Sun's Shield

A military unit linked to the Church of Seyr

Culture

Members of this order were drawn from a variety of backgrounds. Some were soldiers or sellswords, others were spellcasters and clerics. Anyone who wanted to join could as long as they met two criteria:

1. That they shared the same ideals as followers of Seyr (if they were linked to the Church of Seyr this was a bonus).
2. That they be able to aid in combat whether through blade, spell, or healing.

Public Agenda

The Sun's Shield was devoted to protecting people from the forces of darkness on behalf of the Church of Seyr. Unlike regular temple guards this unit took an aggressive approach to protection. It's raids of cultist sanctums and necromantic workshops were well publisised.

Assets

The order were supported by the Church of Seyr but were expected to be self-financing. Agreements were drawn up with the rulers of various lands allowing the Sunnies to seize whatever goods an evil-doer had with them at the time of a raid.

Despite concerns about giving authority to a religious group the rulers of some regions found this preferable to needing to hire random mercenaries to deal with threats.

The seized goods were assessed for potential danger by members of the order and Seyrian clerics. Anything dangerous was taken by the church to be disposed of but anything else could be sold or used. Initially this did cause some problems, such as jobs involving less affluent threats being ignored, but these were overcome by the Seyrian church taking a more active role in overseeing operations.
Aside from being used to pay it's members the gold obtained from selling seized goods was reinvested in the groups training and used to subsidise operations which resulted in a loss.

Shadow Maze

One of the key training facilties built by the Sun's Shield was the Shadow Maze. Built about half a glass' walk to the west of Nacht this complex had a variety of terrain and buildings which could be used for training exercises.

Several of the buildings had movable walls allowing the layout to be changed, while others had illusionary effects to replicate different types of buildings or even underground tunnels. Illusions and summoning magic were used to create foes to be fought, allowing the members of the order to try out different tactics and get used to working together.

Late in the third age a gnome illusionist named Tarn Amakir snuck into the Shadow Maze and modified some of the illusions causing untold chaos and request for Tarn to be arrested.

The Sun's Shield also allowed others to make use of the Shadow Maze, though they charged hansomely for it. It was a popular choice for the 23^rd Scout regiment based near Relun.

History

The order was founded in the third age as a way of providing a reliable mercenary service. The Church of Seyr vetted the mercenaries and paid recompense when things went wrong making it popular with those who had suffered from mercenaries breaking their contracts. While it barely broke even, enough people were benefiting from the existence of these church approved mercenaries to make it worthwhile for the church to keep it running.
The nature of the order changed when the Seyrians uncovered a cabal of necromancers in southwest Laiqua. An assault by regular soldiers had been disasterous so the Seyrians decided to bring together the members of the Sun's Shield. This proved hugely expensive for them as they had to refund the fees to those who had hired the mercenaries for other jobs.
The Sun's Shield was successful in wiping out the necromancers and their minions and the leaders of the Seyrian church realised that they a truly potent force at their command. In order to prevent a repeat of the outlay required to bring together the mercenariers the church changed the nature of the group so that they were now recognised as a militant order. This didn't make much a difference to the members as they were still getting jobs as they did before, but it gave the church more flexibility in how they were used.
The Sun's Shield expanded beyond Laiqua with chapter across Kaara. They weren't welcome in every region, but their widely shared accomplishments (thanks to careful sponsoring of several bards) made them popular with the average person.

Light Conquers All

Type

Religious, Other

Training Level

Professional

Veterancy Level

Experienced

Parent Organization

Church of Seyr

Location

Nacht

Notable Members

• Tinuven Shadoweyes

No Return

While the Sun's Shield was successful in it's day there have been no attempts to rebuild it since the second years of darkness. This is partially due to other organisations taking on some it's former tasks, but also because of the betrayal by one of it's members.
Tinuven Shadoweyes was a member of the order a little before the second years of darkness, but he used forbidden tomes in leading the people of Nacht to form contracts with fiends in order to fight the demon horde.

Competitive allies

Sun's Shield

60

Order of the Shield

60

While having largely the same goals, these two militant orders had very doctrines. Each was determined to prove that their approach for recruiting, managing combatants, and ways of fighting was superior. Even when assigned to help each other, members of the two orders would compete over how much they contributed to the success of a mission