Vana Dandreal: Difference between revisions

|honorific-prefix = Her Most Esteemed Beneficience

|name = TheVana Matron of the Acronian EmpireDandreal

|office = 37th [[Akronism|Matron of the AcronianChurch Empireof Akrona]]

|predecessor = TheŠela 36th MatronAlandai

|office1 = High Priestess of ZaramNuvo Province

|predecessor1 = Šela Davras Alandai

|successor1 = Mena Indral Devražon

|office2 = Priestess of North Dravai Parish

|term_start2 = 4 November 1982

|predecessor3 =

|birth_place = New East HarborOsfjord, [[AcronisNorgsveldet]]

|residence = New Temple of Administrationthe Emergence, ZaramCrystal Coast, [[Acronis]]

|signature = Vana signature.svg

The'''Vana Dandreal'''37th Matron(born ofJanuary the Acronian19th, Empire'''1950) is the current leader of the Elders, the governing body of the [[Akronism|Church of Akrona]], and therefore considered to be the presiding officer over the church and leader of the faith., Accordingas towell custom,as uponhead theirof electionstate toof office,the aPeople's MatronCommunion of [[Acronis]]. She is onlythe referredfirst [[Species#Elf|elf]], and first non-[[Orc]], to asever serve in "the position of Matron or as an Elder." IfBorn neededin [[Norgsveldet]] to differentiateunknown parents, she was left at a Matrontemple canin beOsfjord identifiedin as1950, through "the currentChurch's Matron"policy orof byaccepting theirall number.abandoned Itbabies isleft generallyat consideredtemples impolitewithout toquestion. referShe towas aadopted Matron,shortly whetherafter livingher orarrival dead,at the temple by hera birthTavari name,couple butin itNorgsveldet ison a mission trip. While she does not technicallyuse forbiddenher byLine anyName Church(the doctrine.second Theof 37ththree andnames currentin Matronthe wasTavari bornnaming system), her legal name is '''Vana Nevran Dandreal''' inand, Newthrough Easther Harboradoption, [[Acronis]]she onis Januarya 19th12th cousin, 1950once removed of current Tavari Prime Minister [[Žarís Nevran Alandar]].

TheVana 37th MatronDandreal was bornraised in New EastGood Harbor, the largest AcronianTavari city on the eastern coast of the island of Avnatra. Her parents, Leina and Doran Nevran Dandreal, both worked at Eastern Shipworks, the largest shipyard in the country. On her birth certificate, her parents' occupations are listed as "custodial worker" and "clerical worker." Her upbringing has generally been described as "working class," and the Matron herself has spoken of how she became drawn to the Church after eating at Church-run public food kitchens because her house did not have any food. She has also cited her adoption as a reason for her devotion to the faith: "Had it not been for Akronists, I never would have met my parents. It's likely that, had there been no temple for my birth mother to leave me with for safety, I wouldn't be alive at all."

The MatronVana's mother passed away in 1961 when she was 11 years old. In the course of her work as a custodian, Leina Nevran Dandreal was exposed to a particular kind of caustic cleaning chemical that was sold under the brand-name ''Numinol'', which was found to cause lung cancer in people exposed regularly to the chemical. The story happened to catch the attention of a local newspaper reporter who launched an investigation into Numinol that found that executives at Eastern Shipworks had known as early as 1954 that custodial workers were passing away from lung cancer but continued to use Numinol because it was the cheapest cleaning chemical available on the market. This created a national controversy and Doran Nevran Dandreal would file a lawsuit against Eastern Shipworks in 1965. The lawsuit was delayed significantly by the Shipworks filing several motions to movedismiss the suitcase from civilor to religious courts, and then back again, as well as filingappeal numerousvarious appealsverdicts. It was not until 19971989 when the Supreme Civil Court finally ruled against the Shipworks' last appeal and ordered that they pay damages that had originally been ordered by a court in 1970. Doran had died the previous year, and the Matron, who was then serving as the High Priestess of ZaramNorth Dravai Provinceparish, was awarded the largest ever payment for damages in a non-class action suit in AcronianTavari history: 750ŋ750,000,000. NashdatBecause the Shipworks had successfully convinced the courts to not allow other plaintiffs in the case, asand shebecause Vana Dandreal was the only living heir of her mother, (who had died 3628 years previously), Vana received the entire amount of the settlement. The sum, which bankrupted the shipyard, was donated to the Church in its entirety.

