Overview
The divine patriarchs are Varnhallow's high-ranking priests, city rulers, administrators, and elite combat mages under Eltaru-Ninsath. They serve Eltaru's divine rule, govern Varnhallow cities, oversee tournaments and trials, guard Eltaru, and fight as Varnhallow's strongest magical force.
Eltaru's tournaments elevate candidates into the office, with the Grand Court in Astralynne as their center. Inside Varnhallow's temporal bubble, the patriarchs number in the hundreds, and most are elevated at young ages.
Varnhallow Authority
Divine patriarchs hold public and military authority across Varnhallow. The highest leader of each city is expected to be a divine patriarch, making the office a civic, priestly, and military rank. City patriarchs include Wilfred in Luminaris, Benedict in Astralem, Kira and later Jin in Lysaraine, and Eira and Kaelion in Halcyra under the titles Lady of Fire and Lord of Cosmos.
Patriarchs wear royal purple robes trimmed in silver and gold. They escort rulers and mission leaders, oversee tournaments, cast barriers, crew skyships, heal, scout, craft, and fight as battlefield mages. Eltaru introduces them to Thalion as administrators and combat mages trained to their peak potential. Varnhallow depends on them for government, defense, and tournament work inside the temporal bubble.
Order and Aftermath
Before its formal founding under Thalion, the Order begins inside Varnhallow as a hidden mission preserved by Eltaru's inner circle. Eira recruits Eltaru into the Order, and Eltaru gives Benedict the task of preserving that mission for Thalion's arrival. Knowledge of the Order remains selective: Eltaru's inner circle understands it through the patriarchs who serve him. City patriarchs outside that circle know little about it.
Thalion's rise begins when he enters Luminaris's succession by posing as a divine patriarch seeking the city's leadership; after Wilfred's removal, Benedict publicly announces him as the divine patriarch of Luminaris under the name Thalion Zenith.
When Varnhallow collapses, surviving patriarchs continue under Thalion and the Order separates from Varnhallow as its own sworn organization. In Rimvold, Thalion declares Benedict patriarch of Rimvold, requires everyone who remains with him to swear loyalty to the Order, and defines its mission as freeing the world from those who seek to rule it and guarding history. From that point, patriarchs serve within the Order's skyship crews, scouting network, battlefield forces, healing teams, and logistics. Benedict becomes the main organizer of patriarch missions and Order logistics. Some patriarchs later live out their final years in rebuilt Jazarel and work on the city's restoration.
Patriarchs and Leaders
- Eltaru-Ninsath: God-king of Varnhallow and ruler served by the patriarchs.
- Benedict: Divine patriarch of Astralem, later patriarch of Rimvold and organizer of patriarch missions.
- Wilfred: Patriarch of Luminaris before Thalion succeeds him.
- Thalion Zenith: Becomes divine patriarch of Luminaris and later commands the surviving patriarchs.
- Kira: Patriarch of Lysaraine whom Thalion trusts as a pilot and patriarch.
- Jin: Succeeds Kira in Lysaraine after she is reassigned.
- Eira and Kaelion: Hold Halcyra's patriarch roles under their Varnhallow titles.
- Zayren and Kazehiro: Accepted into the patriarch ranks through Grand Court tournaments.