Gilded Guard
Towering over their enemies with gleaming gold armor and their iconic spears, the Gilded Guard strike a terrifying visage with their expressionless, masked full helms. The oaths of their members are many, and they are absolute, first and foremost being the order's words, "Honor Through Redemption, Redemption Through Sacrifice." For though few wish to face down the Golden Knights, none envy their station, nor how they came to occupy it.
The Gilded Guard's membership is comprised completely of Mountainborn warriors, specifically exiles from their own tribes and lands. Mountainborn culture strongly emphasizes courage, especially in the face of adversity. Those who let their fears overwhelm and shirk away from danger can no longer be trusted by their kinsmen, and so are cast out and shunned. Most live out the rest of their days as pariahs, dying alone on some windswept crag or in a dark, damp cave, but a select few chose a different path.
The Dragon Blessing Aurillex, in his boundless mercy, has granted these disgraced warriors a means of restoring their honor. They pledge themselves to the Guard, don the golden armor, and pledge to fight for the remainder of their days in service to the Greatwyrm.
Culture
In joining the Guard they must make several oaths: first is to surrender their former lives, including their families and even their identities. Whatever names and claims they had before are erased; they are now Guardsmen, nothing more, nothing less. As a part of this divorce from their former lives, they are prohibited from removing their masked full helms, save in the company of each other in the privacy of their barracks in Goldencrest. The mask is their identity until they die, at which point it is removed and their previous persona restored for lost loved ones to grieve and remember.
Second, they take vows of chastity, humility, and poverty. Guardsmen may gather no wealth, no honors, and sire no children, such are the dreams of civilians, and so are not for them.
Lastly, the Guard carries out the will of their master and no other. Any order given by the Gold Dragon is to be followed without question, regardless of whatever thoughts or feelings their past selves might have had about it when they still existed. Furthermore no other may command them to act, nor desist unless explicity commanded by Aurillex. They do not recognize the positions or titles of other nobles and kingdoms. Likewise they do not have any internal hierarchy or command structure, for they are all brothers of the guard, none is above or below, they are all the same.
It is by upholding these oaths, fighting with courage, and dying with valor that members of the Guard hope to one day reclaim their lost honor. They shall never have it again in this life, but in death it may yet be restored.
Honor Though Redemption., Redemption Through Sacrifice.
Alternative Names
Gold Knights, Knights of Aurillex
Demonym
Guardsmen, Golds, Shineys
Ruling Organization
Location
Related Species
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