ORLANZ
"Lord of the Seven Blades" vs. "Blood Tyrant"

Holy Symbol:
A Sword engulfed in flames with blade pointing down (commoners)

Holy Symbol:
Seven Swords crossed in flames (for the priesthood)

Blessed with the knowledge of arms, Orlanz is probably the most respected Diety among the soldiers of Algamyn, and the most hated deity to their enemies. He is the master of all arms and weapons forged from the flames of any weaponsmiths' workshop. According to the Arshana Codex, Orlanz is the oldest of the Firelord brotherhood. In most pieces of religious art, Orlanz is portrayed as a mature, masculine warrior cloaked in flaming red plate armor and holding a giant-size flaming two handed sword. He is in chrage of Justice, War, and Warrior's code of guidance. However, Orlanz's weakness is his over reliance on physical force). To the Great diety of war, there are only two kinds of force in the whole realm of existence: enemies and allies. Needless to say, the nickname "Blood Lord" tells you something about the unnecessary amount of blood spilled under the name of the War God.

The Orlanzan Priesthood

The priesthood of Orlanz is a bizarre sort. Dressed in colors of bright yellow and crimson red outlined by black, the disciples of Orlanz serves as the holy guardians of Algamyn. The "priesthood" has two major divisions: the commoners and the priests. The "commoners" are the lay-followers of Orlanz. They are usually comprised of people who's professions are related to war. Common believers may be mercenaries, soldiers, bodyguards, weaponsmiths, and sometimes even merchants. The imperial army is filled with the common believers of Orlanz. The 'commoners' carry the single sword holy symbol.

The "priests" are the actual priesthood of Orlanz. They can be easily identified by their seven-bladed holy symbol. The Orlanzian priests will usually be dressed in heavy armors (at least in chainmail) painted in the appropriate colors. Only priests of Orlanz are allowed to dress in armors of the Orlanz's color. Trained in the arts of war, Orlanzan priests are required to learn every detail about war, ranging from combat tactics to weaponsmithing. As a result, some of the more talented members of the priest hood also serve as advisors to the imperial army during troubled times. Furthermore, many of Algamyn's famous weaponsmiths and armorers are priests of Orlanz. Even if Orlanzan priest do not possess the combat reflexes of professional warriors, their gift of both divine magic and religious forgiveness to use any weapon more than makes them formidable opponents. Every one of them are at least proficient in at least one bladed weapon. While they may not be as skilled in the divine arts as the other priests, Orlanzian priest hold significant control over their lay believers. During times of great crisis, the Orlanzian priest may proclaim "call to arms", at which point all believers of Orlanz must respond to his priesthood. This power has only been used twice (and all for the purpose of preserving the empire), but contemporary rulers still regard the "call to arms" as a possible threat.

The Seven Swords

The "Seven Swords" is actually a code name for a group of highly trained specialist group of Orlanzian Priest. According to legend, the seven blade carried by Oma are weapons of the highest quality, and no mundane weapon can even stand a blow from these blades. Like the blades, the organization is meant to serve the Orlanzan church leaders in areas that cannot be trusted to the normal priesthood (including assassination, infiltration, recovery of important artifacts, etc...). The exact make-up of the "Seven Swords" are not known, and no one except the highest Orlanzan officials know of their where-abouts. Rumors persist that these specialists (most say "assassins") are all trained in a hidden fortress located somewhere deep withub the Dragon's Pride Mountain.

Omarian Church Structure:

Author: Dalune