There is a lot of flexibility to come and go here. There is also a lot of room for scholarly types in any organisation. Look at the help files for each place and go to whichever initially appeals, you can always swap later.

If you go Glom, try the Shadowdancers, RP/lore-heavy pagan priests.

I agree that bard might be a better fit than priest (and no guild really has an edge on "scholar" as much as many may strut about it). I wonder if you've been pressing that whole love of performance into priest because you didn't have a better fit available in other games. Any of the six bard guilds would support the sorts of things you're discussing, so pick the city/commune based on the feel of the cities and communes themselves, then look at its guilds (especially its bard guilds), rather than starting with guilds.

The reason I suggested wiccan/guardian is because it seems to me to be the most scholarly (well, Enyalida said Hartstone is, so I dunno) -- so rituals, books, sermons, whereas bards seem more performance art, so poems, plays, songs, street theatre sort of stuff. But I've never been a bard so I don't know!

Some of the pandering here is getting pretty comical! Eesh.

Quite honestly, to the OP, any guild would be sufficient for what you want. Using Celest as an example (as it is where I patron), every guild has a pretty strong religious theme to it, down to the Tahtetso and the Paladins (indeed, the only person to ever have something published as 'official' history by the Lusternian Historical Society is a paladin, Catarin). Likewise in Hallifax there's a lot of room for scholastics in guilds like the Sentinels - albeit warriors, they have a very strong scientific theme running through them (of course, it's the city of science!). They've a guild focused entirely on art in all its forms (Symphonium), and a guild of aeromantic engineers (Aeromancers!). In Gaudiguch, the warriors share parts of a mystic, thelema theme with the Illuminati, while the Pyromancers sit on their own theme of vice and virtue, playing off the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Sacred Pyres.

I could go on, but I feel like the other organizations have been pretty well pandered for (and I need to get some things done!). No matter where you go, you will have the opportunities you're looking for. Every org is pretty fantastic, and every org has some pretty great supporting divine who like to encourage art and theatre and scholastics via mobs etc.

The real question becomes, "What kind of an atmosphere do you want?", or "What kind of an atmosphere will you thrive most in?". Once you've answered that question, I suspect you'll find the answer to the question you asked pretty quickly!

The good thing about scholarly warriors is if people disagree you can refute them with a bash over the head using your war hammers.

But really, you can RP whatever role you want in any guild. Scholarly doesn't take a certain guild, and you can always join an order for the religious ritual side.

Thanks for all the advice :) Got lots to think about now, heh.

I'm going to make a few alts and immerse myself in the history first, then I'll make a final decision.

Again, thanks for all the positivity and helpfulness :)