When the Kharsetian Empire fragmented, every institution that derived authority from the Imperial throne faced the same crisis — the throne no longer meant anything beyond the borders of whoever currently claimed it. Imperial governors, military commanders, and noble houses all scrambled to attach themselves to one of the successor states or carve out independent territory.
The Custodians did neither.
A convocation of senior Custodians and Recorders met at the largest surviving All-Holy cathedral — traditionally held to be wherever the oldest continuous Ledger of Invocations resides — and reached a conclusion that was simultaneously obvious and radical: the Faith of All-Holy had never derived its authority from the Empire. The Empire had used it. The Empire had funded it. But the consecration of an All-Holy site was older than any Imperial charter, and the Neutrality Covenant predated the Empire's expansion onto the continent entirely.
The Omnis Sanctus declared itself independent of all successor states simultaneously. It claimed no territory. It sought no lords. It answered to no crown — not the Kharsetian east, not the Kharavelian west, not the native kingdoms, not the independent successor lords. Its jurisdiction was the threshold sigil and nothing beyond it.
The Convocation The governing body of the Omnis Sanctus — a rotating council of senior Custodians drawn from across the continent. Notably, the Convocation has no permanent seat. It meets at a different All-Holy site each time, rotating through regions to prevent any single location from accruing political significance as a de facto capital. This also means no single successor state can claim the Convocation meets within its borders permanently.
Decisions require consensus rather than majority vote — a deliberate design choice that makes the Omnis Sanctus slow to act but nearly impossible to fracture along factional lines.
The Grand Custodian A ceremonial rather than executive role — the Grand Custodian presides over Convocation meetings, serves as the public face of the Omnis Sanctus in diplomatic contexts, and has the singular authority to formally recognize or strip recognition from an All-Holy site. The position rotates on a seven-year term and cannot be held twice by the same person.
The Custodians Unchanged from the original Faith structure — site maintainers, theologically non-preferential, bound by oath to the Neutrality Covenant. Their loyalty is now explicitly to the Omnis Sanctus rather than to any local authority.
The Recorders Now serving an expanded function beyond religious record-keeping. Because the Ledgers of Invocations are the only continuous historical records surviving in many frontier settlements — recording not just worship but visitors, transactions conducted on neutral ground, disputes arbitrated, and notable events — the Recorders have become the closest thing to an independent historical institution on the continent. Both successor empires want influence over them. The Omnis Sanctus guards their independence fiercely.
The Sanctifier Corps The Itinerant Sanctifiers have been formally organized into a continent-wide corps. They travel established routes between settlements, renewing consecrations, delivering Convocation decisions, carrying correspondence between sites, and serving as the nervous system of the organization. They are recognizable by a specific travelling habit and carry documents of safe passage issued by the Omnis Sanctus — documents that most parties honor because antagonizing the Omnis Sanctus means losing access to the only neutral ground in their territory.
The Arbiters A newer role that emerged post-fragmentation. When the Neutrality Covenant made All-Holy sites the default location for sensitive negotiations between hostile parties, the need arose for trained neutral mediators who understood both the theological framework and the political landscape. Arbiters are drawn from former Custodians with demonstrated diplomatic aptitude and deployed specifically for high-stakes negotiations on Omnis Sanctus ground. Both Kharsetian and Kharavelian successor states have used Arbiter-mediated negotiations — and resent each other for doing so.
Without Imperial tithes, the Omnis Sanctus funds itself through several mechanisms:
The Offering Levy A small percentage of all offerings made at All-Holy sites flows to the Omnis Sanctus through the local Custodian. Not a tax — framed as a contribution to the maintenance of the broader covenant. Most worshippers pay it without complaint because the alternative is losing the site.
Arbitration Fees Parties who use All-Holy sites for formal negotiations pay the Omnis Sanctus for the service. This has become a significant revenue stream as post-Imperial political fragmentation has generated constant need for neutral negotiation ground.
The Ledger Access Fee Parties seeking access to historical Ledger records — which have become legally and politically significant documents — pay a fee to the Recorders. This is controversial but the Omnis Sanctus argues that maintaining the records costs resources that must come from somewhere.
Voluntary Patronage Independent lords, native chieftains, and settlement councils who benefit from having an All-Holy site in their territory sometimes provide direct patronage — funding repairs, providing building materials, or offering hospitality to Custodians — in exchange for goodwill and the implicit status of having a functioning Omnis Sanctus presence.
The Omnis Sanctus walks a permanent tightrope.
Relationship with Kharsetian Empire (East) The eastern successor state has the strongest historical claim to Imperial legitimacy and therefore the strongest incentive to absorb the Omnis Sanctus back into state structures. Kharsetian nobles and clergy periodically argue that the Omnis Sanctus is a Kharsetian institution that has gone rogue. The Omnis Sanctus responds by pointing to the Ledgers — which predate the Empire's arrival on the continent — and noting that the covenant belongs to no crown. The relationship is formally correct and practically tense.
Relationship with Kharavelian Empire (West) The western successor state is more recently formed and more pragmatic about the Omnis Sanctus's independence — largely because Kharavelian territory contains a significant number of All-Holy sites in regions with strong native populations, and the Omnis Sanctus's neutrality is the only reason those populations tolerate the sites at all. Kharavelian policy is to maintain working relations with the Omnis Sanctus while quietly attempting to place sympathetic individuals in Custodian posts.
Relationship with Native Factions Complicated and variable. Some native rulers have formally recognized the Omnis Sanctus as an independent institution and extended protections to Custodians in their territory. Others regard it as an Imperial remnant regardless of its declared independence. The Omnis Sanctus has made deliberate efforts to include native theological traditions within the All-Holy covenant — inviting native religious practitioners to register their deities in the Ledgers and formally extending the covenant to native sacred practices — with mixed success.
Relationship with Independent Successor Lords Former Imperial nobles and commanders who have declared independence from both successor empires tend to be the Omnis Sanctus's most pragmatic partners. They need neutral ground for their own political maneuvering, they lack the bureaucratic infrastructure to challenge the Omnis Sanctus's institutional authority, and they benefit from the Neutrality Covenant as a check on rivals. Several have become significant patrons.
The Expansion Debate A faction within the Convocation argues the Omnis Sanctus should actively expand — consecrating new sites, building new churches, growing its physical presence across the continent. The opposing faction argues that expansion requires resources and alliances that will inevitably compromise independence. The debate has no resolution and recurs at every Convocation.
The Political Neutrality Question When a successor state commits an atrocity in a settlement containing an All-Holy site — can the Omnis Sanctus remain silent? The Neutrality Covenant governs what happens within the threshold. It says nothing about what happens outside it. A minority faction argues the Omnis Sanctus has a moral obligation to speak. The majority holds that the moment the Omnis Sanctus takes political positions it becomes a political actor and loses its neutrality — and with it the only thing that makes it useful to everyone.
The Recorder Independence Movement Some Recorders have begun arguing that the historical record function should be formally separated from the religious function — that the Ledgers are too important to be under the same institutional roof as a faith organization. This would effectively split the Omnis Sanctus in two. The Convocation has not formally addressed this yet.
To ordinary people across the continent, the Omnis Sanctus is primarily known through its sites and its Custodians. Most frontier settlers could not explain the organizational structure but know three things:
The threshold sigil means neutral ground
The Custodian will not take sides
Leaving a stone on the threshold when you depart is the right thing to do
That combination of practical utility and theological openness is the Omnis Sanctus's most durable asset — and the reason it has survived the Empire that created it.