Unreviewed The Knightly Order of the Praetorians, in Eternal Service to the Sepulchral Flame

[Darth Empyrean]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To worldbuild the Praetorians that I have mentioned in RP plenty of times.
Image Credit: chatgpt.com
Canon: N/A
Permissions: N/A
Links: N/A

GENERAL INFORMATION
Organization Name:
Classification: Knightly Order
Affiliation:
"In Eternal Service to the Sepulchral Flame" is no mere title—it is their creed, binding soul to doctrine."
Primary Affiliation:

• The Sepulchral –
  The shadow-cloaked priesthood of Sith Eternalism. The Praetorians are formally an extension of their will, protectors of their sacred rites, enforcers of doctrinal purity, and often executioners of dissent.
  • To outsiders, the Praetorians seem like bodyguards or crusaders in service to the Sepulchral.
  • To insiders, they are tools, watchdogs, and pawns, manipulated through ritual oaths, ancestral debt, and mystic visions.

Secondary Affiliation (Secret or Functional):

• The Sith Order / The Empire –
  While not directly loyal to any Sith Lord or the ruling Dark Council, the Praetorians act within the galactic structure of the Sith Empire, often enforcing the Sepulchral's influence within state mechanisms.
  They are apolitical in theory, yet still wield influence through:
  • Chapter intervention in military affairs
  • Relic and artifact stewardship
  • Training and doctrinal supervision of Sith acolytes across temple worlds

Note: They do not serve the Dark Lord of the Sith unless that Dark Lord has the Blessing of the Sepulchral Flame—a mysterious and rarely granted rite believed to bind their fate to the cosmic war against the Beast.

Tertiary/Shadow Affiliations:

• The Council of Chapters –
  While the Sepulchral grants them legitimacy, it is the Council of Chapters that manages day-to-day governance and long-term direction of the Order. This inner ruling body has its own agendas, rivalries, and long memories.
  In truth, some Chapters may be more loyal to the Council than to the Sepulchral itself.

Organization Symbol:
The sigil is a dark, eight-pointed star forged in deep crimson and obsidian black—each point representing one of the Eight Eternal Struggles outlined in the Codex Aeternum.
At its center burns a stylized black flame—twisting upward like a screaming soul—representing the Sepulchral Flame, the metaphysical fire that consumes fate and false gods.

Wrapped around the star is a barbed ouroboros, a serpent devouring its own tail, inscribed in ur-Kittât (Sith runes) with the words:

"From Flame, We Watch. Through Struggle, We Rise."

Below the emblem hangs a single chain link, broken but still glowing faintly, meant to signify the Eternal War against destiny, and the burden each Praetorian bears.

Description:
The Knightly Order of the Praetorians, in Eternal Service to the Sepulchral Flame is a militant and theocratic brotherhood of Sith Knights, bound by sacred oath to defend the doctrines of Sith Eternalism and enforce the secretive will of the Sepulchral—the priesthood that guides the Sith Order from the shadows.

Unlike most Sith who vie for personal power and ascendancy, the Praetorians dedicate themselves to the strength of the Order as a whole. They believe that the individual Sith is fleeting, but the legacy of the Chapter is eternal. Through sacrifice, memory, and unity, they seek to transcend the cycle of betrayal and ambition that has long plagued Sith history.

Operating across the galaxy as nomadic knightly Chapters, they pursue ancient relics, crush heresies, and guide promising Force users toward the Eternal Flame. Some act as war-priests and guardians of sacred sites, while others hunt apostates and perform unspeakable rites in the name of cosmic balance.
Each Chapter serves a unique role, but all are ultimately sworn to the Council of Chapters, who in turn kneel before the Sepulchral Flame.

The Order's true purpose, however, remains obscured even to many of its own members. Through its rituals, wars, and deaths, the Praetorian brotherhood acts as a bulwark against an unseen metaphysical horror known as the Beast—an apocalyptic void said to lurk beneath reality itself.

