Minos

Minos, known as Minar in some southern regions, is one of the more popular deities, enjoying both a large clergy and following among the merchant class of most cities. Politically powerful, Minos is one of the younger gods and is often viewed as too interested in material gain by more philosophic deities. He is favored by his father, Pavor, God of Travel, and enjoys a close alliance with Vitulus, God of Cities.

Despite his commercial interests, Minos encourages his worshippers to be fair in their dealings, though a contract is considered inviolate regardless of how fair it is. Because of this, Minos is often at odds with Amphitritus, who often covets the Merchantlord’s political and economic power, as well as his own mother, Bellona, who encourages theft and trickery as a means to amass one’s fortune.

Minos

God of Commerce

Descriptive Info

Gender: Male

Avatar: Minar; Treliste of the Golden Hand

Consort(s): None

Allies: Adrasteia, Goddess of Rivers and Streams (paternal grandmother); Baelthor, God of the Earth (paternal great-grandfather); Furinus, God of Wine; Gyges, God of Thunder; Innus, God of Friendship; Pavor, God of Travel (father); Terpsichore, Goddess of Language; and Vitulus, God of Cities.

Foes: Amphitritus, God of Greed; Bellona, Goddess of Wealth (mother); Britomaris, Goddess of Thievery; Clementia, Goddess of Mercy and Taltos, God of Water.

Spiritual Info

Rank: Intermediate

Nature: Harmonious

Ethos: Agathocacological

Major Influence: Commerce

Minor Influence(s): Contracts, Mercantilism, Teamstering

Spheres: Creation, Travel, Mercantilism, Messenger

Depictions

Minos is most often depicted in sacred and secular art as a dignified, ageless merchant-king, clothed in the garb of high commerce appropriate to the culture — trimmed doublets, layered cloaks, or sashes embroidered with contract-glyphs and currency sigils. His face is serene, his eyes deep pools of calculating wisdom, one silver and one gold—symbolizing perception of true value both material and spiritual. He is typically shown with at least three of the following divine symbols:

• A pair of golden scales, held level in one hand, often suspended on invisible thread from his fingers.
• A great ledger or scroll, inked with radiant script that shifts and flows with divine judgment.
• A quill of silver and obsidian, sometimes portrayed writing mid-air.
• A coin marked with his seal, hovering above his palm or resting on a table between disputants.
• A hooded courier or spirit ledger-clerk standing at his side, often transparent or ethereal.

In murals and stained glass, he is commonly placed between two figures mid-negotiation or oath-sworn deal, emphasizing his role as arbiter and witness rather than a warrior or ruler. He rarely carries a weapon, but when he does, it is a measuring rod or curved scimitar resembling a quill. In rural or older depictions, Minos is sometimes shown as a pilgrim-merchant in dusty cloak and worn sandals, sitting at a fireside counting beans or stones, underscoring his doctrine that even the humblest transaction bears divine weight.

Symbols

The primary holy symbol of Minos is the Golden Seal, a circular coin stamped with a seven-spoked star, always rendered slightly off-center to remind worshippers of the imperfection of mortal dealings versus the perfection of divine balance. Often, interlocking rings (usually either 7 or 14) are used to represent unbroken agreements, with martial agreements often stamped with a ring pattern akin to chainmail. The Ledger and Quill represents record and declaration, often stylized into a two-part icon resembling a sword and shield to signify protection through order. The Scales of Equity are also significant, displayed as perfectly balanced, often flanked by seven dots or stars to represent the Directives of Minos. This symbol often marks thresholds of Temples and sacred courts (it is particularly prevalent in Courts of Adjudication).

Fourteen is a sacred number to Minos, representing the Seven Directives and Seven Deficits, the Fourteen Seals of Authority used in regional temple governance and the fourteen Exemplars of the Ledger. Obviously, seven is also significant, with the seven categories of Equitable Exchange being central to the faith: goods, services, labor, time, oaths, knowledge and sanctuary. Two interlocked heptagrams (seven-pointed stars) are important symbols in the faith, often marking mystical or sacred spaces.

