Great Metropolis of the Fourth Rome
Introduction
The temporal seat of power of the Orthodox Church within the Nexus, presided over by Seraph Ivanna, who controls every aspect of the state. The state religion is enforced by law, although there are several largely autonomous Jewish ghettos peppered throughout the district. It matters little to the Seraph, as long as all who dwell within the district follow the proper rites to serve Him. Everyone who lives within her borders goes to church with zealous joy, enamored with the divine charisma of the Seraph. Non-believers are tolerated, but most quickly choose to convert after staying within the district for any appreciable amount of time.
Geography
The Fourth Rome is huge, the largest district in the Nexus, controlling all western land north of the Divide. With such a vast amount of territory comes great diversity-lush, fertile valleys, tall mountains, large rivers, and dense forests-The forth successor to Rome has it all. There are three great cities within the district, all along the densely populated coastal region, with a forth relatively smaller one dominating northern politics. The outer reaches of the north are more rural and sparse than anything one might find in the south. The border along Elizabeth’s Domain is heavily fortified and patrolled by armed guards to prevent intermingling with such a filthy culture.
Culture
Nearly everybody is a fervent believer to the point that outsiders are often put off by their zeal. Most people do their absolute best to follow the creed of the church, living their lives in service to Ivanna and her God. They aspire to serve her faithfully and well, acting as her eyes and ears in order to root out dissent and maintain the stability of the church. Festivals are common, alcohol flows freely, and miracles are an expected occurrence. When someone is injured, they are taken to a church, not a doctor. When accused of a crime, the priest presides over the trial, not a judge or jury. Religion is omnipresent, even to the point of the sexualization of their Seraph. Those closer to her form are viewed as the most attractive by the populace as a whole, with some even resorting to magic to maintain their youthful appearances well into adulthood.
The population of the district skews younger than average due to the cultural pressures of faith, and the desire of their ruler to see her people grow in number until they can wash over the Nexus like a great holy horde. Petite women are the preferred standard of beauty which all of them aspire to, and as a result, they attract many of the Nexus’ few halflings and gnomes, and even some elves. All races are tolerated and even encouraged to convert, so long as they follow the holy word of Ivanna. Most basic education is faith-based, with the average citizen receiving their elementary learning from members of the clergy in small church-based school houses.
Government
The ultimate authority in Little Russia is God. In the absence of the Metatron’s word, Ivanna serves as a close second, an angelic representative of the Lord. She is the executive, judiciary, and legislative branch of the government all unto herself. All laws are her laws, and so all laws are His. In the absence of all other evidence it is Ivanna who tells the people what is right and what is wrong. However, as much as she would prefer otherwise she cannot be everywhere and manage everything, and so the prophet has constructed beneath her pyramidal ecclesiastic hierarchy of functionaries to ensure that holy law is enacted.
Below Ivanna is her second in command, the Patriarch, who manages the day to day administrative needs of the district at its highest level from the central church of Little Russia, and serves as her herald in the event that greater duties occupy her attention. Beneath the Patriarch are a council of Archbishops who divide the district into six sub-districts, from whom an array of bishops take their marching orders and pass them down to local priests and priestesses who monitor the faith and wellbeing of their congregations. There is no secular branch of government separate from the clergy, but there are a multitude of lay officials who act as their support staff. Monasticism is discouraged, with Ivanna preferring for the clergy to interact with regular society and improve it than to hole themselves up in a church and pray all day.
The government controls the majority of important industries directly. While the clergy do not hold positions within these industries themselves, the lay people to whom this responsibility has been delegated answer to them and ultimately to the judgement of the Patriarch. Infrastructure, resource extraction, and the military-industrial complex are all beholden to national interest. Independent business finds its niche in more creative industries, but rarely do they penetrate the market to the point of saturation before the government stops in to assume control “for the sake of the people.” Everyone is expected to adjust their priorities immediately in the event of a divine edict from the prophet Ivanna.
