Great Synod of Lannisport

The Great Synod of Lannisport was one of the most significant events to occur during the reign of Rhaegar II Targaryen. For decades the Faith had been sundered by severe doctrinal divides that arose during the early days of the Southron Schism more than eight decades before. Unlike his mother, Visaera I Targaryen, King Rhaegar had taken many moves to heal the fissures that had formed between the Iron Throne and the orthodox Faith. This tenor of reconciliation inspired both the High and Starry Septons to begin a movement towards a reunification of the Faith. This finally occurred during a council in Sept of the Faithful in Lannisport, where the agents of the Starry Rites, the Baelorian Obedience, and royal representatives came together to realign the divergent doctrines.

The Beginning
There were numerous reasons why, after eighty-four years, the Schism of the Faith finally ended in a Council. While there were still some Septons who stood staunchly by the ideals of the first Starry Septon, but the Starry Sept itself fell back in line fully to follow the High Septon in spirit as well as word, and no Lord could seriously follow the Schism, certainly not without heavy judgement.

The Faith in the time of Queen Visaera I had slowly lost influence and power, due to the failure of Maekar and the lack of support or respect the Queen held for the High Septon. It was only the work of Perceon Vance, who showed favour to the High Septons for years, that kept the Faith in some kind of relevance in the capital. Still, within Visaera’s lifetime, the Faith was never going to arise to a position of strength enough to reassert itself on Oldtown.

King Rhaegar, therefore, had an opportunity. Ruling with less of an iron fist that Visaera had, as well as being more cooperative with the High Septon, gave the Faith opportunity to expand upon. It still took the right High Septon and the right Starry Septon to bring even the possibility of reconciliation forward.

After eighty years, the septons of the realm had grown weary of the Schism. In truth, few of the theological differences had caused lasting effect or friction within the people. It was between dusty old scholars that these topics were fearsome battlegrounds, and while diehard septon still staunchly stood by those beliefs that had started the Schism, the fervor was no longer as strong as it once had been.

The High Septon and the Starry Septon of the time could not have been anymore different at the year 430 AC. The Starry Septon, known as the Stalwart One, had been a lowborn soldier before he had become a Septon, and had seen his own shares of war. A gruff, taciturn, man, few believed that he would be open to reconciliation with a man such as the High Septon. He was named the Gregarious One and was everything that could well have symbolized the corruption to the Faith’s critics. He was from a well-off noble family, a Grafton of Gulltown, and a friendly, jovial, man, who enjoyed some luxury. Crucially, however, he never went into excess, and his charity was famed - and corruption was famously hunted down during his tenure, the more brazen members of the Most Devout guilty of simony even put on trial.

The Hand of the King was greatly surprised by both men, being far more used to corrupt incompetents than men who not only wanted peace but were also willing to work together - and both the Starry Septon and the High Septon held that view at the same time. While Perceon was hopeful accords could be reached, he was not the one to reach out first.

That was the Starry Septon.

It was in 429 AC when the Starry Septon attended on the Hand and the High Septon in the Red Keep, proposing that the Schism should finally be mended. He did not, however, have a plan on how to do so, but the mere fact that he was willing to compromise was enough to start something. It was the Hand that subtly guided the meeting the propose a Council of the Faith, to be held in the Starry Sept, and to bring Septons from all over the Kingdoms, not just the Most Devout, to bring the Faith back to full accord.

The Council
Not one single member of the Most Devout missed the Council. The High and Starry Septons had assumed and prepared for large numbers, but even their preparations fell flat. The seating within the Starry Sept proved inadequate, crowds having to gather between aisles and at the back, the Sept crammed with those attending. Every Lord who followed the Seven had at least one septon from their lands attending. The Faith’s scholars, the Brothers and Sisters who poured over old texts to debate, write, and discuss the philosophy and theology of the Seven gathered in groups in the back, there to supply their expertise; wanted or not. It had perhaps been a mistake to open the crowd to those outside the Faith. Maesters of the Citadel were present, gathered around the Archmaester of Theology, resplendent in mask and rod. Most Great Lords had sent dignitaries, who were primarily simply to watch; but the eyes of the realm were on Lannisport in the year 430, a breath held to see if decades of conflict could finally be settled. Finally, Perceon Vance headed the royal delegation, together with Aerys Velaryon, the Queen’s last son. A studious young man, he was really the only member of the royal family who truly cared about the affair, and his presence lifted many tensions. With Aerys and his dragon there, the Council seemed truly official, and all the more real.

