Devoted of Ilbarych

The Devoted is the Crowndom term for those who give their day-to-day lives in the service of one of the Covenants of the Unctae, seeking transcendence, enlightenment, atonement, or even simply escape.

Covenants

Each one of the unctae has a Covenant, a small organization of allied Covenant Halls, shrines, and other facilities and allies aligned with the Great Philosophy of that unctus. Some Covenants are large, sprawling hierarchies with rich lands and halls and central administrativa; others are largely informal or even fractious groupings of the Devoted to one of the unctae.

Covenants are populated by the Devoted, who swear Devotions of service to the Great Philosophy of the uncta of that Covenant. Each Covenant is given the authority and right to organize their own by whatever the nature of their devotion, without the right of noble or Crown to force their organization, with only two exceptions: if the doings of a Covenant are contributing to or benefitting from lawlessness in a domain, or if the Covenant becomes schismed to the point where one portion of it refuses to acknowledge another as part of the same Covenant.

At that point, the Covenant forfeits its Crown-given independence and must submit to a restructuring and possible disciplining by the Crown – which is the last thing any Covenant wants. Given that such actions inevitably involve the seizure of lands and wealth held by the Covenant, it is in the Covenant's best interests to never get to the point where the Crown has the opportunity to do this, which has largely led to peaceful functioning of the Covenants.

Aided by this is the Crown's tenet of Supreme Temporal Authority, which states that the Crown is the sole authority on temporal matters and that there is no spiritual authority at all. Covenants must make room within their ranks for those who honor the uncta of that Covenant, and though orthodoxies do emerge, they tend to be reinforced by instruction and long-term debate rather than schismatic fractioning and internecine conflict.

The Devotions

There are two kinds of oaths (called Devotions) taken by the Devoted: the Lay Devotion and the Anointed Devotion. There is a third type of Devotion, the Ward Devotion, that is taken by a child who is raised and reared by a Covenant.

• Lay Devotion: The Lay Devotion is an oath of service to the Covenant of one of the Unctae for a period of ten years. Someone must be at least adult age (sixteen years) in order to take this, and during this time they forswear personal possessions and reproductive rights (ensured through potions referred to as "devotionals"). During a Lay Devotion, the Devoted serves in a Covenant Hall, learning new skills and laboring on behalf of the Covenant, including possibly being moved to different Covenant Halls as their skills are needed. Once a period of Lay Devotion ends, a Devoted may either immediately take another Devotion or they will receive help from the Covenant in setting up new lives for themselves. Such lives inevitably are tied to allies of the Covenant and use the skills and trades they learned within the Covenant. Guilds are usually happy to accept newly-released Devoted as journeymen.
• Anointed Devotion: A person may take a Lay Devotion twice in their lives (for the purpose of this reckoning, a Ward Devotion may be tallied as a Lay Devotion). The third time they take a Devotion to the same Covenant, they are permitted to take the Anointed Devotion, which is a lifelong vow of service. The leaders of the Covenants are all taken from the Anointed Devoted, although not all of them are leaders.
• Ward Devotion: A child who is raised in a Covenant remains within their care until either the child is claimed by family, or the child reaches the age of adulthood (sixteen). Their time as a child of the Covenant is referred to as a "Ward Devotion," and they are always welcome in the halls of that and allied Covenants. Such young ones who show the proclivity may be taken as squires and apprentices by other Devoted, though a child who chooses to go their own way upon reaching adulthood is given a modest stipend for six months after they depart, to give them time to settle in to life on their own. They are also often aided by the Devoted, who help connect them with allied families and businessfolk, and in general aid them in getting on their feet, although there is no law requiring they do so.

Covenant Halls

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