Aethyrian Dragon House: the Oathkeepers
A large and supremely powerful noble House of white-scaled Aethyrian dragons, dedicated full to the Celestial Faith. Extremely religious, and involved both with keeping the Faith as Aethyr's only religion (to the eradication of all other belief systems) and seeing to the alignment of all dragons to the dedication of both Athlryion and Auryelia. Its estate is located in Aethyr's Heartlands - in the center of the capital city of Aethyra. They are currently the largest of all Aethyrian Houses in number, ranging around four to five hundred, scattered across the globe.
The Oathkeepers are an esteemed House of white dragons that lead the Celestial Faith and are behind the militaristic Celestial Order. While white isn’t exclusive entirely to the Oathkeepers’ bloodline, they are viewed as ‘god-touched’ and push this belief to an extreme. They are aggressive in that they think all of Aethyr should ascribe to one faith, and actively hunt down those who herald other belief systems - including those that only worship one of the Celestial Gods.
The Oathkeepers are accepting of any element and any alignment, so long as the dragon - whether blood related or not - is fully dedicated to the Celestial Faith. They fear little retribution, especially among noble Houses, even though they grudgingly answer to the Elder Keepers and their Council. Those with the whitest scales are considered most pure, and members of the mainline will almost always carry all of the traits.
Though largely unknown to its present-day members, the Oathkeepers' presence in Aethyr's history is built upon lies. They were once known as the Lightbringers, favored by Auryelia - their scales painted white - as a reward for their service against the corruption of the Great Serpent. For a while, they were closer to Aethera than the to-be Celestial Faith, viewing dark dragons with wariness if not disgust. A lord of their family, arrogant and cruel, decided to rewrite history; he founded the Celestial Faith, wrote their tenets, but made it so that the newly-renamed Oathkeepers were servants blessed by both gods, for their service in the war against the Cult of Scales.
As such, he pushed for the thought that all elements were equal, and that the god-touched would guide them into purity and light - that their power was of the gods, and the Oathkeepers was a beacon of balance, a mixing of both Aether and Nether, that would dictate how the world ought to act. The 'oath' these dragons apparently swore to the gods was to uphold absolute balance and dedication to only the Celestial Faith and no other. To believe otherwise is blasphemy.
(In reality, Auryelia just gave them white scales because of a token 'thank you' and that's it; no oath was sworn, no special powers given. 'I paint you white because Aether is white and Aether is me and I like you and I can.')
All Oathkeeper Aethyrians within the House must exhibit one or more of these distinct traits. If they don't have these, they aren't an Oathkeeper!
- (COMMON) pure white base color; thought of as touched by the Celestial Gods of Aethyr themselves; this is a trademark of their bloodline
- (COMMON) intricate, looping elemental markings of their element color, often with 'hollow' spaces in them that show the white
- (COMMON) 'edged' wing web and plates (either in the element's marking color or a tertiary color)
- (UNCOMMON) intricate horns that may have loops, spurs, holes, plates and other adornments, if not multiple sets of them
- (UNCOMMON) intricate tail adornments
- (UNCOMMON) a twin row of spines, frills or feathers down the back
- (RARE) frill-webbed wing adornments
- (MAINLINE) spiked 'sun' or 'moon' markings, especially on the wings
While most of these will line up with Aethyr's Celestial Faith, there are some omissions and some that are different. All have smaller descriptions than what's on site. Read on!
Grand Divine: often called 'Lord/Lady (name), the Grand Divine. Always gifted with the Sight. Resides within the Celestial Chantry.
Celestial Heir: Firstborn son or daughter of the Grand Divine and next in line to take over leadership of the House. If the firstborn does not have the Sight, it will fall on the next dragon of the mainline who does.
Divines: Generally leaders of Celestial Temples, but can be unattached. Almost always have the Sight.
High Priests: Leaders beneath the Divines, the High Priests can be found in any city's Celestial temples.
High Templar: Leader of the Templars and of the Celestial Order; answer only to the Grand Divine. Does not have the Sight, and is always military-bred with strong magic and a strong element.
Templars: Members of the Celestial Order, elite peacekeepers and guardians who both guard the temples and sanctuaries and patrol the land, enforcing the Celestial Faith wherever they may go.
Sentinels: Members of the Celestial Order, guardians and watchers of the borders between kingdoms.
House Members
Lord Cyrus, the Grand Divine and patriarch of the Oathkeeper House, is an older Aethyrian dragon who has led his family for many a year, and heralded the Celestial Faith for just as long. He is fully convinced of the Faith’s rightness, and believes other religions are a stain upon Aethyr, a symptom of the corrupting influence of the Great Serpent.
He is blind, but a Seer, only having viewed the world through his infrequent visions. This is a difficult thing for him, as he has always wished to see the sun in all its glory with his own eyes, but that his vision was sacrificed for the good of the world. He is easily irritated, somewhat distrustful, and thinks little of certain elements or outsiders. However, equality in the face of his personal beliefs is very important to him, and he will push feelings of distaste down for the ‘greater good’ nine times out of ten.
Divine Kyras Oathkeeper is a Sanguian dragoness known well across the Sundered Coastlands and beyond. Mistress of the Church of the Bloody Divine in Coagulazia, she is an older Oathkeeper just cresting over 600 years well known for her sharp conviction to the Celestial Faith as well as her ruthless condemnation of not those ignorant to the faith but those who refuse the faith. It is not a crime to be ignorant, but to stay ignorant, and she eagerly plays judge, jury, and executioner.
She is a strong Seer, and her visions came to her when she was young, barely under a century, and with them her body became wracked and twisted from the strength and fervor of her wild, uncontrolled visions. Scales shifted and broke, sprouting curling horns that spike out from her body erratically. Overtime she mastered her visions and grew into a mighty and terrifying Oathkeeper, however she kept these cruel and twisting horns, only adding to her terrible persona.
TBA!
TBA!
A Templar whose dream was to be a high priest as a hatchling, but settled for rising the ranks and be the best Templar she can for her leader. She loves her faith despite being the only faith she grew up around/in, and holds Lord Cyrus in the highest regard and would happily protect him with her life. She’s not well known in the ranks, mostly keeping to herself and focused on whatever task is in front of her. She wants to feel useful, and tends to help around whenever she can.
