When you're a Knight of the Luminous Order - also known as a Knight Luminous or a Luminary - you're always on the look out for evil, especially hidden in iquity that might lead to greater woe down the road. The Luminous Order was created to stop a demonic invasion, so you 're particularly concerned with anything that lets evil gain a foothold such as a secret demonic cult engaging in foul rites within a forest or an evil lycanthrope hidden within a community. It doesn't have to be an earth-shattering invasion from the Lower Planes. You strike at any growing evil, uprooting it before it can bear bitter fruit.

The Luminous Order places great faith in the self-reliance of its members. If it accepts you within its ranks, the order is confident that you take its mission to heart. Thus the order demands few specific duties from you. If evil shows its face, then the Luminous Order asks volunteers to vanquish that evil. But the order's leaders rarely demand that a specific agent undertake a specific mission.

The order 's leadership likewise respects the lives of members beyond the Shining Citadel's walls. It's common for Knights Luminous to be away from the citadel for months at a time, even if they aren't on a specific mission for the order. Joining the Luminous Order advances your career as a hero; it doesn't constrain that career.

 

Combat: Clerics, fighters, and monks are the most common classes in the Luminous Order, so members' tactics vary based on their strengths. Some Knights Luminous stand toe to toe with enemies, while others hang back and cast spells. Supernatural or magical enemies are countered by supernatural or magical responses, whether that's turning undead or using dismissal on fiends.
If Luminaries have a weakness, it's that given a choice between protecting their comrades and defeating a foe, they save their friends every time. Clever enemies aren't above exploiting this sense of honor to gain an advantage on the battlefield - or at least to escape.
Luminaries usually operate in small groups. On the rare occasions when a crusade calls for larger groups, those squads organize like cavalry. The leader of such a company (often a Luminary captain) commands eight to ten others, and all of them travel on light warhorses to arrive at the critical point of the battle as soon as possible.

 

Advancement: The Luminous Order accepts roughly a dozen new members each year. Two broad criteria are used to determine membership. First, the Luminous Order wants new knights who already have some experience battling evil, especially supernatural foes such as undead and outsiders. Second, the order looks for recruits who have skills and talents that it doesn't possess in abundance. Strong sword arms are always welcome, of course, but to impress the leaders of the Luminous Order, you should try to accomplish some thing that they haven 't seen before.
Once you become a Knight Luminous, you have access to the Shining Citadel and the aid of powerful members of the order. You can take living quarters at the stronghold if you wish, or merely visit when you want a quest or need the order's aid.
At the Shining Citadel, the best of the best are known as Luminary Champions. If you become a champion, you can start to exert some influence within the order, deciding on its overall direction, prioritizing its many concerns, and assigning quests to other Luminaries. A political role has mandatory duties, though, so don't take such a position if you don't want the responsibility.

 

Missions: The originaI purpose of the Luminous Order was to thwart a demonic invasion, should another one ever occur. That hasn't happened in all the centuries of the order's existence; in the meantime, the organization deals with the frequent outbreaks of evil and lawlessness in the Valley of Obelisks as best it can. Last year, for example, the Luminous Order's notable accomplishments included protecting refugees fleeing the dragon attack on Andrushel, breaking the gnoll siege of Kel's Rise, uncovering a group of mind flayers hiding in a temple in Jewelford, and ending Jolly Mara's vampiric reign of terror in Stump Flats.
Knights Luminous also travel into the Slaughterscar from time to time to check the undead population. Current Luminary Champions believe that periodic patrols are the best way to keep the undead within the crater, rather than seeing them spill out to menace the nearby countryside and communities.

 

Responsibilities: The Luminous Order is understanding of its members' responsibilities to family, lord, and country. You can spend up to six months away from the Shining Citadel without arousing worry in your comrades - and longer than that if you're on order business. As long as you don't besmirch the Luminous Order's good name, and you fight evil to the best of your ability, the order is proud to call you a member.