The Shepherd's Crook is a sect inside of Received Asterism which began soon after the founding of the church as a collection of monks who provided safety and service to then-new colonies… in exchange for wealth and power. Though their extortionist tendencies (and military might) was reined in by the central church, they remain a group focused on local communities rather than central bureaucracy or dogma.
They’ve become the home of the Sovereign Immunities, an elite rank of political advisor which carries the freedom to speak directly when others would be censored and which is offered a high degree of diplomatic immunity.[1]
The Lambic House, a group of beer-brewing monks who both operate a brewery and manage a sizable civilian settlement deep in the mountains of the Pique Ridge, are also part of the Shepherd's Crook.[2]