Editing Septon without a sept

[[File:Septon Meribald and Dog by vazdelart.png|thumb|350px|[[Dog (Meribald)|Dog]] and Septon [[Meribald]], by vazdelart ©]]
A '''septon without a sept''' is a wandering [[septon]] who travels from place to place without a specific [[sept]] at which he serves.{{ref|AFFC|25}}

==Duties==
Villages that are too small to support a permanent [[septon]] might be visited by a traveling septon. These men can conduct holy services, perform [[marriage]]s, forgive sins, and bring food for the poor and hungry.{{ref|AFFC|25}}

While the septon is visiting a village, the people are expected to provide him with food and a place to sleep.{{Ref|TSS}}{{Ref|AFFC|25}} The septon might be allowed to sleep in the kitchens or stables of inns, or stay within [[septry|septries]], [[holdfast]]s, and [[castle]]s. When no accommodations are available, the septon might just sleep under trees or hedges.{{ref|AFFC|25}}

[[Begging brother]]s also travel from place to place, but they are not to be confused with septons, as the latter are one rank higher in the Faith's hierarchy.{{ref|AFFC|25}}

==History==
During the later years of Ser [[Eustace Osgrey]]'s rule over [[Standfast]], a [[septon]] would visits his lands, which included three small villages and a one-room [[sept]], twice a year to provide services for his [[smallfolk]].{{ref|TSS}}

==Recent Events==
===''A Feast for Crows''===
For nearly forty years, [[Meribald]] has been walking the countryside of the [[riverlands]] as a wandering septon in exchange for food and shelter. He can recite passages from ''[[The Seven-Pointed Star]]'' by memory, which makes him capable enough to minister the Faith to [[smallfolk]].{{Ref|AFFC|25}}

==Quotes==
{{quote|The [[smallfolk]] were glad of the forgiveness, but hated the [[septon]]'s visits all the same, since they were required to feed him.{{ref|TSS}}|thoughts of [[Duncan the Tall]]}}

{{quote|[[Meribald]] was a [[septon]] without a [[sept]], only one step up from a [[begging brother]] in the hierarchy of the [[Faith of the Seven|Faith]]. There were hundreds like him, a ragged band whose humble task it was to trudge from one flyspeck of a village to the next, conducting holy services, performing [[marriage]]s, and forgiving sins. Those he visited were expected to feed and shelter him, but most were as poor as he was, so Meribald could not linger in one place too long without causing hardship to his hosts.{{ref|AFFC|25}}|thoughts of [[Brienne Tarth]]}}

{{quote|'''Meribald''': From [[Maidenpool]] to Maidenpool, my circuit takes me half a year and ofttimes more, but I will not say I know the [[Trident]]. I glimpse the [[castle]]s of the [[great lords]] only at a distance, but I know the market towns and [[holdfast]]s, the villages too small to have a name, the hedges and the hills, the rills where a thirsty man can drink and the caves where he can shelter. And the roads the [[smallfolk]] use, the crooked muddy tracks that do not appear on parchment maps, I know them too. I should. My feet have trod every mile of them, ten times over.<br>'''Brienne''': It must make for a lonely life, septon.<br>'''Meribald''': The [[Faith of the Seven|Seven]] are always with me, and I have [[Donkey (Meribald)|my faithful servant]], and [[Dog (Meribald)|Dog]].{{ref|AFFC|25}}|[[Meribald]] and [[Brienne Tarth]]}}

==See also==
*[[Wandering crow]]

==References==
{{references}}

{{Faith of the Seven}}
{{Members of the Faith of the Seven}}
{{Religions}}

[[Category:Septons| ]]
[[Category:Faith of the Seven]]