The Guards
"I swear this now. I am hollow. I want no thing save one. I bear no deceit in this moment of despair. No divine presence guides me and no supernatural force compels me. I will fill this vacant vessel with singular purpose. To hold vigil against all that would harm my people, who are all. I swear this now. I am replete." -- The Binding Oath Sworn Empty
The Guards are six distinct groups of individuals throughout Vault who have pledged themselves to the protection of its people. Despite what most believe, the Guards are not a singular organization, nor did they stem from a common origin. In fact, all six factions of the Guards came into being completely separately from the others, but in the same exact way.
The story goes that every Guard found its beginning in six people who had given up and were ready to end their own lives. Each of these people, on the same day, in various parts of the world, without ever having met, or even knowing of each other's existence, were filled with a sense that their lives could be given over to a calling.
This phenomenon has been studied extensively by priests and scholars alike, and no god of creation or the multiverse has ever claimed responsibility for this unlikely revelation nor has any group of Guards ever sworn fealty to a divinity. By all indications, this simultaneous life-changing event was completely and utterly coincidental. Random. And yet, it's impossible, because each of those six individuals swore the same oath; an oath passed down to every person who joined them.
Called the Binding Oath Sworn Empty, their belief is that only a completely empty vessel can do what the Guard is meant to do. If there are any hopes, dreams, ambitions, love, or joy left in a person, they cannot truly give themselves to the Guard. They will inevitably corrupt the mission.
But such is humanity. And those who fail, who give in to selfishness, no matter how small, find themselves branded with a mark that cannot be removed. One eye is transformed, the pupil and iris replaced by a the mark of the selfish.
Since their founding, each division of the Guards has come to ally themselves with a creature in Vault; a companion sworn to their selfless mission of protection. Without fail, at some point in their early existence, the Guards and these creatures found each other as though through providence.
The Guards have endured as an institution in Vault, a wall between its people and that which would destroy them, no matter its form. It brings many comfort to know they can trust in the Oath that confounds any who seek its genesis.
The Tidal Guard
Perhaps the quintessential Guard in Vault, the Tidal Guard is one of the most active. Their domain is based around the Gossamer Sea, but they can be found patrolling coasts across the Farewave Ocean.
Their origins are traced to a human woman who made it her mission to track shipwrecks and rescue survivors in the Arrowhead Isles. She made a name for herself as the "Ocean Angel," and eventually took the Binding Oath Sworn Empty on a dark day in which she could not find the shipwreck of her own loved ones.
The bound creatures of the Tidal Guards are the Quetzals, a being able to effortlessly change forms from liquid to solid as it traverses the skies and depths alike. This bond formed when the Ocean Angel found herself drowning in an attempt to dive to a sunken ship which happened to crash onto one of their nests.
The Tidal Guard wear armor capable of allowing them to breathe beneath water and swim great distances.
The Stone Guard
These immoveable champions of the Dagmar mountain ranges have slowly been expanding their reach across all mountainous terrain across Vault over the centuries.
They began with a dwarven man who had a knack for building structures lovingly using all manner of rock and stone. Unlike most Guards, he befriended the Gargoyles of Dagmar before swearing the oath. After the hundreds of homes he built for his people were destroyed in the shifting of the mountains, he took the Binding Oath Sworn Empty alongside the creatures who helped him hone his craft over his life.
The Gargoyles of Dagmar are unlike the monstrous gargoyles slain by adventurers. They are capable of complete camouflage in any rocky terrain, allowing the Stone Guard to spy on and surprise their enemies.
The Stone Guard have crafted their armor with the secrets of the Gargoyles, allowing them to also disappear entirely among the stones they call home.
" The Wing Guard "
The original Wing Guard originated in Highcroft but quickly spread across Vault to patrol the skies from aerial threats. However, in the year 800, all the Wing Guard were called home to Highcroft to face a threat whose identity is lost to time. No Wing Guard were seen again.
Then, during Dragonfall, the Pegasi of Mythrasil Forest, who were the original companions of the Wing Guard, emerged from their home and allied themselves with the people of Highcroft. Those who rode the Pegasi called themselves Wing Guard, taking up the mantel of protectors, but none of them were ever able to pledge the Binding Oath Sworn Empty, nor did they want to.
This has created a Wing Guard in name but not in spirit. While no one has stopped the current Wing Guard from wearing the title, they protect only the interests of Highcroft, fighting primarily against draconic threats and ignoring the sacred duty of the Guards to protect the people of Vault from any harm, regardless of origin.
The Dune Guard
The enigmatic Dune Guard are arguable the most dangerous of the Guards. They patrol the sands between Jawhara and Pantagruelian, and have even been known to reach as far east as the upper lands.
They trace their origins to a yuan-ti couple who devoted their lives to stopping the deadly sandstorms that prevented civilization from forming in the merciless deserts. While they thought they'd succeeded for five years, they'd actually magically bottled the storms. And when the bottle broke, those who believed they could establish homes died in cruel and terrible ways. They took the Binding Oath Sworn Empty among the desolation of those storms.
The Seitaad found the couple wandering the deserts years later. Since then, the Dune Guard the Seitaad have been bound. Able to detect footsteps in the sand from dozens of miles away, the Seitaad move unimaginably fast over the sands, allowing the Dune Guard to descend on those who need them within moments.
The Dune Guard armor protects them from the elements but also allows them to move through shifting sands as though it was firm terrain.
The Grove Guard
Lyr'Lowain's own Grove Guard are considered one of the more problematic Guards considering the limits of their domain to the elven forests. Closely allied with the governing bodies of Lyr'Lowain, the Grove Guard are still loyal to their oath, but ride the line of being a militia like the Wing Guard.
They began with an elven wayfinder who helped people navigate the confounding paths of Lyr'Lowain. In those days, the forest was dangerous and angry, and it came to pass they lost a group of nomads to a thicket of furious trees. The souls of those nomads were fused with the trees who took them, and created the Ghillie'Do, mortal souls bound to trees. The wayfinder took the Binding Oath Sworn Empty upon losing those people, and gained their companion the same night.
The Ghillie'Do are able to shift between being trees and being large, bear-like creatures ridden by the Grove Guard. Any member of the Grove Guard can call upon any tree to take on the spirit of the Ghillie'Do, becoming a fierce companion in an instant.
The Grove Guard armor allows them to periodically fuse with the trees themselves without losing themselves to the forest.
The Veil Guard
Not associated with the god Veil, these Guards' domain is that of planar conflict. In places where the Feywild, Shadowfell, and other planes break through to the Mortal, the Veil Guard ensures no harm is done.
The Guard's origins are unknown, but they believe a dragonborn woman took the Binding Oath Sworn Empty upon arriving in the Mortal plane and losing her home in some other plane of existence. The Veil Guard was without their companions for many years, but eventually the Kitsune found them.
The Kitsune are foxlike steeds infused with arcane energy and can feely travel between the ethereal and mortal planes, aiding in swift traversal across Vault.
The Veil Guard armor allows them to close rifts into other planes and identify being who do not belong in the mortal world. However, Veil Guards are rare and few in number; and are usually found in the east.