"We are the echo that guards the flame. The chain that breaks. The sword that remembers."

GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Headquarters:
The Knightly Order of the Praetorians is headquartered within the Sepulchral Basilica, a vast and ancient fortress-monastery hidden deep within the uncharted fringes of Sith space. Its location is known only to the Council of Chapters, the High Sepulchral, and a select few initiates who survive the Pilgrimage of Ashes—a harrowing rite required to enter its sanctum.

The Basilica is not merely a stronghold; it is a sacred reliquary, library, and crucible of Eternalist doctrine. Constructed atop a nexus of dark side energy and fortified with alchemized obsidian, the structure hums with buried voices and echoes of long-dead Sith. Beneath its lowest sanctums lies the Chamber of Hollow Flame, where the eternal fire burns—a metaphysical engine of prophecy, communion, and punishment.

Outside this sacred heart, individual Chapters of the Praetorians maintain mobile fortress-ships, planetary watchholds, and pilgrimage routes scattered throughout the Sith Empire and beyond. These locations are fortified not only with blade and blaster but with ritual wards and spiritual defenses, forming a decentralized, knightly network known as the Ashen Circuit.

Domain:
Territorial Claims & Influence
The Knightly Order of the Praetorians claims no sovereign dominion over worlds in the traditional sense. Instead, their influence manifests through sacred enclaves, hidden watchholds, and ritual sites scattered across Sith space—territories often considered untouchable by local governors, warlords, or even fellow Sith Lords. While they rarely assert direct control, their mere presence often warps the political and spiritual gravity of a world.

Key Areas of Influence

• Odacer-Faustin (Link)
  • A frozen tomb-world whose ancient universities and crypt-vaults have long since been repurposed as Sepulchral research sites. Several Praetorian Chapters rotate through here for cold-weather training, relic safeguarding, and death rites. The local populace, mostly Sith-aligned researchers and spiritual aspirants, view the Praetorians with reverence and fear—speaking of them in hushed tones as "the Grey Flame."
• Ziost
  • An ancient seat of Sith power, Ziost hosts the Watchhold of the Broken Fang, a monastic temple-fortress operated by the Red Thorns Chapter. Here, the Praetorians serve as keepers of sacred dueling grounds and adjudicators of Sith blood feuds. Sith Lords frequently send their acolytes to duel before the Praetorians as a form of judgment or sacrifice.
• The Crucible of G'haron
  • A mysterious asteroid fortress and metaphysical training ground, suspended in warped space near a collapsed hyperlane. It houses a rogue Chapter called the Black Maw, known for training Praetorians to fight blind, in silence, and without memory. No civilians dwell here—only initiates and those seeking to erase the self.
• The Sepulchral Basilica (Location: Classified)
  • The spiritual and political heart of the Order, hidden in deep Sith space. Not accessible to the public or known to the galaxy at large.

Interaction with the Community
The Praetorians are not "community leaders" in any civilian sense—but they are a visible, mythic presence. They rarely engage in daily governance or administration. Instead:

• They descend briefly and purposefully, often during times of crisis, rebellion, or religious upheaval.
• They claim tithes, often in the form of Force-sensitive children, relics, or memory-scrolls.
• They intervene in Sith-on-Sith violence when the Sepulchral declares it heretical or destabilizing.

Local populations often refer to them as "Ash Angels" or "Silent Judges"—figures of fear, reverence, or suspicion.

They are tolerated, even welcomed by Sith-ruled worlds, but always at a distance. Even Sith Lords often find themselves unnerved by prolonged contact with Praetorian Chapters, whose priorities lie outside the usual games of power.

Notable Assets:
The Sepulchral Basilica (Location: Hidden Sector | [Faction Staff-Approved Only])
The eternal heart of the Order. A temple-fortress buried into the bones of a dead world, wrapped in necrotic fog and built around the Chamber of Hollow Flame—the metaphysical source of the Eternalist doctrine. Here, the Council of Chapters convenes, the Codex Aeternum is guarded, and the Sepulchral Flame is said to burn. None enter except by rite. Even Sith Lords require permission through the Sepulchral themselves.
Rumors persist of vaults below the Basilica where failed apprentices are interred alive, their screams used to power oracular rites.

