The Paladins (at least in their own mind) are the best of the best in the Vel Anir military. Considered to be invincible, Paladins are trained and made to become the most elite fighting force in battle. The Paladins often volunteer to be the vanguard of a battle line seeing it as a chance to get the most glory and to easily rout the enemy force. They charge forward using their thick armor to bush off any missile attacks that the enemy might launch and run over the enemy line happily annihilating anyone who is in their way.
The Paladins are the hammer of the Vel Anir military undertaking missions like maintaining the peace around the Vel Anir lands using the elite soldiers to squash threats before they can form, protecting Vel Anir
villages from any hostile attacks while providing aid to Vel Anir's allies. Due to their prestigious position, Paladins are equivalent to a commander in the Vel Anir Military. This means that they can give out orders to lesser troops and many times lead them into battle personally though Paladins must obey their higher ups. Grandknights on the other hand are considered to be Generals and while they do lead from the front, sometimes they stay back and devise strategy with the other commanders.
In addition, Paladins do mundane tasks like helping lifting boulders in order to build statues or buildings or taking on contracts slay
monsters. They also help escort scholars in their expedition to abandoned human
cities keeping a look out for any threats along the journey.
The Paladins are to exemplify what it means to be a Knight at least in Vel Anir. Not only they have to fight well, but they also must display core tenants of chivalry at all times. While what is chivalrous is up to interpretation, breaking these rules may result in expulsion or in rare cases: execution of a Paladin. This may lead into cases where Paladins tend to be reckless and have tunnel vision often breaking ranks to show off their bravery. While their armor can erase their mistakes it can have dire concequences.
Paladins are former Knights chosen for their great their great deeds either conducted on the Battlefield or their very generous acts of chivalry among the people. They are noticed by scouts: Paladins who are tasked with observing any kind of Knights from Hedge Knights, to Knights with a title and name and even prospects from The Knights Of The Fallen. Recommendations are made by nobles of which Knights serve and by the commoners if the Knight quells a threat or helps them in their day to day activities.
Scouts also watch Knights during tourneys such as mock fights or jousting though they base their decision not solely on whether they win in a tournament but if the Knight in question did it with honor and grace. An arrogant Knight who fought dirty but wins a tourney is less likely to get an invitation to join the Paladins compared to a Knight who lost but fought honorably, nobly and displayed proper courtesies.
Afterwards the scouts send their findings to the recruiters who meticulously examines the potential recruits. They write to lords, tourney setters and commoners who recommended the recruits and ask them to verify the deeds that a Knight did for them as well as a thorough background check. The recruiters then approach the prospects and offers them a chance to join Paladins.
If they accept, the recruits are then sent to the Paladin Fortress that is located near the Keep of Vel Anir. Once they arrive a GrandKnight approaches them and says that they are formally stripped of their titles as Knights and will be starting over as pages explaining that a Paladin thinks, acts and fights differently compared to a regular Knight. The recruits will be entering Paladin armor which will feel different from regular and must prepare to be worthy of it.
Recruits undergo rigorous training made for the purpose of breaking whatever bad habits a Knight picked up and molding them into what a Paladin should be. Paladin recruits run daily about 4 miles a day but can be up to 10 miles if the trainer feels particularly nasty. They also run through obstacles and other unique training exercises such as live exercises where a Dreadlord is sent to bomb hurl spells at the recruits or archers launch arrows at them to simulate live combat.
If a page is deemed worthy after the physical training, then they are promoted to squire. From here, the recruits are introduced to the generic Paladin armor. They are taught about the history behind the armor and the mechanics that go behind it. Recruits wear the armor and train in it learning how to move and how to fight and wield every gigantic
weapon that is at a Paladins disposal.
In addition, it's imperative that a squire must clean and maintain their armor daily. This means learning basic physics and mathematics which is taught to them by dedicated engineers. This is considered to be the most difficult rank to move from since there's not only physical aspects to overcome but mental hurdles since the average recruit doesn't have a high level education.
Once the training is complete, the recruits become full fledged Paladins. They are Knighted by a GrandKnight and are granted their armor in which they have the freedom to customize it as they please. Like Knights, Paladins are on the go willing to answer the call if need be but if off duty then Paladins rigorously train to maintain combat effectiveness as well as
monster hunting and patrolling the city of Vel Anir.
