Elemental knighthood · Defence

Templars

Faith must stand its ground

What this guild is about

Holy knights with elemental magic.

Templars fight with weapons and elemental faith. Their weapons can carry divine energy, their elemental bonds power protective magic, and their later orders specialise in attack, defence or protecting a war party. The order was founded to fight chaos and is now looking for a purpose in ordinary service.

A Templar’s faith has to show in what they do. Faith and elemental knowledge give real protection, but a knight still trains, takes a post and lives with the results of a fight. The order stands for law, justice and protecting others, and paid work now keeps it going, which raises the question of whom it serves. The powers work the same way: protection can postpone an injury without cancelling it, and a harsher judgement can put your own life or standing at risk.

You might feel at home here if…

You want armed combat backed by real protective magic.
You enjoy managing resources and planning for the moment a defence runs out.
You like a knightly order whose ideals meet ordinary duties.

A woman Templar wears armour and holds a sword beside a luminous shield.

Lore & origins

An order looking for a purpose

The Templars were founded as a hierarchical order of holy knights to fight chaos, using elemental learning to protect others and uphold law and justice. Chaos is now thought to be relatively weak, so the order has lost importance and reputation, and paid work fills the gap. Powerful knights guard city gates or clean sewers, and the order has to decide what it protects now.

The Hall of Elements keeps the grandeur of the old mission: white and grey marble around a polished black floor, chapels beyond the pillared walls, and a spiralling stair rising through the dome to the Tower of Ascension. The holy Elica stone belongs to the central dais. Above it, the Library of the Elements holds books, practice targets, statues and an altar, so study, worship and arms practice share one building.

The order’s branches take the ideal in different directions. Archknights specialise in attack and in judging their foes. Avatars try to become vessels of elemental energy, with advanced training of body and mind. Preceptors take a strategic role, protecting a war party with protective and retributive spells. Before any of that, every knight spends time guarding the city.

A grey-white marble temple hall with columns and stairs.

A place in the world

The Hall of Elements, Vaerlon

The marble Hall of Elements opens onto its elemental chapels and rises into the Tower of Ascension, with the Library above it for study and practice. The order is part of Vaerlon’s daily life, and joining it eventually means guarding the city.

Read about the world

Their role in a fight

Weapon, faith and shield.

Templars combine weapon fighting with elemental powers that depend on faith, bonds and supporting skills. Blow of Justice is their signature armed attack, and protective spells help a knight survive heavy pressure. The later orders narrow the role: Archknights attack, Avatars defend and Preceptors protect the party.

A seated Templar transforms a curl of fire into a pale current of air between her open hands. — Channel Elemental Energy transfers strength between elemental bonds.

With a party

A Templar can hold a place in the line while using the powers of their order, and Preceptors train specifically to protect a war party with retributive magic. Protection has conditions and costs, so talk to your party: tell them when a defence is about to end, and plan healing for the damage Shield of Faith only delays.

On your own

Alone, you split your attention between the weapon attack, protective magic and elemental resources. Blow of Justice has a plain mode beside the riskier judgement and sacrifice options. Shield of Faith can get you through a dangerous exchange, but you have to plan for the moment it ends.

Trade-offs

Faith doesn’t make power free. Shield of Faith returns part of the delayed injury when it expires and works half as well without a shield. Judging a more honourable opponent risks punishment, and sacrificing life strengthens a blow at your own expense. Bond strength runs down and recovers, so you manage more than your weapon’s endurance.

Abilities

Signature abilities

Blow of Justice
Weapon and elemental judgement
Fill your weapon with divine elemental energy and strike. You can turn the attack into a judgement that weighs community achievements, or sacrifice life force for a harder blow. Judging someone more honourable than you risks punishment. Weapon skill, faith, elemental focus and your physical and mental abilities all affect the result.
Shield of Faith
Protection with a delayed cost
Protection that reduces injury and can absorb severe blows. Some of the damage it held back returns, reduced, when the spell ends, and you get a warning first. It works half as well without a shield, so your equipment and the timing of your recovery matter as much as the cast.
Elemental Bonds
The strength behind the spells
Each elemental bond is a relationship that powers Templar spells and recovers on its own. Develop the bonds together with your faith and the spells you plan to use.
Channel Elemental Energy
Manage the elemental reserves
Better control of your bonds: their recovery, their capacity and the strength or duration of some spells. You can also move energy from one bond to another, more efficiently with training and piety, when a fight calls for a particular element.

Progression

An initiate’s oath, a knight’s choices.

Initiation leads into the Knightly Order, where you keep learning elemental magic alongside weapons and city service. Later you choose an order: Archknights for offensive judgement, Avatars for elemental defence, Preceptors for protecting the party. Pick the role you want, then train its faith, bonds, combat skills and virtues together, because the big spells depend on all of them.

Read the guild reference Plan a reincarnation