The Kung Fu Cops, whose real name will probably be something like "Blessed Protectors of Virtue," are a combined priesthood and police force. They are very directly inspired by the Realm's Immaculate Order and Magistrates. They are generally God-blooded or Dragon-Blooded, but there is no explicit mandate on the matter, and theoretically a highly skilled mortal or Dragon King could join them. They act much as magistrates do in the Realm - traveling a circuit, dealing with legal issues, defeating minor threats not worthy of a Celestial Exalted's attention, and enforcing the various antitrust statutes relating to trade and worship. They have a very explicit mandate to hunt down and stomp out slavery. The KFCs do not exist *outside* the law, per se, but have great flexibility within it. Temptation towards corruption is held in check by several means: Strict discipline and belief in their position as a holy calling (as in the Immaculate priests), the threat of a trial by their peers (any three KFCs may demand a trial of one of their bretheren at any time on charges of corruption, in a court presided over and judged by seven KFCs), and vows of poverty. They may own nothing more than they can carry in two hands, and none of their possessions may manipulate Essence. Their weapons and armor are state property. They may marry, but only if their spouse makes similar vows. (More detail as I have the energy and creativity to come up with it.)
Takuro has no objections to the system Khazharkhan proposed for basic worship purposes, although if it were up to him he'd do away with lawsuits for failure to comply with prayers, and let the free market take care of idlers. He also approves of the semiofficial bias against the Cult of the Illuminated, for obvious reasons. However, he's most emphatic on one point: The Celestial Incarnae are entirely outside that system.
The Celestial Incarnae, in Noontime Glory, are not to be worshipped per se in the same way as lesser gods. Praise is to be offered to them, certainly, and their festivals are state affairs. However, they are not expected to personally interact with their cults. That is the purpose of their Chosen. One does not ask the Unconquered Sun to save his family from pirates; one finds a Solar Exalt and asks her.
The Exalted are not to be worshipped - worship offered directly to the Exalted is not tolerated, prayers to them will be pointedly ignored, and any Exalted found cultivating such behavior will bring down the wrath of both the KFCs and other Exalted. All Exalted are expected to spend their time fighting the enemies of Creation and enacting righteousness - opposing slavery, destroying dangerous Behemoths, waging war against the Yozis, and soforth. Other classes of beings may be more or less powerful on an individual basis; while the "might for right" philosophy-religion of Noontime Glory would frown on a war god who did not fight evil forces, it is certainly possible that a minor battle-deity would be too weak to do much in that regard. There is no such thing as a weak Exalted, however, and they are expected to direct their energies toward the protection of the weak. They are explicitly outside normal law, but are held in check by one another, and by the Kung Fu Cops. Do they have great palaces? Certainly, and they rarely have the chance to enjoy them, as they spend most of their time doing battle with Creation's enemies.
The state religion boils down to this: Power is responsibility. The Celestial Exalted, having great power, have great responsibility. The state also organizes the festivals of the Celestial Incarnae, and the KFCs are considered their priesthood.
The Deliberative of the hypothetical Creation-spanning empire that Takuro would create is not merely a Solar matter. The Solar, Lunar, Sidereal, and Terrestrial Exalted receive five seats each on the Council, which would presumably be one of each caste. (Obviously this isn't quite possible for the Lunars.) Mortals collectively receive five, one for each elemental pole; God-Blooded who have not become actual deities are counted as mortal for this purpose. The gods and elementals each receive five seats; again, one for each direction. The Celestial Hierarchy itself has a nonvoting representative, while the Mountain Folk have one vote (This last seat is theoretically shared among all non-hostile Fair Folk, but this in practice essentially means Mountain Folk.) This makes for 36 voting seats. Depending on whether the Deathlords can be vanquished, or at least pacified, there might be a nonvoting seat for the Underworld, and Takuro would probably be willing to give a vote to the Dragon Kings if he knew they yet lived. How these representatives are to be elected, I haven't the foggiest, but it will be reasonably democratic. For the time being, it's all very academic anyway.
![[Home]](/exalted.png)