"In Aurum Roma, three cardinals never meet for tea — there are always four, and the fourth is everyone's enemy." — curial proverb
I. The four centres of power
Four institutional blocs constitute the Order. Each has its own agenda, its own leadership and its own money.
1. The Curia (the administrative core)
- Seated in Aurum Roma. Made up of the seventy-seven Crowned Cardinals, under the Pontiff of the Choir.
- Divided into Congregations:
- Congregation of Doctrine — the Cardinal-Inquisitor, with the Reformed Inquisition beneath him.
- Congregation of Missions — control of missions in the kingdoms and republics.
- Congregation of Finance — the pontifical gold and the tithes.
- Congregation of the States — governance of the seven internal States.
- Congregation of Liturgy — rites, calendar, feasts.
- Congregation of the Angels — the register of apparitions, the canonisation of miracles.
- Congregation of the Bells — the Order's material logistics.
- Its power: governmental and doctrinal. It defines what is canonical.
2. The Clerical Military Orders (the armed branch)
- Knights of the Seal — seven Houses, one per Seal — plus the military arm of the Reformed Inquisition and the White Swords.
- Commanded by the Lord of Salvation, the supreme military office.
- Its power: military and executive. It enforces what the Curia defines.
3. The academic and pastoral Orders (formation and mission)
- The Society of the White Vigil — the women's orders: enclosure, teaching, hospital, White Swords, White Mediums.
- The Hospitallers of the Hashmal — anti-possession medicine.
- Its power: intellectual and spiritual. It forms the Order's people.
4. The local episcopate (parish governance)
- Greater Mitred — bishops of the major sees — and Lesser Mitred, the auxiliaries.
- Canons, Liturgicals, Deacons — the parish rank.
- Its power: pastoral and popular. It keeps contact with the ordinary faithful.
The friction between blocs is constant. The Curia tries to centralise; the Military Orders demand operational autonomy; the academic Orders resist doctrinal control; the episcopate fears losing the faithful to heretical currents if the Curia grows too rigid.
II. The factions inside the Conclave of the Crowned
The seventy-seven Cardinals do not vote as a body. Informal factions align by agenda. In 1890, five are active.
A. The Coronati (traditionalist)
- Led by the Cardinal-of-State of Aurum Romana.
- Doctrine: rigorous, conservative, Latinising. They defend High Ecclesial Latin in all liturgy, minimal autonomy for schismatic confessions, and a hard line on heresy.
- Around twenty-two Cardinals.
- Chief political enemies: the Reformed and the Velinians.
B. The Reformed (pragmatic)
- Led by the Cardinal-of-State of Schola Coronata.
- Doctrine: open to adaptation. They want partial recognition of the parallel gifts — the Septentrional Mikahel, the Solar Hashmal — as valid variants; vernacular liturgy in peripheral parishes; technical cooperation with the schismatic kingdoms.
- Around eighteen Cardinals.
- Enemies: the Coronati.
C. The Inquisitorials (military-doctrinal)
- Led by the Cardinal-Inquisitor.
- Doctrine: operational. Spiritual security, the elimination of the pact-bound, the containment of heresy.
- Around twelve Cardinals — almost all with a past in the Inquisition or among the Knights of the Seal.
- They frequently work with the Coronati against the Reformed, but they have an agenda of their own.
D. The Velinians (mercantile and maritime)
- Led by the Cardinal-of-State of Maritima Coronata, with the Bishop of the Sea of Velinia — not a cardinal, but a man whose opinion moves votes.
- Doctrine: economically liberal. Wider trade with the republics; more tolerance of the Sea Schism; industrial cooperation with Brytonia in spite of the Solar Hashmal.
- Around ten Cardinals, concentrated among those tied to trade and finance.
- Enemies: the Coronati, who read trade with schismatics as doctrinal compromise.
E. The Hospitallers (pastoral)
- Led by the Cardinal-Hospitaller, with the Abbess General of the Society of the White Vigil, who moves votes through the Cardinal-Pastor who represents her.
- Doctrine: charitable. Expansion of hospital work, full canonical recognition of the White Mediums, anti-possession medicine within reach of ordinary people.
- Around eight Cardinals.
- A situational ally of the Reformed.
F. The Independents
- Around seven Cardinals with no fixed faction. Usually old, semi-retired, or regional men with no metropolitan agenda.
- Unpredictable votes. They decide close elections more often than not.
III. The election of the Pontiff
The election of the Pontiff of the Choir happens when the incumbent dies. The procedure is fixed.
- Death of the Pontiff: confirmed by the Cardinal-Camerlengo with the Hammer of Ash — the dead man's brow is struck three times with a liturgical silver hammer.
- Mourning: nine days. The city in red and black. The bells strike at noon.
- Summons: the seventy-seven Cardinals gather in Aurum Roma. The conclave is sealed inside the Cathedral of the Choir and the Pontifical Palace. Wax seals on the doors. No contact with the outside.
- Voting:
- Each Cardinal writes a name on a ballot.
- Two thirds — fifty-two votes — are required.
- If the first scrutiny fails, another round follows.
- Up to four scrutinies a day, morning and afternoon.
- The ballots are burned after each scrutiny with damp straw for black smoke, meaning no election, or dry straw and Holy Ash for white smoke, meaning there is a Pontiff.
- Acceptance: the elected Cardinal is asked "Acceptasne electionem?" The canonical answer is "Accepto."
- The name: the elected man chooses a pontifical name with a Roman numeral — usually Pontifex Coronatus, though some take other names such as Lumen, Verus or Justinus. Tradition prefers continuing a series.
