Primal Blood
Order of the Shattered Thrones
Conclave of the Spheres
Legion of the Fallen
Order of the Shattered Thrones
Heirs to the Everlasting
The golden hills of Dynas are guarded tirelessly by the Knights of Charn and blessed by the light of the Valcarist Church. The Order of the Shattered Throne will once again bring harmony, stability, and peace to the world, restoring a golden age sundered by the Fall. No matter the cost.
About the Faction
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The Exalted Everlasting of the Triumvirate, Oster, Valcaris, and Valethra, once led their divine brethren to make battle against the cruel EMPYREA, their goddess and creator, saving the world from utter destruction. With the World Spirit defeated and bound, the rest of their people needed a guiding hand to maintain order where chaos would otherwise flourish, and to show them the way to enlightenment. Where EMPYREA saw the failure of life, those of the Triumvirate saw potential. The Triumvirate took the burden of leadership upon themselves, becoming as mother and father to the people of the world, the forebearers of a great empire, the Astarian Paradux. Their dream of a perfect world was killed by the Fall, and in its place only the Malediction remains.
The Order of the Shattered Throne is the direct successor to the Astarian Paradux, with its members descending from the survivors of that fallen empire. In the last days before the Fall, Valcaris, the Blessed Voice, entrusted a number of his followers with the Shards of the Throne of Oster, a powerful artifact that contained the Vestige of the murdered leader of the Triumvirate. These Lucidi, the chosen “enlightened ones”, were able to escape beyond the reach of the besiegers, so that the glorious kingdom of the Triumvirate could endure. They settled in the northern land of Dynas, where the last strongholds of the empire still resisted, manned by the Knights of Charn.
When the Fall happened and the world was almost rent asunder, the capital city of Osterath was lost, along with all those who stayed to defend it. Not even their Everlasting gods could escape this fate. Only distant provinces like Dynas were able to survive, but the great empire of the Triunvirate was shattered. During the Age of Strife that followed the Fall, the Lucidi and the Knightly orders gathered the surviving faithful from across the continent to rebuild that kingdom. They swore to one day reclaim what had been taken from them, to mend what had been broken. This was the birth of the Order of the Shattered Throne.
The Valcarist Church is known far beyond the fortress cities of Dynas, for it was Valcaris of the Triumvirate who said unto them: “Go forth and carry my Word with you, wherever you go. Wield it as a cleansing flame, to chase away darkness and corruption, and warm the hearts of the faithful”. The Valcarists are responsible for proselytizing the faithless so that they also may one day be saved. One may find them almost anywhere on the continent, preaching with various degrees of success. They are also the keepers of all treasures recovered from the Malediction, guarding Relics and Legacies against misuse and keeping any such items that have been corrupted locked away in their vaults. Since the knightly orders' noble status must be confirmed by their ability to wield the Legacies, the Valcarist Church regulates access to these artifacts, raising some from the muck or stripping lineages of land and title.
The Lucidi, leaders of the Valcarist church, each wield the power of a shard of the Throne of Oster, although one might say that the shards wield them, instead. Regardless, their words of inspiration and the miracles they perform have ignited in the populace a fervent, unquenchable faith that, left unchecked, would burn the continent to ash in its ardor. Instead, the Valcarist Church has instituted a mandate of conversion, allowing many of the faithless to join its ranks. If once they feared the Order’s military might, many of the independent City-States now fear the Valcarists may conquer them with words alone.
The Knights of Charn
During the War of the Everlasting, many fortress cities were built by the Triumvirate to protect their holdings beyond the Wall of XXXXX. Charn was one such city, manned by some of the most devout soldiers in the army of the Triumvirate, who swore a blood oath that endures to this day. It is said that the same oath that bound the knights to service granted them power over Relics and Legacies, the tools of the Everlasting for them. The knights count amongst their ranks the largest number of potential Legacy Bearers of any faction, a fact they often boast about, as a sign of the grace of the Everlasting. Something they don’t speak of is their tendency to be taken over by Legacies, mind and body alike.
The Knights of Charn are the military arm of the Order, protecting the homeland and leading expeditions into the heart of the Malediction. They have faced the horrors within and have been hardened by what they witnessed. If the Church did not restrain them, the Knights would put all of the faithless to the blade. They consider their duty too sacred to risk for those who have proven themselves unworthy. Deep within their fortresses, the knights guard a treasure for which they would risk even the lives of the faithful. The bodies of the Everlasting, hollow of soul, wait in darkness for an Age of Light yet to come.
