Noble Order of the Pyriolari

The Noble Order of the Pyriolari was an ancient order of swordmanship on Vytuia.

Foundation
After the Basca of Vytuia developed swords, swordsmanship became a prized skill for warfare. Early instruction was passed on by long-survived veterans training new recruits. As sword technology improved and weapons became better, many schools of swordsmanship sprang up in all Basca nations. Few could afford swords, and even fewer could afford to indenture their sons as students in such schools, but those who graduated from such schools often won officer commissions or other favored positions in armies.

In the city-state of Pyriol, the warrior Vyshus won fame for his repeated victories in battle and defeating multiple enemy champions. Returning in glory to his home, he established his own school of swordsmanship. Personally supervising its development for the first decades of its existence, by the time he died, Vyshus left behind a school which had already developed a reputation for skill.

In the ensuing generations, Pyriol conquered several neighboring city-states. Rather than completely obliterate their schools of swordsmanship, the Noble Order of the Pyriolari incorporated schools in vanquished states into itself. At this time, membership in the order became more ritualized, and schools of swordsmanship were quasi-religious centers deemed temples. The Foremost Temple was the original school in Pyriol, founded by Vyshus.

Cultural ties
By the time Pyriol itself was conquered and incorporated into a larger empire, the Noble Order had become so entrenched in the entire continent that it was allowed to continue to exist. Students admitted to the temples were given full educational training in addition to martial combat, and membership in the Order was widely viewed as a path into the upper civil service of various governments. Individual temples operated outside the control of the state, and thus sometimes produced warriors on opposite sides of conflicts; only the curriculum of swordsmanship was standardized by the Foremost Temple, and battle between warriors from different temples was seen as an honorable and permissible thing.

The Noble Order usually only admitted nobility, although it would occasionally accept the sons of rich commoners for a suitable "donation" to the temple in question. Women were not admitted, nor were peasants, regardless of their skill. On occasion, temples would also adopt orphans. Some of these were trained as members of the Order, while those who failed or were deemed unfit were kept as slaves (or servants, when slavery was outlawed) of the temple.

Even as weaponry moved beyond melee combat and projectiles and then firearms became the order of battle, swordsmanship remained deeply ingrained in Basca culture, and gentlemen were expected to be versed in the art of swordplay. Many cultural rituals were tied to swords, and the Pyriolari did everything in their considerable power to enhance these customs. Even those military officers who attended state military academies and politicians with decades of experience tended to fair better when they had a background with the Pyriolari. Though the Noble Order had more influence in some societies than others, nowhere was it absence.

The era of the fourth wizard
In 110 ABY, the Golden Empire arrived on Vytuia and added the world to its fold. Queen Rin Sakaros and her retinue, having heard of the Noble Order, journeyed to the Foremost Temple to test her skills and those of her Centurions against the leaders of the Order. Though the Order maintained its refusal to admit women, it could not deny the request of its Queen.

The masters of the Order were somewhat amused at the Queen's request, and felt they were pandering to her by entertaining her disciples. Their attitude quickly changed as the Force-strong Centurions bested many of the better warriors of the Order, even using simple training swords rather than their lightsabers. The Noble Order's leaders granted only the levels of Duelist and Swordsman to the Centurions, but when Tariun Sakaros himself was tested, even they could not deny him the rank of Master. Rin herself challenged and defeated each of the five greatest living masters of the Temple, and then fought and defeated them all simultaneously. Stunned and more than a little intimidated, they inducted her as the first female member of the Noble Order and bestowed on her the semi-mythical rank of Wizard.

As senior member of the Noble Order, Rin commanded the Pyriolari to admit women, although she did not interfere with the class and economic restrictions. They conceded somewhat reluctantly, although the change was instituted worldwide in light of Rin's less-than-subtle threat to check up on the Pyriolari regularly to ensure she was being obeyed. Beyond the immediate change, the admission of women into the Pyriolari began to slowly shake up the entrenched male power structure in the armies of Vytuia even as they were absorbed into the Armada or disbanded entirely.

Ranks
In its earliest generations, the Pyriolari had only three ranks: Apprentice, Pyriolarikos, and Master, and only the head of the school was a Master. As the Noble Order expanded and grew, it added ranks, gradually becoming bloated with them to slow the process of advancement and to create the perception of a wider gap of skill between students and their masters. In 110 ABY, the twenty-one standard ranks of the Noble Order were:


 * 1) Initiate
 * 2) Novice
 * 3) Apprentice
 * 4) Candidate
 * 5) Student
 * 6) Adept
 * 7) Accomplished Adept
 * 8) Practitioner
 * 9) Worthy Practitioner
 * 10) Journeyman
 * 11) Senior Journeyman
 * 12) Pyriolarikos
 * 13) Esquire
 * 14) Duelist
 * 15) Swordsman
 * 16) Provost
 * 17) Scholar
 * 18) Docent
 * 19) Virtuoso
 * 20) Master
 * 21) Grandmaster

Student ranks
Those selected for admission to the Noble Order carried the title of "Initiate". They progressed through the ranks of the Order based on knowledge of Pyriolari rituals and history, and skill in swordsmanship. Demonstration and form were considered equally important to practical application. Examinations were highly ritualistic, often involving lengthy recitation of histories or sword doctrines as well as practical demonstrations and sparring duels.

Member ranks
After years (and sometimes decades) of study, a student could be awarded the rank of Pyriolarikos, the first rank at which one was considered a full member of the Noble Order and not a student. In many nations throughout Vytuia, full members had the right to wear swords openly in public, whereas students did not.

The overwhelming majority of members never progressed beyond the rank of Swordsman.

Senior levels
Beginning with Provost, the highest ranks of the Noble Order were considered masters of the group and its members. Many decades of study were usually required for progression to these ranks; achieving anything beyond Scholar usually indicated a lifetime of service to the Noble Order. Only the Foremost Temple had authority to award ranks beyond Docent, and examinations for these highest levels were infrequent.

Special ranks
Each temple was led by a Temple Master. This individual had absolute authority over every student in his temple, and was subject only to the command of the Grandmasters of the Foremost Temple. Temple Masters ordinarily had the rank of Master themselves, although some new temples had Temple Masters who were Virtuosos or even Docents.

The Provost of Swords and Ways was the senior advisor to the Grandmasters of the Foremost Temple on matters of the sword curriculum. The title, like Temple Master, was unconnected with the individual's actual rank; most Provosts of Swords and Ways were Masters, and some were even Grandmaster.

The highest rank which could be awarded was Wizard. The first Wizard was Vyshus, the Noble Order's legendary founder, who was given the title posthumously many generations after his death. Even as the Noble Order grew decadent and somewhat corrupt, the status of the mythic Wizard title remained sacrosanct. It could only be granted by unanimous consent of the leaders of the Foremost Temple, and between its initial award to Vyshus and 110 ABY it was only granted twice. Rin Sakaros became the fourth Wizard in the history of the Order and the only woman to achieve the rank.