Sinews Of Atlas

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The Sinews of Atlas was sponsored by the Church of Primus on Marragh. The founders, knights and priests of Primus, established the order to spread the faith of Atlas. This was entirely done to repair the friendship of Atlas and Primus. In 1285, the Sinews of Atlas chapter was established in Vraga Moltus. So as not to alarm the Tragarans, they built their military headquarters, named the Palm of Atlas, in the lower reaches of the Scar of Atlas.

In the Black Tide War (1465 - 1504), the Palm of Atlas was sacked by the Black Tide. After this war, a hero named Himril Girderhead returned to the ruins, leading the reconstruction effort.

The Lyan functions more as a cleric than a fighter, for his church mainly consists only of other lyans, however some churches have a mixture of other priestly classes as well as the Lyan. The subclass name and its level titles derive from the ancient names for the ascending floors of the Arbiters Edifice, a massive tower of legend in which the Arbiter lived and ruled. Lyans call their god the Arbiter despite his true name, which is often held sacrosanct and reserved for the most solemn church rituals. (Many believe that the Arbiter is actually Primus, ruler of the world Regulus.) Lyans believe that, after death, their souls travel to the Edifice Prime (of the world Regulus), a celestial reconstruction of the original mythical tower, and serve the Arbiter thereafter.

A lyan devotes himself to law and its promotion, and should he ever commit a chaotic act with other courses available, he loses his status in excommunication and becomes forevermore a normal fighter.

Although the rules of the edificial churches (the term for any lyan's church) forbid armor of weapons on consecrated ground, elsewhere lyans wear any type of armor desired, usually leather or studded leather reinforced by a breastplate and gauntlets (which in no way hinder their somatic spell-casting actions). Their mounts are the largest and strongest of their type, their weapons the most fierce, their methods the most efficient and unforgiving in dealing with the dangerous forces of chaos.

- Zaharganda, Aribiters Second, excerpt from the Codex of Martial Powers - "The Lyan"

The Sinews of Atlas is divided into two wings, one military, and one priestly. The priestly wing establishes themselves in a populated area, and the military wing is quartered in a more remote bastion. Initiates of the order usually spend time first in the priestly wing acquiring basic oratory skills and studying clerical matters. When they become an acolyte of the order, they then move on to the military wing for martial training. The order is comprised of roughly 30% priests and 70% lyans. Lyans of Atlas follow a belief similar to what Zaharganda wrote with those following Primus, except that they believe they go to serve Atlas after passing through the dead lands of Hades.

The order's supreme headquarters in on the giff home world Marragh. On other worlds, the order has a headquarters for that particular world which answers to the one on Marragh. The highest rank of the Sinews of Atlas is the Arbiters First. This person is said to have direct communication with the Arbiter. The Arbiters Second leads the order's chapter on Bal-Kriav.