The Sisterhood of Saint Andrew
The Sisterhood of Saint Andrew is an elite military arm of the Holy Orthodox Church. It is entirely composed of nuns personally selected by the Seraph herself to serve as her bodyguard unit. Sworn to serve God, Jesus, and Ivanna herself, they are fanatically loyal to the point of insanity, willing to go to absolutely any lengths to complete their tasks.
Each one of them is a powerful combatant, either capable of using powerful holy magic, holding great physical strength, incredible skill, excelling at stealth or other special talents. All of them receive blessings from Ivanna. They train in squads, taught to support each other and cover up the other’s weaknesses. Each squad contains between three and ten nuns. A full squad is generally dangerous even to the stronger player characters.
Blessed
This person has undergone the grueling trial of purification and come out alive. They are incapable of being swayed against their cause, even by the strongest of mental effects, regardless of their willpower rank. Each and every blessed is utterly unflappable. They are incapable of committing sin on a truly basic level. And, as Ivanna is without sin herself, any order she gives is right and just by definition.
In addition to their incredible strength of wills, a blessed person has been enhanced far beyond their mortal limits. Aging ceases, although a blessed will eventually die of old age, and any stat below incredible is increased up to incredible, and any stat at incredible or above is increased by one rank up to heroic. Further strengthening beyond that would rupture their mortal bodies and instantly slay them.
Furthermore, each of the blessed is able to channel a tiny fraction of Ivanna’s power. By singing an incantation, they are able to create a singular miracle unique to them. With training and prayer, one can develop this technique further.
Name: Ivanna, Protector of all Rus
Race: Seraphim
Age: 13.8 billion years
Height: 120 cm
Weight: as light as a cloud
Appearance: 
AttributesStrength: Fantastic
Agility: Fantastic
Durability: Fantastic
Willpower: Shounen Determinator
Magic: None
Supernatural Resistance: Extremely High
Due to the weight of her immense divinity, all non-damaging supernatural effects instantly falter and fail in face of her might. Additionally, all effects based in the teachings of God automatically fail, as well as those with any holy or fire-based effects.
Other Abilities: SeraphimIvanna is an angel of the first order, a Seraphim: one whom burns. She is an attendant of God himself, created at the dawn of time in order to effectuate his will. She hears and receives all prayers to him, passing them onto God by acting as a conduit between the Nexus and Heaven. Were this connection between the two realms to be severed, all miracles from God would cease working until it were restored. Currently, her powers are diminished as a result of her weak connection with the upper realms. Were she able to find a way to strengthen it, her powers would be proportionally enhanced. Furthermore, she sees things as they truly are, seeing through any illusion and seeing past most forms of deception.
AngelHer angelic form is too great for most mortal minds to comprehend. The average person would burst into flames and instantly be reduced to nothing were they to see her unguarded form. Only those mortals with exceptional minds are able to resist this effect-however, they are not immune. These flames deal persistent damage at the incredible rank. If she covers herself up with her wings, the fires go out instantly. Only other angels and those with truly exceptional wills(Zen+) are capable of perceiving her with no ill effects.
WingsSeraphim have six wings-two to cover their faces, two to cover their bodies, and two to fly. Each of these wings is 2 meters long and are coated in a perpetual shroud of cleansing fire. Each wing is a manifestation of her divine power and has
durability at the
legendary rank.
Celestial FireSeraphim have dominion over the element of fire. Ivanna can control any source of fire within 100 meters that doesn’t have a will behind it. She can snuff them out instantly, make them grow to immense sizes, and make them lash out at her enemies. Fires under her control gain the holy element, and no fire will ever dare to harm her body, flinching away from striking her. Ivanna’s fire does not burn those who are pure of heart and free from sin. Her fires burn at incredible, and can be condensed even further to burn at fantastic damage.
However, Ivanna can go even further beyond and create a cleansing sword of holy flame named παυειν. It is a three meter greatsword made of solid flame. It purifies the wicked and unclean, burning hot enough to instantly melt most metals and
can cut most things up to legendary durability. Her fire is a deadly weapon, but it is also a powerful tool of healing. By coating an affected object with faint white-hot fire, she can purify it-of damage, of uncleanliness, and of sin. It burns the offending concept away with divine fury, only ceasing once it is done. However, the target suffers indescribable pain while being purified, proportional to the degree of uncleanliness that is being excised from its being. Weaker willed creatures may even die from the shock of the pain. As a result of a divine commandment, she is only capable of using this on a willing target. Somebody who does not wish to repent can only face death.
