All work together

"I'm not sure I agree with you." said Kesiah. "The Way unites the Empire, that's what it does, that's what it's for."

"Half the Empire are heretics an blasphemers." Rosemary was emphatic. "Reincarnating as trees and rats? Treating unvirtuous acts as a commodity you can pass to a priest? Magic bird spirits coming to carry your soul to the labyrinth? Venerating so-called heroes? Virtuous ancestors? Hungry spiritual geography waiting to swallow you up? Dolphins? The broken wheel?"

"I suppose that's fair but is it really heresy or blasphemy to cling to old folk belief...."

"Yes." Rosemary put her cup down firmly on the table. "Yes it is. I can go through them all if you like. Let's start with 'only human spirits reincarnate' and whether a human spirit is still a human spirit when it's an apple tree..."

Overview

Nina of Cantiarch’s Hold and a group of Academy children (and chaperones) will take 25 liao to preach Virtue throughout the Empire, and inspire The Empire to better follow The Way.

Statement of Principle, Summer 381YE, Nina of Cantiarch's Hold, General Assembly, Upheld 1206-28

During the Summer Solstice 381YE, Nina of Cantiarch's Hold raised this judgement to the General Assembly of the Imperial Synod, and it passed with a greater majority. Due to the peculiar wording which implies a mandate, it took some time before the civil service were able to determine what to do about it. (A mandate cannot be created ad hoc in this way, the Synod may only pass mandates in response to opportunities to do so identified by the civil service as it is a requirement that everyone knows that the mandate will actually do). Since it cannot be a mandate, the civil service treated the judgement as a statement of principle and, due its greater majority, ensured it was communicated to every priest of the Way in the Empire.

This judgement came at an interesting time; the Yaelian Schism was coming to its dramatic conclusion. The Highborn were rejecting the philosophy of foundationalism, and the implications of the change of doctrine relating to the Imperial Orcs were beginning to sink it. After a period of turmoil and conflict, an opportunity to bring everyone together in their understanding of the Way looks like a welcome respite.

Alternative Reincarnation
There is very little evidence to support Freeborn or Marcher beliefs about reincarnation as animals. There is no evidence to prove it isn't true either, but there are two relevant facts. The first is that any attempt to insight such an animal always gives the same response - not human, not orc, not creature of the realm, not ghost. The other fact is that in nearly five hundred years of past life visions - nobody has ever had a vision of being a dolphin. Or a tree for that matter.

The acerbic priest Abbot Robin of Upwold argued passionately that this only proves that people don't experience past life visions of their time as a tree, not that they don't reincarnate as one. Robin was a controversial member of the Synod in the early years of the Empire and his claim that the "Labyrinth of Ages" was a metaphor for the time that a soul spent as a tree (and hence barely sapient) was flatly rejected.

The only known evidence that supports the idea of reincarnation as dolphins is that these fish seem particularly intelligent and garbled claims that pods of dolphins have occasionally defended sailors from attack by sharks when their ship has sunk or they have fallen overboard.

Significance

Except... not everyone follows the Way in the same manner. Each nation has their own opinions about spirituality and some of them are not supported by doctrine. A solid core of othodoxy exists in the Way - the priests of Highguard, the League, and Varushka may differ on some points but their beliefs about the virtues and the soul are very much in line with one another.

The Navarr and the Urizen accept virtue, but have their own understanding about how to approach it - but the Great Dance and the Net of the Heavens are philosophies that are not particularly at odds with the Way. The Imperial orcs have likewise found a place in the Way thanks to the recent changes of doctrine.

There have been concerns about Dawn in the past, but the recent statement of principle by Vivianne de Couerdefer that the path to glory lies through true Virtue has gone some way to mollifying these concerns - at least for the moment.

There are three nations however whose commitment to orthodoxy is less clear. The folk of Wintermark place great value on heroism, and practice peculiar funeral rites in which heroes are interred in a swamp to sleep alongside their ancestors. The people of the Brass Coast believe odd things about dolphins and participate in a heretical festival every year in which they turn virtue on its head. And the Marchers... the Marchers believe any number of odd things from the belief that souls can be reborn as appletrees or rats, in passing unvirtuous acts on to others, and in burning people alive to "atone" for bad behaviour.

Of course nobody likes being told that they are doing it wrong - but if orthodoxy is to mean anything then at some point someone must pay the price to separate the wheat from the chaff. Changing views on these matters would take a lifetime or more - but you can't plough a farm in a day as the Marchers say - you have to start somewhere.

The Way unites the people of the Empire, and it is time for us all to come together and reaffirm our commitment to the virtues and the Doctrines of the Faith. We send x with 100 doses of liao to remind Imperial citizens of the need to embrace orthodoxy and refute superstition and heresy.

Synod Mandate, General Assembly

if this mandate were passed, the most orthodox nations - Varushka, the League, and Highguard - would see a significant increase in the size of their congregations granting them 1 liao and 2 votes in the Synod. At the same time, the least orthodox nations - the Marches, the Brass Coast, and Wintermark - would see a reduction in the size of their congregation, removing 1 liao and 2 votes for the same period. The Navarr, Urizen, Dawnish, and Imperial Orcs would see no change. These effects would last for a year - during which time the civil service would attempt to identify additional mandates that could be used to persuade people to follow the Way.

In addition, the named priest's words would be heard across the Empire. OOC: the named priest would be invited to provide a short statement about the Way, of no more than 1000 words. This text must be submitted by email to plot@profounddecisions.co.uk before the end of the downtime submission period following the event and will form part of the Winds of Fortune update for Spring 382YE.