High Bishop Benedictus of Berandil, the head of the Church of Ronia, and one of the most powerful men in Ronia. The Church of Ronia, the nation's official state religion, is a very powerful and very conservative force in the country, and though it was initially (some mutter) created simply to boost the power of the ancient Wesleyan monarchs, it now rivals the kings and nobles in political clout. Under weaker kings in the past, the Church has held so much strength that Ronia was almost a theocracy, and it was under Church authority that Ronia led some of its most aggressive imperialistic endeavors.

Modern Ronia is as liberal as it ever has been, and though things like homosexuality are still illegal and wizards and followers of other religions are looked down upon as heretics, the Church has lost its ability to effectively punish such 'criminals.' Nowadays, one can even criticize the Church in some towns without being hanged! In some towns, wizards are still shunned as doers of devilry, but in others (namely, where it benefits the populace, such as at the grand Von Huygen Academy of Wizardry in the city of Holdenskaldt) wizards are praised for their gifts. Like most things in the Church, canon and politics are one and the same.

Though there are many good Ronians who believe in the Church or serve as low-level ministers doing good works, the greater body they serve is in essence, a corrupt money-making machine that exists to exert control over the minds of the Ronians and keep them under the thumb of the Wesleyan monarchs. Dakerai is unique among all the monarchs in the history of Ronia in that he grew up completely outside the Church's influence (the south, where Dakerai grew up, is the most liberal region in Ronia) and he despises the Church. For a Wesleyan king to be uncooperative with the Church could be ruinous to the wealth and power the Church has enjoyed for so long, and the Church is prepared to take any measures--however drastic--to maintain the status quo.


This ugly, ugly man here is the Bishop of Berandil, the capital of Ronia (just as in our world the Pope is the Bishop of Rome.) Despite his advanced age and numerous health problems, he is a force to be reckoned with, and many an opponent has been done away with in the night by his secret clerical police. Seen attending him are some Church alter boys (Church rituals are deemed to be so sacred and esoteric that simple laymen like alter boys must be covered from head to toe so as not to desecrate the ceremony).

I imagine my view of organized religion and the Catholic Church is pretty apparent in my treatment of Dakerai's religion :] Note: just as the Church of Ronia is not supposed to be EXACTLY the Catholic Church, the bishop is NOT supposed to be a caricature of the current pope Benedict; Benedict is a common name among clerical types; there have been 15 Pope Benedicts before this one!

This picture is just a glorified conceptual doodle; I never intended to fully color it, but then...I did. However, I wasn't able to color it as fully as I wanted because Photoshop stopped cooperating. I figured I'd do what I always do--settle for glorious mediocrity--and post it anyway. The composition is a little weird (ran out of space on the piece of paper I drew it on) but I like it just because that man is SO DAMN UGLY. I mean, really, I don't know if I've ever drawn a more unpleasant looking man. FISH LIPS! Stepping out of my comfort zone is fun.


Smoke brushes are from =Lady-Dementia with a few from ~Falln-Brushes

Photoshop CS2, Wacom intuos3
[Dakerai]