Gold is, obviously, an important element and color to the faith, but any precious metal carries significance. In addition, deep green is often used to represent growth, stability and fulfilled agreements and inky black represents truth and record: the color of the Unalterable Word. The herb marjoram is also significant to the faith, representing clarity of mind and integrity in all dealings. It is often dried and placed in reliquaries, crushed into incense for oath-binding ceremonies and added to food served at Temple feasts. Any precious gemstone can be considered sacred to Minos, but obsidian is considered particularly holy. To the worship of Minos, obsidian symbolizes clarity through sharpness, a core principle of judgment in trade and oath. “The gold may gleam, but the black glass reveals.”

The owl is sacred to Minos, representing wisdom, watchfulness and silent judgment. It is often displayed perched on a stylized balance scale or clutching a scroll in one claw and quill in the other. The cockerel (an epithet often used allegorically with Minos) is seen in the Church of Minos as a sacred beast of awakening, accounting, and orderly beginnings. It represents the merchant who rises early to mark his ledgers, the broker who announces truth with clarity, and the judge who hears disputes in the light of day. Like the cockerel, Minos watches over cycles of commerce and the renewal of contracts, ensuring that every debt is paid and every obligation fulfilled.

Dwelling Place

Chrysodomeion — The Gilded Vault, a luminous city of brass and crystal surrounded by golden walls and centered around the Great Bazaar of Concord, a sprawling marketplace that never ceases activity.

Servants

Minos is served by fourteen Exemplars of the Ledger, who were the living embodiments of the Directives in their lives and were ascended to Exemplar status after death. These are individuals whose lives demonstrated perfect balance between ambition and fairness, labor and wisdom, contract and compassion. Each Exemplar is believed to have added a “golden entry” to the divine Ledger of Minos — acts so worthy that they are eternally recorded in the god’s heavenly accounts.

These fourteen Exemplars are: Alzena of the Quiet Ledger, Amandus the Venerable, Belion the Concordant, Caelia Scriptagladii, Garradan of the Gatebound Oath, Halvon of the Coinless Hand, Maren the Threadkeeper, Meretha the Grain-Tender, Pomerius the Young, Rengard of the Broken Seal, Revina of the Sealed Cart, Saphira of the Silver Eye, Taldin Trueweight and Thamos the Ledgerless

Doctrine

The doctrine of Minos holds that commerce is a sacred force binding the world in order, and that all contracts - whether written or spoken — are inviolable under divine law. Worshippers are expected to deal fairly, work diligently, honor their debts, and treat wealth as a means to build community rather than an end in itself. Guilds are seen as holy institutions, and trade is a universal language that transcends borders. Fraud, sloth, and dishonorable conduct are spiritual failings, while accountability, prudence, and integrity are the virtues of the faithful. To serve Minos is to uphold the sacred balance of exchange in all things.

This doctrine is detailed in the Ledger of Golden Weights , a revered text that combines sacred parables, trade law, ethical guidance, and economic philosophy. It is said to have been compiled and annotated by Saint Amandus the Venerable, the first great prophet-accountant of Minos, during the early First Age of Man.

According to church tradition, Saint Amandus received visions from Minos while reconciling merchant disputes in a port city during a famine. Each vision revealed a “weight of the soul” in metaphorical balance against contracts, honesty, and duty. The resulting book consists of 14 chapters with titles such as On the Binding of Words, Of the Just Measure, The Tables of Trade, and Debtors in the Dust.

The Ledger of Golden Weights is not merely scripture — it is often physically shaped like a merchant’s account book, bound in leather with gilt edges and ruled lines for notes, inviting readers to “balance their own lives as they balance their books.” Copies are kept in every temple of Minos, and guildmasters are expected to read from it during the Spring Summit and Saint Amandus’ Fair.

The Ledger sets out the Credo, a collection of Seven Directives all faithful of Minos are enjoined to observe in business as in their personal lives:

The First Directive: Honor Every Contract

“The word given is the weight carried.”

Every deal, agreement, or binding word is sacred. This includes trade agreements, delivery promises, partnership terms, and guild charters. Breaking a contract, even if it proves inconvenient, is a spiritual violation unless formally dissolved following the method written in the contract or by mutual agreement of all parties involved. Promises to friends, spouses, and kin are no less sacred. A vow to raise a child, help a neighbor, or keep a secret is considered a personal contract. One’s word defines their integrity, and to renege is to incur moral debt.

