The Vigilant Crown

The realm is built as a crown of seven ascending rings carved into a mountain cirque, each ring a self-contained bastion with its own parade court, hospice, and oaths-stone, all climbing toward the Lion Keep at the circlet’s apex. Oath-bridges span the rings like diadem spokes, aligning with Mercuria’s Gold Roads and the high passes.  

Notable Locations

Oath-Hall of True Names

A long nave with adamant ribs and a floor etched with vows. The Weighing of Intent is held here before any campaign; stones warm for kept oaths and frost for perjury.  

The Lion Yards

Tiered drill courts where paladins train measured restraint, ending every session with rotations to kitchens and hospitals.  

Hall of Fallen Stars

A vaulted memorial whose ceiling mirrors Mercuria’s sky; each star bears the name of a protector who died sparing others. On the Day of Fallen Stars, names are read by the mercies they rendered.  

Azure Cloister

Hospital courts served with Mishdor’s Blue Mantles; convalescents learn aftercare, reconciliation, and guest-right.  

The Diadem Bridges

Seven spoke-bridges joining the rings; The Lion’s Bridge groans at lies, cross while false, and your breath chills in sunlight.  

Penitent Rings

Consecrated crypt-ways where the Redeemed Watch stands; any misuse dissolves bindings and casts both bound and binder out of the Crown.  

Travel and Access

Standards and winds mark the quarters: Merciful Banner (east), Scales (south), Laurel (west), Watch (north). Patrols that lose their mission loop back to the Muster Court within a fortnight; swear a true errand, escort, repatriation, protection and new passes open where cliffs looked sheer.

True Doors

Adamant Gates, which are four cardinal gates to the passes and Gold Roads; open by oath-token or parley writ. Treachery rings the stones like a bell and locks the leaves.  

Sky Access

Towards the Platinum Palace in Mercuria, a sky-bridge links Lion Keep to Bahamut’s Wind-Gates (N/S/W/E) for rapid relief and evac.  

Truce Circles

diamond inlays enforce non-treachery; armor joints seize if blood is drawn within the circle without cause adjudged in the Oath-Hall.  

Inhabitants

Throne archons (judicature), trumpet archons (heraldry & parley), hound archons (watch & drill), and angelic hospitalers on secondment from Mercuria’s orders. The Crown operates under Mercuria’s charter of measured force; (Aurilon) and the Platinum Palace coordinate with She’eros during major campaigns.   There are also many Petitioners, who became guardians, who chose to watch, escort and witness over rest.  

The Redeemed Watch

strictly regulated bound guardians, penitents serving penance, stationed only in crypt-ways and siege vaults, never beyond consecrated lines, and always paired with living wardens.   Redemption beyond death is admitted only with five safeguards: consent, fixed term, living oversight, no field use, and release upon atonement. Commanders who subvert these are stripped of sigil and sent to Aurilon for judgment.

Truce circles impose a gentle geas against betrayal; freshly sworn oaths warm the Oath-Hall’s stones, while broken vows leave a breath of frost recorded in the muster rolls.  

Echo of the Oath

Every vow sworn within the fortress-temples resounds as a low peal of unseen bells. The louder and clearer the echo, the truer the oath is bound. False promises or cowardly oaths fall silent, exposing the speaker’s insincerity to all who listen.  

The Lion’s Vigil

Stone statues of lions line the walls, battlements, and courtyards. At night their eyes glow faintly silver. When corruption or betrayal stirs nearby, the glow flares bright, and the statues rumble as though growling. Some paladins claim to have seen a lion statue step down from its plinth in times of great peril.  

Ashes of Wrath

In training yards, the wind sometimes sweeps across as red motes of ash. Those touched by the motes feel the weight of every fallen paladin before them, their fatigue doubles for an hour, but their strikes burn with righteous power. Trainees view this as a test of endurance and loyalty.  

The March Unending

From the high roads leading up the mountain, one may hear the tramp of armored boots and the clash of shields, even when no company is in sight. These are the echoes of She’eros’ crusades, forever resounding. Travelers who march in time with the phantom cadence find themselves less weary and more steadfast in resolve.  

Crown-Light

At dawn, the very summit blazes with a nimbus like a burning circlet of light. This radiance descends in shafts across the courtyards, falling on those who have kept faith. To stand in the crown-light is to feel an unshakable calm: lies falter on the tongue, fear is driven from the heart, and wounds sting less sharply.  

Trial of the Gauntlet

Once a year, a gauntlet of Mithril appears in the Hall of Sacrifice, clenched around a spectral sword. Aspirants who touch it are judged by She’eros’ spirit. If found worthy, their arms are briefly wreathed in silver flame, granting visions of justice. If unworthy, the gauntlet crumbles to ash until the next dawn, denying its trial for the rest of the year.  

Watchfire Veins

The very stone of the fortress walls glimmers with faint golden veins that pulse like slow heartbeats. When danger approaches — fiends, betrayers, or oathbreakers — the veins blaze bright like beacon-fires, alerting all defenders. Pilgrims often take shards of this stone back as tokens, though most grow dull outside the Crown.  

The Silent Choir

During the deepest watches of the night, a low hymn rises from the mountain’s halls, though no mortal voices are raised. It is said to be the song of the fallen She’erosi, their souls forever holding vigil. Hearing it steels the will of the righteous, but fills oathbreakers with unshakable dread.