Templars

Noun and title. Capitalized.
Disciples of the twelve Great Astrals recognized by the Creator Astralian Church of the Arcanaan Empire, these noble souls carry out missions in the name of the Church and their patron astral. Each Templar follows the teachings of a chosen astral, whom they chose to swear an oath to in return for divine power known as invocations. Invoking is done in the form of ritualistic rites, the spoken word, or through a material focus forged specifically for fast invocations (tools that are almost always crafted by the nephilim of Sagus).
The Templars divide themselves organizationally as they do their discipleship. As there are twelve Great Astrals, there are respectively twelve Templar Brotherhoods. Each brotherhood is headquartered at a monastery to its patron astral. Three are located in Arcana: the Temples of Order, Justice, and Perseverance. One of each of the remaining nine can be found in the dukedoms.

Career

Qualifications

Applicants to a Templar Order must meet the following criteria:

• Must be a human
• Must be a disciple of any of the twelve Great Astrals
• Must be and remain in good standing with the Church

Career Progression

Most Templars are of noble birth, but there have been notable exceptions where lower-class citizens have risen to hold the rank of Templar Master. However, never in the history of the twelve brotherhoods has there been a non-noble Grand Master.
A new devotee of a brotherhood, sponsored by a Templar, is bestowed the rank of Templari Aprenti (Templar Apprentice). Aprenti (singular and plural) are responsible for learning their role and duties as a future Templar, caring for the temple to the patron astral, receiving offerings from the faithful, and assisting temple priests with Astralian religious rites. When they are not carrying out duties on behalf of the temple, they are training in the arts of combat with their senior Templars.
After one year in the brotherhood, an Aprenti may undergo the Rite of Permanence, where they are locked in brutal combat against a Templar who is senior to their sponsor. Their skill with a sword is tested to the limit, as is their faith, as their opponent will attempt to break them with taunts, insults, and mind games designed to temper the Aprenti's resolve and devotion. If the Aprenti is seen to waver, they fail the rite and can only try again in half a year's time. If they complete the rite successfully, the Aprenti is allowed to take their oath, which is considered a sacred rite between the Templar-to-be and their patron astral, witnessed and validated only by the brotherhood's Grand Master. The rite is considered sacred as it mainly consists of an oath that the Templar swears to their patron astral, and the oath is to be kept secret.
Following Aprenti, Templars ascend the ranks in the following order:

Templari Élève - Templar Pupil (plural: Élèves)
^{Recently sworn Templars. Élèves undergo a mission given to them by their brotherhood's Grand Master, putting their training to the proof with real-world experience.}
Templari Cheval - Templar Knight (plural: Chevalis)
^{Make up a majority of the Templar rank and file among all twelve brotherhoods. These are full-fledged Templars that may accept missions at will.}
Templari Commandant - Templar Commander (plural: Commandantis)
^{Considered captains within their brotherhood, these veteran Templars command Chevalis and Élèves in the field.}
Templari Mâitre - Templar Master (plural: Mâitris)
^{These Templars have proven dedication to their oath time-and-again, and have distinguished themselves among their brotherhood with honor. They may take requests and petitions from the faithful to draft missions for the other Templars.}
Templari Mâitre n'Maester - Templar Grand Master (plural: Mâitris n'Maester)
^{Leaders of their brotherhoods and the high priests of their patron astral's temple. This position is usually transferred to the next most-senior Master Templar, a rank bestowed by the Grand Master themselves.}
Templari Mâitre n'Virtuoi - Templar Master of Virtue (plural: Mâitris n'Virtuoi)
^{Less of a rank, as it falls outside an individual brotherhood's hierarchy, this is more of an honor that is bestowed by a Grand Master to a Templar Master beneath them that has proven themselves to be a paragon of their patron astral. The proper title depends on the astral to whom the Templar is sworn. If, for instance, the Templar serves Micah, then their n'Virtuoi title would be Templar Master of Humility.}

Payment & Reimbursement

Townships, lords and masters of estates, trade guilds, private citizens... anyone that can afford to put up an offer of imperial lora equal to the task can hire a Templar. The minimum a job can cost is 200Lr. While some may falsely claim a job valued less than that is beneath a Templar's station, the true explanation is that the job's payout does not all go to the Templar carrying out the task. Rather, the Templar only keeps 10Lr of the pay. The rest goes to their temple, where the funds are divided to cover the temple costs, such as recruiting new pupils, maintaining equipment, temple upkeep, feeding temple residents, etc. Quite simply, jobs that pay less than 200Lr are simply not worth the operational cost.
There are some Templars, however, that will perform jobs for little-to-nothing; offering their services as a paragon of virtue wheresoever they go, living off the land, staying at nearby temples, or taking shelter as a guest of their would-be patrons. These Templars are often granted the rare title of Templari Mâitre n'Virtuoi by their grand masters.

Perception

Purpose

The original purpose of the Templars was to act as the military arm of the Astralian Church. Where the Ostia Aterni operate in the shadows, dealing with dissidents and blasphemers, the Templars acted as an organized force of knights that would deploy like an army to wheresoever the Church ordered them. They were often found fighting alongside the imperial Royal Army against Nasirian legions during the Red-Violet War, where their invocation magic proved highly effective against a force that lacked any sort of counter to it.
Following the final battles at the war's close, when hostilities between the Empire and Dominion faded into infrequent skirmishes, it became too costly to keep deploying Templars to the battlefield. Thus, the Church instructed the brotherhoods that fielded the knights to disband them. However, by this point in time, the twelve brotherhoods had become so integral to the internal security of their own regions, that to disband them outright would leave entire imperial countrysides vulnerable to post-war aimless mercenaries and deserters-turned-highwaymen.
The brotherhoods remained in operation after the Red-Violet War, but funded themselves independently, accepting contracts from the people, instead of relying on financial backing from the Church. This initial disconnect from a central authority was minor, but over time, it would grow to show a vast difference between the politically-motivated pontificating of the Church and the more altruistic guidance of brotherhood temples. This revelation was both a thorn in the Church's side, but also a benefit to their control, as the Templars' passivity in modern imperial politics helps keep the peace among the faithful at large.

Social Status

Plenty of Templars are of noble birth already enter their brotherhood with formal training in the arts of war—including swordsmanship, riding, and basic comprehension of battlefield strategy. However, most Templars are not landed nobles, but commoners, middling aristocrats, or illegitimate offspring. Some few come from destitute families with no real lineage to speak of, or have no family to claim as next of kin. With this mix of backgrounds, the modern Templar belongs to a social class of its own, one that has established itself in the last several hundred years as being outside of the imperial peerage system. Aiding this camaraderie, any noble that joins gives up any claim to ranks, titles, and lands. Thus, when they take their secret oath, all new Templars begin at the same starting line.
Having earned their station through rigorous training and discipline, and sacrificing much to devote themselves to their patron astral, a Templar is respected by all imperials as an example of true, selfless nobility. Furthermore, upon donning their cloaks and armor for the first time after completing their training, they are knighted by their grandmaster (still considered to this day as a representative of the Church) and in the sight of the Astrals. Therefore, they are officially recognized as knights and addressed as "Ser", even if they were not granted the rank by an imperator or lord.
Templar pupils still in training are not addressed as Ser; but, as they support their knights, they are considered—and hold equal station to—squires.

Alternative Names

Temple Knights, Astral Knights, Invokers

Demand

In high demand in rural areas where imperial order is weak