The Paladins of the Light

Paladin mosaic in the Zuurith archives depicting the light dragon, the dark dragon, and the Twins

### Notable Members

Young monster slayer
Theia
Huracan

The Paladins of the Light are a cult that follows the belief of two warring dragons that are locked in eternal battle. The light dragon, also known as the Lady of the Paladins, who the Paladins align themselves with, is the nemesis of the dark dragon who causes monster attacks and eclipses.

Paladins can be found all over, including in the cities presided over by other city gods, and often assist in monster attacks, going out of their way to rid villages of cave crawlers and the like. They've also been used as guards for hire when people are too scared to traverse the spaces between cities alone.

The Paladins are known for being able to shape light and use it as a weapon or a tool, and they can also telepathically communicate with other Paladins. The prevailing theory as to why this is possible is that the sustained belief in a fictional god created a real one that granted their followers these powers.

## Belief

The Paladins belief stems from an old Ancients belief that two dragons, a Light one and a Dark one, created The Twins and the world, empty as it was. They worshipped the Light and Dark dragons equally as the two had an equal hand in their creation. After the Dark Dragon turned on the Ancients, Huracan, the last surviving priestess of the old ways, taught to her new human and elven students to worship the Light Dragon and do their best to thwart the Dark Dragon's plans.

In the world of academia outside the Paladins, the idea of the dark dragon is accepted but it is thought to have perished in its battles with the other six Primordials. People outside of the Paladins do not believe the Light Dragon ever existed and if it does exist now, that it must be a god created by the sustained belief of the Paladin Order.

## Inner Workings

Paladins can come from any race, young or ancient, and it does not seem to have an effect on their abilities, furthermore, mages can become paladins as well. While mages and younger races can become paladins without incident, it is still a rare sight just because of the numbers.

When someone first joins the Paladins, they do not have the powers fully-fledged Paladins do. New members tend to work in low level placements such as cleaning, cooking, organizing archives (ex. The Junior Archivist), and maintaining weapons and armour. While they work their low level jobs, they are trained in combat by higher ranking members.

After approximately one year, if the new member is still interested and they haven't done something erroneously wrong, they'll be given the opportunity to be initiated into the Order. The initiation itself is a process that isn't fully understood or known about outside of the Paladins, but many report being able to hear the Light Dragon as part of the initiation is connecting to her for the first time. After this first connection abilities begin to develop, usually low level hard-light manipulation and low level telepathy

If a member decides to leave the Paladins post-initiation, their connection with the Light Dragon will fade but some claim it never truly vanishes.

## History

###### Prismatic Dragons

Prismatic dragons were historically used and worshipped by the Paladins but have since gone extinct. The so called 'beginning of the end' for prismatic dragons began after a prismatic dragon was allegedly possessed by the dark dragon and destroyed the Lazuli temple. The story goes that when the dark dragon possessed the prismatic dragon, the light dragon also possessed another prismatic dragon to fight him.

How they went extinct is unclear but it is theorized something may have purposefully eliminated them. Dragon types are decided by what conditions the egg experienced before it hatched, therefore, theoretically it is impossible for a dragon type to go extinct, unfortunately, only the Paladins seem to know the conditions an egg had to be subjected to to produce a prismatic dragon, and they have stopped creating them.

## Important Places

###### The Zuurith Archives

The Paladins' archives are in Zuurith, who, despite not liking that they don't obey his orders, likes that they respect his authority, and has granted them allowance for the building provided they assist the guards occasionally.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 What does paladin telepathy consist of?... (tumblr.com)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Do the paladins accept mages in their inner circles?... (tumblr.com)
3. ↑ Hey Red, since only the elder races... (tumblr.com)
4. ↑ How does one become a Paladin?... (tumblr.com)
5. ↑ Are prismatic dragons an actual... (tumblr.com)
6. ↑ Page 1.14.18 (comicaurora.com)
7. ↑ It was mentioned before that what kind... (tumblr.com)
8. ↑ And what conditions are required to... (tumblr.com)
9. ↑ Do we know why the paladins stopped... (tumblr.com)
10. ↑ So Zuurith condoned a cult being behind his walls... (tumblr.com)