The Cardinal is the divine representative, herald and arbiter with a range of commands potentially affecting all facets of civic government. The myrmidons support this role. All holy locations, regardless of deity, fall under the domain of the Cardinal and - most important - the divine globe of the city is both base and basis of the Cardinal's power.
In days of old there were most excellent Cardinals but the role was always toothless alongside Prince or Baron/Minister having not much practical power except as a mouthpiece for the Gods (who wants to be a mere proxy?) plus PRIVS equivalent to a high stature citizen. In the paradigm city-state the Cardinal should be at least de jure above Prime Minister and, if strident, given the potential powers unique to Cardinal, de factor equal stature with the Prince; Cardinal as the supreme moral, religious and legal authority wielding the mandate of the Gods and the people, Prince as the supreme civil, military and noble leader with the mandate of the Crown and the aristocracy.
NOTE: since the inclusion of the Cardinal 'with teeth' is a relatively recent addition, the unique powers have yet to be made manifest. Testing in the land - isolated run-through, observation, completion of unfinished commands, a handful of design decisions - playing out the pro-active Cardinal in real Avalon conditions: this need to happen to bring the role out of the wings and into the centrestage position the 'high priest of a city and its peoples' ought by definition to occupy.
CARDINAL POWERS: the HOLY and TEMPLE commands
Cardinals have all the privileges and powers of a multi-ministerial noble (advised not to abuse or exploit these freedoms) but primarily he or she wields a pair of unique-to-Cardinal commands.
The first is HOLY and covers the actual religious powers and privileges available to Cardinal and the temple myrmidons.
The second is TEMPLE. Think of the temple myrmidons (citizens of the city) as a cross-deity religious order and TEMPLE the command to define, control and manage this powerful fraternity - who belongs, who is excluded, who is able to access thish or that power/priv, which duties apply and what criteria required, etc.
Cardinal rank is gained through divine mandate and is the only high office not vulnerable to popular opinion, vote or citizen bestow, removal and support. This is a trust not to be taken lightly.
If you feel you may be the Cardinal ready, willing and able to take up the defining role playing out the position pro-actively, using the command set (and thus testing them) and working through activation->test-and-comment->amendments->completion process to basically flesh out the Cardinal position and set its precedents in Avalon culture (likely to last for generations) then you should speak with both your city patron / appointing deity and the Omnipotents. It won't take long to complete this development and design denouement but definitely does demand a dedicated dozen days to declare done and dusted...
Syntax: HOLY EDICT <number> <edict of the Cardinal text>/REMOVE
The "edict" power creates or removes pronouncements (like holy writs or Papal Bulls) on behalf of the holy office of the Cardinal; to be seen and known and adhered to by all true citizens of the homeland.
Syntax: HOLY TEMPLES
Shows you all holy (marked) locations across the homeland, the extent of the divine marks therein and the deity whose divine presence in prominent in each location. This is the Cardinal's primary domain wheresoever the main temple happens to be.
Syntax: HOLY GLOBE
Gives the Cardinal or temple myrmidons a detailed insight into the power, function, acquisition and memories of the city's divine globe.
Syntax: HOLY GLOBE RESTRICT/ALLOW <globe power>
The Cardinal is first among equals of the city's most noble leaders when it comes to his/her influence in matters spiritual, religious and ethical. One of the frontline powers available to the Cardinal is the freedom to choose which of the divine globe powers are available to the city public and which are restricted. HOLY GLOBE RESTRICT <power> takes it off the public access list. HOLY GLOBE ALLOW <power> restores its availability. The GLOBEPOWERS command shows all current globe action powers and their current restricted or allowed status.
Syntax: HOLY SUNDER/RESTORE.
This is a potent command since it sunders the city and its citizens from using the power of the divine globe for sponsorship (see HELP SPONSORSHIP) thus withdrawing - or restoring - a city's ability to selectively support promising new or important old players through the subscription SPONSOR command. Sundering a city from its divine globe should be only a last resort and few Cardinals in Avalon history have had cause to do so.
Syntax: HOLY GLOBE LIST/INFO/WHO/POWERS and HOLY GLOBE ACT <globepower act>
Interacts directly and personally with the divine globe of the city, discovering information, discerning its potentials or bringing about its globe-powers (see HELP GLOBEACTS or type GLOBE POWERS) with minimal use of its finite resources.