The Second Directive: Balance the Ledger

“What you owe, pay. What you are owed, forgive wisely.”

This refers to both literal and metaphorical balance. Keep books clear, debts current, and accounts honest. A merchant who lets their debts grow without acknowledgment risks spiritual corruption, just as one who overcharges or manipulates accounts is seen as guilty of the sin of avarice. Balance applies to emotional and social debts: give as you receive, and don’t let guilt, resentment, or unspoken obligations grow unchecked. Resolve conflicts, express gratitude, and atone for wrongs before they fester.

The Third Directive: Maintain Honest Measure

“Let your weights be true, and your scales steady.”

Use honest measures, fair prices, and transparent practices. Do not manipulate quality, packaging, or language to gain unfair advantage. Cunning is permitted, but not deceit. Guild inspections often invoke this Directive. Be honest in judgment and fair in assessment. Don’t exaggerate, slander, or misrepresent others. In relationships, this means listening without bias, correcting others gently, and admitting your own faults in equal measure.

The Fourth Directive: Labor With Purpose

“To do nothing is to rob the world.”

Idleness is considered a theft of opportunity. Merchants and craftsmen are expected to contribute meaningfully to their trade and community. Innovation, initiative, and continuous improvement are acts of worship in themselves. Each person is born with talents and responsibilities: whether managing a household, raising children, or healing the sick, one must work toward betterment of self, of others, and of the world. Sloth is seen as a spiritual decay.

The Fifth Directive: Uphold the Guild and Market

“No trader thrives alone. The stall stands by the square.”

Support for guilds, trade laws, and market towns is a sacred duty. Guild dues, apprenticeships, dispute mediation, and civic participation strengthen the wider community and honor Minos’ order. This Directive calls for civic responsibility, community involvement, and mutual aid. Worshippers are encouraged to support local governance, aid neighbors in need (at a profit, of course), and resolve disputes through lawful and cooperative means.

The Sixth Directive: Let Trade Be Free

“When the winds are loosed, the sails fill fastest.”

This Directive affirms the sacred value of free and open markets. Guilds and lords are warned not to overburden trade with excessive tolls, protectionism, or stifling regulation. Merchants are encouraged to seek new markets, innovate in goods and services, and allow price to be governed by demand rather than decree. Monopolies are suspect unless granted by divine or civic cause. It teaches the faithful to trust in the wisdom of exchange — to offer their skills and time where they are most needed, and to let others do the same. It also encourages open-mindedness: welcoming of strangers, new ideas, and foreign customs, so long as trade is fair. The Church of Minos often invokes this Directive during trade disputes between rival city-states, urging them to remove embargoes and restore the “blessing of open exchange.”

The Seventh Directive: Cultivate Worth

“Value is not in gold alone, but in what endures beyond the counting.”

This Directive teaches that true commerce is not measured solely in profit, but in lasting value: in the quality of one’s goods, the strength of one’s reputation, and the prosperity left behind. A faithful merchant does not chase fleeting coin, but builds networks, teaches apprentices, crafts goods that outlive them, and invests in ventures that endure. Contracts are short; worth is lasting. Cultivate it in every exchange. Treat others not as means to gain, but as partners in shared endeavor. Leave behind not just children, but wisdom, stories, and honor. Time is a coin that must be spent, but let it be spent creating something worthy. Whether you mend shoes or govern cities, live so that your deeds hold value long after you’re gone.

The Mortal Deficits

In the theology of the Church of Minos, sin is not framed as abstract evil but as imbalance. These are called the Mortal Deficits: violations of sacred commerce, broken promises, and the erosion of worth. They are understood as spiritual and societal debts that corrupt the soul, bankrupt reputations, and poison communities. Just as a merchant must avoid insolvency, the faithful must avoid falling into these seven Deficits, which, left unchecked, will mark them as Forfeit, unworthy of contract, a punishment that carries both religious damnation and economic exile.

