She told him with a motion of her shoulders
All that she knew of Camelot or of kingdoms;
And then said: “We are told of other States
Where there are palaces, if we should need them,
That are not made with hands. I thought you knew.”Edwin Arlington Robinson, Lancelot
The skill of clerics. Your knowledge of and ability to wield the rituals, teachings and mysteries of the faith. Your duty is to care for God’s flock. In some roles the care is very literal; your ability to manage basic skills in reading and writing, if you can, for basic logistical needs—or perhaps feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and so on. But the duty is also to the souls of the people; to educate and to guide, to be with the dying and helpless, to admonish the sinner.
These responsibilities come with a great deal of soft1 power. The specific phrase comes from the rite of excommunication, probably the most extreme flexing of that power2—but there are many lesser ways, out of true conviction or tactical cynicism, this influence can be wielded.