[REQ] Beyond the Terran Gate

In the beginning, there were four knights. Champions of the realm, warriors of unparalleled strength and virtue, whose might had seen the Eternal Emperor ascend to his throne. Once their objective had been completed, there was a schism. Each of the knights believed that they knew how best to safeguard Arcadia’s future. One knight argued that the most important task was to protect their burgeoning nation from external threats. Another felt that the paramount mission would be to quell internal strife, to prevent Arcadia from tearing itself apart, as Rome had. The third believed that the objective of highest importance was to aid the peoples of other nations, who would surely have more need of their strength than Arcadia itself. The fourth was concerned simply with the safety of the Eternal Emperor himself, and the execution of his will.

Each knight argued their perspective for days, but no consensus was reached. In the end, the Emperor himself intervened, to propose a compromise. Instead of each knight uniting behind one of their individual ideals, they would all form knightly orders of their own. Each found this an agreeable solution. So were born the Knights of Arcadia, and their four factions. The Vigilant Order. The Stalwart Order. The Itinerant Order. The Adamant Order. Though their ideals may be different, their virtues remain the same, and their devotion to the core tenets of the Empire is unmatched. Truth without compromise. Thought without error. All things for the betterment of the whole.

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In the modern era, each of the four orders has evolved, to suit a specific role. For the Vigilant Order, which was founded by the knight who believed the best way to protect Arcadia was to defend against foes outside of its borders, their role is that of the Empire’s armed forces.

Naturally, the ideal of attaining knighthood is not attainable by most members of the Arcadian military. The rank-and-file troops are just that- soldiers. But the most elite warriors, whose prowess in battle is matched only by their dedication to the cause, are Vigilant Knights. Furthermore, the command structure of the Arcadian military consists of a roughly even split between civilian administrators and former Vigilant Knights, who take leadership positions should they choose to retire from active duty.

In years past, the Vigilant Order was more active, both fending off external incursions, and occasionally perpetrating them, when the Emperor decides that Arcadia’s neighbors need to be reminded of its strength. Once the five Great Powers had firmly established their dominance, however, the Vigilant Knights began to see less and less action. While the Great Powers are ultimately in tension, that conflict has never escalated beyond mere skirmishes. Despite their general tendency towards xenophobia, the Vigilant Knights are not inherently belligerent. Many begin that way, but those who attain full knighthood learn the virtue of patience. They view the coming conflict as inevitable, but know better than to seek to hasten it. Their founding discipline is vigilance, and seeking to turn a cold war hot would display exactly the opposite.

In Arcadian culture, the Vigilant Order is highly valued, but has perhaps the least direct interaction with society. Vigilant Knights are on active duty at all times, typically defending the Arcadian border, or manning far-flung outposts. When their service ends, they typically take positions in the command hierarchy of the armed forces. That is, if they don’t die- something Vigilant Knights have a habit of doing, even in the current time of peace. This is not to say that they are foolhardy, but to give one’s life in service of the cause is the highest honor a member of the Vigilant Order can attain, and when the opportunity presents itself, few hesitate.

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Unlike the other nations of Terra, the Empire of Arcadia does not have a police force, as such. Instead, it has the Stalwart Order. These knights are highly trained, and charged with executing their ancient duty with perfect precision and grace. That duty- to ensure peace within Arcadia’s borders. However, despite their martial prowess, the Stalwart Knights do not employ violence in any but the most extreme situations. Instead, they seek to find solutions to all of Arcadia’s woes, which satisfy as many people as possible.

While knights of the Stalwart Order are tasked with preventing and punishing crime, the order’s purview has expanded vastly since its inception. The vast majority of members of the order are not knights themselves, and operate in an administrative capacity. This includes the judicial and legal system, which enforces the laws laid down by Parliament, but does not fall directly under their authority, as well as social services of all sorts. For example, a concerned citizen might place a call to the branch of the order that deals with the protection of children, and report what they believe to be an instance of abuse in their neighborhood. A care worker would then be dispatched to assess the situation, and if necessary, a Stalwart Knight to apprehend the offending parent. Then, the branches of the order concerned with trial and sentencing would determine his guilt and ultimate fate, in accordance with the law of the land.

Arcadia’s actual crime rates are astonishingly low, but a persistent criminal element does exist in the underbelly of Arcadian society. This is the primary focus of the Stalwart Knights themselves, who view the protection of the people as the paramount goal, followed by the social cohesion of society. However, this does not mean that the Stalwart Knights are determined to enforce the laws as they are written in every circumstance. Their primary purpose is to do what is best for the citizenry, not what the Parliament says. If a Stalwart Knight feels that their duty supersedes the law, they may take it up with the order’s governing body, and if a consensus cannot be reached there, with the Emperor himself. As a result, public perception of the Stalwart Order is generally positive. Officers who violate the order’s core values are often harshly disciplined, and if the nature of their offense is great enough, jailed.

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As originally conceived, the Itinerant Order would have no centralized governance of any sort. Each Itinerant Knight would venture out into the world, armed with their ideals, and seek to help the inhabitants of other nations in any way they could. As the geopolitical order began to solidify, this quickly became untenable. Numerous international incidents were caused by members of the Itinerant Order coming into conflict with local law, when it conflicted with their values. Acting with typical decisiveness, the Eternal Emperor made a decision. The Itinerant Order would be brought under his authority, and turned into a foreign aid group.

