Shining Crusade

The Shining Crusade

The Shining Crusade is an ancient organization that pre-dates the start of the Infernal War. Feandoril the God Talker became the leader of the Shining Crusade in the middle of the Infernal War and made significant changes to the mostly ceremonial organization that allowed the Crusade to become a powerful military force and a crucial weapon in the fight against the Devils. The Shining Crusade is pledged to defend mortals and remain steadfast in the face of unyielding evil. The Crusade pays homage to all of the major good gods (Bahamut, Corellon Larethan, Ehlonna, Garl Glittergold, Heironeous, Kord, Iled, Moradin, Pelor, Sekolah, and Yondalla), but their primary god is Pelor, the god of light.
Compared to the other major organizations, they are in general more centralized, and tend to work out of centers of operation located in major towns.

Orders

The Shining Crusade is divided into Orders, which are further subdivided into Priories. A Sergeant or higher of the Shining Crusade joins to either an Order as a whole, or a specific Priory.

The Duskwatch Order

The Duskwatch focus on monitoring and responding to any extraplanar evil activity in the world.

• The Priory of the Twilight Outriders serves as the messengers of the Duskwatch, alerting first responders and anyone in danger of an identified threat.
• The Priory of Truthlight roots out evil wherever it might lurk, the Priory used to be made up of magical inquisitors, but with the removal of magic it looks for detectives and others with a high sense motive.
• The Priory of the Dawnstrikers are the first responders of the Shining Crusade; highly effective and highly mobile, this Priory consists of some of the finest and fasted mounted warriors on the continent.

The Order of Hope

The Order of Hope knows that while supernatural evil is always a threat, the evil of humans is far more widespread, and can be just as dangerous. They focus on keeping peace between mortals and saving the body and souls of whoever they can.

• The Priory of the Healing Light focuses on providing medical assistance to whomever needs it, preventing and alleviating the suffering of mortals in the face of disaster. The Healing Light consists of Combat Medics, Doctors, and other medical professionals.
• The Priory of the Faith consists of theological experts that spread the gods of the crusade. Often trained in all rites and rituals of the gods, while they proselytize they can also be alert for the signs of any cults or worship of evil entities.
• The Priory of the Shield is aware that the Shining Crusade is not for everyone, but some will still need protection from the evil that acts against them. The Priory of the Shield serves as bodyguards to high value targets, regardless of alignment, if their death would strengthen evil’s foothold in the world. Of course, if they are protecting a target with a questionable alignment, the target can probably expect quite a few lectures.

The Order of the Searing Light

The Order of the Searing Light is the most straightforward order; during the infernal war these were the bulk of the Shining Crusade’s military forces. The Searing Light is still home to some of the most powerful warriors on the continent.

• The Priory of the Sword consists of those with a more martial approach to combat. These are the front-line fighters of the Shining Crusade, commanders of men, and defenders of the realm.
• The Priory of the Staff consisted of magi and offensive clerics before their magic was ripped away. Now a mostly defunct Priory, the knights and saints of the priory mostly assist the other groups in their organization with their intelligence, wisdom, and/or charisma.
• The Priory of the Eclipse is not one that the Shining Crusade likes to discuss too much. Home to more chaotic members than any other sector of the Shining Crusade, the Priory of the Eclipse were highly mobile, often stealthy, strike teams against high value targets. Functionally, these were the hidden hand of the Shining Crusade. According to them, honor is secondary to getting the task done.

Ranks

The shining crusade is further organized by rank

• Squire - Adolescents not yet of age, often in service to a Knight or higher ranking member of the Crusade, these youths are often scions of knights or other Crusaders.
• Companion-at-Arms - Squires that have come of age are given the option to become full members of the Shining Crusade; during their time as a Companion, the Crusader is expected to select his Order or Priory; for Squires, this is a transitory period, usually only few months. For newcomers that wish to join the crusade, this is a longer period, often a year or two, where they are observed and instructed.
• Sergeant- After a brief probationary period after joining their Priory or Order, a Companion-At-Arms becomes a Sergeant of his Priory. This generally occurs after a few months of training and instruction; a vast majority of lower level Crusaders are Sergeants
  • Sergeant Elucidical - Teachers of the Shining Crusade, squires that are undergoing a more formal training (such as in Elvaron) often are taught by these Crusaders. These members also educate those that wish to join the Crusade after entering adulthood
  • Sergeant Logistical - Logistical support to the Crusade, ranging from secretaries and message runners to medics.
  • Sergeant Bellucal - Grunts, functionally; these are your low level fighters and other combat oriented Crusaders that have not distinguished themselves in meaningful ways.
• Sergeant Major - Sergeants who demonstrate leadership potential are promoted to Sergeant Majors, who oversee the activities of other Sergeants of their category.
• Knight (“Ser” or “Lady”) - A Sergeant who has distinguished themselves in some way in service to the Crusade is granted the title of Knight. The positions these knights fill can be anything from quartermaster to cavalry to treasurer or chancellor.
• Knight Lieutenant - Knights who have further distinguished themselves, trusted with higher duties or responsibilities, they don’t have their own group to command, but usually have a dedicated purpose or function.
• (75) Knight Commander - Knight Commanders are the equivalent of Sergeant Majors to other Knights. These honorable men and women are command a handful of knights under them. There are 5 Knight Commander positions in each Priory, and an additional 10 for each overall Order. A Knight Commander (and anyone ranked higher) leave their position either by death, retirement, or promotion.
• (27) Prior (“Saint”) - Often a promoted Knight Commander or Knight Lieutenant, there are three Priors to each priory; they help to oversee the Priory as a whole, and usually represent the best of the Priory.
• (15) Master - The equivalent to a Prior for an Order. There are five Masters per Order.
• (9) Grand Prior - The head of a Priory is ultimately responsible for the direction of the knights of the priory; it is a merit based position selected by the Grand Master of the Order (usually from one of the three remaining Priors).
• (3) Grand Master - The equivalent to a Grand Prior for an Order, it is a merit based position selected by the Solas Mortalus (again, usually from one of the five Masters).
• (1) Sword of the Sun - The Sword of the Sun is the third in command of the Shining Crusade, selected by a council of the Grand Priors and Grand Masters.
• (1) Shield of the Sun - The Shield of the Sun is the second in command of the Shining Crusade, selected by the Solas Mortalus.
• (1) Solas Mortalus - “The Radiant” is the absolute leader of the Shining Crusade. The leader of the Shining Crusade is selected by clerics of each god using a special version of the Commune spell. The respective deities are asked who should be the next Solas Mortalus and they select whoever has been nominated by the most gods, usually a Knight Commander or higher ranking member of the crusade (in the case of a tie, the Grand Masters and Priors select from the tie). Feandoril was the first in the history of the Crusade to be selected by all 11 gods of the Crusade despite having never been a member of the Crusade.