Keepers of Clerical Error
From Where We Stand there is a multitude of gods, all with unique divine portfolios to their names. From Ig, Father of Fire, to [Space], The Unbeing of Not, the list can stretch on many names long. With so many gods to follow, it can become complicated. How is the common man to keep track of where each god is in the grand scheme of things? Who is one to pray to about certain matters? What if the nature of a god's domain changes?
To this end, the Holy Keepers of Clerical Error formed to categorize the many deities that exist. As well as hold host to an event that stands in legend and in practice to this very day.
Tenets
The Holy Keepers of Clerical Order believe in upholding the ideal of knowledge and that it be accessible to those that seek it. Many members of the organization work as librarians and scribes for the halls of history. While half as many also work as surveyors and guides for history in the making.
While there is no single god that Keepers follow, their ranks have a particular affinity for the worship of gods of knowledge and order. Gods that seek to organize chaos with reason, and that enlighten mortals, are held in high esteem. Several shrines within the main hall are consecrated to such gods.
Though Keepers venerate these gods, they are by no means bound to any of them. In their purest form, Keepers have seen enough changes to know that the gods are impermanent. They each have the potential to fall or supplant one another. Some are even replaced by mere mortals that find a way to ascend to such lofty heights. While it is true that many Keepers do develop a fondness for particular gods, this is frowned upon. Keepers strive to stay objective and keep their own worship out of their duties to inform all.
Records
For every god, there are legends, stories, hymns, and histories. Keepers pride themselves on housing the most complete collection of records on the divine order of higher powers. If there is ever a need to find the lore of times when gods battled, it is here. If one wishes to know the number of times a given deity has set foot on the world, a tome contains that number. One need not look any further than the Library of Keepers.
Comprised of a sprawling complex that takes up the majority of the Keeper's main temple, The Library is a place that has accumulated the combined knowledge of several generations, with all the dusty tomes one would expect to find when someone's great great great grandfather was the last to access the lesser-known sections.
Due to the immense size and scope of The Library, it is not uncommon for clerics to need provisions if they embark into the deep storage that is the Stacks. Like a tower constructed one block on top of another, so too is the Library comprised of Stacks that lay one on top of the other, and that descent into the depths of its foundation to an unnatural depth. It is rumored that the Stacks have no true limit, as there is always more knowledge to be gained. Always more secrets to be divined, uncovered, and recorded. What many people do not know is that this is more true than anyone would hope to know.
The depths of the Stacks are a truly infinite maze of corridors, shelves, and books of all shapes and sizes. For a price, there are some clerics that will guide adventurers down to certain levels of the Stacks that are mapped out or will pay handsomely for maps of newer portions of the trove of knowledge that has yet to be surveyed. Most unnerving of all, however, are the tales of clerics and adventurers that have descended so far down that they have been nearly forgotten by those above, or whose records of existence become shaky at best. While this might initially prompt anxiety, senior Keepers are quick to remind nervous acolytes that it is irrational to be anxious about people who have never existed.
Clerical Error
While Keepers strive to record all there is to know about the gods, there is only so much that mortals can know. Because of this Keepers have found the most reliable methods of ranking the divine is through the failings of their clerics. The theory goes that because failing is a mortal quality, it is the measure of where divinity has intervened to reduce it.
It is with this logic that the Keepers host their Quinquennial Trial of Clerical Errors once every 5 years. Paladins, clerics, and oracles from all the temples across the realm attend with hopes to represent their deity. There are fierce rivalries between those that take part. Both between the clerics of opposed deities, and those from temples that compete for patronage.
Over the years the event has gained so much renown that it draws in the workers of the nearby Gateway City, where the main compound of the Library of Keepers is located. Merriment is had by all as vendors of treats and divine paraphernalia alike hawk their wares. The Five-Year Temple comes alive with the devout and eager, and every other sort of holy festival goer.
The only ones barred from competing are those that serve undivine beings. Because of this, some regrettable incidents have happened at the previous Quinquennial Trials. Yet the public is assured the Keepers have made strives to prevent future incursions. Only time will tell if restraining the worshipers of elder beings holds for long.
