[center][i]"And in the words of his lord, so sayeth the man who leads others unto his sin, I am their shepherd and their deeds are mine."[/i][/center] 

Lamps lit the White Palace up like a night sky, each one glittering and making the marble seem even more angelic than the sculpture and decoration did already. The red robes of the ten Marshals floated silently across the floor as they placed the monthly offerings onto the altar in the ceremonial way. Doge Rudun was supposed to be there however the ceremony was not public and so he felt no obligation to, he was busy dealing with the politics of the day so that the Emperor could carry out what was best for the nation and the church. The first order of business was of course the capitalist rebels. They had been hounding Empire since the split and they were becoming bolder in recent days. Farm houses and smithies were being burnt down weekly and it was costing the Empire deeply. The Inquisition had been given a vast sum of money in terms of their budget and they were requesting that more men be sent to assist in the 'recovery' of certain suspicious individuals. He signed the paper quickly and put in to one side, the Inquisition were good at their jobs and he knew they would find the ring leaders. The next was from the delegation in the Deauxerran League, Halosim had always been a tough pill for them to swallow, now it seemed their cities were beginning to taint it to suit their own needs and that was not acceptable to the Empire. The delegation was requesting that the Inquisitor present be allocated some funds to allow for the indirect control of their church. The Doge was never fond of this, he of course wanted to see Haloim in it's purist form however the Inquisitors were not known for their gentleness and business in other countries always had to be done as quietly as possible.Quickly looking over a budget report he pulled out funds for the job and allocated it to a trading caravan for the delegation to aid 'church renovation'. The money would really be paying for bribes and muscle to firstly isolate the churches that still follow a pure version of Haloism and then begin installing leaders of other churches that also follow the true version. Finally a Marshall arrived at his door beckoning for him, it was time for him to preach to the masses. He signed his last letter and left. The letter read as follows.

[quote]To: All nations of this world that follow the one true faith,
From: His Holiness, Doge Rudun of the Holy Stomian Empire and the Haloist Order.

His holiness has requested your presence of all of the leaders of those glorious nations that follow the one true faith in the Summer Festivat. A grand feast will be held at the White Palace before sermons will take place to thank the lord for his bounty. Finally the leaders will be blessed with holy water before talks with the Doge and the Emperor may begin about other topics that may come up.[/quote]