The Sisters of Holy War

There are many mixed feelings when it comes to this particular order within the Human Empire. An entire organization of female warriors dedicated to the Gods and becoming instruments of divine judgement to be used by the clergy. Typically, it is made up of daughters of the nobility that wind up being too unruly and get passed off from training, but sometimes there'll happen to be a maiden who isn't content with her way of life and offer her services to the order.

Not many nobles enjoy the idea if their daughters joining the order, as it losses the family out on potential dowries, familial alliances, and heirs. And the common people tend to believe Sisters to just be malcontent women who wish to defy the ways of society to fulfill their whimsical wishes of being knights rather than damsels. There are even some people who find the Sisters to be a blasphemous order in of themselves.

But one cannot sell short what the Sisters have accomplished. They have formed their own keeps and cloisters, fought their own battles, and certainly saved the forces of the Grand Theogonists causalities by volunteering to be meat shields for the leaderships. A Sister is always eager to prove herself in martial prowess.

Though, a Sister is more than just a warrior, but a warrior of the Gods! Whether people like it or not, they are blessed by the Gods to fight in their holy crusades. They are paladins, clerics, priests, and so on. They proudly wear the holy symbols of the Gods as they go into battle.

As the name implies, this is an all female order. An initiate into the order is stripped bare of all familial ties they may have had in the past and devote themselves entirely to serving the Gods. There are even some jokes among the anointed as they call themselves "The Wives of Norvaskr". Not only are they stripped of all familial bonds, but of material desires as well. Outside of their holy garments, some practical clothing, their combat equipment, and a bed, a room for an initiate is empty. This practice carries on even for Matrons.

For years initiates stay in the lower rung of the chain of command, learning the ways of the Sisters. Most days are spent training, learning, and performing chores around the cloisters. When they graduate from this service, they can choose to either join their sisters in battles and become a squire, or become a neophyte as they take up the robes and begin learning rituals and divine magic. From there they can become full blooded Sisters in their own respective fields.

But sometimes you'll get specialists from the select few ambitious bunch.

For instance, the Sister Superior can be found within internal policing as they master the arts of combat and warfare, finely tuned to dealing out discipline and often times wind up being second in command to Matrons, they also like to help out as mentors for some odd reason.

Another specialist would be the Zealots. They are called this because they have studied both the martial and magic aspects of the crusade. They mastered these aspects to such a point, that their divine calling to battle drives them into a frenzy of retribution, a charging bull of a woman of steel and magic.

The next specialist would be the Augurs, a highly revered position among the Sisters. Only those who have secluded themselves for a long time in the inner cloisters and gain favor from the Gods are able to achieve this position. The Gods would take the sight of a chosen Sister so that she may be granted with their vision and become interpreters of their will. It is easy to spot an Augur as they wear blessed wraps around their eyes and shave their head bald.

Finally, there is the Daughters of Norvaskr. These are highly prized and rare Sisters that even the people have come to adore. Within the vaults of the Sisters' keeps, there is a set of armor and greatswords that only a handful of select members among their ranks can ever wear. Upon being selected, they don these blessed items and become living icons of Norvaskr himself, complete with gold-plated helmets that are completely smooth (divine magic allows them to see through the metal), and shall be so until they die...where their equipment shall one more be enshrined in the vaults, and wait for their next wielder.

And for every castle and keep, there is a Matron who runs the local cloister. Somewhat aged but experienced, she would lead her fellow sisters into battle and command them. They also form a council with other Matrons who decide the next course of action on a grand scale for the Sisters of Holy War.

Above the Council would be the Holy Mother, the oldest among them, who may or may not be old enough to continue battling. But her wisdom and experience guides the council in their decisions and lead the Sisters to a glorious future.

Another fun fact to learn about the Sisters, is more or less a rumor. It is said that the Sisters know the location of the lost tomb of Griffinwald, or a long forgotten warrior whom Norvaskr himself might be based off of. It is also said that they guard this tomb fervently, and only a select few among them know the location of this tomb.

But this is all considering one believes in rumors.