Watchhold of the Broken Fang (Location: Ziost)
An ancient dueling monastery embedded in Ziost's polar canyons, operated by the Red Thorns Chapter. Here, Sith acolytes are tested through ritual combat, and failures are often sacrificed to the ice. The Watchhold also functions as a judicial venue—Praetorians sometimes summon feuding Sith Lords to duel under their gaze, offering rulings deemed final by ancient Eternalist law.

The Crucible of G'haron (Location: Deep Space Rift)
A drifting asteroid converted into a spiritual isolation chamber and nightmare training site, managed by the Black Maw. The Crucible is enveloped in sensory-deprivation fields and force-null zones. Initiates train here to abandon memory, identity, and even sensation—becoming "vessels" for the Will of the Flame.
It is said that those who remain too long in the Crucible forget their own names, or begin to remember lives they never lived.

The Ossuary Vault of Atravan (Location: Atravan, outer Sith colony)
A vast subterranean reliquary carved into volcanic rock, maintained by the Order's Silent Curators. This hidden vault stores the bones, lightsabers, and preserved armor of fallen Praetorians—some of which are believed to retain fragments of memory or power. It is forbidden to disturb these remains without a Writ of Reclamation from the Council.

The Pilgrim Paths (Location: Multiple Worlds)
A hyperspace network of sacred routes linking ancient battlefields, forgotten temples, and lost shrines. These routes are maintained by the Order's Writbearers, who travel them in search of Force anomalies, relics, or prophetic signs.
Some believe the Pilgrim Paths are not simply mapped through space—but also time.

The Veinhold Bastion (Location: Classified | "Ghost Chapter" Site)
A crumbling asteroid citadel long believed destroyed, this site has recently begun broadcasting low-frequency Sith chants through hyperspace. It was once the home of the Crimson Retort, a Chapter exiled for merging Sith and Jedi rituals. The Order officially denies its reactivation.

SOCIAL INFORMATION
Hierarchy:

"We do not kneel for power—we kneel for flame. And only until the blade is drawn."
— Common Praetorian aphorism

The Knightly Order of the Praetorians operates as a fractured but disciplined martial brotherhood composed of multiple independent Chapters. While the Order as a whole is aligned with the Sepulchral, only certain Chapters serve them directly. Others function with relative autonomy, pursuing their own doctrines—so long as they do not stray from the Eternalist path or defy the Council of Chapters.

Praetorians are not mystics or bureaucrats. They are warrior-monks, and among the most elite melee combatants in the Sith Order. Their command structure is militarized, ritualized, and bound in blood-oaths rather than politics.

Structural Hierarchy (Macro-Level)
The Council of Chapters
The ruling body of the Order. Composed of the Grandmaster of each Chapter, it sets doctrinal limits, declares holy crusades, and resolves internal disputes. It is the only entity with authority over the entire Knightly Order—but its decisions are often vague, symbolic, or willfully misinterpreted.

• Some Grandmasters are fiercely loyal to the Sepulchral.
• Others see themselves as the true defenders of the Sith legacy, in spite of the Sepulchral's manipulations.
• The Council operates in secret and does not issue direct orders—only Edicts, which Chapters interpret through ritual and tradition.

The Sepulchral Flame (Theocratic Oversight)
The Sepulchral priesthood does not command the Praetorians outright. Instead, it anoints Chapters it trusts, grants them relics, visions, and whispered commands. These Favored Chapters serve as spiritual enforcers, inquisitors, and sacred guardians.

