The Dark Priory

 

The Martyrdom of St. Mazga

The Hidden Servants St. Mazga the Smuggler, more often known as the  Dark Priory, were a secret order of Monks.   Taking as their patroness Mazga of the Ancient City, a woman executed for carrying forbidden Holy Books into that city in the time of the Prophets, their mission was initially to spread the teachings of the Church into areas where it was forbidden (the so-called "dark regions").   Due to the dangers associated with their mission, membership was always a closely guarded secret.

With the spread of Orthodox doctrine and the establishment of the formal Hierarchy and Council of Archbishops, the Order waned, but it in sixth century AR it underwent a revival. Reemerging as a guardian of Orthodox belief its members regarded areas where syncretic, heretical, or reformist doctrines ran as "dark" territory, requiring liberation from error.   

The Order remained generally opposed to the College of Magic and typically hostile to any attempt by secular authorities to interfere in matters of doctrine.  In particular, the investiture rights enjoyed by Chancellors in some dioceses were bitterly resented by them. 

Membership was drawn from all ranks of the Ecclesiastical hierarchy, including (according to rumor) some Bishops. Attempts by the Chancellors or even other elements of the Church to infiltrate their ranks were largely unsuccessful.  Especially the means by which members were recruited and how they identified themselves to one another remained obscure.  The identity of their leadership, the full extent of their influence within the Church as well as the scope of their activities, remained largely unknown. 

Of course, this only served to magnify them in the popular imagination,  either as  a dark subversive element, or as hidden guardians of the truth, depending on the faith of the individual.