The Sword of Tiberius
The Church runs on an elected Council of Four who deal with the running of the faith, whilst their authority is absolute their position is elected each year and when Dieron returns they will stand down without question.
The family of Stand is one that has lived in Rendrith for the last seven generations and were a minor noble family of the Draygal family at one time or another. Long ago they held the title of Defender of Rendrith but that changed when the Pirate that is now Johan Korso sacked the city and murdered many thousands of people. When the City was recovered the Stand family were stripped of their position, their title and their land and with little other than some wealth, to support them cast back to the streets from which they had been raised. It is from this line that the current leader of the Church of Tiberius comes and his story is a strange one.
In the Frostmelt of the year 1980 William Stand and his Sister Ursula were born into the world to Dalia Stand whose husband had died in the freezing winter of that year. Dalia worked as a maid in the noble houses of the Fett family who had, ironically, replaced their own. She worked hard and was promoted, providing for her children until they reached the age of 6. Here she chose to place Ursula into the University, paid, as an Orphan under the University Orphanage name Wise. She could not afford the tutelage for William and she could no longer work as her health was failing her. By the time the summer of 1986 had come she passed leaving William to fend on the streets as a an urchin and vagabond.
In 1987 the 31st Heavy Infantry Company paraded through Rendrith and stirred something in the heart of young William. He took the time to clamber on to roofs and listen from above as the soldiers swapped stories of battle in the pubs and inns that they rested in. The tales of bravery and unparalleled heroism that he heard, in these strange and distant places, moved him in ways that he did not understand and when the Company left Rendrith they were not alone. Hidden among the baggage train and camp followers was a dirty ragamuffin that was destined to bring greatness to his family name once again. Yet as the column left there was a great sadness in his heart for the Sister that he would never see again, the Sister that he would never forget.
It wasn’t long before he was discovered and had impressed, directly, Major Trebernard Voltus, who allowed him to remain within the caravans on their tour of duty. He cleaned canteens and ran messages and earned a field commission of cadet during the tour. When they arrived at Haven Stand arrived with much vigour, excitement and a new friend in the form of Chaplain Hernan Escan of the faith of Tiberius. He had seen the heart of his now 7 year old boy and took him directly to the Academy where he spoke strongly with the teachers there. It was decided that the boy would keep his name and that Major Voltus himself would pay the tuition fees allowing the boy freedom of choice when it came the decision of what guild he would join.
Thus in Sunsdusk of 1988 the boy was enrolled in the Basanic Academy and almost immediately began to demonstrate his power as a Priest. From day one he wanted to be a Tiberiusite and he wanted to be a soldier. He wanted to be just like two heroes he had recently developed Chaplain Escan and Major Voltus and with an eagerness that few had seen before he threw himself into training a Battle Priest. This was hard going for a child that had barely been more than stick and straw for most of their life and he had to work hard to build his frame big enough to match his frame and his resolve. There were none, however, that met him that believed that he would fail in the tasks that he had set himself no matter how impossible they seemed.
By the age of twelve he was excelling beyond the abilities of most trainees of his age; he was surrounded by a band of brothers and sisters that followed his orders without question whether they were right or wrong. These worthies included Lliyian Coleman and Guy Hearts both of whom have gone onto greatness in their own right and would both, from their own lips, come to Stands side at a moment’s notice whatever the reason. These strengths did not go unnoticed and the clamour for his guildic signature became almost unsightly even from that age and all that anyone could rightly say is that he would always be a Tiberiusite.
In 1996, the year of passing out, Dieron the Blessed, it is said, came and spoke with him directly about his future. The previous year he had been on a training mission with the Crimson Order and the whole party had been ambushed by Mandragoran; William had performed flawlessly and been awarded The Copper Cross for fighting in Defence of the Realm. Dieron was impressed and spoke to him, telling him to follow his heart and that Tiberius would be with him whatever occurred which is why many believe that he chose to pass out into the Order joining the 31st Heavy Infantry and serving again under his hero Major Trebernard Voltus.
This agreement was a temporary one: The Order gained a raw leader and excellent Priest who was dropped straight into the role of a Lieutenant and spent three years with the 31st being promoted to Captain and fighting in two dozen skirmishes and battles. After gaining the respect of every member of the forces that he served with he finally came to his spiritual home at the start of the year 2000 when he was indoctrinated into the service of the Great God Tiberius as a Knight although he would not see active service in the Faith until the year 2002 after the completion of his training and the taking of his Oaths as a Crusading Defender of the faith.
From 2002 to 2013 William Stand achieved things that most of the Priesthood of Tiberius, let alone other faiths, guilds or the rest of mortality, would have considered beyond heroic and without equal. Sadly for William he lived in an age of heroes and his deeds were hidden in the shadows of the larger than life legends of the Dragon of that age: Dieron the Blessed, Catagore Cotageish, Seshepenmehit and Battik the Redeemer who were themselves followers of the Mailed Fist and Imravin, Jarmack and Rowan Fallow all shone enough to encompass the light of William Stand. Yet through all their actions one thing hurt William Stand, just one and that was the death of his old friend Chaplain Hernan Escan.
Hernan had retired in 2009 at the age of 57 and retired to Wantwitch along the Rhygahrean borders where he continued to preach the words of Tiberius until a few months before the war. One night he was murdered and his body strung out to be seen by the terrified townsfolk the next day. Despite investigation by Stand no answers to this mystery could be found and it plagued him, still does, as does whether he should see his sister again, whether he should look for her and more; whether she will still remember him. He still visits the graves of his mother and father and leaves flowers for them and he still remembers the man that is Johan Korso.
Stand continued to fight and lead throughout his career and is known to have fought in practically every engagement from 2002 until present day. He was not active during the Shadow War and was rescued by a Charter called the line which comprised of the Head of the College of Controlling Power; Jack Spears. When Dieron the Blessed died he held the rank of Commander of the House although he was considered an Abbot for purposes of position. His role as leader of the head of the Church was ratified after a period of mourning by unanimous decision and he has ruled since. There was a brief challenge for leadership by a returned Lord Winter but this was brushed aside as farcical by most involved.
Holly Goodall
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