Other Chapters serve wider Eternalist goals:

• Preventing Sith stagnation through controlled infighting
• Purging weak bloodlines
• Ensuring legacy through martial ritual
• Guarding Force-nexuses from corruption

Structural Hierarchy (Chapter-Level)
Each Chapter is structured like a feudal warrior cult:

Rank	Role
Grandmaster	Supreme leader of the Chapter; interprets Edicts, oversees sacred rites
Seneschal	Second-in-command; handles logistics, war-readiness, and succession
Knight-Revenant	Veteran Sith who have survived death-rites or ritual resurrection
Knight-Militant	Elite warrior-commanders; lead missions and battlefield deployments
Knight-Initiate	Fully accepted Sith knight within the Order, loyal to their Chapter's code
Black Initiate	Trialed acolytes undergoing the Oath of Ashes
Dregs	Failed initiates kept for menial tasks, ritual experiments, or cannon fodder

Key Features of Their Command Culture

• Interpretive Authority: Chapters obey Edicts from the Council, not direct orders. This allows for doctrinal drift and philosophical variation—but keeps the overall Order cohesive.
• Ritual Obedience: Promotions and orders are often encoded in duels, visions, or relics rather than chains of command.
• Martial Ascension: Advancement is rarely political. It is earned in combat, sacrifice, or ritual survival.
• Autonomous Campaigns: Chapters frequently launch their own crusades, known as Ossuary Pilgrimages, often without informing the others.

Membership:
Membership & Recruitment

Size of the Order
The Praetorians are not a massive force. They are elite, selective, and highly specialized.

• Estimated Total Membership: ~2,000–3,000 active members galaxy-wide
  (Including all Chapters, Initiates, support personnel, and relic-keepers.)
• True Praetorian Knights (Combat-Ready Sith): Fewer than 1,000
  Only the most disciplined Sith survive the initiation and training process.
• Chapters: Roughly 30–40, with varying sizes and influence
  Most maintain only a few dozen active Knights at any given time.

Becoming a Praetorian (IC)

"The flame does not choose the pure—it chooses the tempered."

Becoming a member of the Praetorians is not a promotion or title—it is a rebirth, and often a death sentence for the weak.

Requirements for Recruitment

• Force-sensitive (Sith or acolyte level)
• Demonstrated martial prowess, particularly in melee combat
• Endurance, discipline, and obedience to ritual
• Willingness to forsake personal ambition for the sake of the Chapter

Most recruits are drawn from:

• The Sith Order's academies and warfronts
• Disgraced Sith seeking redemption
• Acolytes who show loyalty to Eternalist philosophy
• Children offered as tithes by planetary governors or Sith Lords
• Occasionally, enemies spared in battle for their potential

Initiation Rites & Trials
Each Chapter has its own rites, but most share a common initiation structure:

1. The Pilgrimage of Ashes
   1. A long, brutal journey to a hidden shrine or battlefield marked by death, isolation, and hardship. Many die before reaching the destination.
2. The Oath of Ashes
   1. An ancient rite in which the initiate's birth name is burned, often by branding or cauterization. A new name is granted—if they survive.
3. The Trial of the Still Flame
   1. A meditative ordeal in total darkness or sensory deprivation, during which the initiate must confront a vision of their own death—and choose whether to accept or defy it.
4. The Blade Crucible
   1. A ceremonial duel—sometimes to the death—against another initiate, failed knight, or a spirit-bound test opponent. Only those who prove their strength and clarity of will are accepted as full Knights.

Failure means death. Or worse—enslavement as a "Dreg," used for experimentation, sacrifice, or servitude.

Joining the Order (OOC)
If you're a writer or RPer interested in joining:

• Anyone playing a Sith-aligned character is welcome to apply, especially if they:
  • Focus on melee combat
  • Embrace occult, religious, or martial RP
  • Enjoy dark ritual, loyalty conflict, and character transformation arcs
• You can:
  • Join an existing Chapter
  • Create your own (with approval)
  • Start as an initiate and work your way up IC
  • Request trials or rites written collaboratively with faction members

Climate:
What's It Like on the Inside?

