother Confessor may recall the Confessors from a given locality, city, town, or even kingdom, at her discretion in response to repeated offenses or injustices against the majesty or sanctity of her office, or against the sacrosanctity of priests or monastics affiliated with the Confessor Way. This act, termed an interdict, is a severe punishment inflicted on only the most stubborn of opposition.

List of Mothers-Confessor
Thus far, all Mothers-Confessor have died in office, typically at an unusually young age. Most have been humans, though a few have been half-humans, and the most famous Mother Confessor, St. Ilhandriel, was a half-elf.

The Confessors claim their origins are shrouded in antiquity, and that secret Mothers-Confessor have led their order since before the Imperial Age. The following list contains only those known since the Order's public emergence in 604.