- The announcement: the Cardinal-Camerlengo appears on the balcony of the Cathedral of the Choir: "Habemus Pontificem!", and the name.
- Consecration: seven days later. The Vigil of the Seven Candles precedes it, with a special reading of the flames — the new Pontiff attends, and the ruby-red flame of Mikahel marks his formal entry.
How long a conclave takes
- Short: three to five days, when consensus is easy.
- Middling: one to three weeks.
- Long: one to three months, when the factions deadlock.
The canonical line — see The One
| # | The One | Reign | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| #I | The OneAurelianus I | Reign1813-1837 | NoteThe First. The Synod of the Seventy. He defined the seven States, refounded the Military Orders and instituted the Perpetual Vigil. Canonised in 1842 |
| #II | The OneHashmalian I | Reign1837-1862 | NoteHe crosses the whole Age of the Forge |
| #III | The OneCoronatus I | Reign1862-1875 | NoteUnfaced — the Curia announced "death by angelic exhaustion". He is still alive in 1890, and some people know it |
| #IV | The OneCoronatus II | Reign1875-1882 | Note |
| #— | The OneCoronatus III and Coronatus IV | Reignboth in 1882 | NoteThe year of three conclaves. Nine days and six weeks. The names erased |
| #VI | The OneLumen I | Reign1888- | NoteThe Pontiff in 1890. Cardinal Lumen Brask, a Meridian independent |
Average survival on the throne: nine years, on a falling curve — 24 → 25 → 13 → 7 → nine days → six weeks → 6. Nobody in the Curia discusses the curve aloud.
Eight conclaves between 1813 and 1890: 1813, 1837, 1862, 1875, 1882 three times, 1888. Three angelic rejections before the candles: 1837, 1862, 1882.
IV. The Lord of Salvation — the supreme military office
A single post. Commander of every clerical military force. Directly subordinate to the Pontiff, bypassing the Cardinal-of-State of the Line. He also reports to the Conclave in extraordinary military session.
Appointment
- By the Pontiff in ordinary session. The Conclave approves or vetoes, and rarely vetoes.
- Tenure: for life, or until the Pontiff removes him.
The line
| Lord of Salvation | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lord of SalvationDominus Salutis Primus | Tenure1786-1810 | NotesLed the first Conclave of the Twenty-Three bishops during the Intervention. The office was created for him |
| Lord of SalvationDominus Salutis Secundus | Tenure1810-1843 | NotesRefounded the Knights of the Seal into seven Houses, one per Seal, between 1822 and 1824 — made possible by the disaster of the Nine Standards in 1821 |
| Lord of SalvationDominus Salutis Tercio | Tenure1843-1869 | NotesIndustrialised clerical armament |
| Lord of SalvationDominus Salutis Quarto | Tenure1869-1885 | NotesFought the Cardinal-Inquisitor over jurisdiction on pact-bound soldiery |
| Lord of SalvationDominus Salutis Quinto | Tenure1885-present | NotesThe current holder. A former Marshal of Limes Orientalis. Hard line, close to the Coronati and the Inquisitorials |
The structural tension
- The Lord of Salvation can mobilise the army without consulting the Cardinals-of-State.
- The Pontiff can dismiss him.
- The Cardinal-Inquisitor disputes jurisdiction over military Commissars.
In any internal conflict, three seats decide: the Pontiff, the Lord of Salvation and the Cardinal-Inquisitor. If the three align, the Order moves as one. If they disagree, it is paralysed.
V. The Curia against the independent kingdoms
The Order keeps Nuncios — ecclesiastical ambassadors — in every kingdom and republic. The frictions are permanent.
Königsmark
- The Northern Schism. The Septentrional Mikahel is not recognised by the Curia.
- The Baltic Concordat of 1860: the kingdom pays a purification tithe to the Curia; the Curia keeps its Nuncio and accepts Nordic liturgical autonomy.
- The next dispute is already dated: 1893, when the kingdom intends to purify Hashmalite from the Kal'arn Massif without supervision.
Vykhradia
- A formal ally under the Balkan Treaty of 1820. But the magnates routinely ignore the Curia's missions.
- The Reformed Inquisition operates in Vykhradia and must respect aristocratic immunity.
Brytonia
- The Insular Schism. The Solar Hashmal is denied by the Curia.
- Industrial and theological rivalry, permanently.
Open frictions
- Coronati against Reformed: the recognition of the Brytonian parallel gift. The Reformed want it; the Coronati veto it.
- Cardinal-Inquisitor against Lord of Salvation: jurisdiction over military Commissars in the field.
- Velinians against Coronati: how to treat trade with Velinia. The Coronati want rigour; the Velinians want room.
- Hospitallers against Coronati: full canonical recognition of the White Mediums. The Coronati resist.
- Lumen I, thirty-eight years old, elected in 1888: the inverse of the usual problem. He is young, Meridian, independent, and of a visibly pure archaic faith — and not one of the five factions chose him. The Coronati and the Inquisitorials settled on him as a blocking solution, and now have to live with a One who owes them nothing and who, by the survival curve, should outlast every one of them.
Latent conspiracies
- The Dawn of the Hashmal inside the Curia: a persistent rumour that one Cardinal is a hidden member of the hermetist society. Unconfirmed.
- A pact-bound man in high office: the Inquisition has been investigating a Cardinal-of-State for seven years. Unproven. The file is kept under absolute seal.
- The Coronati succession plan: they are trying to line the Cardinal-Inquisitor up as the next Pontiff. The Reformed are resisting.