Leoric (lee-OR-ick)

Leoric is universally well regarded by all right thinking folk in the land. Though some of the tales of the mythos depict him as occasionally vain and sometimes subject to a bit of hubris, in such stories he always ultimately owns his mild comeuppances and makes right whatever consequences his ego caused. Benevolent and generally wise, stern but generally kind, ferocious in defense but merciful in victory.

Considered first among equals within his pantheon, Leoric is generally content to not interfere in the affairs of mortals or his fellow deities unless the need is dire. Some may mistake his willingness to be indolent as laziness, but when roused to action his might and vigor are literally glorious and the legends tell many stories of brave proud Leoric righting wrongs or intervening to save the world from certain destruction.

He is widely worshipped by the common people in all walks of life, in the crowded confines of cities, among soldiers and knights, and among the tribes of the plainsfolk.

A moderately sized monastic order dedicated to purifying themselves sufficiently to allow the radiance of Leoric to enter their souls.

The Knightly Order of the Sun is a moderately sized organization. Though it technically has somewhere between 20 to 30 Chapter Houses scattered across the central and western regions of Zoetrope, all but 5 of them are small...some are little more than waystations for a lone Knight to resupply and perhaps swap out a tired mount.

The mandate of these knights is to go forth into the world in small groups or singly looking for wrongs to right and local evils to resist. While they can be mobilized in larger numbers when the need is dire, the general stance of the Order is that Knights should be resourceful and handle things as best they can rather than sending off to a Chapter House and waiting for aid.

The majority of the order is composed of younger fighters (Knight Martial Archetype) and paladins (Oath of Glory), collectively called Sun Knights. Those that survive to middle age either retire or become recognized as more senior Radiant Knights. Occasionally a Radiant Knight will found a new Chapter House and become its Castellan, or the Castellan of an existing Chapter House will retire or die and a Radiant Knight will step up to take their place. The entire Order is under the command of a single Commandant who was chosen from among the Castellans when last the position became open; whatever Chapter House the Commandant is the Castellan of becomes the Order House while they remain Commandant.

This Knightly Order is strongly good-leaning, though there is a small lawful neutral minority. As a whole, while the Order does favor glory and a bit of pomp and circumstance, moral and ethical conduct is expected of its members.