Syntax: HOLY GLOBE <city globe or globestave power as below> or HOLY GLOBE on its own to inform you current state/rules.
GLOBE DOME to apply the city's divine globe to supporting the great luminescent shield above the homeland as per HELP SHIELDED. The divine globe will ensure the globe-staves upholding the protective dome never run out of power.
GLOBE BLIND to remove the city globe as witness to the citizens as a punishment for an errant public.
GLOBE SIGHT to restore the city globe to the people of your city once the public has earned the right once more.
Syntax: HOLY BLESS <what is being blessed/cursed> PUBLIC/PRIVATE
Gives out blessing or curse from the Cardinal and therefore the Gods, to various aspects of the city's public endeavour. Append PUBLIC to ensure the citizenry know their fate; use PRIVATE to make it unannounced and a blessing or curse known only to yourself and the patron. Here are the possible "targets" for blessing or curse:
HOLY BLESS/CURSE CROPS: to be done at the time of planting (during the Avalon spring months of Cloudburst and Springflower - see HELP CALENDAR), this will either pass divine on fields in your location, enhancing the speed of farming undertaken and the outlook of the field come harvest-time; or place a holy curse on fields in your location, blighting the outlook of fields come harvest-time. Append PUBLIC to make this announced to the citizenry, PRIVATE to keep it known to yourself and city patron alone
HOLY BLESS/CURSE HARVEST: functions as the CROPS power above save you issue it at the start of the harvest season. You must be in the location of the field you wish to bless or curse and it will determine how successful is the harvest. If you bless a field whose crops were cursed at planting time then the blessing will remove the curse-effect, thus ensuring harvest is as normal. If you bless a field of blessed planting, the crop harvest will be greatly increased over normal yield. If you curse a blessed field, it will return to normal and if you curse an accursed planting, the crop will yield a greatly reduced yield.
WARNING: the CROPS and HARVEST blessings and curses are serious considerations and should never be used without good reason.
BLESS/CURSE MORALE: passes the holy blessing to augment morale of the city armies and thereby improve all of its activities (specifics in the warfare helpfiles).
BLESS/CURSE BATTLE: gives out your blessing or your curse to legions of the city presently or over the next Avalon month involved in direct conflict on the field of battle. Blessings aid every encounter; curses render the legions more likely to fail - to be destroyed in clashes with the opposition.
BLESS/CURSE <legion name>: affects a specific legion as specified, singularly, to improve or blight its activities on and off the battlefield. This power is most often used when the Cardinal wishes to assert help or hindrance to legions of guild origin; for guilds whose home is within the city over which the Cardinal holds sway.
BLESS/CURSE <village in sphere>: passes the curse or blessing of the Cardinal and the Gods over a specified village or town within the sphere of influence (conquest or occupation) of the home city. Blessing a village increases its commodity output, ups the numbers of enlistables produced and bolsters its tribute potential (if appropriate). Cursing has the opposite effect.
BLESS/CURSE TRIBUTES: can be a singularly effective power since it impacts all of the tributes derived by th home city from the villages and towns across its sphere of influence. Blessing increases tribute potential and - more importantly - allows greater collections each Avalon month while the curse decreases tributes and requires more military pressure and presence to collect what tribute is provided.
Syntax: HOLY EMPOWER <person>/<guild>/HOMELAND/SPHERE
Sends out an immediate and potent burst of globe-power to fully restore all fixed globe-staves and similar "empowered" artifacts to their maximum potency. Specify a person to only do his/her fixed staves; a guild to do those only on the soil of that guild; HOMELAND to cover all locations of the homeland soil and SPHERE to extend the reach of the empowering to all locations in your city's sphere of influence.
Syntax: HOLY EARS ON/OFF
Extends the perception of the Cardinal or suitably empowered myrmidon across the entire homeland.
NOTE: Cardinal along with the Prince and the Prime Minister and a unanimously supported Barony, is able to issue the "emergency powers" decree as one of the defenders of the homeland. See HELP DECREE for info. Civic powers are documented in CITYHELP.