Hidden Interregnum

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A period of political instability in the Alexandrian Church between 500-503 FI dominated by the figure of Ratnot Hand. It was triggered by the elevation and assassination of Arch-Warden Gladros Sablehand by the Stone Warden after the death of his mother, the powerful half-elf Marrwyn Sablehand.

After a century of stability under Marrwyn Sablehand, the Alexandrian Church was at the height of its power. However, when Marrwyn Sablehand died in 500 FI and the Stone Warden announced the elevation of Gladros Sablehand, conflict broke out among the church elite. While Gladros' elevation was not exactly a surprise, it was tremendously controversial. Ever since the controversy surrounding the Arch-Wardenship of Hadrian Teldandilion in the 1st Century FI, a strong tradition of anti-dynasticism developed among church leaders. Within a month of Gladros' elevation, he was dead under suspicious circumstances. When the Stone Warden announced the elevation of Ratnot Hand, a member of the notorious Hand tribe and a man that Gladros by all accounts despised, the Sablehand faction was outraged.

The three years of Hand's Arch-Wardenship saw a host of purges, assassinations, counter-assassinations, and excommunications, as the Hand Faction fought against the Sablehand faction for control of the Church. Although the Sablehand Faction was broken during that time, the ruthlessness of Hand's tactics left the church weak and exhausted, and turned most against him. Ratnot Hand himself was assassinated during the new years festival between 502 and 503 FI. The Stone Warden announced the elevation of Darell Cadrick, an open necromancer and Hand loyalist.

Within hours of the elevation, Cadrick vanished and was never seen again. On the 1st day of the Period of Renewal, the Stone Warden elevated Abbled Barbannan, an obscure young Odessan monk. Barbannan's three decades saw the church's power greatly reduced, his own reign ending after the ignominious Barbannan's Crusade.