Paladins
From Fellaor
The Paladanic Order of the Holy Citidel, the citidel of El-Armon in the old elven tongues, is a militant religious order which informally holds command over the riverlands. Members follow a strict code of conduct, and generally reside at the Holy citadel, which lies lies along the border of the wastes. The mission of the order is to enforce the will of heronious by bringing a unified peace to Northern Fellaor. Because of the theological relationship between Heironious and Pelor, the Order generally is in alignment with The Empire, and often receives imperial contributions in the form of money and recruits. The order operates missions in the capitals of each of the great powers, as well as in the larger cities of the riverlands.
[edit] Structure
The order follows a four tier structure, with all members of the order belonging to one of the four branches. The most numerous branch is the Order Clerical, whose members operate missions, heal the sick, and devote themselves to religious study and archiving. The Order militant forms, along with the order Beneficent, the military wing of the order. The order militant is composed of warriors sworn to protect the riverlands from the regions enemies. They operate as both police within the villages of the riverlands and as military units, protecting the border of the riverlands from raiders from the wastes. The Order Beneficent is the smallest, but most significant of the order. Its members are called Paladins, this order was the first created within the Holy Citidel. Admission to the Order Beneficent is defined by a strict standard of secret spiritual trials, with recruits who do not pass the trials typically entering the order Militant or the order Clerical. Members of the order Beneficent act as judges within the Riverlands, adjudicating disputes and trying the accused. They also serve as the orders agents abroad. Creating contacts, negotiating treaties, and seeking out opponents of Heironious. The Last branch of the Ciditel is the order Transient whose members devote themselves to a strict monastic lifestyle devoted to meditation, fasting, and prayer. Members of the Order transient are not often encountered by outsiders, as they do not often leave the citadel.
[edit] Mission
The Order of the Holy Citidel serves a loose government for the Riverlands, providing security and contract enforcement. Recruits are generally brought in through the order, which is financed by tithes on inter-village trade, and gifts from charitable donors, as well as other governments. New entrants to the order are recruited through the missions and are taken to the citadel for training. Newer entrants spend at least a year in the citadel before they are assigned to other postings. Duty postings are typically cyclical with two years abroad being followed by two years at the citadel. There are roughly 9000 members residing at the citadel at any given time, as well as 7,000 members residing abroad.
[edit] Relation to Other Powers
The citadel is generally aligned with the Empire as their common border with the wastes often inspires co-operation. The relationship with Aragana is sometimes more strained, although the citadel operates a mission in Aragana City, In genneral, the ruling wizards in Aragana distrust the religiously inspired actions of the citadel, and the members of the citidel distrust wizards who accumulate so much power without a moral basis for using that power.
