Priest is not my job, [he tells her, politely pretending not to notice the way she avoids his gaze at being thanked.] It is a title I… finessed later in life, during years when I was transferred away from my home temple. Against the wishes of the clergy there.
[He’d run a bit of a con on them. The priests in Oppara were too familiar with his reputation to support a proper education for him, one that would induct him into the priesthood. Everyone at the Cathedral of Coins knew the rumours surrounding him, and no matter how diligent he was, or how devout, they wouldn't tolerate his desire to be their equal in Abadar’s eyes.
But the city of Cassomir, near Taldor’s northwestern border, had fine banks where a man might be educated, and an Archbanker capable of elevating someone into the ranks of the priesthood. And when his superiors in Oppara had transferred him there, they had sung his praises rather than let their sister temples doubt the quality of the taxmaster their temple had produced, even if he wasn’t fully human.
So, despite the stain of dhampir writ plainly on his papers, he had become ordained there, in that city that smelled of salt and blackwood tar, and not even the haughty clerics of Oppara had dared to strip him of his rank without a good reason.]
The role through which I served my temple was called taxmaster. A taxmaster seeks out those who subvert Abadar’s will, such as thieves, conmen, and tax evaders, exacts what is owed and, if necessary, enacts judgement. And, if there are problems plaguing the church that have no tidy solutions, it is the taxmasters’ role to fix them.
no subject
[He’d run a bit of a con on them. The priests in Oppara were too familiar with his reputation to support a proper education for him, one that would induct him into the priesthood. Everyone at the Cathedral of Coins knew the rumours surrounding him, and no matter how diligent he was, or how devout, they wouldn't tolerate his desire to be their equal in Abadar’s eyes.
But the city of Cassomir, near Taldor’s northwestern border, had fine banks where a man might be educated, and an Archbanker capable of elevating someone into the ranks of the priesthood. And when his superiors in Oppara had transferred him there, they had sung his praises rather than let their sister temples doubt the quality of the taxmaster their temple had produced, even if he wasn’t fully human.
So, despite the stain of dhampir writ plainly on his papers, he had become ordained there, in that city that smelled of salt and blackwood tar, and not even the haughty clerics of Oppara had dared to strip him of his rank without a good reason.]
The role through which I served my temple was called taxmaster. A taxmaster seeks out those who subvert Abadar’s will, such as thieves, conmen, and tax evaders, exacts what is owed and, if necessary, enacts judgement. And, if there are problems plaguing the church that have no tidy solutions, it is the taxmasters’ role to fix them.