Pope Ignatius

Ignatius Almdudler
[[file:|240px]]
Culture	{{{culture}}}
Religion	Pyrannism
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Ethnicity	Danúvian
Nationality	Holy Pyrannic Empire, Hollenberg
Title(s)	Pyrannic Pope Holy Pyrannic Emperor Steward of Hollenberg
Age	38
Birth	{{{birth}}}
Death	{{{death}}}
Player	thunderlar

Ignatius I. (born Ignaz Almdudler) was the pope of the Pyrannic church from 17 September 2025 untill his death on 19 December of the same year. He was the first pope from Hollenberg and the first and only person to be asked to become Pope, instead of becoming Pope through election. Ignatius I. was also the final emperor of the Holy Pyrannic Empire, he only had a short reign before the empire fell as a result of the May declaration. In Hollenberg, his home country, he was beloved. There he sponsored construction of churches, abbeys and a great expansion of Scneimunt city, which grew to be twice as big. His reputation, however was not so good elswhere, and after troubles with the Holy Laiannic Emperor, Junk Zabel, he was executed in Loire.

Life

Early Life

Ignaz Almdudler was born in his family's townhouse in Scneimunt city, which was in the old Pyrannic quarter of the city. Back then only a small minority of the population of the city practiced the Pyrannic faith, with most adhering to the Egjenist faith and the Enlightened Scetétian church. His upbringing was marked by the Revolutionist ideology, which governed Danouvia-Scneimunt at the time. When he was 14 he was sent to Smilets By, then the centre of Pyrannism in Hollenberg, where he began learning for a clerical profession.

He was described as being of a typical Hollenberger appearance, with pale skin, flush cheeks, fair hair and piercing blue eyes. He had a long and narrow face, a long and sharp nose and a pointy chin, which was exaggerated by Hollenberger caricaturists, in some of the few existing portaits that exist of him. He enjoyed riding immensely, a pleasure which was even encouraged by his teachers in Smilets By. Like all Hollenbergers he had a great passion for architecture, which he developed already in his childhood in Hollenberg. Upon a visit to his family in Scneimunt city, Ignatius was struck by the new buildings built by Josef Pičkovšek, to celebrate the return of the Grand Duke.

Upon completing his studies, he managed to meet the Grand Duke, who made him his own confessor. Thus Ignatius became one of the most influential men in the realm. Through his influence on the Grand Duke he became the De facto main priest of Hollenberg.

Politician in the Holy Pyrannic Empire

In January of 2025, Hollenberg entered talks with the Holy Pyrannic Empire about entering the great empire of the south. Ignatius Almdudler was the main Hollenberger representative and together with Josef Pičkovšek and the Grand Duke himself, managed to negotiate a very good position for Hollenberg within the Empire. He was the one, who suggested the name of the Kingdom of the Tauern, which was met with great enthusiasm by the Zabels. Upon the entry of Hollenberg within the Empire, Ignatius was named Archbishop of the Tauern, receiving spiritual authority not only over Hollenberg, but also Laia and Durnath.

Right after Hollenberger entry into the Empire, the Kebratsburg garrison, made up of solist Danúvians from Kaljista rose up in defiance to the Empire and Kingdom of the Tauern. Ignatius personally lead a siege against the better equiped and fortified foe. His forces suffered heavy losses, with the Kebratsburg garrison slaughtering many of the Hollenberger horses during a sortie. Nonetheless his actions proved instrumental in Kebratsburg and the wider Valverde region remaining a part of the Empire.

Ignatius was negatively surprised by the lack of piety and interest in faith by the populace of the Empire outside of Hollenberg. Churches were few and unimpressive, sermons were seldom held and the Pope, a northerner, was never seen in Loire. Seeing this, Ignatius founded his own party, the Alternative for Hollenberg, with the patronage of the Grand Duke of Hollenberg. The party should not be confused with Engelbert Feist's Tauernwehr, a political and paramilitary organisation which acted in Hollenberg around the same time.

With his party he entered the race for Chancellor of the Holy Pyrannic Empire, achieving second place, behind the more experienced and popular Aria Zabel. During his campaign, he became great friends with Fawn the Farmer, a fellow Pyrannic politician, with a deep hatred for the Zabels. Fawn's enmity of the Zabels also encouraged Ignatius to start viewing the Zabels in a more negative light.

Emperor of the Holy Pyrannic Empire

In April of 2025, upon the abdication of Emperor Boomy, Ignatius campaigned for the position. He promised a stronger emphasis on the Pyrannic faith and the development of culture, specifically architecture. He was the only Pyrannist running for emperor, a fact which greatly worried him, but he managed to use it to his advantage and so he won the Imperial elections with a landslide.

Upon entering Loire, he was given the Seret castle as his residence, which he found outdated, lacking repair and not fit for the Emperor of the largest state in the world. The portion of ecclesiastical architecture in the city was also far too low his views and so he began drafting plans for a new Imperial residence as well as a grand, Loire cathedral, which would have been the largest Pyrannic place of worship at the time.

