Rank Structure Details

The Disciples of Light offers a simple structure that divides its members in three groups:

• Officers with ranks Master Chaplain, High Chaplain and Chaplain in descending order for the chain of command.
• Members, with ranks Knight, Deacon and Devout which form the bulk of the guild's troops and from which junior officers are selected.
• Trainees, with ranks Squire, Adept and Initiate.

In parallel with the chain of command, the guild adapts a management chain, placing Devouts directly under the management of the chaplains, and placing Squires under the leadership of their respective knights.

List of Ranks

This flow chart shows how the ranks are connected to each other in both chain of command and management chain.

Lay Member

Ley members can be new recruits pending an interview to join the order, but also civilian personnel such as blacksmiths, cooks, town criers or retired Disciples of Light.

Initiate

Disciples that have joined the Order are assigned the rank Initiate. It is a sign they have embarked on a journey to become full fledged members of the Order. Their duty binds them to learning the origins and principles of the Order, its code, its beliefs and structure.

When the duties of the initiate have been completed, an initiate can progress to become a Squire or Adept.

Adept

Adepts choose to follow the path of a cleric, or scout. Their studies focus on methods to support military operations, in the ways of reconnaissance, field-specific knowledge and methods of healing.

In peace, or during civilian operations, they can train in preaching, diplomacy, supply management, intelligence gathering and resource gathering.

The end of their training is marked by a promotion to Devout.

Squire

Disciples can subject themselves to the mentoring of Knights by choosing the rank of Squire. They become duty-bound to the Knights of the Order whom they'll serve before, during and after combat. In return, the Knights of the Order will teach them their wisdom and experience in combat, in the uses of heavy armor and cavalry, in the ways of war and knightly behavior.

Squires are released from these duties towards their mentors upon promotion to become a Devout.

Devout

Devout is a rank given to all Disciples who have finished their training. They are considered a full fledged Disciple of Light in all respects, and expected to radiate exemplorary behavior to its ideals, code and honor. Devouts may be tasked with missions or quests, and be expected to finish them without further guidance from a junior or senior officer.

Devouts may be assigned temporary leadership of a patrol or a team, should the need arise or more senior have other priorities. These tests of leadership can both be expected from Devouts as well as serve to train their leadership.

While continued training is not demanded of Devouts, they are permitted to pursue the ambition of becoming a Knight or Deacon. This is a challenging path placed before them, but the title of Knight or Deacon bestows great responsibilities upon those who carry it.

Deacon

Disciples who do not wish to attempt becoming a Knight and still have earned a respected status within the Order equal to that of Knights in any profession or service. Deacons are divided as either Cleric or Scout. Deacons have the possibility of becoming Chaplains.

Cleric

Priests, monks and scholars, focusing mainly on knowledge, healing, discipline, meditation and preaching.

High Cleric

The group leader of all Clerics in the Order, areas of responsibility would be Library, Infirmary and Mass Halls. Required to be a Deacon.

Scout

Rogues and rangers, that are lightly armored. Focusing mainly on hand-to-hand or close combat, ranged weaponry, information-gathering, security and ground-keeping.

Scout-Captain

The group leader of all Scouts in the Order, areas of responsibility would be Stables, Graveyards, Patrolling and Logistics. Required to be a Deacon.

Knight

Disciples who have gone above and beyond to prove their Valor, Courage, Strength, Wisdom and Ability to lead. To be shining beacons of our Order, trusted by all members of the Order and the society. Knights are military leaders of high moral standard and combat skills. Note that any class can be knighted if it fits with the requirements. Knights have the possibility of becoming Chaplains.

Knight-Captain

The group leader of all the Knights and Squires in the Order, areas of responsibility would be Armory, Training Grounds and Relics. Required to be a Knight.

Chaplain

The assistant leaders to the High Chaplain, to assist with the IC and OOC running of the Order. Chaplains are chosen among the Deacons and Knights.

High Chaplain

Acting leader of the Order and IC second in command to Lord Aarian Northlight, the founder of the Disciples of Light. The High Chaplain is the spokesperson of his fellow Deacons and Knights, guiding the whole of the Order, be it on the battlefield or in the serenity of Northshire Abbey.

Chain of Command

Chain of command functions as in any militant, holy order. As members we are all brothers and sisters, but it's important to maintain the difference of rank. Lower ranks are to obey orders of any rank higher, Officers first hand. The chain of command among the Officer ranks is, starting with the most superior:

• High Chaplain
• Chaplain
• Knight-Captain, Scout-Captain, High Cleric
• Knight
• Deacon
• Devout
• Squire and Initiate

The ranks that are answering directly to one of the three Knight-Captain, Scout-Captain or High Cleric, can be ordered by any of the three, but their assigned group Officer will always be listened to above the other two if there is a conflict of command.

Management chain

Disciples of Light is an Order of Knights and Clerics in the fashion of the Knights of the Silver Hand. And as such there are many roles that can be filled. For all these roles to work properly there are certain groups in the guild to which you belong as a member, depending on what kind of type your character is.

The High Chaplain has, as the leader of the Order, the biggest responsibility and the highest command. His Chaplains are assistant guild leader pretty much, helping out with the running of the Order. The Chaplains also have the responsibility over the newest members of the Order, the initiates. This doesn't mean they have to entertain or teach them all the time, but they need to make sure every initiate are getting along with the Guild.

As the initiate either becomes a squire or adept, they get placed into new groups with fellow Squires and Adepts and get new superiors appointed to them. Chaplains will always be able to command lower ranks, but as they are not initiates anymore, the trainee will not be the responsibility of the Chaplains.

For squires the Knight-Captain will be their closest superior, but some or most of the squires will also be appointed a Knight as a personal mentor if available. Knights are rather independent but will coordinate under the Knight-Captain as well.

For adepts there are two superiors that matters. Adepts that fits into the Cleric part of the Order will be the direct responsibility of the High Cleric. For adepts that fits as scouts and the like, the Scout-Captain will be directly responsible. The same division applies to Deacons as well, and just as with Knights they are fairly independent in their work but will still coordinate under respectively group officer. Personal mentoring is of course possible within these ranks too.

The Devout rank is a mixed one, where all classes will share the same rank. Differences to function or role will be marked with a colour and choice of "path" if this is what the Devout wants. And even though Knights, Deacons and their superiors are above and thus able to command Devouts, especially since many Devouts would train with either of the group, the Chaplains themselves are their direct superiors, as with the initiates. Devouts would assisst the Chaplains in taking care of the initiates.