Editing Valkor (section)

==Well-known sectarians==

===Amaury the Hermit===

Amaury is said to have lived his entire life as a hermit in the northern forests, and joined the Church of Elements from following the teachings of the sect of Mystical Wisdom. He traveled south to Vaerlon and gathered a significant number of zealot followers. Today he is feared at Vaerlon's court and many influential members of the Church of Elements, such as Alice the Merciful, accuse him of elevating himself to the level of elemental gods. 
 
Amaury and his followers have been accused of libel, idolatry, and the use of many drugs. However, no one can deny the power of Amaury, or the power of his faith, for he is the only person who has been able to stop the powerful epilepsy seizures of Morgan Tensldor,  the heir of Vaerlon.  Previous to his arrival, countless church priests and Templar mystics tried to help the heir and failed. Amaury’s success provided entry to the court. Katrina Lohengrin needs him to guarantee the health of the heir, and he is seen to have considerable influence with the heir and the deputy ruler. 
 
However, the court has not completely accepted the man from the backwoods with open arms. Amaury has been subjected to numerous assassination attempts, but all have failed.  It is said he possesses superhuman perseverance and power.
 
Amaury is tall and flabby. Even in the court, he wears a simple robe with a piece of string as a belt. He rarely rinses or bathes, body or clothing, but he is said to carry no smell.  Certainly, he is known to appear in the midst of a crowd, seemingly unnoticed like a cat. 
 
Amaury's hair is a messy and thickety black bush, and his eyes are burning and his followers claim he can penetrate the veil of flesh and stare directly into the human soul. It is believed that Amaury knows the ‘inner truth’  of each person he meets. Certainly many men fall silent under his gaze, preferring silence to the risk of being caught in a lie.
 
There are many rumours about an ugly scar that runs around Amaury’s neck - he wrapped a rope of fire around his neck; he got it from hanging from a tree, by the neck for three days; an assassin cut off his head but his body secured it back in place. No story seems to outrageous, and Amaury only smiles and nods when a new tale is offered.  
 
No one doubts the power of Amaury, but some argue that his light does not shine as brightly as it once did; some say that perhaps the light is becoming a darker blue.

===Alise the Merciful===

At 40 years, Alise is very young to be a matriarch. She was born of a noble Templar family, but left her former life behind to follow the path of the Church of Elements in the monastery. Alise rose to the position of a matriarch very quickly, and malicious tongues claim that her high-born lineage made it happen. Alise  leads the White Monastery, and she is possibly the strongest matriarch in the sect of the Sisters of Grace. She has no official position, nor is she allowed by the laws of the Templars, but she is respected so much that there are at least five patriarchs and matriarchs who are ready to obey her without questioning. Alice is said to still be in contact with some of the Templars, and Maelyrra Maerlith-Madris is said to be a personal friend.
 
Alise is a rotund, sturdy woman who wears a white robe (meaning she has taken an oath of chastity).  She always speaks softly and softly, and her followers say there is compassion and understanding in her big eyes. A couple of hours of conversation with her is said to have led many hardened criminals and murderers to improve their ways. She has created her position as a skilled peacemaker and negotiator with an almost supernatural ability to find the root of the problems and make people settle things in peace. 
 
Alise is sometimes suspected of witchcraft. She is said to be relatively modest (TOO modest) for a matriarch of the monastery, and she only rarely shines the light of the church.

===Cecily the Chaste===

The young priestess of the sect of Illuminating Flame is the only person to have survived the strange plague which killed all the other members of her village in the province of Stormshield. Cecily was only a child at that time and she claims to have had a vision of [[zrammas|Zrammas]] that told her to assemble an Orthodox army of the Fire and free the valley of its oppressive darkness and sin. 
 
Cecily joined the monastery, graduated as a priestess at an unprecedented pace, and has since toured the provinces, gathering followers who she commands to leave behind all their worldly possessions. The number of her followers has grown almost explosively, and she has next announced that she will head to [[atherton|Atherton]], where, according to her, "the flood of pure faith will sweep away the dam of filth built by sinners."
 
Cecily is young, just over 20 years and always wears a red robe that covers her whole body, leaving only her face visible. She has gotten her nickname from the fact that she doesn't take off her robe, even in the heat of summer, and no one is known to have ever seen her without it. Cecily's eyes are big and her complexion is lean. She is relatively tall as a woman and has an internally driven heat and conviction when speaking about things of faith.