Luminous Fellowship

We are the Bringers of Light,
We are the Heralds of Civilisation,
We are the Knights of Zahra,
and by her shine, we are enlightened.
~ Mantra of Illumination

Originating from the light-saved, ruin-city of Nholybabh the Luminous Fellowship is a powerful religious order of Eddali ruin dwellers that was formed thanks to heroic action of a particular Celestial Child known today as Zahra, the Illuminous.
Typically for an organization founded and primarily composed of Eddali, the practices, and customs of the Fellowship often possess a notable streak of bestial brutality and simpleminded barbarity, which unsurprisingly violently clashes with the noble and "enlightened" image the order's members have of it and themselves.
Yet while the Fellowships definition of morality and chivalrous behavior might be up for debate, the combat prowess of its members most certainly is not.
As in addition to their bestial fury and religious zealotry, the Fellowship's members also wield mighty light-infused armors and armaments granted to them by Zahra's actions during her last and brightest hour, which ensured that the Fellowship could establish itself as a major player within the south-eastern region of Cenorad.

Structure

Four is the number of the revered past and five is the number of the illuminated present.
So Nine shall be the number that leads us into the brightest future.
~ Zacrala, 6th Tetrach of Light

Tetrachy of Light

Standing at the very top of the Fellowship's hierarchy the Tetrarchy of Light serves as the organization's ruling council and overall highest authority in both worldly and religious matters.
Despite its name, it is composed of a total of 9 individuals known as the "Bearers of Light", which is the result of a hard-fought compromise that was made in order to harmonize Nholybabh's historically four-ruler-based system with the fact that Zahra's name is made up of five letters.

Enlightened Paladinesses

Clad in shimmering armors and wielding glistening blades forged from the infused ore found deep within the Golden Chasm, the Enlightened Paladinesses serve as the enforcer, priestess, and advisors of the Tetrarchy.
Out of all members of the Fellowship, they best embody the discrepancy between the way the organization sees itself and the way it acts.
For while Paladinesses are described as gentle and benevolent by other Zahranites, those that had the misfortune of encountering them in combat...and somehow lived to tell their tale would instead describe them as rabid beasts whose bestial savagery has become supercharged by their religious fanaticism.

Shining Knights

Making up the bulk of the Fellowships members the Shining Knights received their name from the highly polished armors they wear.
The reason behind their peculiar choice of dress is the fact that to the Zahranites there is little difference between being "bright" in the sense of being smart and "bright" in the sense of simply glowing like an oversized firefly.
So even though their armors don't glow by themselves like the ones worn by the Paladinesses, their reflective properties still make them overall "brighter" individuals.

Dim Servants

Located at the bottom of the Fellowship's hierarchy the so-called Dim Servants are members of other species that "converted" to the worship of the Illuminous One and now serve as the faithful aides of the Fellowship's Knights and Paladinesses.
Yet unlike many other servants and slaves within other Eddali packs, the Dim Servants are not only treated rather well by the Eddali but actually have the possibility of rising through the ranks of the organization all the way into the ranks of the Tetrarchy, which is likely based on the fact that Zahrah herself wasn't an Eddali but a Finoh.

Divine Origins

While the Fellowship initially was little more than a small group of Eddali that were united bed their shared admiration of Zahra, over time this "Fanclub" gradually evolved into a proper religious organization by drawing inspiration from the numerous ancient military brotherhoods, whose story was depicted on numerous frescos and inscriptions all over the ruins of Nholybabh.
Following Zahra's slaying of Mount Nhatas during its eruption, the Fellowship then graduated from being a tolerated parallel society and completely fused with the wider society of the Eddali pack inhabiting Nholybabh, just like Zahra's sword had fused itself with the bedrock of the split vulcano.

Light makes Right

Theme Song

Type

Religious, Holy Order

Alternative Names

Lightbringers, Illuminati

Demonym

Zahranites

Deities

• Zahra, the Illuminous

Law of Light

Like other Eddali packs, the Fellowship possess a so-called "Creed of Civilisation", which is a set of rules and tradition that forms the very core of its culture and governs the way in which its members are supposed to act in order to count as "civilised" beings.
In the case of the Fellowship this creed -known as the Glinting Book- is composed of numerous customs taken from Nholybabh former inhabitants which have been mixed together with numerous actual, paraphrased, and completely made-up words of wisdom spoken by Zahra during her lifetime.
Due to this, the rules written within the Glinting Book often appear rather bizarre or nonsensically, yet due to being considered as the written words of Zahra, the members of the Fellowship nevertheless faithfully obey them without question.

Zahra says you shall only call Nholybabh your "home".
Zahra says you shall not wear rings on your left hand...unless they are stylish.
Zahra says her food is not to be touched.
Zahra says the light is her gift, so sunbading is mandatory.
~Excerpt from the Glinting Book

by geralt

On the First Day

Due to the fact that the Zahranites belive that Zahra never died during her fight against the volcano, they also refuse to entertain the possibility that the sun -which they see as a representation of HER light- could ever do something as humiliating as "falling" from the sky.
Because of this, they regard each day merely as a part of a singular, everlasting day, with the nights in between merely being seen as particular bad cases of overclouding.

Unbroken, unbeaten and unconquered.
Her gaze forever illumates the majesty of the Sun's Day.