Temple Guardians

The Temple Guardians, also known as the **Varak Jal**, or *‘The Blessed Bearers of Consecrated Iron’* in old Darnassian, are the mighty warrior force of the Shal’dari and the largest militant order who worship at the altar of Mara'ghal

Initially formed as a small guardian force of bound daemons as part of the heretic Dark Cult of Elune, as the order spiraled out of control and eventually formed into the Cult of the Dark Mother, the total number of demonic forces under the control of the cult skyrocketed. As birth rates increased over time, the growing number of restless aggression building in those who did not slake their thirsts in mortal entwinement were given discipline and training. And in this discipline were these demons given purpose to carry out the mission of their master, Greatmother Lucaerna.

As the number of warriors grew, so did the need to manage them in direct operational control, and thus over time new hierarchical structures sprouted up and formed into a cohesive if fairly flat structure that serves the will of their goddess. While their primary mission is the invasion of Legion Worlds and the destruction of perceived threats to Lucaerna’s person, their duties have grown to encompass defense of corrupted or conquered towns, and other more directly confrontational purposes.

## Organization and Practices

From the ground level up, the values of the cult are instilled into these warriors. Burned into their brain of each loyal zealot are the promises of endless life, eternal gratification, and the eventual transformation into a being worthy of the heaven on earth that is promised. To do so, the legions are inculcated with the virtues of sacrifice, passion, hatred of all demons outside of the cult, faith, and promulgation. Each demon, woman, and man within the Varak Jal knows full well that life must follow death, and that in the wake of destruction comes rebirth. Unlike the demons of the Burning Legion, the warriors of the Cult take care to savage only what is needed; mortals can be re-educated and demons can be bound into service. Nothing should go to waste.

Upon initiation into the ranks of a War Host, each incoming member will be permitted time to meditate on the nature of their duty. During the ritual, they will be inscribed with the Mark of the Mother, and will be assigned a partner. These partnerships will last for the rest of their lives. Some end up romantic, some do not. These warriors pairings watch each other’s back, work in unison in battle, and conduct their daily duties together. At the end of their initiation, each pairing of warriors goes before their patron Broodmother, and undergoes a soulbinding ritual to ensure their compliance to The Presence of the Greatmother and to ensure the rebirth of their soul. For in death, their souls return to the Broodmother to gestate anew, to be born again into the world once more, their knowledge and experience remaining intact even as their body ages anew.

Should a pair of warriors die separately, the living member of the pair will return to the Broodmother, and serve as a member of the Mother’s protective detail and ensure their safety. Upon the rebirth of their partner it is them who will ensure their retraining and acclimatization flows smoothly and their new body is properly conditioned and strengthened.

Warriors of the Varek Jal generally do not possess many of the cult mutations which facilitate their development into broodmaidens. But should they have perform well in the field of battle, and find favour with their Goddess, individual warriors will find that the marks of faith appear on their bodies, changing and altering their form. As these warriors fall pregnant, they are permitted to fight until they are no longer able to do so, or if too the number of children they bear would be too great a risk to lose.

Members of the Order who can no longer fulfill frontline duties due to temporary injury or developed pregnancy are moved to second or third line roles; mop up operations following the front line, defend officials or secured ground, assisting in rituals of the sorcerer complement, or other such duties which will take them out of the direct line of fire. Sorcerers are permitted to carry on in their duties regardless of encumbrance or inhibition. The paired warrior of the limited duty warrior is also placed on the same duty until frontline efforts can resume.

## Structure

The structure of the Varak Jal is as follows

### Overall Command

Mala’xhara the Warder

* Mala’xhara, a firstborn daughter to the Greatmother, overall strategist and foremost warrior of the Varak Jal.

### Command Echelon

**Advisory Council**

Matron Protector Mal'Haleah (Shivarra)

* Overall ground force coordinator

Matron Protector Irrii (Eredar)

* Overall magical support coordinator

Broodmatron Milesia (Sayaad Broodmaiden)

* Oversees and manages the health and status of pregnant Varak Jal as well as the battle healers and regenerators.

**Discipline Masters**

Lord Bathalmas
Line Discipline Cadre

* Ensures that daemons don’t fight each other.

Sorcerers discipline Cadre

* Ensures no scheming

Brood Control Cadre

* Ensures that breeding doesn’t go overboard

Lady Bilha

* Chaplaincy

**Warmothers**

* Groups of Broodmothers who coordinate multiple warhosts through telepathic control

### Host and Covenant Echelon

**War Hosts**

War Hosts consist of roughly 10,000 demons.