"We are forged together, not born. We share no blood—but we bleed the same."

Despite the Order's cold exterior and militant mysticism, life within a Chapter of the Knightly Order of the Praetorians is often described by its members as the closest thing to family they've ever known.

Initiates who survive the trials are reborn—not only with a new first name, but a shared Chapter-name, worn as a last name and a badge of lineage. Acolytes may become Varn of the Red Thorns, Tessai of the Black Maw, or Zhal of the Pale Lanterns.
They are no longer alone. They are little brothers and sisters in a lineage of warriors who have stood together against the void, fate, and their own weakness.

Internal Culture: Brotherhood by Blade

• Tightly knit and ritual-bound, each Chapter functions like a war-cult. Meals, training, and meditations are communal.
• Older Knights take on mentor roles, guiding initiates with a mix of tough love and lethal standards.
• Praetorians will die for each other—but are just as likely to throw a blade at a brother who shows doubt.
• Emotional repression is common, but deep bonds form through battle, shared scars, and firelit oaths.
• Humor, when it appears, is dry, gallows-like, and almost always shared at someone's expense.

"Inside the Chapter, we are brothers. Outside the Chapter, we are blades."

Danger, Ritual, and Psychological Strain
Working as a Praetorian is not safe. Most die young. Many fall during ritual trials or in battle against threats no Sith wants to admit exist.

• Training is constant and often fatal—dueling, torture-resistance, Force meditation under pressure.
• Members are expected to perform self-mortification, memory fasting, or vision rites depending on the Chapter.
• Some Chapters perform sleep-deprivation rituals, dream hunts, or soul-binding duels as regular spiritual upkeep.

And yet, inside their fortress walls and aboard their dreadnoughts, there's a quiet sort of peace. Camaraderie. Warmth between flames. A shared purpose against a terrible truth they all understand but never speak aloud.

Reputation:

"They do not speak unless it is judgment. They do not arrive unless it is war."
— Acolyte's whisper in the Temple of Thule

From the outside, the Knightly Order of the Praetorians is viewed with a potent mixture of respect, dread, and religious awe. Even among the Sith, they are considered alien—not because they are foreign, but because their loyalty lies elsewhere. Not to any Sith Lord. Not to the Dark Council. But to something older, quieter, and far more terrifying.

Among Sith Lords and the Imperial Elite:

• Respected for their martial prowess—no force in the Empire matches their skill in melee combat.
• Feared for their impartiality—Praetorians will investigate, duel, or even execute Sith Lords if an Edict demands it.
• Distrusted politically—they do not participate in power struggles, but often show up just after one ends.
• Often called "the Flame's Inquisitors" or "Ashwalkers" behind closed doors.

Some see them as necessary to the survival of the Sith. Others believe they are a liability—a ticking weapon the Sepulchral could turn against any faction, at any time.

Among Acolytes and Lower Sith:

• Seen as legendary, almost mythic. Acolytes often fear being chosen by them—but secretly hope for it.
• Tales circulate of Praetorians surviving wounds no Sith should, walking into battle half-dead, or dueling ghosts in Sith tombs.
• Many young Sith see them as monks, fanatics, or holy executioners.

Among Civilians and Imperial Worlds:

• Rarely seen, and when they appear, the atmosphere darkens.
• Locals often mistake them for death cultists or imperial exorcists.
• Their arrival typically means:
  • A heretic has been found.
  • A relic has awakened.
  • Or war is about to be declared.

On some worlds, shrines have been erected in their honor—especially those protected by them during Jedi invasions. On others, whispers of blood rituals and forced conscriptions have turned them into figures of local legend and dread.

General Reputation Summary:

• Beloved? No.
• Respected? Always.
• Feared? Profoundly.
• Trusted? Only by those who share their oaths.
• Seen as Loyal? Yes—to their own sacred cause, not to politics or power.

"They are not here for you. They are not here for me. They are here for the Flame. And if that Flame sees your death as necessary… pray it's quick."

