Synarch Heraklonas

Heraklonas is the Synarch of the Holy Terran Chantry -- head of its Synod and its chief representative -- a hollow-cheeked old prelate with a reedy voice who wears a tall Egyptian miter. He presides over High Day sacrifice in the Great Sanctum of Forum and sits on the bench at the Emperor's Grand Council, where he denounces human cloning, the Extrasolarian presence on Forum, and the treaty with the Monarch of Latarra as abomination. His moral authority is challenged by Lorian Aristedes, who raises the Chantry's own monopoly on biological weapons development, and the Emperor commands him to silence.

When Hadrian appears before the court on Forum, Heraklonas rises to oppose him, calling him abomination and a demoniac and demanding he face the White Sword. He formally charges Hadrian with murdering Ohannes Douro, destroying the warship Bradamante, and raising his hand against the Chantry's Sentinels. When Hadrian produces the body of the daimon Ship as evidence of Chantry involvement, Heraklonas denies any knowledge and calls the accusation madness. Hadrian judges that the old prelate is sincere -- that there is no lie in him -- but concludes that Heraklonas is only the mouth of the Chantry, not its true head.