The Lightbringers

With the church of Pelor and rising to prominence in many realms, certain members found that they sometimes needed to deal with (potential) enemies in a swift and harsh manner. On a dark and stormy night, a group of high-ranking priests of Pelor met in a small shrine to a now dead god, far away from prying eyes. Thus were the Lightbringers founded. The sometimes brutal arm of an otherwise peaceful clergy.

Over the years, the Lightbringers became more and more brutal and autonomous, and eventually, the church of Pelor no longer felt it could be closely associated with the Lightbringers, and all the members were excommunicated by the Grand Pope.

However that hardly seemed to bother the Lightbringers. They quickly reformed with their White Captains becoming White Generals. Staying in the shadows, they kept dispensing the divine justice of Pelor as they saw fit.

And that is how things are today. Officially the church no longer has any ties at all to the Lightbringers, but many doubt that to be true. Pelors' chosen often turn the other cheek if insulted or attacked, only for the attacker to run into the Lightbringers and experience their special brand of justice, which often involves their radiant spears.

The Church of Pelor

Pelor.. also known as the All-Father, The Creator, Father Sun and a host of other names, is the de facto god for the common man all over Macera. Every human (and most non-evil, non-human) city, town and hamlet has at least either a temple or shrine dedicated to Pelor. 

With such a widespreadness comes influence and power. The Church of Pelor is perhaps the single most influential organization on Macera, spanning countries, empires and even continents. In the most civilized regions, Pelor's priests function as judges, executioners, lawyers, city administrators, advisers to nobility and many other things. In short, they are the gears that make the civilized run more or less smoothly. However, the fact that Pelor covers so many portfolios also ensures that the church is rarely completely unified. There are many smaller fractions within, and while the Grand Pope technically rules them all, the fact is that most churches of Pelor are more influenced by whoever runs that particular church than by what design the current Grand Pope has. Also, while Pelor is rightly considered a good god, far from all his clerics and worshipers are. While evil clerics of Pelor are extremely rare, neutral ones are quite common.

Portfolios: Justice, honor, protection, arts, civilization, skill, creation, sun, agriculture, summer and humans.