Zinae'Vorash, or in full the Imperial Drow Unity Church of Vorash, was the centralized state clergy of Zann'Elth. It adhered to the dogma of Vorash and was controlled by the notorious Holy Matron Zinafae.

Dogma

Zinae'Vorash's teachings roughly coincided with those of its Zannyr predecessors, though it was more accepting of non-drow (within its lower ranks) and had somewhat more modern views.

The much greater difference between Zinae'Vorash and other Zannyr faiths of Vorash was its form: how the church was structured, which ultimately helped bring about its great success and popularity (as it both assimilated many other churches, and its followers were exceptionally devoted and believed in both the faith's tenets and its representatives, especially the holy matron).

History

Under the rule of Tyrana Zinafae, Zann'Elth was greatly centralized. Various religions were tolerated (since 116, any church adhering to the Word of Lolth could be recognized by the Tyranaen and exert the full powers of the Zannyr church (including training priestesses) within assigned region(s)), but the Unity Church - with hefty central sponsorship - had grown in power. Zinafae herself became High Cardiness of Unity in 144 and proceeded to build up her reputation as a great holy woman who had Vorash's ear while expanding the reach of Unity, notably by setting up shop in new cities or incorporating smaller churches. In 162, in a great blessed ceremony, Zinae'Vorash was officially founded.

Structure

At its core, Zinae'Vorash was structured in a federal-imperial way (like the Zannyr Empire itself, and unlike its predecessor). Its core leadership consisted of the most enlightened and able drow women of the entire empire, headed by the holy matron, a woman with a direct link to Vorash who spoke with the authority of a goddess and yet preferred to govern from the shadows, using her subordinate priestesses as mouthpieces - this was none other than the legendary Zinafae. The "brood" of the holy matron was initially located in a secluded cave complex in the Zinaemyr, and afterwards relocated to a sprawling complex below Zinaepolis, the new imperial capital.

The church was subdivided into administratively autonomous regions, each of which was governed by its own coven of carinesses and led by a high cardiness. High cardinesses were appointed by the holy mother, and had to accomplish lengthy training, including years of seminar at the Cloister of Spiders and within the holy matron's brood. Thus the loyalty of the high carindesses to their holy leader before all else was guaranteed. The subdivision was made to accomodate the great differences within the empire at large, in the practice of Vorash's faith itself, and due to plain considerations of physical distance and the difficulty of transport and communication.

The covens were all similar and extremely complicated. There were several bodies which constituted the core coven, each with their own spheres of authority which often overlapped; committees were mixed in, forming an intricate web. Cardinesses often sat on several bodies at once, or, depending on their favor, were only allowed to observe from the sidelines.

Within a region, the church was often, but not always, structured in a similar way, and adhered to similar rituals and curricula. There were notable regional differences, most notoriously in the Exposed Subservient Region (encompassing former Gezneth's imprint) which had very unique rituals which would not be tolerated and seen as improper or even blasphemous outside the region, and whose top governing body was not a single woman, but a group of eight "seeing mothers" which appointed an "ear of the prophetess" from among their number when needed (called Elevate High Cardiness by outsiders); the "maid of the prophetess", wholly separate from the seeing mothers, also held great sway.