One thing I've got to say is the church totally played with kid gloves in this war and it bit us in the ass big time. No Auto De Fes and we only excommunicated one person. We could have done so much more damage if we'd played hardball. I think that serves to highlight what's gone wrong with SA.
The problem is we're afraid to be rabble rousers. We're afraid to send priests into lands where they're forbidden. We're afraid to sponsor pro SA rebellions. We think if we do that our priests will be persecuted and our temples burned. We're afraid to excommunicate people. We think if we do that all it means is fewer members. What we fail to realize is that' these are the things which make SA an exciting religion to be in. Some people want the chance to become martyrs or heretics. We shouldn't be afraid to lose characters in this way. If you can't get kicked out of SA then being a member has no meaning. If you can't become a martyr then there's nothing to aspire to. In the end we'll lose way more characters if we simply make the religion boring and bland because people will just plain leave.
The current situation could lead to an exciting age of fundamentalism. Now that the religion has more followers then ever it means more lords and rulers can't risk going against the church. SA players need to start checking their modern day sensibilities at the door and start getting medieval. We need more people to see Pagans and Heathens as their enemies and to see it as their duty to see Sanguis Astroism become the state religion. Priests will be killed, temples will be burned, astroist peasants will riot, duchies will secede, rebellions will be hatched. These are all good things for the game and for Sanguis Astroism.
And this is why we should all miss Allison Kabrinksi. That's right, Haters, Kabrinski was the best thing that ever happened to SA no matter how many people she pissed off. Those of us with vision knew that despite her (many) faults and the amount of trouble she caused, she was worth every moment of aggravation. Because she would do anything to expand the faith, she didn't need official help or sanction to do it, and in the end that meant that her actions could always be disavowed, even when they resulted in major gains for the Church.
Hell, for all intents and purposes, she provided the spark that set off the war between Caerwyn, Astrum and Averoth, which up until the current war was the most danger Astrum ever faced. Rowan eventually found out what she did, before his death, but he did nothing about it, said nothing about it. Because he knew how much she was needed, and how much the Church stood to gain if the war was successful, which in the end it was.
