The Cleric bowed to the newly royal King, his silence and patience over the course of the prior proceedings finally rewarded. He was a young man, perhaps no older than King Alaric himself, and was new to courtly life—one reason for his hesitance to involve himself in earlier affairs. Standing tall and straight, the pastor was garbed in the traditional white robes of the Vanossian clergy, a thick book resting at his side. Around his neck he wore a silver pendant in the shape of a star, representing his post.

"Your Majesty, I am Pastor Anguis. I have been appointed by His Eminence Ecclesiast Timone II to serve as your court cleric, your official adviser on all theological matters and all political affairs deemed to be of relevance to the Church. I apologize for His Eminence's absence; he desired to speak to you personally, but pressing affairs required his full attention. However, I assure you that I have his trust to relay his concerns regarding the matters you have placed on this day's agenda."

Anguis paused momentarily, taking his tome in hand and turning to a marked page. Before he bored the King with the minutiae of the issue, he decided to first offer him a summarization of the importance of the issue. "Your Majesty, your most holy kingdom is united together against all odds by two forces. The first are the armies which lie in wait to fend off the threats that rest outside of our godly realm. The Orcs and other external hazards. The people fear them, and rightfully, for as we have seen so many times, they are a savage and untrustworthy people. Our own Ecclesiast was once driven from his home by the green-skinned monstrosities of the south, and the esteemed Lord Stolt knows the threat that they pose all too well. As did your great father, Your Majesty."

Clearing his throat and taking his tome back to his side, the royal cleric continued. "The second force for unity in this Kingdom of Osteria, Your Majesty, is the Church of Vinos. All decent men and women of your kingdom bless Vinos in their prayers, and dream that the creator's champion will one day soon return again to our world, to unite all peoples under one banner and bring a lasting peace and prosperity to the realm of men. A peace in which even those most lowly may prosper, and live as kings. The teachings of Vinos offer the people of the countryside their only chance at salvation, Your Majesty. Were they not so blessedly devout, they would risk giving into vice. The vices of pride and of envy, for instance, which could compel even once god-fearing men to take up arms against all those who dwell in castles, dining off their labour. The divine consequence of heresy is damnation, Your Majesty, but the worldly consequence is unrest and most despicable rebellion."

Withdrawing his time once again, Anguis made a point of inspecting the figures written therein, before handing the book to one of the assembled knights of the Silk and Iron, who relayed the tome to the King. Speaking in a respectfully servile tone, the cleric went on. "As you can see, Your Majesty, one of the forces binding Osteria together is in need of your intervention as King. The glorious Parna, and the other cathedrals of the kingdom's duchies and baronies, are an expense as significant to the kingdom's coffers as they are necessary to its integrity. The devout of the countryside can upkeep their local minor temples with local and very minor donations to the church, but it is an unfortunate reality that the brightest lights shining upon Vinos Our Champion also require the most... fuel. The parnal tax traditionally levied upon Your Majesty's vassals is insufficient to maintain the kingdom's existing places of worship."

Stopping to let the King assure himself of the truth of the figures, the pastor then continued. "Worse still, Your Majesty, are the expenses to come. The Templars, that most holy order of knights established by your devout predecessor, shall surely be needed in the impending retribution against the Blackmouth. They crave the blood of the Orcish barbarians more than any other men alive, Your Majesty, having devoted their entire lives to vanquishing the enemies of Vinos. And like you, Your Majesty, they have all lost family members against the enemy—sworn brothers-in-arms, as well as brothers and sisters in faith, for they are kin to all those who bathe in The Champion's light. When the time is right, they will deliver Orcish blood to you in rivers: but only if they can be afforded to be maintained and expanded. For through the Templars, the Church of Vinos in fact plays a part in the [i]first[/i] force keeping Osteria together too, and the sun gleaming off the spired towers of Osteria's cathedrals can only be kept shining if there stand the Templars to defend these altars of The Champion."

"Being as the Vinossian church plays a hand in both of the two forces keeping the realm in tact, Your Majesty," the cleric cleared his throat and was returned his tome by another guardsman, "the Ecclesiast and all those pastors praising the word of our God and his Champion ask humbly that both of these dual functions be aided in their endeavors by the throne. To that end, we ask that the Parna receive two tithes. One shall fund the Templars, growing their number and preparing for the cost of their impending march against the Blackmouth. The other shall fund the Church's maintenance, such as the cost of our realm's glorious cathedrals, and therein the cost of keeping the countryside peaceful."