**Coryphaus (Warhost Leader)**

**Dark Apostle**

**Subservient Chaplains and Acolytes.**

**Annunake (Patron Broodmother)**

* Each Warhost gives patronage to a Broodmother hailed as an Annunake, which means Blessed Judge in old Darnassian. Typically selected from the ranks of the more experienced mothers for the potential of sudden influx of newborn. When the Warhost is conducting routine operations through portals based off of the Temple, the mother stays in place. During extended operations, the Broodmother shall be moved and the first action will be to construct a fortified place to house the Mother. If the Broodmother dies, no members of the host shall be reborn. It is the Annunake who is the avatar of the Greatmother and who great worship and respect is paid to, even if they are not fully lucid at all times, their bodies out of their control.

**Vahl’Maracht; The Anointed**

* Typically the oldest and most battle capable warriors. Frequently composed of Felguard, Man’ari Eredar, and brutish demons who have slain countless numbers of warriors. Elevated above their peers, these warriors are given specially forged and enchanted weapons and armor tailored to the fighting style of the warrior. While many warriors may meet the criteria for entry into the anointed by martial skill, it is true fanaticism and zeal which will see final elevation. Groups hundreds strong of Val’Maracht accompany every Warhost and often serve as the personal bodyguards of Cult Apostles.

**Gal’Vorbach; The Blessed**

* The Gal’Vorbach are comprised of those select few demonesses and even fewer mortals who have received multiple blessings and curses of the cult and managed to retain their faculties as well as the self control. Through that discipline they have restrained themselves from engaging in their baser instincts brought on by the changes wrought by these blessings and take their place among the Broodmaidens. The result of this are phenomenally powerful warriors with incredible sorcerous powers who stand at the apex of the Shal’dari’s might. Each Warhost will have roughly 20 of these beings assigned throughout the Warhost at the Convocation level.

**Sorcerer Congregation**

* The Sorcerers Enclave embeds magical support into the War Hosts. Each Host typically includes about 300 attached sorcerers of varying strengths assigned at the Congregation level.

**Discipline Cohort**

* Line
* Sorcerer
* Brood

**Warrior Clades**

* Warhost (legion) > Clade (macroclade) > Convocation (cohort) > Congregation (maniple) > Pleiades (squads).

Each Clade consists of 12 total convocations, a sacred number.
Each Clade consists of 424 warriors. Each warhost had 24 Clades, for a total of about 10,000 demons give or take 200. Clade 1 is a double strength clade with a higher allotment of Gal’Vorbach and Vahl’Maracht. Clades 20 to 24 are comprised of second and third line units. A Clade is comprised of four Convocations, and each convocation is broken down into three congregations.  A typical congregation is a combined arms battle arrangement. The first convocation is made up of the longest serving warriors with the most experience. Broken down, the first congregation is comprised of battle line warriors. The second congregation will consist of units of mounted riders. The third is made up of varying numbers of Vahl’Maracht, typically one unit of shocktroop warriors.

The first congregation will consist of six units (informally known as Pleiades) with each Pleiade being made up of 10 bonded pairs of warriors. For a total of sixty total warriors.

The second congregation will consist of three units of mounted riders. The first two will consist of 10 riders each mounted upon aerial beasts such as Felbats, Harpies, or other such creatures. The third will consist of twenty ground mounted cavalry, typically mounted on Felstalkers, Felsteeds, or other such beasts.

The third congregation consists of 6 Vahl’Maracht elite shocktroopers.

## Specialized Attachments

At various levels, other militant orders of the cult can be attached.

At the **Clade** **level**, the following additional assets may be called in.

* Portal Construction and Dimension Gate assets
* Deployment of Infernal resources.
* Bulk teleportation assets.
* Bound/ensnared Greater Demons such as Pit Lords and Doom Lords.
* Formations of the Dark Brethren
* Mo’arg Engineer Groups

At the **Convocational leve**l, the following assets may be called in;

* Sorcerer formations
* Chaplains and apostle formations
* Battle Regenerators Encampments
* Satyr Assassins
* Dark Brethren Kill-Squads
* Gal’Vorbach warriors
* Higher Demons such as Doomguards, Felguard assemblies, or other shocktroopers.
* Mo’arg Engineer Support

At the **Congregational level**, the following assets may be called in

* Individual Dark Brethren
* Sorcerer groups
* Chaplains
* Battlemaidens
* War-Clerics and regenerators