Praesidius Yakov Dilisnya

Praesidius Yakov Dilisnya is the founder of the Church of Ezra, penning the First Book of Ezra in 666 BC. He also became its first Praesidius. Yakov was the brother of Camille Dilisnya, whom he convinced to support the Church financially. Although Yakov was a close advisor to Camille, she nonetheless poisoned him along with much of the most of the others in the Dilisnya Family at the funeral of Klaus Boristi.

History

In 666 BC, a seizure struke Yakov while he was out horseback riding. When he was found, Yakov was possessed of a fevered delirium where upon he raved like a madman. When Yakov became lucid, the young man proceeded to pen the First Book of Ezra. Over the next few years, he attempted to spread the doctrine of a goddess named Ezra, but he gained few followers. That changed in 684 BC after he immigrated to Borca, at once invited by Camille, drawn by the evangelistic opportunity afforded by virgin territory, and tempted by the prospects of being recognised as a noble of Borca. Camille who was both ruler and darklord of the recently formed domain and he persuaded her to help finance the construction of the Great Cathedral. The faith in Ezra spread readily to the workers, then to their families, ultimately across Borca. In the act of building the Great Cathedral, Yakov had at long last built his Church of Ezra.

Yakov took the title Praesidius of the Church of Ezra as its founder and first leader. In 687 BC, he presided over the marriage of Camille to Klaus Boritsi, her second husband. In 695 BC, the the first service was held within the stone skeleton of Great Cathedral, by which time the Church was thriving and had become a force to be reckoned with. A smaller temple had been established in Sturben and the faith had even started to spread into neighboring Dorvinia. In 698 BC, the Dilisnya family gathered for the funeral of Camille's fourth husband, Oleh Fortich. Camille was persuaded that her family had been conspiring to kill. She proceeded to poison to death the nigh entirety of her branch of the Dilisnyas, Yakov included. Subsequently, Borca's black widow raised a statue before the Great Cathedral, which would, however, help precipitate the Church's First Schism. ]

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Ravenloft Third Edition
		Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume IV -p16 Ravenloft Third Edition - pp14,17