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The Celestial Sentinel Order is a Knightly Order that is different when compared to other Knightly Orders, in that it is not native to Regalia, but made by the Lanlath Elves in their own enclaves, and eventually recognized in the Regalian Empire. The order is primarily occupied with fighting the ruinous designs of the Void Gods, to directly counteract their plots and their priests and minions, and to fight the agents of the Void itself, whether that be Spirits, Arken or those seeking pacts with Demons. While the Celestial Sentinels and the Aelrrigan Order are allies in a similar fight, the Aelrrigans focus more on the crimes of (magical) mortals and their wrongdoings. The Celestials primarily investigate the designs of greater immortal powers and counteract them directly and indirectly by both preventing their objectives and diminishing the power of the agents of these powers. The secondary work of the Celestial Sentinels is to encourage moderation in faith and fanaticism, specifically aimed toward Estelley Faith. Having been established to guard against the violent ideology of Cemaan within the Estelley faith, the Celestial Sentinels protect the sacred groves that Reliquary Knights do not pay attention to, but also chastise and obstruct any fanatics who use the gospel of their gods to cause chaos and suffering, while also acting as unofficial justice dealers in the eyes of Leyon and Ëlana.

The Senleya Order, uniquely, is not native to Regalia. Founded by the Lanlath Elves in their enclaves and eventually recognized within Regalia, it is primarily occupied with fighting the ruinous ambitions of the Void Gods by opposing their plots, priests, and minions. All forces of the Void, including its Spirits, Arken, and those pacted to or serving it, are their enemies. Besides this, the Senleya also fight radical parts of the Estelley faith while also protecting it as a whole. Guarding the sacred groves that other Knights cannot protect, they chastise Estelley worshipers who stoop to using their gospel as an excuse for chaos and suffering, trying to keep the justice of their Gods Leyon and Ëlana.

Design

Celestial Sentinels, sometimes called Celestials or Sentinels for short, bring the aesthetic of angelic warriors to Roleplay with higher-ranked Knights of the Order manifesting wings and gaining flight. Celestial Sentinels are heavily geared towards the Estelley Religion, particularly the erudite moon god Leyon, and the vigilant sun goddess Ëlana. The former incorporates themes of the moon, knowledge, foresight, and silver, while the latter incorporates themes of the sun, purity, fortitude, and gold. The Celestial Sentinel Order is exclusive to Elves of any Race, they must however be Estelley worshipers. The majority of the Celestial Sentinels are however Lanlath Elves, as the Knight Order was established by them.

Senleya is the Elven word for "sentinel." The Senleya have an angelic aesthetic, their stronger Knights manifesting feathered wings and smiting with the power of their divine patrons. They are heavily geared towards the Estelley religion, mostly the wise moon god Leyon and the fierce sun goddess Ëlana. Any Estelley-worshiping Elf can serve as a Senleya, but the vast majority of the Order are Lanlath. It is steeped in their history and built around their culture.

Why Play a Knight

Knighthood is a great way for even new players to get involved in pre-existing groups and activities. It is hard for new players to find a group to roleplay with, Knighthood membership guarantees some familiarity and the possibility to get involved in the roleplay of others without too much effort. Knight groups usually organize their own internal social roleplay, and Knights are generally well-received by the wider player base. Knighthood also grants a unique ranking system where players can set goals for themselves and work towards them. Knight roleplay does require some reading, however, because Knights have to follow a Knight's Code or risk expulsion. Celestial Sentinel Knighthood in particular is recommended for players trying to invest in Lanlath roleplay, or be part of a wider Estelley worship community both as protectors and police force, as well as opposition against the conspiring Void Gods. Sentinel Knighthood perfectly pairs with aesthetics of angels and D&D Aasimar, as well as the general esthetic of demigods (even though they are not).

Knighthood is a good way to get involved in pre-existing groups and activities. Since it guarantees roleplay, a group, and a reason to log on, it is appealing for everyone from new players to veterans. Knight groups organize their own internal social roleplay and are usually well-received by the playerbase as pleasant spaces. Knighthood also grants a unique ranking system for Characters to progress up the ladder of their Order and gain privileges for honesty and effectiveness in their Code. Knight roleplay requires reading, however, as Knight characters must follow their Codes or risk expulsion. Senleya Knighthood is recommended for players who are invested in Elven lore and want a guardian role among Elven players, or are interested in fighting Void interests from a non-Purist, non-Unionist angle. Their aesthetics pair well with D&D Aasimar and general angelic references.

Knights Code

Common Knights Code

All Knights of all Orders are beholden to this Knights Code.

1. Loyalty to the Emperor of Regalia, and the Regalian State is required.
2. Knights are disallowed from attacking unarmed or defenseless people.
3. Knights are disallowed from degrading themselves or their Order.
4. Knights are allowed to enforce Regalian Law, but must abide by it.
5. Knights may not lie, or deceive, but needn't always say everything.
6. Knights are expected to give alms to the poor and protect the weak.

