The Church of Cantankerous Saints

A Quick History Lesson

When the House Constantin's short-lived monarchy finally ended, every sign of their existence was put to the torch. The people of The Republic were a proud conglomerate, always believing in an individual's freedom to live and choose, which made the idea of a "chosen class" incredibly unpopular.

Their tapestries were burned, graves were defiled into mushy crypts, silver and gold melted down into the currency of the new Republic. These were the workings of a nation beginning to heal, yet not all was lost beneath piles of molten crowns. 

The House Constantin believed in a national church with both Gods and Saints. This church was dissolved alongside the royal family, but some remnants were left sputtering with the embers required to grow interesting. The Republic had no need for Gods, but it saw value in the idea that human beings could rise above even material limitations. Thus, The Ex-Saints of Bromeilles were brought to fruition.

Churches are as much an idea as they are a place of worship
Photo from A Lady In London

 Fruition Borne Fruit

The Church of Cantankerous Saints is an organization of self-imposed ex-pats. These citizens have sworn off the trappings of The Republic and its customs, dedicating themselves to the betterment of oneself. Friar-Monks of the church often serve their entire lives within these hovels, searching within themselves for some modicum of truth in understanding the greater picture.

Or at least that's what the official motto says. It seems that most of the time, all they're doing is getting drunk and complaining about the world they only happen to be a part of.

In truth, The Church of Cantankerous Saints serves as a sort of respite for the emotionally damaged in society. A place for tortured souls and the socially adversarial, where they can tend to themselves and others like them and perhaps make sense of the world they left behind. Indeed, many friar monks never leave their monasteries, but this says more about their treatment by society than their own thoughts.

All churches follow a brief code of honour designed to keep new members close and ex-friars humble, most notably:

1. A visitor is a guest and must be cared for, but can only be brought inside if their life depends on it. Friars must go out of their way beyond the monastery, to a limit, to help those in need. You need not be happy about it.
   
   
2. You must perform some task for the sake of your friary. It may be physical, mental, or psychological, so long as you provide a service to your siblings. You are here to improve, and to improve requires one to learn new tricks.
   
   
3. All members join of their own accord. Once you join the friary, you can never leave; once you leave, you can never return. Remember to pay it back!

 Bad Gone Chaotic Neutral

Nobody is forced to join The Church of The Cantankerous Saints. Some will be pressured, others convinced, and moreso punished by law, but you can never be forced to stay. A foxhole in Corbeaux can drop you into the nearest friary at a whim, but the monks there will very clearly let you leave if persisted. Once escaping becomes an option, what reason is there to stay? Change can only arise if the individual wishes, so The Saints believe, so most newcomers opt to stay.

Once you're in the friary, there's no turning back. From this point onward, you are a new person; you adopt new hobbies and duties alongside worldly changes. Of course, you're allowed to travel outside the friary, whether to perform tasks or barter for the monastery's whole, but only so far. Escape has become a condition with a pre-requisite only attainable through change. 

Whether or not you changed can be argued among your fellow monks, but it is ultimately up to you. Your decision to leave the friary is permanent. It cannot be denied or reversed. 

Former monks of a church are still expected to send back tithe. Paying it back is just as important as paying it forward, and why not support those who did the same to you?

I imagine the churches are all very worn and very old
Picture by Trudy

♔

 

Weeping Saints

The overall mantra of The Church of Cantankerous Saints shares a similar air to that of the greek philosopher Diogenes, holding tight to his philosophy of critique and cynicism. Life and its core requirements have been muddled over centuries of hobbling, twisted and made complicated, and only through being faithful to one another can these deep social conundrums be solved. 

The teachings of Sainte-Lisabelle de Thibaud are much the same. They call her The Weeper, and her beliefs, too, rallied the causes of cynics and stoics alike. Symbols of her likeness are in most monasteries, sometimes unaffiliated ones, for her kindest lessons teach that life can not always be dark, gruelling and serious. These are lessons taken to heart, especially by the likes of the friars themselves. 

Many of the friar monks are criminals. Convicts and outlaws, refugees and misunderstood artistes, besides all manner of forgotten folk. The lifestyle many of these people left behind often already granted them a more brusque view of the world. The philosophy of The Cantankerous Saints only elevates that.

Being a member of the monastery is both physical and philosophical. A task both social and psychological. It is a place of challenging not only your own world views but the views of those around you, at certain times radically. Rosters here are less cleanly trimmed than in other organizations, meaning that all manner of individuals will eventually pop up within its walls. If you possess no desire to lose your beliefs, perhaps under a preconception that you are somehow more correct than they are, you will begin to study. You will begin to understand from studying, and from understanding, you will begin to teach. This is what schools of thought are made from and, ultimately, where societies are born.

The friars are still human, though. They quip, and they lie, and they fight. They make mistakes and they apologize after a sleepless night of passion. In their words, that is half the reason it is so effective; When the institutions are pulled back, and the strings of the machine are left bare, isn't it so much easier to learn and to fight and to love? They struggle, but they do not suffer.

In simpler words; no bullshit, no problems.