Board Thread:Custom Lore Development/@comment-26535281-20170513180900

The Adeptus Ecclestum is the 'church', 'cult', or 'faith' of the Empire and deals with everything having to do with religion from preaching, tithe collection, punishment of heretics, and many other fields.

The Ecclestum is the sole religious authority in the Empire. All faiths and gods wishing to be worshiped in the Empire must first be sanctioned by the High Cardinals of the Ecclestum. The Ecclestum also does typical churchy things from preaching to the masses, maintaining cathedrals, and collecting tithes from repenting sinners.

The Ecclestum is not completely united under one message within it's gilded halls are many different schools of thought concerning the faith. At times this leads to bloody infighting within the church. To curve this the High Cardinals have appointed spies and informants to privately mark out those who they deem heretics amongest their own ranks and Decons who are the public enforcers of the Cardinal's law.

The Ecclestum is known throughout the Universe for it's crack down on heresy and heretics with swift and brutal force. From burning at the stake, crucifixion, and many other execution methods. This duty is carried out by the Incinerant Priest who believe that fire alone may save the souls of those fallen to heresy. For the most part the Empire looks the other way to these practices as many of these heretics are either worthless to the state or enemies of the state. At times the State will get involved when the Ecclestum over steps its bounds.

The Ecclestum also runs it's own 'military' which really is split into two main groups the guards of the Cathedrals (Which are pretty decent soldiers) and the fanatic rabble. A sub-group known as crusaders exists but they are not directly controlled by the Ecclestum or the State (Crusaders are really just wandering warriors)

The Ecclestum is mainly run by a series of noble families who make up most of the Cardinals and priests of the Empire. Cardinals and priest can also come from the commoners (This class divide has lead to many conflicts within the Ecclestum) The most famous noble families are as follows:

Aubry Family

Vivaldi Family

Bastian Family

Costello Family

Coudrin Family

The Head of the Ecclestum is the Ecclesiarch Imperalis who is elected by the High Cardinals upon the death of the last Ecclesiarch. The Head Quarters of the Ecclestum is the massive 'Eternal Cathedral' which houses many fine villas and palaces as well as the Cathedral itself. 