Sigilbearers

The Sigilbearers (Literary Vitrian: znakdrĭžateli) were zealous early Tastanists who participated in military campaigns specifically to convert populations to their religion, and established theocratic states in new conquests to hasten the conversion process. Later, the term referred to any army in the Neo-Sepcan Empire that owed allegiance to clergymen or other sorts of Tastanic religious authorities, rather than the imperial state or its feudatories. Sigilbearer movements and figures were active from the 2nd to 4th centuries CE.

Although Sigilbearers primarily fought for religious purposes, the conflicts they engaged in were not always holy wars; more often, Sigilbearers travelled and fought alongside the Neo-Sepcan imperial army, and once such an expedition seized territory they would assume control of local communities and begin proselytizing, in addition to maintaining order, which Sigilbearer units excelled at due to a rigid hierarchical culture in early Tastanism thanks to its clergy. Thus, although Sigilbearer forces were not as well-equipped as either imperial or feudatory troops, they were valued for the military police role they played that freed up regulars for combat. However, Sigilbearers still fought independently as armies of their own.

Early Tastanists had organized into armies in the 1st century CE during the collapse of the Lysandrene Empire, initially to protect their churches and communities but later to expand the reach of their religion, and records from this period attest to conversions enforced upon populations by Tastanic warlords. The armies of the Neo-Sepcan invaders were also joined by Tastanists, similarly motivated to convert through these military actions. Well-organized, early Tastanic clergy formed efficient governments in regions where they took control, compared to the bandit-ridden chaos of some other areas that came under Neo-Sepcan occupation, earning the imperial authorities favor and trust. These successes emboldened Tastanists who began to organize larger and better-equipped armies with imperial support, and had became regular complements for imperial expeditions. In the 2nd century, Sigilbearers had became a widespread phenomenon; Tastanic fanatics took over large swaths of land east of the Sprska river during campaigns to quell rebellious governors, and also participated in conflicts against Namorese Bo dynasty in Oteki. Their participation did much to establish a Tastanic community in these areas.

The Neo-Sepcan Empire would also officially adopt Tastanism as a state religion in 153 CE, and Sigilbearers received even more support such that they could organize campaigns of their own. Sigilbearers led expeditions against Mesians in western Razaria, spearheaded the conquest of Caznia (162–65 CE), and invaded the central Kheratian steppe. They also steadily made up greater numbers of recruits in regular levies, and generally earned reputations as reliable and ferocious troops due to their fanaticism. Sigilbearers evolved unit organizations of their own, with clerics serving as officers, and regiments becoming independent polities. Significantly contributing to the expansion of the empire, Sigilbearers were rewarded immensely by the court, first allotted land and funds for church construction, then given entire estates on the basis of sualny. Clerics who served with such campaigns also reached high court positions; one example, the priest Veribor of Elea, became Chancellor from 227 to 240 through his exploits as a Sigilbearer commander in eastern modern Luziyca. He was succeeded by apprentice and priest Bogomir of Stoyany who held the office of Chancellor from 245 to 262.

The close association of Sigilbearers with the imperial authority that trusted them made them dangerous opponents in the eyes of Sepcan and Vitrian nobility, who either resisted conversion to Tastanism or exercised oversight over the composition of local churchmen to counter the influence of the Sigilbearers. Conflicts between nobles and clerics intensified in the 4th century, with many clashes as Sigilbearers invaded fiefs of nobles opposing them, done with imperial sanction to weaken rebellious local interests. These conflicts allowed the Sigilbearers to continue to serve military use in a time when expansion of the Empire came slowly to a halt; after the War of Sizak, in which an anti-clerical coalition led by the Sepcan noble Sizak and his allies were defeated by imperial, Sigilbearer, and pro-clerical forces, Sigilbearer armies outlived their usefulness and most were demobilized to reduce costs their maintenance had on the church. However, zealot regiments were still active during the conquest of Aucuria. The War of Sizak had also now made the power of the Sigilbearers and the Tastanic church unchallenged.

The historical legacy of the Sigilbearers are not limited to merely the conversions that they had brought about in West Borea, though it was significant and accelerated the Tastanization of the continent. Through their military and political importance, the Sigilbearers carved out and secured a favorable position for Tastanic clergy, which was now an institution with well-recognized imperial grace that also possessed economic and social power itself through its control of churches and sualnic estates. This was an important foundation for the church's later ascendancy during the Bibliocracy period into a pillar of Neo-Sepcan society which overpowered most political institutions of the time. Themes of the Sigilbearers were still invoked on later occasions of Tastanic holy war, particularly during the Cositene expansion.