Curios:
Symbols of Membership

"You will carry the flame until it burns through your soul—or the galaxy, whichever dies first."
— Grandmaster Varn of the Red Thorns

Every member of the Knightly Order of the Praetorians is marked—physically, spiritually, and symbolically—by rites that bind them to their Chapter, their brothers, and the Sepulchral Flame. These are not mere tokens; they are tools of ritual, identity, and sometimes punishment.


The Ashbrand (Tattoos or Brands)
Each Praetorian is given a ritual brand or alchemical tattoo upon surviving the Oath of Ashes. This mark is typically:

• Etched into the flesh over the heart, spine, or dominant hand
• Made using Sith alchemical ink or scorched through with a saber
• Stylized as a simplified version of their Chapter's flame emblem, interwoven with ur-Kittât script

These marks:

• Glow faintly when around other Praetorians
• Burn painfully if the Knight disobeys an Edict or enters a holy place in shame
• Cannot be removed without killing the bearer or performing a Rite of Severance

The Flame-Chained Medallion
An iron or auric medallion worn over the chest, depicting the eight-pointed star and black flame sigil of the Order, encircled by a barbed ouroboros. At its base dangles a broken chain link, signifying liberation from fate and servitude to the Flame.

Functions:

• Worn during formal rites, funerals, and crusades
• Used to access sealed Praetorian archives or shrines
• Some are enchanted to record the Knight's last words upon death

Chapterblade or Flameblade
While not unique to the Order, Praetorian sabers—particularly those of senior members—are often forged with alchemized alloys, etched with Sepulchral prayers, and bonded to the wielder via a binding ritual.
Some Chapters have a signature blade style:

• The Red Thorns use serrated, ritualized greatsabers
• The Pale Lanterns wield flickering blades that change color under Force influence
• The Black Maw carry "dead blades" that cannot ignite unless blood is spilled first

The Fragment Codex
Each Praetorian is entrusted with a personal copy of a Fragment of the Codex Aeternum—the central scripture of Eternalism. No two fragments are identical.

• Written in ink, blood, or Force impressions
• Sometimes tattooed on skin, burned into armor plates, or carried as scrolls
• Contains prophecies, rituals, parables, and blank pages that fill themselves over time

To lose one's fragment is a grave sin, and to read another's is an invitation to duel.

Rules:
Code, Philosophy, and Religious Belief

"We do not seek freedom. We seek to be worthy of the chains we choose."
— Codex Aeternum, Fragment VIII

The Praetorians follow a unique, deeply ritualized theological doctrine derived from Sith Eternalism—a heretical yet sanctioned reinterpretation of Sith ideology.

At the heart of their belief is the idea that:

• The Force is a prison.
• Fate is a lie.
• The Sith must struggle not for personal power—but to tear open the cage of reality.

To the Praetorians, life is war, struggle is sacred, and death is a form of remembering. Their lives are not their own; they are extensions of a greater will—The Flame, the metaphysical manifestation of the struggle against destiny.

The Five Sacred Doctrines of the Flame

1. Struggle is the Father of All Things.
   

   Comfort is corruption. War is clarity. Without conflict, the soul decays.

2. The Flame Remembers.
   

   Each death, each sacrifice, each wound is recorded. The Flame does not forget.
   (Thus, every Praetorian's death adds to the soul of their Chapter.)

3. To Kill a Brother is to Inherit His Oath.
   

   Power is not stolen—it is earned through burden. A duel between brothers is not betrayal, but ascension.

4. The Beast Waits at the End.
   

   Beneath the Force lies an abyss—the Beast—that seeks to devour meaning, memory, and will. The Sith must stand between it and the galaxy.

5. The Order is Eternal. You Are Not.
   

   Your name will fade. Your Chapter will not. All glory belongs to the Flame, not to you.