To be placed under Divine Forfeiture is to be marked by the Church as “void of credit, in ledger and in spirit.” Those under Forfeiture are barred from guild membership, denied the rites of temple arbitration, and cannot enter into sanctified contracts or oaths until they have made full restitution — often through public acts of reparation, pilgrimages, or temple-imposed penance. In some regions, the term is recorded in both temple and civic rolls, with the stigma affecting inheritance rights, trade access, and social standing.

It is said in the Ledger of Golden Weights: “The Forfeited soul shall wander as coin without stamp — cast, but not counted.”

The Mortal Deficits are: Fraud, the deliberate distortion of truth for gain; Neglect, the failure to fulfill obligations or tend to one’s responsibilities; Avarice, the endless hunger for profit at the expense of justice or humanity; Default, the abandonment of debt or duty; Treachery, the betrayal of trust in business or fellowship; Conceit, the overvaluation of one’s own worth at the expense of community; and Sabotage, the deliberate undermining of others' honest work. To indulge in these deficits is to bring imbalance to the marketplace and to oneself—causing not only spiritual decline but the decay of society’s shared prosperity. Temples to Minos offer rites of restitution, but some debts, particularly Treachery and Sabotage, result in placement under Red Forfeiture, a full excommunication from the Church, and can only be cleared by acts of extraordinary public restitution. Many nations consider those under Red Forfeiture Outlaws and followers of Minos consider it divine service to kill such apostates.

Virtues

Integrity, Diligence, Equity, Accountability, Prudence, Initiative and Respect

Vices

Fraud, Neglect, Avarice, Default, Treachery, Conceit and Sabotage.

Mission

The mission of the Church of Minos is to uphold divine order through commerce, ensuring that every promise given, every contract sealed, and every trade undertaken serves as a sacred reflection of balance, equity, and mutual obligation. The faithful believe that Minos’ divine purpose is not merely to enrich, but to bind the world together through the just exchange of value, whether material, social, or spiritual.

Theological Mission

Church of Minos seeks to spread the Golden Order: a harmonious network of fair trade, ethical labor, accountable guilds, and transparent markets that serve the common good. Temples act as arbiters, recordkeepers, and spiritual auditors settling disputes, sanctifying contracts, and guiding both merchant and magistrate toward righteous prosperity. By ensuring the integrity of exchange, the Church believes it sustains civilization itself, for without trust in trade, law, or labor, no society can endure.

Thus, the mission of Minos is twofold: to sanctify commerce as covenant, reminding all that value exchanged in good faith honors the god and to cultivate worth in all things, that every person, craft, and coin might serve a greater balance.

In this pursuit, the Church of Minos sees no border, no race, no creed that cannot be uplifted by righteous trade. All may enter the marketplace of the divine—if their measure is true, and their word unbroken.

Social Mission

The social mission of the Church of Minos is to foster stability, opportunity, and dignity through structured commerce and mutual obligation. While its theology elevates the sanctity of contracts, the Church’s practical role in society is to act as a mediator between wealth and justice, ensuring that prosperity is accessible, earned, and sustainable across all classes.

At its heart, the Church of Minos believes that no one thrives alone. Markets must be fair, guilds must be strong, and individuals must be empowered to rise through diligence, initiative, and honest craft. Temples to Minos often function as a central meeting place for guild leadership, arbitration courts, debtor sanctuaries, and apprenticeship sponsors, providing the infrastructure necessary for both social mobility and economic order. The Church educates the poor in numeracy and bookkeeping, aids failed merchants in regaining solvency, and ensures that the powerful honor their obligations to workers and peers alike.

In cities and towns, Minos' priests serve as guardians of the civic marketplace, advocating for transparent laws, regulated weights and measures, and the fair treatment of labor. In rural regions and frontier outposts, the Church becomes a stabilizing force, bringing coin, order, and opportunity where chaos or barter once ruled.

Ultimately, the social mission of the Church of Minos is to create a society where every person has the chance to prosper through just labor and fair trade, bind individuals to community through contracts that uplift, not exploit and ensure that wealth, though uneven, flows with purpose and returns to the common good.

To the faithful, a thriving market is not a sign of greed, but of grace. A well-fed child, a fair wage paid, a guildmaster elected by merit: these are the daily miracles of Minos.