In their age of glory, the Triumvirate drank deep from the lifeblood of EMPYREA. They used the Echo of the goddess soul to empower themselves and their followers, as well as to create powerful magical artifacts, Relics, and Legacies. When the Fall took place, EMPYREA’s cries of anguish and rage corrupted the ECHO of the world, and this source of magical power was lost. The Order plans to one day reclaim the Thorn of Olem, the weapon the Everlasting used to bleed EMPYREa of her power, but they quickly realized that, until they achieve this goal, they would have to draw their magic from elsewhere. Fortunately, they understand that, weak as they may be as individuals, true power lies in unity, in an entire people making sacrifices for the greater good. It was so that the order came to a relatively abundant source of magic, one untainted by the Fall: the souls of the faithful servants of the Everlasting.
The Oathbound Light
Every member of the Order will make oaths of service and loyalty to the Everlasting, to their death and beyond. These oaths are part of an ancient magical pact, developed by the Valcarist Church, and enforced by the will of the Everlasting. Thousands upon thousands of people give a piece of their own souls to the Oathbound Light, a pool of power available for use by a select few. Those who die while in service to the Order are granted the honor of joining the Oathbound Light one final time, giving of themselves entirely. The Oathbound Light can technically be accessed by any person who has been soulbound to it, but in practice, only the Valcarist Priests and some other selected faithful benefit from it.
The magic of the Oathbound Light is one focused on protection and healing, with very few being able to use the Light to harm others. That being said, some have noticed the Word of Valcaris doesn’t explain all aspects of the Light. There are those who are blessed with extremely long lives by the Light, generally higher-ranking members of the Church, while others seem to be cursed with suspiciously shortened life-spans. The fact that those whose lives were cut short tend to be discordant voices, that oppose the status quo or propose changes that would disrupt the greater good, is simply a sign of the displeasure of the Everlasting… Or so the Valcarists swear. That, when the Order calls for a crusade, entire villages perish with no explanation, greatly boosting the Oathbound Light, is a fact that even the faithful discuss in hushed tones.
The miracles the priests of the Valcarist church perform are real for all to see, and many beyond Dynas have pledged their own souls to the Oathbound Light. In more than one way, with each new soul that returns to the fold, the power of the Order and of the Oathbound Light grows.
Story
Order of the Shattered Throne
Before the Order, before the Fall and the Malediction, there was the Astarian Paradux, the the greatest empire the world had ever seen. It had ruled the continent of Selejia and much of the world beyond from its capital city of Osterath. The legends tell that the Astarians possessed power to rival that of the […]
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east
Story
The Everlasting and the Relics
In an age long since past, the Everlasting, divine beings of unfathomable power, descended to the world of Agnar from their celestial realm. First, they created great tools with which to shape reality and anchor the chaotic primordial state of the world into one of their liking. These were the Everlasting Relics. To ensure that their grand vision for the world would come to pass, even in their absence, these gods decided to imbue mortal beings with part of their power and knowledge.
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east
Story
The Fall and the Malediction
In the last years of the Age of Relics, a great alliance arose against the Astarians between all the remaining kingdoms of the world. Osterath was besieged, and the combined might of their enemies, and the betrayal of the Erisyr and Oerikan people, who had joined the empire, proved too much for the great city. […]
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eastThe Seekers
The Malediction holds secrets untold, and only a Seeker may uncover them. Join the ranks of the brave few who dare face death.
Sigrith Andravos
When she asked for a parley, they laughed. When she spoke of peace and surrender, they jeered. After, with their crimson upon her blade, they came to understand. She had never wished for their deaths, but with sadness and grim determination, she took their lives anyway. Many times over, she has tried to show mercy, and each time she failed, for her path has been set, and her faith is absolute.
Auric Evenhand
The hammer strikes, and the red-hot metal bends again. It will become a shield to defend his brothers in arms, or the blades that will slay the savages of Paxos. All beings are like soft metal, waiting to be given a purpose. All except for Auric, for he knows he must be the Hammer that will forge a new path for his people and crush all who stand in the way.
Londriel
Londriel is a rare survivor of the ancient world, the world sundered by the Fall. She remembers little of that time, except that the marvels mortals could accomplish then will forever dwarf the fledgling empires of today. Still, the power of magic blesses the wise and the reckless in equal measure, and she is haunted by the knowledge that prideful fools may bring about a second Fall. She MUST stop them!
