NationStates Jolt Archive

The High Chapel was filled with white-robed figures and black-and-gold uniformed soldiers. The room was fairly small, but large enough to contain Hierarchy of Isam, white-robed servants of the Church Civil, black-and-gold uniformed leaders of the Church Militant, and the black-and-silver uniformed commanders of the Church Select.

The tiers of seating formed a semi-circle around the pulpit of the Lord Secretary, a gaunt man in black robes embroidered with holy sigils. His slender fingers rested on the carved marble of the railing and his piercing grey eyes observed the members of the Hierarchy.

"Servants of the Faith. We are here to discuss the growing murmurs of heresy within the Imperial Faith Union. Daily, we hear whispers collected by the Office of the Holy Ghost of dissent and anger against Holy Mother Church. The Holy Father will not stand for such heresy against the word of the Lord Our God. Our laws are ancient, our justice system absolute, our codes inviolate. We cannot be seen to bend before insurgency or internal trouble...the world is volatile, with the hounds of deceit waiting eagerly to leap upon any perceived weakness or vulnerability. I open the floor."

Various members of the Church stood to say their piece, voicing their opinions which varied from deportation of heretics from the more liberal, to utter extermination from the extremists. There were more voicing the latter the former, although the vast majority wavered somewhere in the middle, approving of the course suggested by the Archdeacon of the First Army - a punishment depending upon the severity of the heresy, ranging from the re-eduction to redemption-through-purgugation.

After a few hours of debate a conclusion was reached, and the Lord Secretary rose again.

"It is decided. I shall speak to the Holy Father and receive his approval. Prepare for the General Examination."

The Hierarchy rose and left, a few at a time until only the Lord Secretary and the Chaplain-General were left, the two black garbed men looking at each other impassively until the Lord Secretary spoke.

"Can you do it?"

"Of course. It will be difficult, I shall require assistence from two or three of the Armies, and the Nazareth will have to lead many of the raids, but I am certain that we can succeed. May I ask, why now?"

"It is Lent. What better time to do the Lord's work?"

"Many of the men are on leave."

"Recall them, it will be given later in the year."

"As you wish. The heretics will know the Lord's Holy Wrath."

[[More to come.
General Examination: Also known as the "Purge Absolute", a General Examination involves the searching of every residence in the Imperial Faith Union for items and texts deemed heretical by the Church. The searching takes less time than most would expect due to the nature of Isamite housing - most civilians live in large blocks of flats that are reasonably easy to search. The sheer number of military personnell in the IFU of Isam shortens the length of time required, but a General Examination still takes several weeks to complete.
If you can find a way to get involved, please do, but be aware that most would not know what a General Examination is until it is well underway (Isamites would speak of it much like a health inspection for the general population, and would probably not speak the penalties for heresy)]]

Through the Holy City the stamp of marching boots could be heard. It was only minutes after the General Examination - the Purge Absolute - had been issued and already the Chaplaincy were initiating the first set of Examinations.

Fully three hundred thousand of the five hundred thousand Nazareth were involved in the searches, as well as seven hundred thousand men of the First Army of Isam and one million from the Fourth Army. Squads of the Nazareth were led by the Chaplains themselves - the élite of the Imperial Faith Union, while officers of the Nazareth special forces led the soldiers of the First and Fourth Armies.

Building after building was entered and searched, books flicked through and jewellery examined. Drawers and cupboards were examined even as the Isamite civilians watched, some uncertain or nervous, most relaxed - safe in the knowledge that they possessed nothing heretical.

In the first day forty million homes were searched, the vast majority of them being the smallish Civilian Apartments that the Church provided, many the more spacious flats that a large number of Isamites moved to, or the large flats that the richer citizens could afford - also built by the Church, but sold rather than considered bought through taxation. Some were the larger houses owned by businessmen and company chairmen.

Throughout the Isam Nation the searches were taking place, cities and towns undergoing the examination of military personnel, although far fewer soldiers than in Tol Isam itself - the Holy City was significantly larger than the other cities, excepting only Tol Matthew - which was slightly smaller, relatively speaking, although it contained only a fraction of the population.

After the day's search was complete several thousand people had been collected and confined, pending trial. Most of them were still fairly relaxed, confident that the few items that they possessed would be declared acceptable, but perhaps one thousand were trying hard to appear impassive...the Imperial Faith did not well tolerate what it perceived as heresy.