Orders of Arya¶
The orders of Arya, goddess of life and fertility. "The orders of Arya are generally friendly with one another, but have different leaderships and due to their geographical differences, do not have close ties" (S423). Three are named together, the militant Raven Order, the Verdant Order of the cultivated land and the Sylvan Order of the wild; a fourth, the Order of Thorns, is a paladin order under one of her Ascendants; and a fifth, the Knights of the Dragon Lotus, was founded by the Ascendant Inwe. The goddess's clergy, the Raven Keepers and the Blood Cult of Arya are described on her page.
| Order | Character | Sigil | Colours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raven Order | militant | raven | not given |
| Verdant Order | agriculture and the cultivated land | flower | green, white, gold |
| Sylvan Order | wilderness | tree | not given |
| Order of Thorns | militant paladins | dark grey thorn circle on red | red, dark grey, gold |
| Knights of the Dragon Lotus | guardians of dragons | silver lotus with a golden, dragon-shaped centre | not given |
(S423, S040.) The source counts the Raven Order neutral good, the Verdant lawful good and the Sylvan chaotic good (S423).
Raven Order¶
Arya's militant order, under the sign of the raven (S423). In the Age of Magic the Raven Order of Arya was destroyed in Thrace. About a century after the Abiding Mists closed over the land in 1764 MA, "a civil conflict between the nobility of Thrace and the Clergy of Arya began. The nobility won out and the Raven Order of Arya was eliminated at the end of the War of the Raven (1872)" (S372). The war has its place in Age of Magic.
Paladins of the raven appear again among Inwe's companions in her last campaign against the red dragon Vixseranyol. At the Hollantine Hills Massacre, Inwe's dream recalls, "surrounding you are the charred and burning corpses of your fallen allies: priests and priestesses, paladins of the Raven, even the wizard, Severac did not survive" (S031).
Gap
No source reconciles the two: whether the Raven Order was refounded after the War of the Raven, whether Thrace's was only one branch, or whether Inwe's "paladins of the Raven" were a different body.
Verdant Order¶
The order of "agriculture and cultivated" life, under the flower, in green, white and gold (S423). Its principles are brief: "Life is sacred. Life is one part of a cycle. Death is a natural part of that. Interruptions to the natural cycles of life and death are a sacrilege (Undead)" (S423).
Sylvan Order¶
The order of the wilderness, under the sign of the tree (S423). Nothing more is recorded of it.
Order of Thorns¶
A "militant paladin order" whose patroness is the Ascendant Rhamnousia (pronounced Ram-noo-sea-a), "aspect of Reckoning" (S423). It wears red, dark grey and gold, and its sigil is a dark grey thorn circle on a red field. Its principles (S423):
- "Balancer of Life, granting in due proportion what is deserved, taking what is not."
- "Avenger of crime, punisher of hubris before the Gods (Kalari)."
- "Bringer of Retribution and Justice."
| Rank | Title |
|---|---|
| Head of the Order | Grandmaster of Thorns |
| Commander | Master of Thorns |
| Captain | Nemesis Knight |
| Lieutenant | Dusk Knight |
| Knight | Blood Knight |
| Squire | Initiate |
(S423.) The thorn is still borne in the Fifth Age. In Brusau in the Sancturi campaign an "Aryal Squire (Sander)" is a Thorn Knight, and the Bloodthorn Dryad Temeluch is a "Thorn Cleric of Arya (Wilderness + Blood Magic)" (S187).
Knights of the Dragon Lotus¶
Founded by Inwe to guard Severac's great work. When Severac showed her the finished Dracius Cradle, a conduit and amplifier for primal dragon energy that could bring a dragon egg to life without a primal dragon, he admitted it would work for the corrupted dragons too. "Inwe says it's worth the risk, and that she will create an order of Aryic knights to protect it (Knights of the Dragon Lotus, symbol is a silver colored LOTUS with a golden center shaped like dragon), and any developing eggs and dragons" (S040). The Cradle's first test was a platinum dragon egg.
Gap
The Dragon Lotus is known only from that one dream-memory. Its seat, its knights and its fate after Inwe's death are unrecorded, as is whether it guarded the silver and platinum dragons the Cradle later bred (S031).
Earlier accounts¶
The dream of the Hollantine Hills appears word for word in an earlier copy of Inwe's dreams (S071). The War of the Raven passage is the same in both copies of the 2014 compendium (S384, S372).