Not to be confused with the alternate, non-canonical Vodacce Inquisition!
Of course the canonical Castillian-based Inquisition has agents in Vodacce. They have agents everywhere, and Vodacce is even another Vaticine nation. Its priests and bishops cannot simply expect to defy the authority of Cardinal Verdugo.
On the other hand, the Princes don't care for their meddling, and the Princes are much more subtle than Verdugo's new crop of Knight Inquisitors and Defenders of the Faith. If the Inquisition doesn't take measures beyond what it needs at home, it will find its agents hamstrung or dead, with no one obvious to blame for it.
The Vodacce don't like the Inquisition. They have their own agendas, for one thing, which can conflict with the Princes and the "Vodacce Five," the cardinals of Vodacce. Moreover, those agendas are nearly incorruptible, especially since Cardinal Verdugo's rise to power. His Inquisitors are not men who can be reasoned with, nor intimidated, nor tempted - they're fanatics, plain and simple. Beyond that, the Inquisition is a living reminder of the loss the Vodacce Church suffered at the hands of the Third Prophet - the seat of the church and the power of the Hierophant taken from Numa and moved to Castille. The Inquisition was also his invention, and the Vodacce tend to remember the one when they see the other.
Unfortunately, the Holy Order of the Inquisition is an official and important order of the Vaticine Church. Princes and cardinals might get away with defying Verdugo's orders, but lowly parish priests or the poorer bishops cannot. They might try an appeal to their superiors, but this too can backfire in the Great Game.
Who They Are
And of course, the Inquisition does not commonly show its face. Any priest could have a robe and hood somewhere under his bed. There could be the following Inquisitors in Vodacce:
- Visiting Castillian priests in large groups are always suspected.
- Individual visiting priests of any nation could be spies, but in Vodacce, most visitors could be spies, so this is par for the course.
- There could be one or several Knight Inquisitors living in Vodacce. These would be local, native priests or even bishops.
- Priests with strong and outspoken anti-sorcery views are often suspected of being footsoldiers for the Inquisition.
The footsoldiers, what ones there are, are probably acting out of moral conviction. The traditional role of the Inquisition was to root out sorcery and heresy. In Vodacce, the Vaticine injunction against sorcery is often quietly overlooked. Those who feel that this is deeply wrong may turn to the Inquisition to find satisfaction.
The Knight Inquisitors may be acting from moral convictions or - because this is Vodacce, after all - from the expectation of gain. Vodacce is a hard row to hoe for the Inquisition, and a Knight Inquisitor who did a good job could expect significant reward from Grand High Inquisitor Verdugo.
What They Do
Any Inquisition action in Vodacce had better be swift, decisive, and effective. There will be no second chances. There will often be no second missions - once the Inquisition has shown its face in one area, a prince will take great trouble to make sure it doesn't come back any time soon. The mission had better be worth sacrificing whatever other gains the Inquisition has made in the area.
Collecting a scientist who Verdugo has personally singled out for exceptional heresy would be worth it; destroying a large collection of heretical Syrneth artifacts might be worth it; stopping an especially powerful or dangerous strega or pursuing a solid lead on Legion worshippers would be worth it.
The Inquisition and the Princes
Bernoulli and Vestini are both very devout Vaticines; the Inquisition tries to appeal to their religion to allow them a better foothold in Vodacce.
Falisci has a brother who is a cardinal, but this has not made him particularly agreeable toward other high-ranking members of the church. Maybe when Cardinal Verdugo has something that Cardinal Durand del Falisci wants, they'll talk more...
Villanova is sponsoring some (in Verdugo's eyes) very heretical science at Dionna University. The Inquisition has a strong interest there, tempered only somewhat by Villanova's rabid defense of his prerogatives.
Caligari's continual tampering with Artifacts Man Was Not Meant to Know has also attracted Inquisition attention. Inquisitors more concerned with sorcery than science are also disturbed by the stories circulating about his niece Beatrice Caligari.
Lucani and Mondavi do not interest the Inquisition overmuch. Neither gives any sign of being a potential ally, and neither appears to be an overt threat to the faith. Efforts are better concentrated on more promising avenues.
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