Geography

No geographic information available on Minos

History of the Church

No historic information available on Minos

Organization

The Church of Minos is a hierarchically structured faith centered on the sanctity of contracts, commerce, and mutual obligation. It blends clerical authority with mercantile function, reflecting Minos’ divine emphasis on fairness, accountability, and the sacred nature of agreements. Temples operate as both spiritual sanctuaries and civic institutions, recording oaths, arbitrating disputes, and blessing trade. At every level, from rural chapels to grand urban basilicas, the Church reinforces its ideals through ritual, law, and ledgers. Regional and supraregional governance ensures doctrinal unity while allowing cultural adaptation, with local clergy empowered to mediate between the divine contract and daily economic life. Above all, the Church preaches that prosperity achieved through honest exchange is holy, and that all debts, spiritual or material, must be paid in kind.

Central Authority

The Church of Minos is split into three major factions that, unlike most schismatic groups, tend to cooperate with one another despite their philosophic and theological differences.

The Concord of the Open Ledger

The Concord of the Open Ledger (called Sýmphōnon tou Aneōgménou Logistikou in the Aebasan tongue) is based out of ancient, sprawling temple complex called the Basileion of the Account, in the city-state of Euthymbra, Aebasa. Seated there is the Archonomos ("High Lawkeeper") who embodies the concept of Logikos Nomos ("Rational Law"), which teaches that the divine Principles reflect eternal truths discoverable through reason, philosophy, and dialectic. Concordians believe that contracts are sacred expressions of mutual logos and that even the gods are bound by eternal law. Aebasan Minosians reject miraculous interventions, preferring pure legalism and market self-correction as divine acts to transform economies and generate wealth. Temples double as academies of logic, contract law and rhetoric and here, debate is considered a sacred act. Transactional justice is seens at the highest moral form. The Archonomos is seated for life by a Deliberative Senate organized of all available Synod Factors upon the death of the previous Archonomos (perhaps surprisingly, even Synod Factors from other denominations of Minos are permitted to serve in this capacity).

The Synaxis of Prosperity

Formerly the Congregation of the Weighted Contract when it was based in Zeth during the Third Age of Man, the Synaxis of Prosperity was founded in Dracia on the continent of Aurea during the Dark Times, when the senior leadership of the Church chose to abandon Imperial traditions and grow their own traditions based on common practice. The Synaxis believes that Minos first brought peace to the world, not through violence, but with the perfect deal - a cosmic negotiation where each creature was offered value in exchange for purpose. The spiritual and political head of the Synaxis is the Golden Speaker (Zlatogovor in Dracian, who speaks on behalf of the Synaxis and brokers major international treaties. Central to the Synaxis is the belief that Treachery and Sabotage are no more deadly a Deficit than the others and, indeed, those who are able to use guile without indulging in Treachery or Sabotage are the most divine at heart; if the contract is clear and adhered to, outwitting a rival fairly is not only acceptable, but holy. The Prosperians see wealth not as sin, but as signature, legitimizing the deal-maker's craft. But speech is binding, with even informal promises carrying metaphysical weight. And they believe that the best deals result in mutual profit... though perhaps skewed towards one side more than the others. Temples operate as chambers of commerce for local merchants, notaries and, usually, as sanctuaries of wealth... holy vaults that operate on a basis of monetary writs. If one possesses a particular writ, one can withdraw coin from a Temple Vault in one region and have that reflected in the Synod's regional Ledger.

The Synodate of the Golden Seal

Centered around the Basilica of Saint Amandus the Venerable in the Freecity of Neptaris, the doctrine of the Golden Seal blends mysticism with bureaucracy, teaching that some contracts are ordained before birth and sealed by heavenly ink. This central belief is the concept of "the Hidden Seal" (Mystikon Sfragis), a theology emphasizing the mystery and sanctity of divine agreements and the invisible threads of fate spun through oath, promise and transaction. The Master of the Seals (Magister Sigillorum) rules as chair of the Seal Synod, composed of cloistered accountants and scribes known as the Scriptorial Mysteriarchs. The Mysteriarchs are always masked when conducting their duties and to be revealed as such is cause for immediate removal from the Seal Synod - voluntarily revealing oneself is often considered a Red Forfeiture offense, carrying condemnations of indulgence in Conceit and Treachery! Sacred contracts are stored in temple vaults guarded by oathbound champions known as the Lexatarii.

