The Eagles of Urian

The eagles are a noble and beautiful order of holy warriors, rarely being seen in the Felsig and Ernstaft Mountains. They are said wear rough patches of leather and carry greatswords of silver, decked with natural gems and metals that seem to represent the stars. They speak with the song-like voices of birds and are magnificent to behold. Sadly, they are rare, and it is uncommon to see the glorious eagle-riders sweeping down upon an evil foe from the backs of their winged steeds. The eagles stand for the freedom of all people to achieve their potential. They wish to break the locks and gates of the world that obstruct the winds of freedom. They oppose any force, mortal or immortal, that would enslave or imprison the spirit. This often takes them into opposition with infernal forces, particularly devils, but it also leads them to oppose rulers who dominate by fear or other evil methods. This ends up being a wide assortment of foes, as they will oppose lawful evil, chaotic evil, neutral evil, even lawful neutral and chaotic neutral regimes. Any that seek to outlaw the freedom of thought, and certainly any that allow slavery, will be opposed by the eagles.
With so many enemies, is it a wonder they are rare? As the Veikryss Knights roam the ground, looking for the dark scurrying things of the world, Urian's eagles roam the skies. They sally forth looking for evil deeds to set right. In doing this, they must never knowingly commit an act of evil or allow one of the mortal races to be enslaved (imprisonment for crimes does not count). They must never contribute to any plan that forces one viewpoint or way of thinking on a people. This is a fine line—a society that worships dark gods and believes people should have their hands cut off might or might not be overthrown by the eagles of Urian. If the people all believe this is the best way, it would be wrong to force them to stray from their beliefs. Of course, the odds of a whole society willingly cutting off its hands are slim, and the eagles would be quite skeptical of any assertion to the contrary. Eagles of Urian associate with any who are good of heart, though they will not stay long with those who are so convinced of their righteousness that they seek to impose their order on other mortals, or those who are so opposed to order that they tear apart functioning systems and societies in the name of freedom. Those who are openly evil will not find an eagle long in their company.

Joining the Eagles

Becoming a talon is as simple as finding an eyrie lord and asking to join. The eyrie lord examines the prospective eagle and determines, through some strange second sight all eyrie lords have, whether this young person has truly heard the call to take up arms in Urian’s name. The student is then taught the language of the heavens (Agarthan, a dialect of Primordial), given training in weapons, and becomes a paladin. With basic training complete, the eagle is called a talon, addressed as “Eagle’s Talon,” and is sent abroad to learn what she might find under the heavens. Most eagles are neutral good. Talons learn by doing. Just as the winged eagle learns to feed by swooping down and attacking the prey of the fields, the eagles of Urian must learn to oppose evil by fighting it. They wander the world, taking up any mission they can to improve the lives of others. They make friends with those who are good, and bitterly fight those who are evil. They soak up knowledge and skill, until the day they can swear the oath of the eagle, for the paladin’s Sacred Oath class feature.
After a long life of fighting, and winning glory against evil forces, the eagles sworn return to the eyrie to become its protectors. They train and examine new talons who come to the eyrie, oversee the eyrie’s secular affairs, and ride forth in times of greatest need. When such eagles become eyrie lords, they are addressed as “Eagle’s Lord” to acknowledge their past deed.

Deities

• Urian

Divines

• Urian