Ritual Beliefs and Practices

• Memory Sacrament: When a Praetorian falls, their armor is scorched, their name is erased from records, and their Fragment Codex is buried in the ossuary so their soul becomes part of the Chapter's eternal memory.
• Oath of Ashes: Spoken by initiates when they abandon their past lives and accept the Flame. Includes the burning of their true name.
• Flamefast: A period of isolation and silence before a major battle, in which the Praetorian reflects on death and prepares their legacy.

The Praetorian View of the Sith Order
The Praetorians see most Sith as lost children, slaves to ego and hunger, unaware of the true war beneath their games. They do not despise other Sith—but they do judge them, and test them.

• Those who show strength and clarity may be watched, even recruited.
• Those who fall to decadence or cowardice may be executed under the authority of a Council Edict or Sepulchral sanction.

They do not kneel to any Sith Lord unless that Lord has been recognized by the Sepulchral Flame, a rare and fearsome rite that few have ever earned.


The Codex Aeternum
Their sacred book, said to have been written in the ashes of forgotten wars. Each Chapter holds different fragments—some public, some hidden, some living (they change over time). It includes:

• The Five Doctrines
• Rituals and dueling protocols
• Prophecies of the Flame
• Parables written by dead Praetorians

Goals:

"We do not all fight the same war. But we all serve the Flame."
— From the Codex Aeternum, Fragment IX

The Knightly Order of the Praetorians, in Eternal Service to the Sepulchral Flame, does not move with a single will—at least, not one visible to the galaxy. Their goals are fractured by design, filtered through ancient Edicts, metaphysical visions, and Chapter-specific mandates. Some serve as tools of the Sepulchral, while others act with near autonomy, fulfilling purposes few Sith would understand—or survive trying to.

Core Purpose
To preserve the strength, legacy, and ideological purity of the Sith Order through eternal struggle, ritual violence, and sacrifice to the Flame. This includes:

• Defending the Sith from threats that originate within and without.
• Orchestrating controlled infighting to ensure only the strong survive.
• Hunting and neutralizing heretics, apostates, or false Sith Lords.
• Protecting Sith history, relics, and temples deemed critical to Eternalist doctrine.
• Preventing the rise of Sith who might disrupt the balance between ambition and legacy.

Chapter-Based Missions
Each Chapter serves a different "Strand of the Flame." These strands may never be fully explained even to the Chapter itself, but the duties are clear:

Sepulchral-Bound Chapters

• The Black Maw, The Pale Lanterns, and others answer directly to the Sepulchral.
• Their missions include:
  • Hunting Force anomalies and living prophecies.
  • Executing traitors, rogue Sith, or corrupted alchemists.
  • Enacting purification rites across Sith temples and worlds.
  • Guarding or retrieving lost artifacts imbued with Eternalist secrets.

Autonomous or Strategically-Aligned Chapters

• Chapters like The Red Thorns or The Iron Howl act as battlefield regulators, dueling enforcers, or testers of strength.
• Their goals:
  • Keep Sith politics from stagnating by encouraging infighting.
  • Enforce honor duels and lineage succession rituals.
  • Intervene when a Sith Lord grows too decadent or cowardly.

Unaligned, Watchful Chapters

• Some Chapters are given near-complete freedom.
• Their purpose may be:
  • Watching over strategic worlds.
  • Collecting and safeguarding memories, histories, and lost names of powerful Sith.
  • Interfering only when the balance of the Sith Order itself is threatened.

Future Goals and Expansion (IC)

• Reclaim lost Watchholds and reactivate Ghost Chapters whose rites were too dangerous to continue.
• Secure relics and Codex fragments from the galaxy's fringe before Jedi, warlords, or heretics can distort them.
• Guide Sith Acolytes who show potential not for power—but for legacy.
• Discreetly eliminate Sith Lords who defy Eternalist law and endanger the future of the Sith.

Not every Chapter seeks recruitment or glory. Some seek martyrdom. Others seek to become more than Sith—vessels of the Flame's final will.

The Hidden Goal (Known Only to a Few)

"We fight not just to win—but to remember what the galaxy must one day become."