Regional Authority

Regional authority of the Temples of Minos is structured as a mercantile synodocracy, a council-based system of governance led by the most senior and successful clergy, called Synod Factors and known collectively as the Synod of the Ledger. The purpose of this Synodic structure is to ensure the faith of Minos remains decentralized enough to adapt to local economies while maintaining overarching unity in doctrine, record-keeping, and moral commerce. Each region, called a Concordat, typically corresponds to a trade district, market province, or city-state and is overseen by an Archfactor, an esteemed cleric appointed by consensus of local temple heads and ratified by the Synod. The Archfactor's seat is usually located in the largest or wealthiest urban temple of the region, where they act as both high priest and regional administrator. Under the Archfactors serve the Temple Factors of each urban temple, who maintain temple operations and oversee both civic and spiritual duties. They report upwards, submitting quarterly Tithes of Record and resolving major contractual disputes through appeals to the Synod. Often, the Archfactor of a royal seat or capital city of a given nation is considered "First Among Equals" as compared to other Archfactors in the Syodary.

Each region's temples remain semi-autonomous in daily affairs, but all are bound to Seven-Year Compacts, formal agreements of policy alignment and doctrinal unity issued by the Synod. Periodic Summits of Weighing (every seven years) bring together regional leaders to renew these compacts, audit inter-temple conduct, and debate trade ethics, heresies, and reforms. The highest voice in the Synod is the Archfactor Maximus, chosen by a rotating vote of Archfactors and serving a fourteen-year term as the faith’s regional arbiter and spiritual executor of Minos’ principles.

Temple Heirarchy

The typical hierarchy of a Temple of Minos reflects the god’s reverence for structured commerce, contractual integrity, and sacred order. At its pinnacle stands the Temple Factor, who functions as both high priest and chief arbiter, ensuring that doctrine, economic justice, and ritual observances align with the Directives of Minos. Beneath this figure are the Ledgerwardens, senior clerics trained in both theology and contract law, responsible for adjudicating disputes, overseeing complex transactions, and managing relations with merchant guilds and the temple’s external holdings. Supporting them are the Scaleclerks, who handle the day-to-day blessing of trade, verify scales and measures, and perform market audits and rituals to sanctify transactions. Each of these ranks works in close cooperation, ensuring that trade flows smoothly and that the temple remains an impartial and trustworthy force in urban commerce.

Further down the hierarchy, Sealbearers serve as roving notaries and sacred witnesses, applying the Temple’s authority to contracts and commercial oaths in the field. Scriptors, junior scribes and accountants, are tasked with transcribing contracts, tracking temple assets, and studying the principles of ethical trade. Novitiates of the Ledger, often youths or converts, perform menial work and undergo training in arithmetic, theology, and moral philosophy. The Coinwards, militant but disciplined guards, ensure the sanctity of temple property and protect both patrons and clergy. In larger temples, Vicars of Ledger manage temple-owned businesses and investments, reporting profits to the clergy while never partaking in rites themselves. Each rank operates under a tightly coordinated model where spiritual stewardship and financial integrity reinforce one another, making the temple both a house of worship and a bastion of economic order.

Some larger temples include a Court of Adjudication, where trade disputes are resolved by the Temple Factor; Sanctum of the Silver Eye, housing sacred relics, ledgers and iconography; a Hall of Open Contract, a public chamber where merchants can propose contracts witnessed by clergy and competitors alike to ensure fairness; and Scales of Public Atonement, an open-air forum where those guilty of "mortal deficits" perform restitution or penance.

The rare rural Temple of Minos, often called a Granary Shrine or Hall of Weighing, serves as both spiritual center and practical hub for commerce in agrarian communities. Unlike the grand gilt stone temples of cities, these temples are modest structures: sturdy stone or timber buildings, typically located at crossroads or bordering market greens. They often include a central hall with open space for gathering, a locked storeroom for contracts and records, and an antechamber containing sacred balances and sealed account-books. The temple’s most prominent feature is the Oathscale, a symbolic balance upon which goods are weighed and agreements are sworn under Minos' eye. Rural clergy are few in number, usually led by a Ledgerwarden or Notary-Priest, with a handful of lay Cart-scribes or Measurehands, itinerant apprentices or faithful who help weigh, record, and resolve disputes. Their duties blend worship with arbitration, offering fair contract-writing services, resolving trade conflicts, and blessing planting or harvest agreements. During festival seasons, especially Saint Pomerius' Fair, these temples transform into bustling centers of exchange. More than houses of worship, they are sanctuaries of trust, reminding even the humblest farmer that an honest trade is a holy act and that no contract, once sealed, is beneath divine scrutiny.