The Council began, on the first day, with the Starry and the High Septon taking the impromptu stage together. It had been unclear to begin with just how this Council had come about; as the two Septons spoke together, words of harmony and peace, a desire for compromise, the room simply exploded. Shouts immediately rose from the Septons present - not all were objections, however. Indeed, most were cheers, or cries of agreement, and that was a large weight of those leading the Council. There had always been that fear as to just how well this would go over, and the agreement was truly welcome.

There was still large scale, vocal, anger however, from both sides. Septa Megga of the Starry Sept, a nominal member of the Most Devout and a shrewd old woman, led the shouts of simony and corruption, along with Septon Jon of the High Sept of the Eyrie, a great, angry, bull of a man, determined to walk his own path without the influence of the Arryns. From the vestiges of those the High Septon found himself ashamed of, came mocking cries aimed to antagonise the Starry Septons. Septon Jaehaerys, an enormous, bloated, Septon from King’s Landing, a member of the Most Devout that the High Septon had never managed to find a way to rid himself of, spewed laughter from his wobbling chins. Septon Mors, from Sunspear, was a scornful man with hands covered in gold rings, scorned the stuffy reactionaries, as Dorne had ever been willing to be accept the new over the old. As the room grew more heated, sides turning on each other in their bubbling anger, it was Aerys Velaryon who calmed the crowds. Coming to the fore, the young Prince begged for peace while the septons debated, impressing upon those gathered what this could truly mean for the realm. Mollified, if not happy, the rebels slipped into sulking silence, entrenching themselves for the fights ahead.

The Seven Tenets of the Starry Schism were dealt with in the order they had been listed down all those years ago; the Starry and High Septons knew some would be harder dealt with than others, but they were prepared to find compromise, no matter how long it took.

Repentance is Paramount
The idea of Repentance had been a new one, brought forward by the Starry Schism. The scholars of the Faith took their opportunity to pounce then, and the initial two days of debate around it were dominated by those Brothers and Sisters, surprisingly fierce in their arguments of whether it was validated by the ''Seven-Pointed Star'' and initial Andal texts. Ultimately, it was an easy enough compromise; a tentative hope for the future of the Council. Within a matter of two days, a clear majority of the septons and septas present agreed to acknowledge Repentance as valid, but not compulsory. It was to be a service offered, and not seen as one forced in the name of piety.

The purpose of power is to aid the weak.
There were few who would truly have objected to the message that had been set out there, and those who did, were wise enough to keep their silence. It was, of course, to what extent that message was meant, for a dark shadow hung over those words. The idea of a true knight, of standing against temptation and falsehood, had been the personal crusade of Prince Maekar - backed in that by the Starry Faith. No one dared bring his name up openly, but it was whispered as a reminder; could Baelorians be trusted to uphold the belief? Eventually, it was an impassioned speech from the High Septon, promising that the words were close to his heart, and pointing to his own fight against corruption, that swayed those of the Starry Faith into accepting the Baelorians kept to the ideal. Built on that was an agreement to put more pressure upon the knights of the realm. If they were going to claim knighthood, then they must begin to truly hold to the oaths they swore to the Seven.

The greatest of these is the Father.
The idea that the Father was paramount, that any of the Seven were any different from the others, had always been a hard difference between the Faiths, and it near proved the Council’s unraveling. Sensing a weakness, the snide voice of Septon Jaehaerys rose again, mockingly questioning whether the Starry Septons understood exactly what ‘Seven who are one’ meant. Immediately, arguments broke out, as Jaehaerys had expected. Few were truly willing to budge on the issue, and the debates raged for three days straight. On the fourth, the Hand stopped the debates before they could begin, and welcomed the Archmaester of Theology to speak. The Archmaester spoke for five hours straight, laying out his arguments that the Seven Who Are One meant equality between the aspects. The Seven were, after all, One, and they had always be considered equal. Listing through the history, the precedents, the Archmaester welcomed objections and thoroughly tore them apart. By the end of his lecture, the Starry Sept was silent - objections were grumbled, but many of the Starry Septons had been swayed on the expertise of a man who had spent his long life studying the Faith in detail.

