The Church of St. Erin is the poorest of the three Pelorean Churches of
Cambria. It has one Abbey in the
Northern Marches and no church buildings. It also has fewer clergy
than the other Churches but the unspoken secret of the Pelorean Church is that many more people follow
St. Erin than the other Cambrian Saints, except possibly in the major cities. In the villages all round
Cambria as every countryman knows the majority of the congregation at the local
Church of St. James say their daily prayers to St. Erin.
This may be because St. Erin was the most human and approachable of the Saints
in real life but it may be that the common folk also find his teaching simpler and more direct.
'Take no more than you need', 'Live with Nature', 'Share your wealth' and 'Only kill when you have to' are all
easy to understand and directly applicable to most peoples lives.
The Church of
St. Erin formally came into being in 313 after the
Convocation of Brimmingstone. For its first
102 years the Church would only except male priests but in 415 female clerics were admitted for the first
time. The training of the priests is also very practical and relateable: a year on a farm, a year as a
Ranger and a year at the Abbey. Once training is completed a cleric can either become a member of the
King's Rangers or become a wandering cleric (roughly half of the
clergy choose each option). The wandering clerics are expected to be capable of living off the land but
in practice most villages and farmsteads are only too happy to extend their hospitality to the itinerant
priest. Even if there are no sick livestock to look at or fierce predators to hunt the countryfolk know
that building up goodwill with one of St. Erin's chosen is a sound idea.
The Abbey at Felsted is mostly self-supporting as it is part of a large farm. It also has the best library
in the kingdom on wild and domesticated animals and the monsters that have plagued the Kingdom. The
King's Rangers use (and add to) it extensively and the scribes that work in it are funded by many
of the Northern Lords.
As the only part of the Church to receive military training the clerics of St. Erin are feared by
the
King's Men who generally make themselves scarce when one is about.
Although like the
Geogoths the King's Men might be prepared to confront such a cleric
with overwhelming numbers it is the priests' training as Rangers they fear the most. Druids of the
Old Religion generally view priests of the Church favourably as
they too revere St. Erin. Although lacking in much ceremony and not putting great store by hierarchy the Church does
have the equivalent of Bishops, called Wardens, who have pastoral responsibilties for the other clergy.