Holy Order

The Holy Order is the name given to the theocratic federation dedicated to the worship of the Holy Dragons. Throughout the Age of Heroes, the Gods used it to loosely administrate their empire, which was held together through common reverence of the Gods, the political genius of the Watchers, and the threat of force in the form of its Legions of Holy Knights.
The Cult dedicated to the worship of King Rao. After the Fall of the Gods Rao used the Holy Order to maintain his grip over the galaxy. However, when he was defeated by Sarada, the Holy Order retreated to Rao’s home planet Ultima and the remaining forces were quickly scattered by SENTINEL. They went into hiding and spent the countless millennia operating as a secret society eagerly awaiting the return of King Rao. When he finally resurfaced with his son Gaia they came to his beck and call. He came back to the Galaxy looking for the Bloodstone, but was unable to find it. He did manage to cow the Oversaran Zanko, who agreed to serve him and rule the Galaxy in order to prevent him from destroying it. 2000 years later Rao was lured back to the Galaxy by Gaia, who he had long thought dead, and the Deathwalk Sihara, who told him not only of the Holy Ghost’s defeat but also of the Bloodstone’s discovery. This time he successfully destroyed Kazan and recovered the Bloodstone on Earth. However, once he returned to Drago, the majority of the Holy Order was wiped out when Cain destroyed the Providence. 
==Pre Cataclysm==
The Holy Order was far more organized in the days before the Cataclysm. To free them from the minutiae of running their galaxy spanning empire, the Gods used a race of green skinned elves known as the Drow as the base for two new races who would perform this task for them. These races were the Gnomes, who would become known as the Watchers, and the Ogres, who would form the Holy Order's Legions of Knights.
In those days the Holy Order ran more like a protection racket, only nominally exerting influence so long as the member states kept up their tithes to the Holy Order. If they failed, the Watchers would show up with their Ogre Knights in tow to make sure that payment resumed. In other cases, they would mediate disputes between those member states who requested it, and would often try to prevent war. However, any state that wished to make war upon its neighbors would often be allowed to do so provided they allocated the Gods their share of the spoils.
They were also responsible for promoting the worship of the Dragon Gods across the Galaxy, planting a powerful cult into any culture they came across and severely punishing those who refused to acknowledge them. They would train new priests in the religion and make periodic inquisitions as to whether the proper forms and rituals were being obeyed. Heresy was punished by invasion by the Knight Legions, or in certain extreme cases the Gods themselves might order the Deathwalks in. Each cult maintained a hierarchy of Priests, the leader of whom would always report to the Watchers themselves. On rare occasions, the Watchers would host a jubilee on one of the main planets of the 4 Kingdoms, gathering priests from all over the Universe where they would meet one of the Gods and affirm their faith.
One particularly fearsome figure in the Pre-Cataclysm Holy Order was the Holy Ghost. His identity was always secret and he would hide his visage under heavy black robes. The duty of the Holy Ghost was to act as a Judge enforcing the Will of the Gods. Unlike the Watchers, the Holy Ghost was always a devout mortal chosen and empowered by the Gods to act in their stead. He would travel the breadth of the empire searching for signs of Heresy and Corruption. The Holy Ghost's authority was absolute, superseding even kings and emperors. He could override any decrees and laws as he saw fit, take command of armies and navies, order or spare people from execution, or even decide the fate of entire worlds. When he found something he believed was against the Gods, he had the authority to call the Deathwalks down on a location, something not even the Watchers had the authority to do.
Following the destruction of the Dragon Pantheon in the battle with Shiva, the Watchers were released from their ingrained loyalty to the Gods by Paradine who begged them to save themselves. Impressed by his courage, they instead stood with him against his mother and managed to stun her buying him the time needed to trap her inside her crystal prison, which would henceforth be known as the Bloodstone. In the aftermath they attempted to hold the Empire together, but found the Ogres would no longer listen to them and decided to form their own empire. In order to keep true to the mission Paradine assigned to them, they created the Order of SENTINEL and managed to unite a confederation of great powers which would become the All Union.
==Post Catalcysm==
The post Cataclysm Holy Order initially operated like a secret cult, with members having infiltrated the leaderships of many of the emerging nations to wait their God's return. They were not disappointed, and when Rao re-emerged he found himself in need of an army with which to go to war with the Watchers over the Bloodstone. He gathered all races loyal to him and granted the leader of each race the title of Holy Warlord. Eventually though Rao was defeated by the sarans, and forced to flee back to Ultima. The Holy Order slinked back into the shadows, with the Holy Warlord becoming the title of the shadow rulers of many powerful states.
When Rao returned millennia later, the sarans managed to manifest another Oversaran to fight him. However, this Oversaran, called Zanko, was not the warrior his predecessor was and he was defeated by Rao. Playing on a fear of death he sensed from Zanko, Rao offered him immortality and the rule of the Galaxy in his stead if he would do his bidding. Zanko agreed, and upon returning to Kazan killed the Saran King and took control of the planet. Rao then bestowed the rank of Holy Ghost on Zanko, making him his representative in Shiva and giving him the authority to bring the Universe under control in the name of the Gods so that Rao himself could retreat to Ultima.
Zanko brought the Holy Order back into the light and made the structure laid down by Rao official. Power would be held much tighter by the Holy Ghost than it had been by the Watchers in the time before the Cataclysm, and all Holy Warlords were forced to acknowledge him as the one true voice of the God King. Under him would be the Holy Council, made up of all the Holy Warlords of the various member states. This council would convene on the planet Akeron, found in the East Kingdom on which Agni's festival was once held. From here, all the Holy Warlords would confer when called to discuss the future direction of the Holy Order. When not on Akeron, they would return to their people to enforce the Holy Ghost's decisions and administrate their states in the name of the God King. Under the Holy Warlords would be countless Holy Priests and ministers.
Whatever government the subject race had on its own, from monarchies to democracies, the local monarchs were completely powerless against the might of the Holy Order, and in many cases the planet's army was absorbed into the reorganized "Black Knight Legions."
Outside the standard structure of the Holy Legions is the Saran Army. Ever since their re-absorption into the Holy Order following Rao's last appearance, the Sarans have served as the Holy Order's Ultimate Weapons. In a Universe where the Great Saran Conquest is fresh in alot of memories, the threat of their deployment is met with absolute terror. Because of their wild nature, the Holy Ghost maintained a tight control over the sarans. He often ruled from Kazan instead of the Holy Order's capital of Akeron. For this reason, the sarans were not allowed to have an Emperor and while there was often a prince of the Sarada Clan as the nominal ruler of Kazan, actual power was held by the Ghost himself.
Another stark difference between the Holy Order before the Cataclysm and after, is that prior to that event the officials of the Holy Order could be marked by their neat white robes. At all levels they would wear these plain robes as a sign of their devotion to the Gods. After the Cataclysm, Rao changed the color to black as a sign of mourning for his lost people.