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This post mostly consists of some background I've dreamt up in order to use for Council of Thieves. I'm planning on playing a paladin in the campaign, and I was looking for a way that I could conceivably worship Aroden without having to deal with the pesky 'being dead' thing. I figure being a paladin of no specific deity, but revering Aroden first and foremost works. Anyway, the background! Critique and questions are welcomed; I'm hoping that they will help me to refine my ideas.
The Order of the Winged Eye was formed in 4303 AR, as an organisation of knights and warriors intending to bring succour to the weak and aid to the needy through force of arms and deeds of heroism. Their founder, a scion of House Jeggare, granted the Order deeds of land so that they would never be forced to sell their services or take actions for reasons other than the noblest of intentions.
Though their mandate sounded unrealistic and overly ambitious, strict recruiting practices and generally small numbers of members succeeded in maintaining the integrity and the honor of the Order for over three hundred years. The Order stood firm as a bastion of goodness and truth, no matter the temperament of the Empire as a whole. At its height, the Order consisted of a little over two hundred souls sworn to the service of righteousness. At the time of the death of Aroden, casualties and membership fluctuation saw the Order on the wane, but it still consisted of over one hundred swords. The Order contained no clerics*, and so while the death of the deity they held as their patron shocked them, it did not prevent them from trying to uphold the ideals of the deceased god.
In the thirty years after the death of Aroden, the Order was a beacon of hope in a dark time. Electing to remain uninvolved in the conflict between the noble houses of Cheliax, the Order devoted itself to protecting the common people from the excesses of the anarchy which resulted. This time was one of the Order's greatest and most selfless triumphs, but it was also to be the end of them. With the ascendancy of House Thrune to the throne of Cheliax, the Order became an annoyance at best, and a thorn in the side of the Empire at worst. Their lands were stripped from them, their funds were seized, and the members were informed that should they interfere with any member of the Chelaxian Empire in the future, a swift execution would be the most they could hope for. Since then, the Order has been in a steady decline.
By 4709 AR, The Order of the Winged Eye consists of less than twenty souls, and has gained only one new member in the past 20 years**. Having funded themselves privately from what wealth remained to their individual members since their fall from grace, their coffers are all but exhausted. Furthermore, the guiding light of the Order, Sir Falis Tymon, is over 150 years old. Even his half-elven heritage will not sustain him much longer, and he has a best a handful of years to live. No other member of the Order remembers a time before the ascendancy of House Thrune, and his fellows lack the spark of hope and stubborn will that Falis still nurtures, having been witness to the Order in its prime. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Falis's force of personality is really the only thing keeping the Order going.
*The stated reason for this was that the oaths clerics must swear to their gods would necessarily preclude them from swearing proper allegiance to the Order, being as member of the Order must uphold it before all other affiliations. The actual reason was a combination of the official one and the fact that the Order did not wish to be seen as the militant arm of any particular church. Indeed, the Order hoped to stay out of church politics entirely, fearing such entanglements would interfere with their work.
Alignment: LG. In the Order's days of glory, it also encompassed NG and LN individuals, but it has now been whittled down to a hard core.
Notable individuals: Sir Falis Tymon (LG venerable half-elf paladin 8; Joint Head of the Order), Sir Duncan Mordant (LG middle-aged human fighter 7; Joint Head of the Order), Orlen Jadros (LG male human paladin 1; paladin initiate, only 'recruit' in 20 years, and my would-be PC for Council of Thieves)
Composition: Mostly fighters and warriors. The Order always had a small number of paladins within its ranks, none of whom worshipped a specific deity – though all of which would name Aroden as their patron, if not the source of their divine abilities. As of 4709 AR the Order contains exactly two paladins, noted above.
That's all I have on the Order as a whole. The rest of my writings concern my character, Orlen Jadros, specifically. I'll only summarise them here. Suffice it to say Orlen's membership in the Order wasn't precisely voluntary. His father was an armoursmith, and his family had long supplied armour and weaponry to the Order. However, 12 years ago his father crossed a Chelaxian noble, and found his life forfeit. Knowing he was going to be executed and his property seized, he turned to the Order to take care of his 5 year old son after his death, his wife having died some years before, and having no-one else to turn to. Orlen is now 17, and has taken to the ideals of the Order with some gusto, though he's nervous at being sent out by himself. He has some romantic notion about breathing life back into the Order, but realistically it's already dead, and is likely to fade away within a few years.
That's all for now. Comments, questions and critique appreciated.