Church of True Light Fragments

As relations between Sun's Keep and the Stanchion continue to deteriorate, and as the once bright purpose of the Scourges burns ever lower, his Grace the Emperor Zolor Zahir the First today declared that the Church of True Light would no longer be considered to be the guiding force behind religion and spirituality in the Empire, and that the Shadow Scourges would no longer hold authority as an independent faction within Fastheld. "It is unfortunate that the formerly august Church of True Light has come to this sorry pass in its history, but it is my sincerest hope that it will regroup and find new purpose in the realm." The Emperor continued by stating that a new dawn of spirituality could perhaps now be founded within the realm, one that would replace the blind zealotry and repression that consumed the Church. A sense of duality that teaches that the Light can blind greater than any Shadow, but that the Shadow itself will always harbor darkness for those wishing to find it. While once a beloved institution, a downward spiral into blind suspicion and paranoia placed the Church of True Light in an less than affectionate light over the last few decades, with many in the Empire coming to loathe and fear them as an inquisition that suspected everyone of heresy, rather than an institution devoted to purging the shadow while maintaining the sanctity of the realm and her people. Numerous documented conflicts and reported hostility between the former Emperor's Blades and the Shadow Scourges of the Church of True Light devoured any union that the two factions once held, with open contempt for the operations of the other residing in place of alliance. Indeed, relations between the Church and the Imperial Crown were even put into question after a contingent of Scourges lead by Bandus Flint refused to heed the words of the Emperor himself, leading to deaths of many self-righteous Scourges as a result. What will become of the remnants of the Church is unknown, for while severely limited in numbers due to various internal - and apparently bloody - conflicts, coups, and changes of policy, the bastions of Sun's Keep and the long established Stanchion are still formidable indeed. However, the task of maintaining religion within Fastheld now falls to the People and State, with Priests formerly of the Church now seeking aid from the Imperial Watch and - for the meanwhile - joining up with patrols in order to spread the warmth of the Light to all corners of the realm without the authority - and the whip - of the Church to back them up.