Caster Level for a Cleric/Apostle of Peace?

[Palanan]

I'm working on an Apostle of Peace for a campaign I'm running, and I have what's probably a very obvious question.

If the NPC is a Cleric 7/AoP 2, then he'll be casting Apostle spells as...caster level 5th? While remaining caster level 7th on the cleric side? (It's probably straightforward, but I've been confused by caster levels before.)

And are there any particular feats that would work well here, once he's past the Vows? I see him as a wandering healer and peacemaker, who's as willing to mend a broken fencerail as resolve a civil war.
.
.

[Waker]

The aforementioned character would cast as a 7th level Cleric and a 5th level Apostle of Peace.
I can make suggestions for feats, but what role do you imagine the character will serve? Is he going to join the party as a companion, oppose the party in some fashion or simply add some color to the background?

[Palanan]

Okay, thanks for backing up my math skills.....:smalltongue:

He most likely won't be joining the party, and probably won't be opposing them; he's one of a handful of mid-to-upper-level NPCs in the campaign region. He's a cheerfully random element in an otherwise careful balance of power between several principalities.

He sort of...goes wherever. He doesn't really plan much.

[Waker]

Well, if the guy is just some wandering holy man sworn to non-violence, I imagine that most of his feats would be passively increasing his spellcasting abilities.
Touch of Healing (CCha)- Would allow him to heal a ton of people for no cost. Granted he can only heal them to half, but it would go a long way.
Sacred Healing (CDiv)- While not that great for an adventurer, it can really help a person who just wants to help a lot of injured people. Just walk into a hospital and boom!
Practiced Spellcaster- Very useful feat, can be taken twice to improve both Cleric and Apostle spellcasting.

Another possible adjustment you can make is to take the Divine Restoration acf from Dungeonscape. You lose one of your domain powers, but gain the ability to spontaneously cast restoration spells by sacrificing a spell of that level.

[Palanan]

Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate it.

Practiced Spellcaster was my first thought, but at this point in the build it doesn't seem that stellar. It brings him up to caster level 9 for cleric, which then nudges his Apostle caster level to 6th. Not bad, but not outstanding.

Touch of Healing is a great one, which I'm using on another NPC in the same campaign. I'd also been thinking about Nonlethal Substitution, which nicely fits the mechanics and flavor.