Goddess Knights

"I'm unsure if I'm ready to be a leader.. in fact I'm certain I'm not. But, I know I can't just stand by in the sidelines and and watch Vahit continue to hurt people. I'll do what it takes to finish what she started, even if it means taking her place."

Structure
The Goddess Knights are a group of famous demon hunters in the Empire of Fanentous. It was created by Empress Lyndis N'illum was lead by the The Goddess Blade wielder at the time, Sarah Winter. However she has since retired the title and given it to Jérémie Aumerle. Members are recruited by the appointed leader at the time, and while there are no written requirements to joining, one must impress the leader enough to even have a chance at being accepted. Most of the time, the Knights search for people who are exceptionally skilled and will remain loyal. The Knights are very inclusive and do not judge based on race, class, or personal history. As long as you make the pledge to protect people and stay dedicated to the group, you will be accepted as one of the group.

Goddess Knights will be knighted by the Empress herself during a brief ceremony at the Palace. Afterwards, a Knight will receive a medallion with the Goddess Knights insignia on it. This medallion acts as an important status symbol, physical proof of one's associated with the Empress. It can be used to bypass many normal restrictions, and guards are not allowed to refuse entry to a Knight, regardless of their racial or class status, as doing so could cost them their jobs.

Public Agenda
The Goddess Knights were formed during the events of the The Shade War as a means of combating the demonic threat plaguing the Empire. Their primary goal is to keep the Empire safe from demons and monsters, and will often be sent on missions to take care of demon related problems around the Empire. Members of the Knights are selected based on their skill in dealing with demons. The Knights are loyal to the Empire and will do whatever it takes to defend it, but occasionally it means dealing with threats from other countries that pose a risk to the Empire as well.

Assets
The Goddess Knights have a base in Fanentous Capital, refereed to as the Goddess Knights Headquarters. It's a small building in the Military district of the Capital, and is used to train, store weapons, and a place for the Knights to sleep and eat. The Knights had access to personal weapon and armor smith names Aranda Boralain, received Birigon mounts at a discount from Featherglow Ranch, and Johan's apprentice, Madia Madora acted as a secondary healer when in town. Lastly, the Knights request back up in the form of the royal guard, who could help them in battle or for more dangerous missions. Unfortunately, in the 20 years since the Knights had disbanded, many of these assets fell away to time, making things a little more difficult for the reformed group. The base was destroyed in battle and fell into ruin, and the numbers have dramatically dwindled, now consisting of just four people.

Members
The Goddess Knights can be split into two eras. The original era is often refereed to as the Original Knights, or more casually the OG Knights.

OG Goddess Knights

 * Sarah Winter - A human from New Earth. The leader of the Goddes Knights and the weilder of the Goddess Blade.
 * Theo Winter - The second in command. A former member of the Royal Guard, and powerful warrior. Later married Sarah.
 * Naina Nuvari - A skilled skilled elven elemental mage from the Mages College and one of the first three members of the group.
 * Johan Forlorn - A Priest from the Temple of Fanenous and a talented healer
 * Kyski Nuvari - A narcoleptic Wood Elf with an outstanding gift for archery.
 * Jérémie Aumerle - A Shade who rejected his duties and rebelled against Vahit to fight for the Empire.
 * Faellen and Nelleaf Ramifus - Conjoined esper twins with earily accurate clairvoyance.
 * Kalheim Aedian - A strange but good intentioned necromancer.
 * Sherry Eckstein - Kalheim's zombie thrall who possesses powerful telekinetic powers.
 * Iori Ru'Hadi - Once the leader of the Bandits of the Silent Sands and a reformed criminal, joined the Knights after they helped defend her home.

However after the Goddess Knights were split, 20 years later, their children would create the new, reformed Goddess Knights.

New Goddess Knights

 * Jérémie Aumerle - One of the only remaining Knights left after the war. Returned to reform the Knights due to his dedication to defeating Vahit. Currently the leader of the New Goddess Knights.
 * Marc Lee - The son of Kyski and Naina who was raised on earth.
 * Ibby Winter - Sarah Winter's daughter and the current wielder of the Goddess Blade.
 * Selene Russel - Johan's illegitimate daughter with healing powers.

The Creation of the Knights
In 1988, during a festival in the Capital city, the festivities were suddenlty brought to a hault when an army of Shades broke through the gate and invaded the city. The guards were overwhelmed, as they had never seen the shades before or how to fight them. It seemed as it was going to be a massacre, when suddently the tide of the battle changed when a young woman carrying the legendary Goddess Blade appeared to fight them off. Meanwhile a young mage was rallying up her peers to target the shade's weakness she had discovered, and a young Royal guard was risking his life to save the Empress's daughter.

Thanks to their efforts, the Capital was able to drive out the Shades before they could do too much damage. Lyndis N'illum would soon take the thrown after her mother was assassinated in the fighting, and as a thanks for their efforts, she gathered the three heroes in her court and proposed for them to work together, using their strengths to defend the Empire from the sudden demonic threat. And that was when the Goddess Knights were formed.

The Shade War
Over time the Knights would take missions fighting off demons and make a name for themselves. They quickly became heroes in the eyes of the public, but their numbers were still small, so they sought to expand their team by recruiting new members. Over the course of the next few years, The Goddess Knights would go hunting for the perfect candidates to join their ranks and would acquire members from walks of life and backgrounds.

The team worked well with each other and together were a near unstoppable force, and were on their way to pushing the demons out of the Empire for good. However, disaster would soon strike.

The Fall
A new player would join the battlefield on the Shade's side. A powerful demon named Malice. The Esper twins, Faellen and Nelleaf forsaw this and in Nelleaf's recklessness, attempted to investigate the a nearby Shade territory, where they would get surrounded, and Nelleaf would be mortally injured. When they returned to the base, Johan was missing, and before they could contact him again, Nelleaf succumbed to her wounds, and Faellen would die shortly after, only getting a few minutes to tell the Knights of their vision.

It started with an attack on the headquarters. The shades had brought friends, powerful demons from the depths of the underworld who followed Malice's command. He was able to wreck the base and kill on the their members, Kalheim, and take Sherry from him and use her against the Knights. The Knights had to retreat and abandon their base.

The next big blow would be in Onford, a major city in Fanentous they were defending. They were expecting a battle, but with out the twin's clairvoyance, they had no way of predicting how strong Vahit's forces would be. When they arrived on the battlefield, there were far more demons than they expected. The Knights were outnumbered and outmatched, and one by one they would be killed off in that fight, including Sarah's husband at the time, Theo.

Sarah had a secret that she was hiding from the others. She was pregnant with Theo's child, and seeing him be ripped apart on the battlefield broke her. She called for a retreat and fled with whatever knights were left, knowing that the shades would take all of them if they continued fighting. Sarah could no longer take the grief of losing her closest friends, and retired from the knights, disbanding the group, much to the dismay of Jeremie who tried to stop her.

The Reformation
20 years had passed since the Knights were defeated, but few had survived the war just long enough to have children. Now adults, these descendants wish to finish what their parents started decades ago, with Jeremie leading them.

Silent Sands
Despite being a major criminal organization, the Silent Sand's have supported the efforts of the Knights since the Knights helped protect their home city, and their leader Iori Ru'Hadi joined them. The group still answered to Iori and she would often use her team as an asset to the Knights. However since Iori's death, the Silent Sands had distanced themselves from their association with the group.

Suit of Hearts
Vahit and his army of Shades are the greatest adversary of the Knights and it's their goal to defeat him and free the world from his reign of terror for good. The shades were successful in nearly destroying the Knights once, but now that they are back, they are determined to see that it never happens again.