The Church of the Holy Sword [Shattered Universe]

The Church of the Holy Sword is the true power behind the Dragon Throne of Jord. Led by a person designated as “Dragonslayer”, the Pillar identifies the next heir to the throne that bears the Mark of Divine rule. Members of the Holy Sword are human followers of the Minya hinya, Tiwaz and they venerate the founder of their church, St Fleur. The influence of the Sword reaches all human civilization on Jord. Their knights are the main planetary law enforcement agents within the human kingdoms heavily influenced by the institution. They also maintain an elite order of Templars to combat the magic users of Jord and Aphotic.

Tiwaz is the truest god of The First Children and is the one responsible for the salvation of humanity.
Tiwaz blessed St Fleur with his wisdom, guidance which led to the creation of the Church of the Holy Sword.
The sword of Tiwaz is a holy relic maintained in the heart of the Church's sanctuary.
The Word is a sentient being that acts through Tiwaz and chosen prophets to guide mankind through the darkness caused by Mara's aphotics.
Embers are the chosen of Saule that act as penance for Saule's war with Mara.
The Embers and Aphotics exist to continue the war started by Mara and Saule over the Tatya hini.
The Tatya hini caused the end of the Golden Age of Jord and the new age will not be ushered in until the Tatya hini are gone.
The First Children will not return to Jord until the Aphotics are gone.
The Word is not meant to be used by humanity or the Tatya hini.
Heartstone is a gift to the people of Jord from Tiwaz. The more powerful Heartstone is not meant for plebeian hands and needs to be placed in sacred grounds to return its glory to Tiwaz.

The various organizations within the Church.

The actual religious structure of the church. To be one of the Fleur is to be one of the pious elite holding political power within the central kingdom of Jord.

The Scales

The Scales are the head of the Church of the Holy Sword. Led by the Pillar and supported by the Wolf and the Scepter.

The Pillar: The representation of the religious figurehead of the church, St. Fleur. The pillar also holds the title of “Dragonslayer” to represent St. Fleur's triumph over the Tatya hini's dragons. Currently, Torbin Springborn.
The Wolf: The head of the Templar and Knightly Orders. Currently, Isabella Louvel.
The Scepter: The head of the Whisperers. Currently, Reims Louvel.

Regular knightly order responsible for maintaining order within the Church's holdings. Made up of male and female warriors, usually wealthy elite.

Anti-magic knights, this order is fairly small with about 1 in 100 knights selected for training but those that succeed in their training are far fewer. Sent out to recover Heartstone artifacts, hunt down Apostates, and kill Elven Mages, rogue Embers and Aphotics. Armored in Maraium plate and using breech loaded flintlocks with Maraium rounds.

Directed at the control of female Embers. Depowered Embers, Helka instruct newly discovered Embers. The Sisters of the Resplendent Mother live in sequestered isolation in convents. They make no contact with the outside world except when taking in newly discovered ember children or when a Templar returns a lost sister to them. Embers in the order are raised on strict dogma about how they are to use their powers and they remain in the convents until they are sent to fight aphotics or until they die.

The sisters of the order are broken down into 4 categories: Apprentice, Journeysister, Junior Helka or Helka. Helka are depowered Embers that lead the convent and teach the younger Embers while the Junior Helka are being groomed to take over the convent. The sisters rarely live past the age of 23 though there have been some Helka that have managed to live to see 35. All newly discovered embers are apprentices until they gain some mastery of their abilities, then they graduate to Journey Sister. Journey sisters are the Embers generally sent into the world to hunt aphotics with the expectation that they will never return. The Journey sisters that remain or more rarely, return, usually get advanced to Junior helka by age 17.