Specific Order Code

The following Knights Code applies only to the Celestial Sentinels.

1. Celestial Sentinels must seek out the designs of Void Gods and Void Arken and combat them.
2. Celestial Sentinels must keep tabs on Void worshipers and priests and contain their plots.
3. Celestial Sentinels must keep tabs on Void Arkenborn and prevent their temptation to evil.
4. Celestial Sentinels must save Vampire Thralls and Blood Thralls and bring them to the light.
5. Celestial Sentinels must police and administer the Rite and Laws of Loa to Deathwatch Elves.
6. Celestial Sentinels must protect Estelley Groves and Mana Trees with their lives.
7. Celestial Sentinels must encourage temperance and turning away from Estelley fanaticism.

Rite and Laws of Loa

The Rite and Laws of Loa concerns two parts of the same cultural tradition, the Rite (turning) of the living to the Deathwatch Elves, and the Law (preserving of duty) that the Deathwatch have to the living. The Rite of Loa involves the ritual killing of an Elven Estelley Faithful in the Estelley Temple during a religious rite that converts them into a Deathwatch Undead, and then bind them by Loa's law to the protection of a specific person or family. This Undead is then bound for all eternity to protect the name and family of their charge, or risk violating the Laws of Loa. Celestial Sentinels are meant to keep an eye on the Deathwatch Elves and ensure they uphold their duty and do not start living a life away from their obligation, or worse, become Deathrotten or betray their task. In such cases, the Celestial Sentinels hunt down and put an end to Loa's traitors. Deathwatch Undead are Legal in Regalia only under the extremely strict watch of the Celestial Sentinels.

Nuance of Fanaticism

The duty of Celestial Sentinels to guard against fanaticism among the Estelley Faithful is a bit more nuanced than just preaching against war, slavery, and Cemaan. Cemaan's message is not any more violent and destructive than that of any other Estelley God: Loa's death-bringing and Leyon's apathy to the suffering of the world over the acquisition of knowledge and skill can cause just as much misery. Replace with: Even a god considered benevolent like Leyon causes problems through his apathy to the suffering of the world in favor of his pursuit of knowledge. Cemaan's message however is often used as an excuse to do things (or not do things), and therein lies the duty of the Celestial Sentinels: not to imply that worship of specific deities makes one more liable to do evil, but that using religion as a justification to do evil is the great sin itself. Short of using violence themselves, the Celestial Sentinels keep watch over the Estelley faithful to contain the excesses of fanaticism through diplomacy and tact, avoiding the sword until the very last. Celestial Sentinels will avoid raising arms against fellow Estelley worshipers until no other option remains. Replace with: The Senleya contain Estelley fanaticism and violence through their words until no option remains. The sword is a last resort.

Structure

The Celestial Sentinel Order has a hierarchical structure that defines ranks within the Order:

• The High Hierophant (NPC) is the highest leader of the Celestial Sentinel Order.
• The Valley Council (NPC) are the elders and instructors and teachers of the Order.
• The Alyaan Sentinels (Player) are the highest attainable rank of Knight of high prestige and esteem.
• The Sinaï Sentinels (Player) are a well respected and Knight with great sway in the Order.
• The Celvel Sentinels (Player) are the esteemed warriors sent on difficult tasks for the Order.
• The Sunel Sentinels (Player) are the formal rank of Knights who get sent on missions.
• The Lomaan Sentinels (Player) are the lowest rank of just-graduated Knight in the Order.
• The Squires (Player) are pre-graduation. Recommended for trying out, with less obligations.

Privileges

Privileges are a set of unlockable rewards that can be attained each time a Knight ranks up. The rank up process is evaluated by Lore Staff based on a combination of: adherence to the lore, adherence to the knight's code, activity, consistent character portrayal, good engagement and in some of the higher ranks, leadership. When a rank up is granted, players may choose one of these privileges (each only once) to apply to that rank up, ensuring that the appropriate reward is granted for each milestone. Being expelled from the Order causes the loss of all Privileges, and in some cases, Privileges may also be revoked if a Character is punished by the order for misdeeds, or disciplined by staff for Server Rule breaking.

• Privilege 1 The Knight in question gains Persuasion Dice Rolls at /dice Wisdom+Faith (see Abilities Page for more information).
• Privilege 2 The Knight in question is granted a rent-free Knight's Estate in the Knight Quarter with Staff decoration.
• Privilege 3 The Knight in question is Sun blessed or Moon blessed, gaining Elytra Flight out of Combat and Angel Aesthetics.
• Privilege 4 The Knight in question gains access to the Moon-Vaults to source knowledge from the ancient Allorn Empire.
• Privilege 5 The Knight in question receives an Artifact designed for their Character that cannot be taken from them.