Priesthood

The priesthood of Minos is a disciplined, methodical, and meritocratic body dedicated to the theology of equitable exchange, oathkeeping, and the sanctity of commerce. It is neither ascetic nor lavish: priests of Minos are expected to engage fully with the world of trade, negotiation, contracts, and mercantile justice, living as moral exemplars of material integrity.

Those who feel called to the Inkbound life must apply to the nearest Temple of Minos with the consent and sponsorship of their families, who must have a good reputation for contractual honesty, mental discipline, aptitude in arithmetic or law, and public trustworthiness. Candidates are not accepted on piety alone; even fervent believers must pass the Initiate’s Scrutiny, which includes: examination of their family's financial and personal histories for breaches of faith or unjust gain and oral trials of the aspirant in ethics, rhetoric, and the understanding of the Directives. Adult aspirants must undergo a symbolic “Balancing of Ledgers” rite, where the aspirant must negotiate a complex trade or reconciliation in the presence of temple officials. Temples often recruit from among the children of notaries, accountants, market scribes, and merchants, but some aspirants arrive from other callings: lawyers, adjudicators, even ex-criminals seeking redemption through balance. The Ledger teaches that “No man born is beyond the weight of ink,” and so even a prince must qualify as an aspirant before being accepted as such. All who serve the Ledger must be first measured, then marked, then made to serve the balance.

Accepted aspirants are bound to silence for seven weeks while they transcribe holy ledgers and study the Ledger of Golden Weights and sample contracts of historic saints. Subsequent training focuses on the Seven Pillars: Contractual theology (study of scripture and the principles of reciprocal morality), mathematics, mercantilism, rhetoric, arbitration, sealing (ritual techniques for recording and sanctifying contracts) and law. Aspirants graduate to Clerks of the Ledger after they have successfully proven themselves proficient in all seven pillars, an education that typically takes about five to seven years.

While each Exemplar has its adherents, there are three major monastic orders dedicated to Minos that have expanded across all three continents: The Oathblades of Exemplar Caelia Scriptagladii, enforcers of Minosian law; the Brotherhood of Roadwardens dedicated to Exemplar Garradan of the Gatebound Oath and protecting lawful travelers; and the monastic teamsters and couriers, The Order of the Sealed Cart, founded by Exemplar Revina of the Sealed Cart. Chapterhouses and monasteries of these orders can be found where ever the worship of Minos is prevalent.

Garments

The daily garb of a priest of Minos is utilitarian but refined and well-tailored. Most wear a long robe or vested tunic of inky black or deep green, cut in the style of a tradesman’s overcoat, complete with reinforced hems and hidden pockets. Over this, they don a sleeveless tabard or surcoat of ivory or parchment-toned cloth, often embroidered with gold-threaded sigils of coin, scale, and scroll—markings that change subtly based on the priest’s station or vocation. A heavy sash or cincture is worn at the waist, woven with thread-of-account: fine cords in gold and silver that track the number of oaths witnessed, journeys blessed, or contracts sealed. The Golden Seal, is worn at the throat or around the neck on a short chain. Boots are always well-made and travel-worn. Cleanliness and upkeep are considered a sacred duty; to appear slovenly is to dishonor the god’s creed of trust and order.

During formal rites, high feast days, or legal proceedings, priests of Minos don robes of greater complexity and splendor. These garments are layered in three parts: the innermost robe of black or deep green, a middle tunic of white decorated in golden thread symbolizing transparency and balance, and a flowing outer mantle—usually in rich gold or amber, bearing elaborate embroidered heptagrams, balance-scales, or clauses of ancient trade-pacts written in metallic script. Sleeves are long and squared, often cuffed with coin-weighted tassels to remind the wearer of the weight of their words. The hood is optional but when worn, it’s stiff and high-collared, casting the face in shadow save for the glint of the dual-colored eyes of Minos embroidered above the brow: one silver, one gold. In the most sacred ceremonies, the priest will carry a gold-trimmed, obsidian quill used to “sign” offerings in the air before the altar.

