Sir Vernon's party

Sir Vernon's party was a group of three armoured church members in the campaign Yeni Dünya ("New World"). They rode up on two horses while the band, returning from Fauna's tribe, was talking with the mage Sesil: one bore a hammer and shield, another a sword. They wore the symbols of the Earth Temple, brought over from the mainland, though at first sight it was not clear to which local sect they belonged.^{1 2}

Their leader, the more richly armed and plainly senior of them, was the knight Sir Vernon; the other two were his apprentices. None of them were witch hunters. A later account links them to the faction known as the Witnesses of Victory, which Sesil had set apart from the two churches when she spoke of the strife the inscription would cause.^{3 4 5}

Churches and temples

Churches and temples take on the task of joining mysterious and powerful gods to ordinary people, and they do not always agree among themselves, for the gods' will leaves room for interpretation. The words church and temple are used interchangeably; the internal texts of the High Church prefer "temple" for a house of one god and "church" for one of the whole pantheon, but not even priests keep to the distinction. Above the temples stands the High Church, the power that binds them together.^{6 7 8}

The claim to the inscription

Sir Vernon declared that the band was carrying something sacred that belonged to the church: a text left by an angel, of which the church was the heir. His task, he said, was to escort the band and bring it with them to the church, and as the only noble and consecrated person present he demanded that the church's authority be recognised. Another answered that they did not live in his empire and had not been blessed by his faith.^{9 10 11}

When the band moved to leave, the swordsman reached out to stop them, and then turned his sword on Sesil.^{12 13}

Spoiler: The end of the partyGösterAçık ettiği: Yeni Dünya #4 · Ne okuduğunuzu söyleyin

All three died in the fight that followed: among the six bodies counted afterwards were the three knights. Their heads were later cut off and carried away as the band tried to hide what had happened.^{14 15}