Headcanon - The Six Orders of the Shrine
The human pantheon consists of Six gods: Dwayna, Melandru, Balthazar, Kormir, Lyssa, and Grenth. As you walk around Divinity’s Reach, you can see that the priests and the clergy all seem to choose one god to devote themselves to. This devotion is complete with some sort of uniform raiment, color scheme, specialized duties, and knowledge in a particular area.
This has lead me to believe that there may be monastic Orders, or cloisters, of priests devoted to one of the Six, just as there are Orders of monks and nuns such as the Carmelites, the Benedictines, and the Franciscans.
The following are my headcanons on what each Order might look like and what things they do for the community:
The Dwaynites - The Dwaynite Order holds close their patron goddess’ ideals of mercy, healing, and peace. They are a pacifistic Order consisting of healers, teachers, and counselors. They heal the sick and wounded, aid the impoverished, and sponsor many relief efforts in places like the Silverwastes, Kessex, and Lion’s Arch. The Order’s colors are Blue, Yellow, and White
The Melandrines - The Melandrine Order is an order near and dear to the farmers and other land workers and owners of Kryta. The Melandrines advise when to plant and when to harvest, what to till and what to leave fallow. They are increasingly relied upon with the emergence of Mordremoth, with many people seeing the overgrowth in the Maguuma Wastes as something that falls within Melandru’s expertise. The Order’s colors are green and brown.
The Balthazarans - The Balthazaran Order is the Order of Knights-Errant, holy warriors and, most importantly, the aspect of war. Many Balthazaran priests accompany Seraph companies as chaplains, often fighting side by side with the men and women fighting in Harathi, the Maguuma Wastes, and Orr. They also jointly oversee the funeral rites of soldiers with the Grenthians. The Order’s colors are red, orange, and black.
The Kormites - The Kormite Order, valuing Kormir’s aspects of order and truth, often serve the community in the form of public advocates, overseers of debate in the public forum, and educators at a higher level. They also have the most stringent code of conduct as a monastic Order. The Order’s colors are gold and white.
The Lyssans - The Lyssan Order is perhaps the most scandalous of the Six Orders. More than a few Lyssan priests are of the Order of Whispers, and the Order’s fondness for illusion goes in direct conflict with the Kormites on a regular basis. There’s rumors that the Lyssans function as temple prostitutes if you go through the right channels, but if they do the Lyssans would’t just come out and say it would they? A good deal of them do act as courtesans, entertainers, bards, and poets. The Order’s colors are purple, pink, and gold.
The Grenthians - The Grenthian Order handles all funeral rites in their community. They provide grief counseling to mourners, tend to monuments and memorials, and were especially popular during the Pact’s siege of Orr. While it’s not required to be a necromancer to join the Order, the most talented and masterful of them reside within the Shrine. The Order’s colors are green and black.
