Mithros and his Disciples
By Jack Shaeffer, with additional notes by Amber Wittlief
Mithros
Mithros is the name of the High Priest. This name has been given to all High Priests (Historically, one refers to previous High Priests as Mithors + their Surname). To become the Mithros, one needs to complete the training of both the Warriors and the Scholars. He is the leader of both the Warriors and the Scholars, considering suggestions only from the Emperr. The current Mithros has reigned for about 1200 years, assuming the position when he was 800 years old. His full name is Mithros Tylaen. He was chosen as a child to be trained to become Mithros. He has had only one wife during his short life, and after her deathd ecided never to marry again. One story said that upon fleeing the castle with the young Prince Eidolon, the Proper'n forces kidnapped his wife. They had planned to force Mithros to trade the prince for him, but she committed seppekku before they could issue the threat. Mithros became Eidolon's father figure, and now devotes his full time to the training of his Mithran Priests.
The Disciples (usually called Mithran Priests)
These people are trained by Mithros so that they might train Warriors or Scholars. When Mithros dies, he normally would leave his highest ranking Priest in command, though there have been rare occasions where it has been someone else. As they complete both sets of training, they have both the Alterian Warrior's hand marking and the severed ear of the Scholars. They spend the Spring and Autumn training with Mithros, and spend the Winter and Summer months training Warriors and Scholars, respectively. The Mithran Priests wear a deep orange colored robe. This robe is only deep orange when not being worn. When worn, this robe changes color due to the lighting, temperature, or severe mood of the priest. This is mostly for camoflague and to show distinction as a priest. The creation of this magic fabric is one of the first tasks given to a priest. He is not officially considered a priest until he has mastered its secrets. The rankings of a Mithran Priest are as follows: Tharn-Magor Tharn-Magor-Min Tharn-Magor-Tad Tharn-Magor-Neled Mallorn-Garneth Mallorn-Garneth-Min Mallorn-Garneth-Tad Mallorn-Garneth-Neled Brethil-Draug These rankings names are taken from the rankings of the Scholars and Warriors. The first and Second word may be switched, depending on which teaching the Priest is stronger in. (For example, a two priests at the same level might go by different titles-- the one more experienced in the Scholars art would be a Mallor-Garneth and the one more experienced in the Warrior's art would be a Garneth-Mallorn). It is possible to switch strengths between levels. The duality of the training makes the Mithran priests the most powerful of all the groups. For this reason, only a few people out of every generation are allowed to become Priests. They have extremely good combat and magic abilities.
