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St. John
St John is a god of bringing aid to the deserving, and of healing. His church is the largest in Wessex, located on the river (in the modern day location of Johns College). His holy symbol is a red cross, often displayed on a white background.
The Church of St John
The Church of St John has been hard hit by the political and economic situation in Grantabrugge in recent years, but remains one of the most powerful and certainly one of the largest institutions in the city. In 1286 a brief Civil War broke out between supporters of the Johnite Queen, Lady Sheorl, and supporters of her husband King Edward of Wessex. Specifically the two sides fought over how the Royal Children were raised and whether the potential heir to the throne should be brought up in the Humacti or Johnite faith. The war was brief and featured much symbolic posturing with very little bloodshed - however, situated in a hotbed of support for King Edward, the Johnite Church in Grantabrugge used up a large proportion of its finances on defense. The Norscan Invasion in 1287 brought new ideas and perspectives into the church, but the plagues and flooding the following spring further exhausted resources. Despite a popular perception of wealth the Johnite church is actually fairly hard stretched financially - in fact, in 1293 it attracted sponsorship by splitting apart the Temple and hospital sections of the building and renaming the hospital wing "the Lady Sylvia Selwyn Hospital", after a major donor.
Like all large institutions, the Church of St John houses a wide range of opinions and beliefs. Although many of the clergy believe in non-violence the Norscan branch of the faith persues a path of proactive pre-emption: one may cause harm in order to prevent greater harm. Historically many priests of St John were great crusaders, and although not fully embraced by the modern church small shrines to the Warrior aspect of St John are still dotted around the city.
A further schism in the church that has become more apparent in recent years is the issue of payment for healing. It is generally accepted that people should only be asked to pay what they can afford, however the view that everyone should pay *something* - be it work, food or money - for healing (and the with-holding of healing from those who are not in immediate need, and are unprepared to make a donation) has become more prevalent in recent years. This said, the church will not turn away those in dire need, and long queues form outside the temple in the hope that priests going off duty will impart the blessings of healing with any leftover authority still remaining after their shift.
There is a book, kept in the Church archives but available for supervised inspection, in which names of deserving individuals who have aided the Church are listed. There is a second book, bound in black leather, into which go the names of those who are undeserving. Those who are undeserving have no right to expect the aid of the church, which in general will be withheld. It is possible to have one's name removed from the Undeserving book, through convincing evidence of a change of heart or a great service to the Church. Priests may contact Evelyn Brightworthy, the head of the Grantabruggan Temple, with evidence pertaining to the inclusion of a name in either of these books.
Being a large organisiation with good access to vulnerable people, the Johnite faith was frequently used as a cover by priests of Vivamort and Sordan in the days when worship of these faiths was illegal. There were also persistant rumours about "something in the basement" of the Temple - which was guarded - however interfaith inspections have been carried out and revealed nothing untoward.