The Divine Alliance¶
The Divine Alliance is a council faction of Proturas in 834 AL, in the Fifth Age: "a fanatical religious group which worships the Divine and her pantheon", "originally enemies of Proturas and part of the remaining Sancturi Empire", "absorbed when the southern lands were overrun" (S078). They are the heirs of the Divine Alliance kingdoms, founded in the north by refugees of the Unholy Flight from fallen Sanctorum, which for generations hunted Kalari, spellcasters and the people of the Grotto, until the Araxians destroyed them and drove their survivors into the city they had tried to find.
Also called: the Alliance (S104, S107).
In Proturas¶
| Areas of influence: | The Stairs and the South Bank |
| Leadership: | a Prophetess |
| Military units: | "Angels, Runecasters, Runeblades, Divine Zealots, Priests of the Divine, Alliance Irregulars" |
| Symbol: | "White uprising cupped hands around a white star on a red background" |
(S078)
"While not wealthy, they make up for this deficiency with zeal. Many of their conscripts offer service for minimal pay" (S078). The faction notes add that "despite being relatively poor compared to the other factions, they are able to maintain their forces almost exclusively due to zealotry ... (In truth much of it due to Fel-touched influence)" (S078). The Alliance holds two seats on the Proturan Council (S040, S041). The Stairs, which it controls, is a county "lorded over by High Priestess Yumarra Eigalhorn, Countess of Southstep", and holds the Alliance's Hall of the Divine (S104).
Relations¶
"The Divine Alliance and Children of the Light despise one another. The Children of the Light threatened to leave Proturas in protest when they were admitted." The Alliance is aligned with the Aegis of Lorsythe. The Marlezai "have mixed relations with the Divine Alliance and see relations with them as a necessary evil" (S078).
The Unholy Flight¶
The Alliance's founding legend (S078):
Quote
The great exodus was led by two High Precepts from the Houses of Sidcarnon & Barahd, along with the Principate of the Sages. In the last days of the Sancturi Empire, when the empress had been slain and the great city of Sanctorum overrun, they organized an exodus, taking the Sanctoric Cartus / Elysium's Gate (their sacred text) with them to keep it safe. After brutal fighting, some of it against the other Sancturi who saw them as deserters who should ascend to Elysium with the Empress, they made their way north with a caravan of refugees and founded the kingdoms of the Divine Alliance.
The kingdoms were three; only Lorsythe is named. "After purchasing their refuge with all their belongings and in some cases their own freedom, they were a broken and destitute people. For their sins (of blasphemy and desertion), both High Precepts were executed and their corpses (skeletons) remain on display in the Divine Temple. Most followers of the Divine attribute their difficult circumstances as divine punishment for this original sin." The Principate of the Sages "revealed that the Divine had left the earth and that the Empress would only return after the races were worthy of her again and the earth had been purified of abominations. From that day, they have been ruled by a Prophet/Prophetess who communicates the will of the Divine" (S078). The sacred text is described on Elysium's Gate.
The Divine Alliance kingdoms¶
Before their fall the kingdoms of the Alliance were Proturas's enemies. "The Kingdom of Lorsythe is part of the Divine Alliance, a group of nations devoted to the worship of the Divine and the eradication of evil in all its forms (most notably the Riven and Sancturi Gods, Magic-Users, Dragons, Demons, Fae and Rift-folk)"; in Lorsythe "blasphemy is a cardinal sin punishable by death" (S004). "Forces from the Divine Alliance are constantly searching for the location of Proturus", but the tunnels they found "were swiftly destroyed" (S002, S009), and the Uk'Zarai of the city were "hunted at every turn by the peoples of the Divine Alliance" (S009). Across the Alliance the coins were silver "temples", stamped with a temple and the symbol of the Divine, and gold "wings", stamped with an angel (S004).
Lorsythe's growing orthodoxy, and its trade rivalry with Proturas, brought on the Lorsythian War, in which "Kalari and Spellcasters were declared pagans and Uk'Zerai as heretics". In the Second Araxian War relations were normalized and Proturas took in refugees; when Lorsythe fell "within two years" and Droburg two years after, "refugees from the two kingdoms were absorbed by Proturas" (S107). The refugees entered the Proturan Federation as "The Alliance (northern refugees)" (S107). The wars are told on the Rift Period and Second Araxian War pages.
Aegis of Lorsythe¶
"Originally enemies of Proturas, they were absorbed when their homeland was overrun." The Aegis rules "much of the South Bank Slums area of Proturas" under a Duke, unnamed, with "various Irregular forces". "Although not as zealous as members of the Divine Alliance, they share worship of the same pantheon" (S078). Lorsythe is "the poorest faction, but quite numerous", not represented on the council but holding minor-member status and "able to maintain some independence" (S078).
Templars of the Divine¶
The older note on the Grotto counts, beside "Members of the Divine Alliance (refugees from the northern kingdoms including Lorsythe)", a separate faction: the "Templars of the Divine (militant order separate from the old northern kingdoms)" (S026).
Gap
The Templars appear only in that list. Their leaders, numbers and relation to the later Alliance are not recorded.
Divine Order of Lorsythe¶
The Divine Order keeps the Baegor Monastery in the Baegor Chain of the Rift, "constructed during the early development of the Kingdom of Lorsythe" and flourishing "up until Lorsythe's destruction. It remains in use by the Divine Order, although it's population of monks is much diminished" (S066). The Proturan Knights of the Steel Cross are "a Baegor quick-reaction force" described on the Proturan Military page.
Lorsythian Army¶
The army of the kingdom of Lorsythe fought "Bandits, Grotto-folk, Boreal Elves and creatures of the Rift", and its soldiers were sent "to hunt and kill or arrest small thieving parties from the Grotto" (S004). A Proturan ranger of the southern border "has personally slain many humans serving in the Lorsythian Army", and every season the Lorsythians returned "with soldiers and miners intent upon re-opening the old passage" to the city (S002). Its officers wore fur-lined iron scale and carried a heater shield painted with "the Golden Lion of Lorsythe" (S004). After the fall of Lorsythe some of its soldiers ended as slaves in Proturas, such as "a former captain of Lorsythe (sword & shield), owned by the Warlock Eliron" (S073).
Gap
The names of the other two Alliance kingdoms, the present Prophetess, and the Duke of the Aegis are not recorded.