No man is incorruptible, no truth cannot be made to deceive.
The High Septon was faced with a personal test next; that ‘No man is incorruptible’ had been an attack levied directly at the High Septon, if not in outright terms, when it had first been decided upon. So, the High Septon halted any arguments by being the first to speak on the matter - and he accepted it. The High Septon was still a mortal man, and anyone mortal could fail. It was up to the Most Devout to ensure that such corruption did not take root, thereby ably shifting the blame entirely from his own position. If there had been disagreements there, those who would’ve voiced them knew how the High Septon would’ve used that as an excuse to continue purging those he himself deemed as corrupt.

Good works are the purpose and pride of Faith.
The ideals of good works was one that was surprisingly, readily, accepted by those present; with hindsight, it is easy to see where those beliefs would lead. Paired with the earlier discussions of ideal knighthood, the widespread, staunch belief in deeds, not words, would reflect on why the Faith Militant would be so readily accepted in the future. It seemed that many of the septons of the realm were already implicitly supporting the idea that they should once again be proactive in the defense of the innocent, of the Seven.

Incest is the greatest abomination.
Once more, another hard topic threatened to tear apart the Council. This one, however, the Hand, and the Starry and High Septons had been prepared for. The debate was allowed to start by them, but as it swiftly grew into anger, they set forth their weapon. Septon Bryce of Lannisport had already earned a name as being a man who not only understood the word of the law through and through, but was a pragmatic and charismatic man as well, a bright rising star in the Faith. He stepped up onto the stage to argue that yes, incest was wrong - but for Andals. An argument was made that Andals and Valyrians were intrinsically different and could not be held to the same standard. They were, as Bryce propositioned, a different race, and incest did not corrupt them. Paired with that was a subtle admonishment, that the Starry Faith had been willing to handwave off other good kings borne and descended from such incestuous relationships - as their dear Maekar had been as well. Few of the Starry Faith were happy to accept the argument; it was said that it was the only time that the Starry Septon showed anger throughout the proceedings, but after Septon Bryce’s words impressed an acceptable excuse for allowing it within the royal family, there was at least grudging tolerance in the name of peace, if nothing else. This was, however, paired with a fierce stand against incest in anyone else but the Targaryens once more, a distracting rallying cry for the Starry Faith to save face on.

There are no other Gods, save the Seven
With the rise of the Red God in Westeros, many of the Faith could consider themselves finally united on the final tenet of the Starry Faith. The issue of toleration of the Northeners and the Iron Islands was largely ignored; instead, attention was centered upon the R’hllorists. Whereas some small part of Perceon had hoped for peace, he had accepted to himself that some sacrifices were necessary for greater peace. The Old Gods and the Drowned God were declared to be tolerated, as they had proven themselves meek before the Seven; but greater effort would be placed upon sending missionaries into both the Isles and the North once more. R’hllorists, however, were declared the enemy. No R’hlorrist was to be accepted, and the Seven must work to save the souls of those who had been taken in by the Red Demons. While nothing was said outright, it was clear that there was anger at the Crown for that, for accepting R’hllor as they had - but at that point, there was little ability to publicly criticize it. The announcements did, however, end the Council on a surprisingly unified note. With a common enemy, and major critics silenced, the Faith could finally breathe.

The Conclusion
If some of the compromises were shaky and uncertain, they were at least made. The Council of the Faith would end in success; the Starry Septon publicly apologized to the High Septon, and formally ended any involvement between the Starry Sept and the Starry Faith. While malcontents on either side continued objections, the High Septon would use their rebellions as pretense to reassert his authority back over the Faith once more, strengthening the ultimate position of the High Septon.

The Faith would find itself more unified than ever before. With the common enemy of the R’hllorists, the septons had been reminded in the Council of what they had always stood for, when deeds were needed over words, when they did all they could to aid the poor. It was a militant mood, and for the first time in decades, talk of the Faith Militant arose once more.

The lecture from the Archmaester of Theology had reminded those present, especially the Brothers and Sisters of the Faith, that the Citadel was just as important as a center of learning as they themselves were; more so, in truth. It would mark the start of a heightened cooperation between the two great institutions, a tentative alliance that held a growing influence.

There was no small amount of fame garnered during the Council, either. Aerys Velaryon had shown himself to be deeply invested in the well-being of the realm as a whole, over purely his own family, and there was no small amount of admiration from those who had attended the Council for him. Septon Bryce of Lannisport had also shown himself to be an exceedingly intelligent man, capable and able to perfectly play the politics presented before him. His honeyed words and silver tongue, as well as his Lannister ties, swiftly earned him the epithet of ‘The Golden Septon’.