Membership of this order is restricted to members of the nobility, and more specifically to those Houses who trace their lineage back to the Autarchy. Its members strive to emulate their example of their saint as a great leader of men, and revere him as the just and benign ruler of a mighty empire. The spells contained in the order's formulary, Voice of Authority, are mainly concerned with leadership, and orderlies often rise to positions of authority in the city's non-religious organisations.
The true Order of Arkat the Great, if ever it really existed, was lost with the fall of the Autarchy, and the tradition of the same name that persists in Syran is actually a Common Religion with the ceremonial trappings of an Saintly Order. This is rather ironic, given the disdainful attitude of its parent organisation, the Imperial Church to the Lords Temporal tradition, which is actually quite similar.
Consequently, the Order has no Scripture or Liturgists of its own, relying instead upon dedicated clergy seconded from its parent Church to bless its members and to perform the reconsecration ceremony for their talismans.
Must belong to one of the Old Houses. Female members are rare, but not specifically excluded.
Leadership, Rule of Saint Arkat the Great
Proud, Focussed
None
Voice of Authority
Typically medals, badges and other symbols of rank or office.
As noted above, this is not a true Order, but rather a type of misapplied worship in the form of a Common Religion. The abilities in the Voice of Authority are actually Common Magic spells, although the associated talismans must still be 'recharged' after each use at a ceremony of reconsecration. As such, these abilities can only be used as augments, unless the orderly Concentrates his or her magic.
The normal benefits of Concentration still apply, however, including those of the Arkat's Way method - which adherents claim as evidence that their order offers a true path to the sacred mysteries of Arkat. Members of the order do not have a Know [Saint] ability, however, and also have no special access to the supposed Otherworld of their 'saint'.
See disadvantages above.