Allom Barnabus

Appearance

With white hair, long beard, and gray eyes, Pontifex Allom Barnabus watches over the Vestiary with a look that commands both fear and respect. He is very clearly an elderly man, though he does not look particularly frail, as many of his contemporaries do. He stands shorter than most, but, somehow, seems to loom over those around him. This, because he is the most powerful Persecutor in the Vestiary, and everyone knows it. In spite of his strength in the Mysteries, he does not carry himself as one overconfident in any matter. Often, he is seen gliding about with either labored, or methodical movements. Whether, or not, he is putting on airs, no one knows, and neither have they thought to test it.

Biography

Born and raised in the Vestiary, Allom Barnabus was a quiet, patient boy. Always fervent in the doctrine of the Vestiary, he took to book learning more than most. So loathe, was he, to physical labor, that Basaloth, the Headmaster of Proselytes, thought he would end up an Aligner of Machinations. That, of course, couldn’t have been further from the mark.

Barnabus proved himself a powerful Pressicant from an early age, albeit one that lacked experience. And, as every Persecutor knows, Magnitude, alone, does not make one invulnerable. Many scars were earned in various secret wars and battles called forth by the Elders, former Pontifex, and, later, at the behest of the OEA. Neither did Allom shy from confrontations with his brothers – even if such oppositions are officially forbidden.

During the Pogrom, Allom was a Prelate of the Council of Thirteen. Following that event, the Pontifex. This came as surprise to few, given that the former Pontifex, Douglas Kaarth, highly favored him. However, it was the manner in which this happened that proved surprising. Following the murder of Pontifex Kaarth at the hands of the Betrayers, Zariah and Huldah Praxiteles, the Council was divided on who should ascend. The choices were: Prelate Townsend, Prelate Barnabus, and Prelate Asphorsus.

Prelates Rabsaris, Virgil, Kaemon, and Ross were outspokenly in favor of Barnabus. Telmin, Anem, Wright, and Victor were neutral, and would not support any of the three, until after each candidate’s arguments were put forth. Asphorsus favored himself, but would support Townsend, in the event he was denied. Joben, and Douglas supported Townsend. Ultimately, these arguments were cut short when a final order from Pontifex Kaarth was delivered to all the Vestiary via Penumbra, sending every Persecutor and Consort into a forced state of dream-sleep. The order: that Prelate Allom Barnabus was to be raised to Pontifex, without question, and the Pogrom was to be as if it had never occurred.

How the dead Pontifex achieved this, no one knew for sure. But, many suspected that a Consort aligned as a Weaver of Dreams assisted Kaarth’s disembodied Figment, using a remaining piece of his immense Magnitude to help facilitate the transfer of his message. There are also those who say the Abrogator, himself, made it happen. For more information about the Pogrom, see: “Pogrom of the Vestiary of Pursuers.”

In 2277EE, Pontifex Allom Barnabus, now one hundred and twenty-five years of age, is among the oldest brothers not called an Elder. While he is still younger than several Prelates of the Council of Thirteen, his Magnitude afforded him the natural right and acceptance of the Vestry for the ascending of the mantle of Pontifex.