A secret few Grandmasters suspect—or know—is that the ultimate goal of the Order is not victory in the Sith power struggle.

It is to prepare the Sith Order to one day confront the Beast—the apocalyptic, metaphysical force that lurks beneath reality. Their rituals, battles, even infighting... are all seen as preparation for a cosmic war no other being in the galaxy understands.

OOC Intentions (For Players)
If you're joining the Order in RP:

• You can pick or design a Chapter with specific goals (ritual hunters, elite duelists, memory-keepers, heretic slayers, etc.).
• You can explore themes of:
  • Loyalty vs. autonomy
  • Faith vs. power
  • The role of legacy in a Sith's life
• You can participate in campaigns, dueling tournaments, faction-wide purges, and ritual explorations.

MEMBERS
Open to individual chapters to maintain.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

"They were never born. They were remembered."
— Fragment II, Codex Aeternum

No one knows who founded the Knightly Order of the Praetorians. No record names their first Grandmaster. No Sith can claim authorship of their laws. Even the Sepulchral, whose priests the Order now serves, speak of the Praetorians not as a creation—but as a constant.

The earliest signs of their existence predate the 11th Sith Empire by millennia. Tomb murals, cursed armor, and dying battlefield chants all bear their mark—eight-pointed stars, black flames, and names long lost to ash. Whenever the Sith rise, the Praetorians are already there—watching, judging, and sharpening their blades.

Origin Theories (All Unconfirmed)

• The Sepulchral Claim:
  The Order was formed by the first Eternalist prophets as holy guardians of the Flame and the keepers of struggle. Their purpose: to ensure the Sith never forget the true war beneath reality.
• The Military Hypothesis:
  The Praetorians began as elite enforcers created by ancient Sith warlords to police their rivals. Over time, they ritualized their mandate and outlived their creators.
• The Heretical Theory:
  The Praetorians are not of the Sith at all, but an external force bound to the Force itself, shackled to the Sith by pact, prophecy, or penance.

None of these theories explain why every major Sith schism, civil war, or theological upheaval features the sudden appearance—or intervention—of Praetorian Chapters.

Historical Modus Operandi
The Praetorians have always operated in Chapters: mobile, semi-autonomous, militant orders that serve distinct purposes and philosophies. Across history, they have:

• Guarded Sith tombs, Force nexuses, and holocron vaults across collapsing empires
• Arrived after key battles to cleanse the field—physically or spiritually
• Executed Sith Lords found guilty of doctrinal heresy or corruption of legacy
• Prevented the formation of Sith "dynasties" to maintain the purity of struggle
• Guided promising Acolytes toward destinies not of their own making

They are not conquerors. They are custodians of war, legacy, and memory.

Modern Role in the 11th Sith Empire
In the present age, the Sepulchral—the secretive Eternalist priesthood—has formally invoked the Knightly Order's ancient Edicts, granting the Praetorians open authority within the 11th Sith Empire. Their presence is no longer subtle:

• Chapters now openly patrol Sith-controlled sectors, inspecting academies, relic sites, and even ruling Lords.
• They attend major duels and judicate disputes under the banner of Eternalist law.
• Some serve as strike forces or ritual executioners on behalf of the Sepulchral.
• Others quietly work to prevent dangerous concentrations of power or civil decay.

This empowerment is not universally accepted. While many Sith tolerate or even respect them, others view the Order as a Trojan horse for Sepulchral control, or worse—a shadow empire within the Sith Empire.

But none dare challenge them directly. Not openly.

The Eternal Return

"We return not from death—but from memory. We are the wound that does not close."

Whenever a Chapter falls, another rises in its place—often bearing the same name, the same weapons, and the same rituals. Some suspect the Order does not merely train successors... but recycles its dead through alchemy, possession, or ritual reincarnation.

To fight the Praetorians is to fight the weight of a thousand forgotten wars.
To join them is to vanish—yet never be forgotten.