Ria

Ria is a "High Priest" of Pelor

''"I am merciful, just as the Sun of Mercy shines on me." ''

Appearance
Like most worshipers of Pelor she wears yellow robes and carries a morning star. A beautiful women with golden hair and yellow/green eyes. She wears her hair short to allow the sun to soak her skin at all times. It is said that she has never used her morning star in real combat but she has defeated all of the paladins in the Council of the Sun in combat. She is in her thirties but is considered a grand master. Some think she is a heretic.

Beliefs
Like many Pelorians shes believes that the life-giving sun is the best cure for all ills. Justice and freedom are brought about through charity, modesty, perseverance, and self-sacrifice. She teaches that the truly strong don't need to prove their power. She teaches that Pelorians should strive to perform so many good acts that evil has no room in which to exist, though they should fight if necessary. She is wrathful against the forces of evil, and is especially opposed to the undead. However, She mostly teaches that Pelor urges his followers to remember that excessive attention to things of evil can blind one to the truly important things: compassion and goodness. Pelorian dogma has it that the energy and power of life originates in the sun.

Followers
She commands the largest remaining branch of the church. About 1000 or so followers. Only about half of those show any signs of being "bright"(empowered). Only about 100 or so are bright enough to be Paladins or Clergy. She has disbanded the Clergy but still keeps the Paladin orders to protect her church.

Her Paladins call themselves Crusaders. They believe that laws are helpful, but that they are at best a secondary goal and must be tempered with mercy.

Their slogan is Equity for the Meek with Perseverance and Strength.

They are broken into several branches:

Branches
Council of the Sun

The strongest branch, elite Crusaders sent on difficult missions or entrusted to protect artifacts.

The golden 

The best melee combatants. This is the Paladins assault force

The Mirror

A defense force. Highly armored troops

Warmth

Medics

The Shade

Mercenary force. This was Disbanded under Ria

In the Sun Father's Hand
In the Sun Father's Hand is a controversial text accepted at present by only a handful of Pelorian temples. It was written about 276 CY by a woman named Tephos. Tephos was not a priest, but she believed herself to be Pelor's chosen representative on Arf. Somehow she performed miracles, including curing an entire village of plague, before writing about her beliefs and vanishing in front of her disciples in a flash of golden light. Tephos taught that all property should be held communally, that society should return to a more "natural" state like that assumed to exist before the spread of civilization, and that clerics were unnecessary; Pelor could intervene directly instead. unlike most branches of the Pelorian faith Ria consider Tephos to be a prophet

The Light of Pelor
She believes this is the true holy book. The Light of Pelor is the most common Pelorian holy book, beginning with Pelor's creation of the sun and telling of how Pelor instructed the first mortals. Some turned against his teachings, thus creating evil, and this evil spirit has waxed and waned over time. She believes Pelor is the sun itself, rather than its creator,  The Light of Pelor only has minor variations in it, and all are considered canonical, despite these small discrepancies. The book is often enchanted to glow with a soft solar radiance when it's closed, and some versions are gilded.

Ria's Gospel
Ria is famous throughout the church for her controversial approach as high priest of Dust. She is obviously very highly influenced by Tephos. She believes that staying out of wars and in the hearts of the people are the best way to shine the light of Pelor. She believes priest harvesting the solar blessings of Pelor for their own good is was caused the spell plague. She preaches that the church should heal its enemies and its allies but avoid wars and battles. She thinks by reflecting the light of their god he will shine brighter than ever. Her Gospel even preaches that you should surrender yourself to enemies in peace if it reflects the light of good. She believes that priests should be no more than teachers and not glorified in anyways. They are just people who have learned to harvest the sunlight. Her gospel states that shade and shadows are created by the evil in mans heart. She even speaks of a shadow-realm where evil is greater than the undead or demons.

Her gospel is sometimes called the "cracked mirror" as an insult.

Gift of Eternal Light
This is an epic saga of an ancient kingdom threatened upon by mortal, demonic, and undead evil. Though sorely tested by their foes, the people of the kingdom had their morale restored each morning at the sight of the rising sun. In a climactic battle, the sun's rays helped defeat the demons and undead, and the Pelorians were victorious. An interesting detail is that this myth claims the sun's rays are the spirits of the righteous, a claim that no other Pelorian texts makes. Ria believes this will be repeated in the near future

Punishment of the Undead
This myth tells of the origin of vampires, said to have been cursed by Pelor after turning from his light to the pursuit of evil magic. The myth suggests that Pelor would forgive them, if only they would ask. Ria often uses this as her crux in her argument that turning away from Pelor has brought the great evil upon the world known as the spell plague.