Required: The Rise of Chaos Expansion

 

A holy order of the Church, founded to ward against Chaos long ago, these stout holy warriors devote their lives to holding Chaos at bay and cleansing the world of its taint.

Sentinel Lore: Nearly 1300 years ago the Chaos Gate was flung wide, and the endless legions of Chaos invaded Aerynth. For nearly a century the Children of the Gods stood in a Grand Alliance against them, but no mortal power could turn the demonic tide. The War of the Scourge ravaged entire regions, shattered kingdoms, and eradicated entire peoples. When the hour seemed darkest, the All-Father Himself intervened, and took the field at the head of His host of Archons. The All-Father led His children in a great invasion of the Pit of Chaos, and finally Hedrusiel, Archon of strength, closed the dark Gate though all the Hosts of the Pit strove against him.
 
The lords of Men, Elves, and Centaurs withdrew from the Chaos Gate after the victory, looking to heal their wounds and rebuild their ravaged nations. The clergy of the Holy Church, however, saw that the very existence of the Chaos Gate served as a dire threat. The Gate was closed but not unmade, and what opened once might open again. Cardinal Ellidaern of the Elvish Church decreed that a new Holy Order should be founded, open to all of the Children of the Gods, to stand watch over the Chaos Gate and serve as the first line of defense should Chaos stir again. Many warriors and pious priests flocked to join the Order of Sentinels, and thus the Long Vigil began.
 
The Sentinels raised many stout fortresses around the Chaos Gate, praying, training, and contemplating how best to defend Aerynth from the Hosts of Chaos. The order drew Centaurs, Elves, and the Sons of Men alike, and the Sentinel's liturgy incorporated worship elements from all three races. Indeed, though their role has largely been forgotten, the cooperation within the order of Sentinels served as a model for the great unification of the Elvish and Human churches of the All-Father and the modern Holy Church as we know it.
 
Heroth the Vigilant, later canonized as Saint Heroth, is still revered as the greatest master the order of Sentinels has ever known. A pious Centaur, Heroth first formulated the secrets of Abjuration, revealed to him in visions by Nandramiel, Archon of judgment. Nandramiel revealed the Nine Holy Bindings, words of power that overpower the will of evildoers who hear them. Only those purified by meditation and the proper regimen of prayer may utter the divine Sanctions without being destroyed. The Sanctions have always served the Sentinels well.
 
The Sentinel's tireless vigil has slowly been forgotten over the centuries, as the temporal realms of Men and Elves, and even the Holy Church itself has grown distracted by other concerns. When Morloch and the Twisted Breeds came through the Chaos Gate in the year 799 KY, the order had long since diminished in numbers and support. The Sentinels did not shirk their duty, however, and their tenacious resistance and swift warning ensured that the nations of the Grand Alliance were able to thwart the Maimed God's ambitions.
 
For a brief time the Sentinels again enjoyed the support and attention of the Patriarch and Temporal kings, but as the centuries ground on the order again faded into obscurity. In the waning years of the Age of Kings ominous warnings came form the Sentinels that foul things were again trickling through the Gate. Divinations warned of a great stirring in the Outer Chaos. Alas, the appeals of the Sentinels for aid fell on deaf ears: the lords of Men and Elves were embroiled in the War of Tears, and event he Holy Church was paralyzed with indecision.
 
Since the Turning matters have grown even worse. Morloch and other powerful minions of Chaos have been freed, and the Sentinels have found their position growing precarious indeed. At the end of the 97th year of the Age of Strife, the seals on the Chaos Gate slipped, and for the first time in centuries the Dark Legions again set foot upon Aerynth. The Dark Lords cannot yet pass the Gate, but the Sentinels fear a second Scourge is inevitable. Many Sentinels have left the Gate to appeal for aid to the nations of Aerynth for aid, and many newcomers are flocking to the forgotten order. Aerynth needs the Sentinels now more than ever.