During his reign Aria Zabel ended her term as Chancellor, she did not intend to run again. Ignatius attempted to take this time to consolidate the power of the Empire and reform the state apparatus, however his reforms were not finalised and a proclamation from Aria Zabel, the princess of Ashenstrand and Karl Friedrich Hohenburg, the empire's largest and most important nobles, declared that the empire must be split and its states made independent, they demanded Ignatius' abdication. Ignatius was furious, but was ultimately powerless as the coalition of the nobles bribed the entirety of the state against him. The Empire fell and while most new states like Loire, Durnath and Ashenstrand rejoiced, Hollenberg fell into mourn and a period of conflict.

Stewardship of Hollenberg and prosperity

The fall of the Holy Pyrannic Empire brought about a period of trouble and chaos to Hollenberg. The region of Valverde declared independence from Hollenberg, the dwarves were moving to claim the long disputed southern territories and the Grand Duke was executed by revolutionists, taking inspiration from the short-lived revolutionist renaissance in Mistensia. Ignaz Almdudler managed to remain popular with the people and so avoided the violent fate of Stefan II. However all was not yet well, in early July the Valverdan government, seeking to get rid of revolutionists launched an attack on Hollenberg, culminating in the battle of Alfama. The Hollenbergers fought bravely and defiantly against their foe but were in the end defeated, again with many horses being slaughtered. Ignatius switfly entered negotiations with Antonio Asztalos, the Valverdan commandante. The great diplomats managed to reach a brilliant solution to the conflict by establishing the Tauernbund, a regional allience, which later brought together almost all southern nations.

After the war with Valverde, Ignatius was back in Scneimunt city, where the populace was much more inclined to his architectural and urbanistic visions. Ignatius brought about a new golden age for the city, surpassing even the city in Hollenberg's golden age. The city was greatly expanded, new squares, new palaces (including Ignatius' palace, an architectural masterpiece) and most importantly a reconstruction of the old church of the Toic acolytes as well as three opulent and majestic churches, including the Scneimunt cathdral, arguably the largest Pyrannic place of worship. Ignatius was beloved by all people within Hollenberg.

Papacy and later life

After the death of the very contreversial Pope Hohenburg, the Pyrannic community, seeking stabilty, almost instantly offered the position to Ignatius. Such an act was unheard of, as a pope was usually elected by all Pyrannists, however all those who remained faithful wished for Ignatius to become to Pope. Ignatius was hesitant, he had run for pope before, but the church was in a predicament so fierce, he was afraid he would not be able to save the religion. The faith had lost popularity and it's image tarnished by the former Pope Hohenburg, against whom Ignatius had fought for long.

Despite his being sickly for most of his pontificate, Ignatius attempted to bring back the church's prestige and make it more active. He named Sirio of Alenos as high interpreter, ending the long period without one. Silvio's annointment was also marked by a great pilgrimage and sermon at the abbey of Alenos, the first Pyrannic ceremony to happen in the far west. Throughout his papacy Ignatius remained convinced that building churches would greatly enhance pyrannism's prestige, bringing in more players. To support Pyrannists and their architectural projects, he created the Pyrannic fund, where donations and even labour help could be offered by those and for those who requested it.

In November of 2025, Ignatius' home country of Hollenberg was taken over by Egjenist radicals, who cruelly repressed Pyrannism. Ignatius who could not see his countrymen and fellow believers suffer, declared a crusade against the Egjenist government. He hoped the crusade would unite Pyrannists against a common enemy and bring back activity to the church, however it was not so. Despite being a resounding success in the field of battle and Hollenberg getting liberated, foreigners viewed Ignatius' gallant deed as an aggressive action which further ruined the reputation of the church.

The Pope soon came into conflict with the King of Loire, who was known to be in full support of secularisation and even wanted to seize Papal property on Mont Loire. Ignatius became more and more ill because of these quarrels, the King even challenged the pope's infallibility and through grave threats, forced him to appear in front of a court in Ashenheim. In December, the pope decided to retire back to his home country, due to a serious illness. The pope was bedridden for a week, and during this time, without his knowledge a crusade had been launched in his name against the former King, now Emperor Junk Zabel, who had created his own heresy called Laiannism.

Once the pope was able to move around, he went to his beloved abbey in Smilets By. There he spent only 3 days before Imperial soldiers violently barged into his chambers, killing some of his servants and kidnapping the Pope. Ignatius was brought to Loire, where he was told he was to be executed, without a trial. On December 19th Ignatius was brought to a guillotine near the northern gatehouse of the abbey and executed. Many spectators cried and protested his executions, but there pleas were ignored. After his death many spectators collected drops of his blood and pieces of his flesh, to keep as reliquiaries. His body remains in Loire, despite his wishes to be burried in Smilets by.

Legacy

Ignatius was a very contreversial figure, with some proclaiming him to be a great hero of good intent and of a kind heart, while others claim that he was an incompetent administrator who continued the downward spiral of Pyrannism.

His friendship with Fawn the farmer, lead to many articles in Fawn's newspaper the Truth™, containing articles and interviews with Ignatius. Fawn the farmer was grealty distressed after Ignatius death, some say that Ignatius gave them his armour as a token of their friendship.

Ignatius is still remembered in Hollenberg as a hero, who saved the country from Kawarik Vian's terrorist regime. Many places are named in honour of him and a statue stands on the properly named Ignatiusmarkt in front of Ignatius' city palace in Scneimunt city.