abstract
| - The Crown of Deliverance was "awarded to a citizen who intentionally performs an action [above and beyond the call of duty], in the face of the enemy, which delivers victory to an army or fleet which would otherwise have been captured or destroyed". The bracketed text in the criteria was not originally included. Initially envisioned as an award for a line soldier, Rin Sakaros had her fallen apprentice Keltrayu in mind when she created the decoration, and expected it to be awarded for similar actions as Keltrayu's self-sacrifice at the Battle of Tizgo V. Her military advisors eventually questioned whether it could be awarded to a Legate or other commanding officer; Rin compromised by clarifying that the action meriting the award had to be made on the officer's own impetus (i.e., a Legate ordered into battle who thereafter saved a fleet would not be eligible, as he was following orders). She had the words "above and beyond the call of duty" added to the award's description to make her point. Uniquely among the military decorations of the Empire, the Crown of Deliverance could theoretically be awarded to civilians. Also uniquely, the Crown of Deliverance was the Empire's only coronal order; that is, it was worn as a bronze circlet. The circlet had overlapping pieces shaped like the feathers of the Abstalian Phoenix, and was a five-sixths crown; snugly fitted to the head and resting on the ears, it extended to but did not cross the forehead.
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