Antakirostoi

The Antakirostoi or "Bulwark of Piety" (From the ancient root words Anta, meaning faith or piousness and Kiro - Shield or defense), known colloquially as The Temple, is an ancient monastic order, synonymous with the official religion of the Empire of Parthos. The Parthano Empire, especially under the Merevir Emperors, is completely intertwined with the temple, and is the most powerful organization in the empire, following immediately after the imperial government itself.

Beliefs
The Antakirostoi are a strict society of religious monks, who practice the teachings of various religious texts as law; and extend that law to the citizens of the Empire. Their polytheistic pantheon is centered around two major deities.

Arkalon
The god Arkalon is the Master of war. He is prayed to by Legionnaires before battle, who ask for his guidance to victory. Strangely enough, a number of Dwarves from the Eastern Mountains converted to belief in Arkalon over their ancestral gods, the Titans. They believed Arkalon was responsible for the human victory over their lands. This, of course, caused tension, and eventually led to the followers of Arkalon to be banished from the mountain kingdoms. To this day, friction between the followers of the Titans, and the followers of Arkalon still runs rampant.

Verturio
Verturio is the god of justice, order, and law. He is one of the most recognized deities of the Temple. The man known as Vaalos claims to be an avatar of the god Verturio, and has performed miraculous signs to uphold this. The Temple, however, has deemed Vaalos a heretic, and Emperor Lucian Merevir I has placed a Bounty on his head.

Structure
The Antakirostoi has a monarchal structure, with the holiest Archon at the top.

Archon
The Archon is the Temple's highest authority. In the current era, with the Empire nearly inseparable from the Temple, the word of the Archon is taken with as law just as the word of the Emperor.The current Archon, Alberus Pelantios, has spent much of his tenure as the supreme authority on religion in the empire cracking down on heresy as his predecessor did.

Monks
The Temple is comprised mainly of aspiring monks. The life and duty of a monk is very strict, and most are known to spend all their time buried in religious texts.

Inquisitors
The Temple has complete legal authority to prosecute and punish those charged with heresy, and it often does so ruthlessly through a special monastic order charged with prosecuting heretics and serving as an example to those who would spread heretical beliefs. These are the Inquisitors, masters of the hunt and kill.