With government supervision and a budget, the Itinerant Order began again. Though many chafed against the new restrictions, most found that it was possible to live up to their ideals without causing quite as much havoc. They gave food to the starving, helped resettle refugees after crises, and even stepped in personally to secure peace in sectarian conflicts. However, in recent years, many young Itinerant Knights have begun to return to the old ways, venturing out into the other nations of the world, believing that the most good they could do was on an individual level, not a collective one. Some felt that this was in conflict with the Empire’s core tenets, but the Emperor himself did not forbid these new Itinerants from their journeys. Their actions were ultimately for the betterment of all, even if they chose to seek that end alone.

These Itinerant Knights tend to disguise their presence in other nations, seeking to avoid the appearance of being Imperial agents, and settle into communities they feel require their aid. From rural towns in Abya Yala beset by fierce winter storms, to African cities where the local police operate with impunity, they help those who need helping, with little thought to their own needs. If they are discovered, they are often ejected, but more often, the community comes together to hide their true nature from the authorities, believing that they are not an Arcadian spy, but an individual who cares more about them than their own government. For his part, the Eternal Emperor has stated his support for the actions of the Itinerants, but that he has no control over what they do, and stressed that they do not report back to his government in any capacity. Needless to say, this has caused more than a few diplomatic disagreements.

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There have only ever been, at most, two members of the Adamant Order. When one member reaches a certain age, another begins gestation, cloned from the image of the order’s founder, Sophia Leonis Unus. The older Adamant Knight trains the younger, until she is ready to assume her duties. If she does not give her life in service of the Emperor, the Adamant Knight may then retire, allowing her younger counterpart to take her place.

Considering the Emperor’s immortality, the Adamant Knight’s function as a bodyguard is largely ceremonial. Their true purpose is to act as an extension of the Emperor’s will. This is evident, among other things, in their role as an executioner. Capital punishment in Arcadia has always been sentenced by the Emperor alone, and only for the most heinous of criminals, for whom there is no hope of rehabilitation, and in instances where the only way to truly protect the world from an individual is to slay them. This punishment has been administered exclusively by the Adamant Knight herself, using the sword known as Conviction, which is bound to her soul, passed from Adamant to Adamant across ten generations.

Even this role as executioner is now largely ceremonial, as there are few executions in modern Arcadia. However, the Adamant Knight is far from purposeless. She exists to act as the Emperor’s hand, for tasks that require someone he can trust fully, both not to betray him, and not to fail. Obviously, the Knight is not suited to every task, but rarely is it that a month passes without at least one where Leonis can shine. Her indestructible skin makes her the ideal bodyguard not just for the Emperor, but for anyone who he deems worthy of such protection, from foreign dignitaries to his own diplomatic envoys. When a mad mutant with uncontrollable powers must be subdued, and the Stalwarts are unable to see the job through, the Adamant Knight is there. When a mysterious gate appears in the Arctic, the Adamant Knight is who they send to investigate it.

Over the many lives of the Adamant Knights, they have written their own code, each passing on the wisdom of their own time in the Emperor’s service to the ones who will succeed them. The Adamant Order is not one that any citizen can aspire to join, but Leonis is nevertheless a figure of inspiration to many Arcadians, and a celebrity in her own right. Most Adamants have not reveled in this fame, but few reject it outright either, hoping to inspire the citizenry to follow her example of total dedication to the Emperor and his cause.

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The central tenet of the Fallen Order is ‘Money and power through homicide.’ Originally founded by disillusioned members of the original four, this fifth order rejects the ideals of Arcadian society entirely, and embraces a violent nihilism that seeks the ascendancy of the individual at the expense of the collective. Fallen Knights kill for profit, for strength, and for fun. Since their inception, they have attracted many from the ordinary citizenry, though their most powerful members are former Stalwarts, Vigilants, and Itinerants. No Adamant has yet been seduced by their madness, but those at the highest levels of the Fallen Order consider the corruption of an Adamant to represent their final victory.

The Fallen Knights obey no law, not even ones imposed by their own order. No criteria exists to become a Fallen Knight- you may simply declare yourself one. However, if a more powerful Fallen decides to slay you for it, there is similarly nothing to prevent him from doing so. Those who reign atop the loose hierarchy of the Fallen Order do so through strength alone. If you are strong enough to slay one, you automatically take his place- painting a target on your back for anyone who might want that seat for themselves. The current ‘leaders’ of the Fallen Order have not changed for fifty years, which should present some idea of the level of their power- and the depths of their cunning.

Some have attempted to categorize the Fallen Order, and describe two distinct sects. One is primarily concerned with material wealth, and operates the majority of the Arcadian underworld. While ordinary criminals handle nonviolent crime like illicit gambling, the Fallen Knights seek direct accumulation, by robbing banks, extorting the rich, and so on. The other sect cares only for violence, and kills for personal satisfaction, or to accelerate the decline of Arcadian society. However, the two sects are interrelated, as the more psychotic often provide muscle for the greedier, and the greedier pay tribute to the more psychotic in exchange for being allowed to live. This arrangement allows the Fallen Knights to exist without tearing each other apart entirely- though they do a great deal of that as well.

Fallen Knights are responsible for the majority of Stalwart deaths, while the Stalwarts themselves consider the eradication of the Fallen Order to be their ultimate goal as an order. The Adamant is often tasked with assisting them, particularly when it comes to eliminating an especially strong Fallen. In turn, they do their best to kill her, and have even succeeded once, though the Fallen Knight responsible found out firsthand what the consequences of killing the Eternal Emperor’s right-hand woman were. His vengeance was glacial in its patience.