Zealot

Zealots (Vhall'un, "Devotee") are a class of Sangheili nobility. While their roots lie deep in the Sangheili's past, the roles and societal functions of Zealots diversified considerably under the Covenant, where they would eventually grow to become one of the hegemony's most populated noble classes. This also made the class highly eclectic, and individual chapters of Zealots might have little in common with one another in terms of traditions and role.

Although commonly generalized as such, "Zealot" in itself is not a rank, and Zealot chapters have their own internal rank structures and systems of seniority. However, these ranking systems only partially overlap with those of the Covenant ministries' internal rank structures. By the later years of the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC recognized various subtypes and ranks of Zealot, with the most common command roles being differentiated by gold armor while those deployed on special missions such as artifact hunting or reconnaissance donned purple or maroon.

In Covenant society
Most Zealot chapters are exceedingly wealthy, and represent one of the higher classes of the Sangheili aristocracy. As such, entry into the Zealot chapters remains highly exclusive. The bonds among the members of a chapter form cohorts that are reflected off the field in the form of powerful political and economic alliances between clans. The Zealots are well-known for their rigid discipline and uncompromising traditions, though not all chapters or individuals observe these as diligently as is commonly assumed. While some chapters continue to observe an exclusively cloistered lifestyle, the majority of the Zealots active today engage actively in non-martial matters such as the society and politics of their respective communities.

Within the Covenant's armed forces, the Zealots serve as commanders and enforcers, and take on various special missions of high importance. Outside the battlefield, many Zealots assume roles as kaidons and other leaders, while others served as priests and even missionaries to parts of the Holy Ecumene that strayed from the Path, both peacefully and by the sword, depending on their discretion. Aside from specializing in broad fields of martial activity, Zealot chapters are built around certain themes or religious traditions they emphasize.

History
At the time of the War of Beginnings, the Zealots were a singular monastic order of warrior-priests in one of the prominent Sangheili polities that opposed the San'Shyuum Reformists. For much of the conflict, they were one of the San'Shyuum's most stringent enemies, and were feared for their skill and ferocity. By the Writ of Union, however, a reformist faction of the Zealots pledged their allegiance to the hegemony. Though they initially continued to operate as an independent order, they would later be placed under the authority of the Ministry of Fervent Intercession, later known as one of the oldest still-standing ministries.

Historically, the Ministry of Fervent Intercession oversaw the Zealot order, though over the last millennium of the Covenant, the Zealots became embedded in the rank structures of various ministries. This was one of the byproducts of the Second Illumination and the reforms leading up to it. With the Holy Ecumene's marcher lords estranged from High Charity, the Prophets and the High Council began to sponsor Sangheili groups known to be trustworthy and loyal. The Zealots were, and they already had longstanding existing ties to High Charity's bureaucracy. With the Prophets' blessings, the Zealots' numbers grew as did their power, and they became firmly established in the reformed ranking structures of the ministries as they were being built up to reassert the holy city's authority. While this was at first most prominent with the Ministry of Preservation, others, such as the Ministry of Resolution, would follow suit in the ages to come.

By the later years of the Covenant's Consolidation Period, Zealots were a pervasive fixture of the Covenant's aristocracy, and served in military, religious and political roles within both the various ministries, and the domain-level organizations under High Charity's ecclesiastic oversight.

By the Covenant's later ages, the Ministry of Fervent Intercession only oversaw select Zealot orders such as the Devoted Sentries, tasked with special missions such as relic hunting. Zealots frequently occupied command offices (such as Shipmaster, Fleetmaster or Fieldmaster) within the Ministries of Tranquility, Preservation, Conversion and Resolution. Most of the Zealots encountered by the UNSC during the Human-Covenant War were those assigned to the Ministries of Resolution and Preservation, with maroon-clad Fervent Intercession Zealot teams being encountered sporadically on special missions. Zealots of the Ministry of Fervent Intercession usually did not have direct command over ground forces (though exceptions did occur), but the critical nature of their missions meant they may overrule most field commanders at will. In practice, such conflicts of jurisdiction were often far from straightforward affairs, and contributed to the oft-chaotic nature of multi-ministerial campaigns.

Because of the crisis of faith brought on by the Great Schism, many Zealot chapters diminished or fell to infighting in the decades that followed the fall of High Charity. Those more receptive of new ideas have weathered the transitional period by instating reforms and allying with groups such as the Mending Communion and the Concord of Reconciliation, though more conservative chapters and individuals have either remained independent or pledged their allegiance to more Covenant-like polities, such as the True Communion and various smaller splinter groups that were formed over the sub-schisms that arose from the Concord's Schism Councils.