The 37th MatronDandreal is known as a much more "activist" Matron than her closest predecessors. A motto of hers as Matron has been that "our Church is a powerful force for good." She is on the record stating that the Church should take more action domestically as well as internationally to ensure the well-being of life on Urth. On her initiative, the Church began a project of funding the construction of hospitals abroad, leading to more than 50 hospitals being built between 2012 and 2020. The current Matron has traveled more internationally than any other Matron in history, whichwith istrips notableto in38 partdifferent becausecountries itas requiresof formal approval from the civil government before the Matron can exit the country2020. She has encouraged the faithful to "speak out against injustice whenever you see it, whether it comes from a stranger, your family, your government, your boss, or even your church" and has made statements herself in opposition to what she sees as violations of humansapient rights abroad. Over her term as Matron, she has also recommitted the Church to its mission of accepting orphans and finding them parents, citing her own example as reason why to do so. In 2000, Akronist adoption services found parents for 1,456 children worldwide. In 2020, that number had increased to 36,414.

While historically most Matrons are known as very reserved and formal figures, the current Matron has relaxed many of the formalities that have traditionally bound her office. For instance, she regularly appears in public wearing "non-religious" clothing while not performing religious ceremonies. While her clothing is still conservative by any standard, with her skirts regularly reaching to the ankles, she is considered to be something of a fashion icon in AcronisTavaris. She is known particularly for wearing high heeled shoes. She also favors the usage of more contemporary language in ceremonies, and encourages clergy to focus on preaching in ways that reaches out to their temple-goers rather than focusing strictly on formal rituals. She has said that "it is far more important that we do work out in the world - feed the hungry, shelter the exposed, welcome the outcast - than it is for us to earn a perfect attendance award from the local temple." In a more blunt quote, one of her most famous, she has also said "I would rather you sleep in on the full moon and enjoy your day off work rather than come to the Templetemple if all you're going to do is balance your checkbook and hum along to the hymns. You can try again in the next life."

{{Quote|The Church of Akrona will build seven temples to replace the one you destroyed. If you ever manage to destroy another, the Church of Akrona will build seven temples for that one as well. We will build them in AcronisTavaris. We will build them in [[Ni-Rao]]. We will build them in [[Lapimuhyo]]. We will build them in [[Asilica]], we will build them in [[Tretrid]], we will build them in [[Asendavia]], we will build them in [[Great Morstaybishlia|Morstaybishlia]], we will build them on [[Olune|the Moon]]. And you could try and blow each and every one of them up, and if you did, we would worship atop the rubble.|TheVana 37th MatronDandreal, responding to the Lantaž terror attack on |30 September, 2020.}}

The MatronDandreal also issued an Edict to reactivate the Order of the Peacekeepers, which was a traditional militia and security force answerable to the Church that had in the past protected Akronist Templestemples. It was dissolved afterby the endTreaty of theSinajärv between Tavaris and [[HistoryRodoka]] in 1634, and the Church of Tavari-AcronianAkrona Relations#Fifthrequired War|Fifthpermission Tavarifrom War]]the Rodokan Native Tribal Administration to station Peacekeepers in Rodoka. More than 11,000 people serving in the Armed Forces Reserves alone applied to join the Peacekeepers in less than 24 hours of applications being opened, and the Peacekeepers have been rapidly deployed. By the end of 2020, the Matron plans to have every Temple in Rodoka and 75% of those on the home islands of AcronisTavaris staffed with Peacekeepers, and every Temple in the world staffed by the end of 2021. On Church property, Peacekeepers are authorized to carry lethal weapons and use deadly force, if necessary. Off Church property, however, Peacekeepers have no legal authority, and legislation to accord them the status of "civil officers of the peace" is stillwas pendingrejected in the Diet.