Ivanna is capable of granting them something more. To those that are willing, and are capable of surviving the full brunt of her purifying flames can receive something more. Once purified, they are incapable of sin, servants who have transcended their human limitations and received her blessing. They gain strength beyond what humans are normally capable of, and are able to channel a small fraction of her blessing in order to accomplish supernatural feats bordering on the miraculous.
ChoirA seraph’s most powerful tool is their voice. Their songs are beautiful without comparison and evoke miracles. Her songs of the lord are uttered in the tongue of angels, incomprehensible to the mortal mind.. When she sings, it sounds as if a full angelic chorus is singing alongside her..
Using the power of her voice, she can create miracles. The more powerful and wide-reaching the effect, the longer Ivanna must sing. Creating wine out of water is a simple affair requiring but a single word, while ending a drought might take a full psalm. All miracles rely upon the prayers that mortals offer up to heaven in order to create their effects. Her ability to grant miracles is also enhanced by the act of prayer-the more who are actively praying to her, the greater the effects she can enforce upon the Nexus.
Currently, the greatest effect she can create with the energy she has would be to do something on the scale of ending a drought or to modify an area equaling about the size of a neighborhood within her district. Choir cannot replicate effects that directly contravene God's own commands or promises as recorded in scripture. Furthermore, it cannot be used to kill.
Heavenly CharismaIvanna’s voice is heavenly and enticing. Soft and sweet, but commanding and powerful at the same time. She has a supernatural charisma that makes her words seem honeyed and true, inviting faith in her lord to all whom hear her. This is not a mental compulsion that forces people to obey her, merely making her words seem more reasonable than they may truly be.
Divine KnowledgeIvanna has knowledge of deep secrets from before the dawn of time. Her full knowledge is everything that has ever and will ever exist within the universe, except that which He chooses to hide from her. However, this does not extend beyond it to the Nexus. In the Nexus, her divine powers in this case have failed her. She only knows that which those who offer prayers up to heaven know and that which she experiences with her own eyes, as well as anything that can exist in her universe.
AvatarUltimately, Ivanna is immortal. Only a few rare and powerful weapons are capable of permanently bringing her the embrace of annihilation. Her body will heal to full strength after a fight unless one found a way to truly injure her spirit. Were her body to be completely annihilated, she would be banished back to heaven. It would take her a few days before she was able to recreate her body here, which could easily prove fatal to the immense district she has worked for a century to create. Miracles would fail to work, their leadership would be headless, and faith would be meaningless.
Assets: As the guardian angel of every citizen of Little Russia, Ivanna owns everything her people do through their oaths to serve her and the lord. In times of need, every citizen of Russia can be made a soldier, fodder for the continued existence of the flock she has created within the Nexus. Every man, woman, and child is one of those she is sworn to protect, and they in turn are sworn to serve.
In addition, Ivanna has created many holy relics imbued with immense divine power. She gives these out to her most pious servants, arming them with the faith of the cross in order to fell the enemies of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Weakness: Those who cannot see will not be burned by her visage.
Intimacies: Greater Tie:Yaweh(My Lord, My Creator, My Everything)
Lesser Tie: The Angelic Court(Familial Affection)
Lesser Tie: Humanity (Affection and sympathy for their original sin)
Lesser Tie: Rus (His charge to her)
Lesser Tie:Singing with her subjects (It’s totally fine, don’t worry about it)
Lesser Tie: Games (Guilty Pleasure)
Lesser Cause: I must fulfill my duty(Whatever it may be at the time)
Lesser Cause: To reestablish her connection with Him
Lesser Cause: To gain knowledge of all things
Lesser Phobia: The unknown (fear)
Lesser Phobia: Solitude (Hatred)