History

The Celestial Sentinel Order was established, many millennia before the first Viridians were Knighted in Regalia, when the Lanlath Elves were expelled from the Allorn Empire due to their crime of temperance and pacifism. As the Lanlath were expelled to their Twilight Valleys, a small choir within their society insisted that blind ignorance to the ruin that could follow them into their paradise realms, would cause the same moral demise as had happened in the Allorn Empire. The Celestial Sentinel Order as such is intrinsically linked with the history of the Lanlath, and acted also as the official police force of the Lanlath within their own realms as they had no formal armies. While some contact remained between the Allorn Empire and the Lanlath as both sides had a vested interest in keeping up to date about each other's magical developments, most Valleys were closed to outsiders, and as such, the Sentinels rarely crossed outside of their enclosed environments and were by modern standards, nothing more than a somewhat bettery equipped militia. Their armor and symbolism is consistent with the standards of today, but they lacked the formal military training that would make them formidable warriors on the battlefield such as they are in the modern day.

The history of the Celestial Sentinel Order becomes more pressing in the last 500 or so years of the Allorn Empire, leading up to Cataclysm. While all events transpired in the Allorn Empire with the Gods growing ever more silent, the Yanar Vanguard being ignored, and various sub-groups of Elves splitting off, the Lanlath predicted disaster. They had perhaps not predicted the Cataclysm itself, for such an event was too horrific even for the Lanlath to predict, but they certainly suspected a violent collapse of the Allorn Empire if not at the very least a splintering of warring states and factions. This immediate concern caused discord among the Twilight Valleys, who spent many years contemplating and discussing their course of action. Eventually an agreement was met, that the Lanlath would venture into the most violent and wretched places of Ailor dominions, seek out the strongest of warriors and most skilled of swordsmen, and offer them a bargain: safety for them and their family in the Twilight Valleys paradise and their progeny, in exchange for military training of the Celestial sentinels. It was as such that around 400 BC, the Celestial Sentinels became an actual force worth reckoning with, as Ailor instructors taught them how to wield their weapons and battle tactics. Many of the descendants of these instructors still live in the Twilight Valleys, a rare occurrence of outsiders being allowed to live in esteemed and respectful conditions in what are normally Lanlath ethno-communities.

The Lanlath prediction would come true 4 centuries later, which some might say was a long time and a large margin of error for their prediction, but was actually merely a lifetime in Elven terms. The rapid onset of the Void Invasion did not leave the Lanlath untouched, some of the Twilight Valleys were utterly destroyed as they were anchored in geographic locations where the Void Invasion occured, and the horror of the savagery of the Void denizens shocked Lanlath society and the Celestial Sentinels alike. While they were proficient warriors, the Order was completely blind to the outside world, and often unaware of impending doom before the Spirits started pouring through their magical gateways that acted like honey pots for buzzing bees. The Twilight Valleys that survived quickly called for an end to self-isolation and apathy to the world outside of their pristine communities. It marks the date immediately after Cataclysm, that the Celestial Sentinels reached out into the wider world, using the time when Void Magic and the Void Gods were at their weakest, to start their watch against their ruinous plots and schemes.

As time passed, natural alliances formed with the Aelrrigan and Viridian Order (which early on was aimed more at fighting Vampires and protecting Regalia). With waves of migration of Lanlath to Regalia, emboldened by a newfound sense of interest in the world outside of their secluded Valley realms, the Celestial Sentinels became a common presence in the Regalia's borders, so much so that the Lanlath representatives sought out the Emperor of Regalia, and bargained official recognition of their Order within Regalia's borders. This in turn further accelerated Lanlath migration into the Regalian Empire, and even the establishment of an all-new Twilight Valley in the north of Solleria, where the population had become an Elven melting pot. The Celestial Sentinels were spared the mage-hate of the middle centuries, as their Aelrrigan allies were hunted down, largely because their order did not much use Magic, favoring the blade. In the modern day, the Celestial Sentinels while technically a foreign Knight Order (as the Lanlath Valleys are not a nation state part of the Regalian Empire), is considered a powerful domestic force, with the Knights well respected at the Imperial Court and even extended to enforce Law in the Empire by the Emperor's will. The Celestial Sentinels have several chapterhouses across the Regalian Empire where future Sentinels are induced, having recently opened their doors even to non-Lanlath Sentinels (with the caveat that they fit within the behavior expectations of the ethereal and pensive Lanlath that is).

Trivia

• The fact that the Celestial Sentinels show parallels with Breizh folklore winged divine messengers, that has not been lost to the Breizh people. The Celestial Sentinels have always avoided the subject, leading to some conspiracy theories among the Breizh that the Weard were actually Celestial Sentinels who assisted Elen with the protection of the Breizh people from the mysterious entity called The Midnight.
• The Celestial Sentinels are often described as Poet Knights, due to the poetic and almost religious chants and songs of praise they hymn or battle-cry while engaged in their duties, calling upon the blessings of the moon god and the sun goddess, or promising justice and a return to the light for all things wrapped in darkness and suffering.
• Celestial Sentinels are forbidden from holding religious or political office, as it is believed that these occupations interfere with their objective judgement, and encourage temerity and ego in their representation of the wills of Leyon.