My words until death Written in ancient documents and monuments already in ruins, the motto represents a principle of a people and its descendants.
Sundara: Promisses and Paladins
Sundara¹, the kingdom built over the ruins of the Taiarania Empire², still carries many imperial values. In it, there is a reverence given to words and promises. An oath has such a high value that, in Sundara, breaking it is akin to moral crime.
In accordance with the social value given to the practice, is the value given to those under oath, such as knights and monks. By choosing to be forever under an oath, these individuals are seen as sacred people and role models.
While some knights make vows to a code of conduct, others make them to causes, symbols or deities. The later are famously known as Paladins.
Paladins
Since paladins swear over their soul, part of their training is performing great deeds so that their soul is a higher price, as well as proving that they will serve their benefactor well by performing deeds that show their servitude and prowess. A powerful soul is a high price to be overlooked by good or evil deities. If the paladin swears their oaths to causes and concepts, the paladin becomes an agent of the primal forces of the universe, such as Devotion, Revenge and Redemption.
Rare among the few knights on the kingdom, paladins receive superhuman boons upon taking their oaths. Once considered the personification to "Verba mea usque mortem"³, or the Binding of Words, the powers acquired by following their own words are enough that records from the Age of Arcanuum⁴ would compare their prowess with the famous Mages of Taiarania⁵.
Of the organizations that train paladins, the majority are religious groups and rich nations given the high cost involved in training pious combatants willing to bend to a cause. As such, the majority of paladins take their oaths to the patrons of the order that trains them, and wandering paladins⁶ became rare.
A special case, the lack of symbols for deity in the kingdom of Sundara, most notoriously in country regions, has resulted in few sundar⁷ paladins vowed to deities. Religious sects still train their paladins, however when they take their vows it is to religious leaders or the sect itself. During their journey, some paladins seek to remedy this by searching for symbols of deities to whom they wish to make their oaths. This process includes research, exploration of ruins and sometimes challenges by the deities themselves.
Aspiring paladins, whose determination notorious, receive a benefit from the forces interested in them in exchange for a binding promise that, upon conclusion of their training and mission, they will make the oath to said benefactor.
Oathbond: 2nd Level Paladin Optional Feature
Many paladins prepare for their oath years in advance, and awake the interest of powerful forces. You choose your oath on the second level, instead of the third. You receive one of the 1st level spells of that oath as prepared spell.
Upon reaching your third level, if you continue with that oath, you can cast that spell once per long rest without spending a spell slot.
If you decide you don't want that oath, you may choose the Oathbraker subclass but no other.
Sundara¹: Kingdom located on the continent of Cerrtera.
Taiarania Empire²: Once the biggest empire in Cerrtera, it fell hundreds of years ago.
Verba mea usque mortem³: "My words until death", imperial motto that simplifies the saying: “I will keep my words until my death”
Age of Arcanuum⁴: Age when magic and magic research were at its highest. It is also considered the peak of Humanity.
Mages of Taiarania⁵: Powerful spellcasters, that shaped and sustained the empire for centuries before its fall.
Wandering Paladin⁶: Travelling warriors that have not sworn an oath to order, organization or nation. Instead, they took their vows to a cause, symbol or the people. Some are said to have taken vows to sectless powers.
Sundar⁷: Adjective to mean “of Sundara”, also the demonym of the Sundara Kingdom.
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