Sweet Mercy

Sweet Mercy is a convent dedicated to the worship of the Ancestor. Within its walls, young girls with the traits of the four original tribes of men are raised to killers, honing their skills to deadly effect. It is one of six monasteries of the Church of the Ancestor, along with Silent Patience, Chaste Devotion, Gerran’s Crag and three others. However, only Sweet Mercy trains Red Sisters, Grey Sisters and Holy Witches, with the others only training Holy Sisters. The convent possesses a Shipheart, one of only two in The Empire.

Location
The convent is built on a high plateau, perhaps five mile to the west of the capital Verity, with the Seren Way running between the two. There is a village called Morltown about five miles further west. Where the Seren Way rises up to the plateau, there is a peculiar forest of 1024 stone pillars, taller than trees, whose construction is lost to history, but assumed to be relics of The Missing. There are steep cliffs at most edges of the plateau, with only three safe routes: the Seren Way, the Vinery Stair and the Cart Way. On the lower slopes of the plateau edges, the nuns grows grapevines, and the vineyard probably raises more money, than the convent earns from novice confirmation fees. Natural caves riddle the thickness of the plateau, notably the forty foot wide Glasswater Sinkhole, the Shade Chamber, and the Shipheart Cavern.

Convent Description
The convent comprises so many buildings that it would qualify as a village.

Convent Structure
The overall head of the convent of Sweet Mercy is the Abbess with the current one being Abbess Glass. The Abbess is one of the most powerful offices within the Ancestor Church, on a par the four Archons or regional archbishops, and subordinate only to the High Priest; at the start of the series, High Priest Jacob, who is later replaced by High Priest Nevis.

Beneath the Abbess are two Sister Superiors, who administer the convent when the Abbess is absent; the current being Sister Rose and Sister Wheel. The pair wear a distinctive headdress that distinguish them from the other nuns. On contentious matters, the Sister Superiors can in theory overrule the Abbess, which is why Rose and Wheel were chosen since they almost never agree on anything.

Sweet Mercy has a number of nuns who have taken holy orders, and either have teaching roles at the convent, or perform clandestine missions on behalf of the Church. They may also act in support of the emperor and the realm, but this must be negotiated with the High Priest.

Below is a table of nuns and their various roles and positions. * Sister Rail later replaced Sister Rule, who departed on sabbatical.

* Sister Heart later replaced Sister Flint, who was killed by Yisht.

Classes
Young girls, with the traits of the four original tribes of men, join the convent as young as nine-years-old. Most children are placed there by their families, who must pay a confirmation fee. Occasionally however orphan children are exempted any fee. This practice has become more common under Abbess Glass, because orphans are less likely to leave before taking holy orders, having received a highly-valued education.

Novices are taught five main subjects both magical and general. The convents ability to teach magic are dramatically enhanced by possessing the Shipheart, with the traits of novices augmented by proximity to it. As they progress through their studies, novices must graduate four levels of classes before taking holy orders. At each level, each of the five class mistress must stamp their seal on the novice's scroll for them to advance to the next level. In the first two levels, students study all subjects, but in the latter levels, they focus more specifically on their chosen path. There are also numerous adhoc annual events some of which are for all levels like the Caltess Forging and Academy Trials, while others are specific to a level.

Routine and Uniform
The convent is scheduled around the seven-day week, with classes on days one to six. On seven-day, novices are given the chance to relax, or if given leave, permission to leave the convent with a chaperone. They can visit family and friend, or go to special events such as the annual fight against the Caltess trainees and apprentices or the Shade Trial.

The agenda for a particular day are scheduled by a series of bells. The nuns listen for the iron bell, Ferra, mainly for prayers. The novices listen for the brass bell, Bray, mainly for the start and end of classes. There is also a third steel bell, Bitel, which is rung only in emergencies; nuns and novices must then gather at the Abbess' house.

Each novice is required to wear a habit without a headdress. Novices typically have two for their week, and are of course given new ones as they age, which are given out but likely counted as part of the cost of education. There are of course a few obvious exceptions when novices don't wear them such as sleeping or bathing. Habits are also quite practical for features such as the many large pockets which can be used to carry around a lot of items.

When training in Blade novices change into what is simply called a blade-habit, described as made of bleached beige leather and quite heavy, as they are built for the least potential for the novices to harm each other. When Zole first arrives and is given a tour she is described as wearing an approximation of a Red Sister habit, red with fancy silver edges.

Nuns
On graduating from Holy Class, novices take holy orders and become nuns following one of four paths:

When a novice graduates she is given a special type of habit depending on the path she chooses, such as the black skin armour of a Red Sister. Around the convent they wear a normal habit with a headdress, with only Sister Superiors distinguished by their distinctive headdress and the Abbess by her crozier. While the rules for nuns are not stated, one can assume that they must follow similar guidelines as the novices. Clera tells Nona that the nuns wake up if a focus moon nears to lie naked in its warm light, though the accuracy of this rumour is disputed.

History
Sweet Mercy seems to be ancient, perhaps almost as old as Verity itself. Abbess Glass' house has portraits of at least a dozen former Abbesses before her, including Abbess Mace who is famed for performing a miracle. The convent was gifted with the huge Dome of the Ancestor by Emperor Persus III.