Religious Practices

A typical worship service, known as a Weighing, begins with the Recital of the Ledgers, a choral tally of fulfilled contracts and vows by members of the congregation that is specific to that Temple. This is followed by the Presentation of the Seal, wherein new oaths, business ventures, or pledges are placed before the altar, marked with wax, and ritually “witnessed” by a priest who invokes the name of Minos. The most sacred part of the Weighing is the Balancing, when a priest of Minos lifts the golden scales and declares, “Let the seal be weights and the word be sure.” The congregation then chants a hymn of prosperity and equity before offerings, usually coin, a promissory script, or symbolic tokens of fair exchange, are placed in the tithe coffer.

Individual worship is quieter but no less structured. Devotees of Minos are expected to record their transactions, not just financial, but moral and social: favors owed, debts forgiven, promises made. Many keep personal ledgers called the Ledger of Balance, which they bring to shrine niches for review and symbolic weighing. A daily prayer, often whispered before a transaction or journey, is: “Let me give what is due, take only what is fair, and weigh neither too light nor too heavy.” Business contracts, marital vows, and oaths of office are all commonly sealed in his name, and breaking such a seal is considered a spiritual crime and may place the guilty under Forfeiture. Worshippers usually wear the Golden Seal openly as both a reminder of divine balance and a ward against dishonest dealing.

Calendar

Accounting

Original article: Accounting

Eanaire 14

Observed by: Common in urban areas and regions where Minos is particularly honored

Accounting, which takes place on Eanaire 14, is a high holy day for Minos, god of commerce. On this day, merchants and craftsmen observant to Minos are expected to balance their books, pay any remaining debts past due and submit their accounting to the nearest temple to Minos, where it is recognized and recorded (and often sent to the local lord to determine appropriate taxation and fines). Failure to comply with the tradition is, at least, considered disrespectful to Minos and, in some regions, considered an attempt to avoid paying taxes, subjecting the merchant to arrest and imprisonment for failure to pay his debts.

Saint Amandus' Fair

Original article: Saint Amandus' Fair

Sultain 15-21

Observed by: Commonplace

Saint Amandus' Fair is a week-long autumn market fair holy to Minos as a week to honor Saint Amandus the Venerable. As with most of the Minoan Fairs, the Fair takes place in a designated Market Town where merchants from nearby countries gather to sell and trade. Traditionally, Saint Amandus' Fair is when new Guildmasters are elected to office by trade guilds, retired guildsmen are honored and deceased guildsmen of import are recognized. Saint Amandus' Fair ends on Sultain 21st with a sunset service at the local temple to Minos.

Saint Pomerius' Fair

Original article: Saint Pomerius' Fair

Beltain 1-7

Observed by: Commonplace

Saint Pomerius' Fair is a week-long market fair holy to Minos as a week to honor Saint Pomerius the Young. As with most of the Minoan Fairs, the Fair takes place in a designated Market Town where merchants from nearby countries gather to sell and trade. Traditionally, Saint Pomerius' Fair is also when new craftsman or merchant Apprentices are judged and, if they pass the tests placed on them by the Masters of their crafts, are chosen for Apprenticeship. It is also a time when many new contracts are initiated between merchants and craftsmen. Saint Pomerius' Fair ends on Beltain 7, with a morning service at the local temple to Minos where new Apprentices are presented to the congregation, followed by the Spring Summit among local guildmasters.

Spring Summit

Original article: Spring Summit

Beltain 7

Observed by: Commonplace

Spring Summit is a holy day of Minos where local guildmasters are expected to gather at the nearest temple to Minos to discuss plans for the following year, set prices (where it is legal to do such) and settle any inter-guild disputes from the previous season. It takes place on the last day of Saint Pomerius' Fair, which is why guildmasters observant to Minos are generally absent from the Market Towns during that festival.

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