After reading more about the Signature Circle on the Wiki I decided to go with some of the elements presented there.
Their Circle has been formed for a little over 2 years and are terribly torn in regards to overall direction. Their individual personalities and drives are strong enough that Panther and Dace is pretty much dividing and confusing the Circle's goals.
Panther's Exaltation involved a vision that literally said to him
You who have no father, I am your father now. You who shed blood and know not why, I give you a reason. Know you are now among my chosen priests. Go, and make the world a righteous place as you know best. Bring light onto darkness, and know you act with my blessing.
Which means Panther is nigh impossible to sway from his beliefs.
He believes that the Scarlet Empire must be dealt with before anything meaningful can be done to better Creation. This is not to say the Scarlet Empire needs to be destroyed but the cancer that is destroying the institution from within must be rectified. He also believes that the evil of the First Age is the root cause of all modern suffering and to return to such ways is folly.
Dace has always been a leader of man and beholden to no one. His supreme confidence is earned over 20 years of constant battle and victories. An almost legendary mercenary commander even before his Exaltation, his new found status as the Champion of the Unconquered Sun (Dawn Caste) has only cemented this self-evident fact.
He believes that the Scarlet Empire is both beyond saving and beyond destroying. With the ever growing chaos of the world, the circle must start carving out their own base of power in the Scavenger Lands and just ignore the Empire exists all together. Let them rot on the Blessed Isle, it is safe there anyways. The Threshold is the place that needs the attention of the Chosens.
To that end he has already started to develop networks of contacts and allies with the eventual goal of carving a Solar power base free of the Immaculate Order's nonsense. To forge a place where First Age laws and customs will be reinstituted and the birth place of a new Golden Age.
Their strong and polarized opinions have caused the Circle to be aimless in the long-term. Plus while Panther and Dace are both charismatic and are lions, neither of them have a grand vision or are politically astute enough to actually plan out an world changing campaign. Thus they pursue both objectives at the same time and actually accomplishing little in the grand scale of things – spending their time on problem that might save a few thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, but ultimately makes little dent on the global scale.
This dispute is further complicated by the fact the reminder members are split as well. Swan agrees with Panther whole heartedly. His fragments of First Age memory reminds him constantly the absolute horror of the First Age.
Arianna, even though she is romantically involved with Swan, agrees with Dace. To her the First Age is a Blessed Time of Creativity and Energy. It was marred by its ending but not made irrelevant.
Both Swan and Arianna are moderates in their views however, and often act as mediator between the two extreme personalities.
Harmonious Jade doesn't give a fig for carving out an empire or saving one. Her driving motivation is to find why exactly the Unconquered Sun exalt her for. An orphan raised by Yozi Cult who has since murdered more people than she cares to remember. She is the most successful killer the Cult has ever produced and has adopted the training into her core. She is utterly ruthless in both personality and practice. Be the target men, women, children, the virtuous, or the diabolical, it makes no difference to her as long as it is a "job."
With all of Panther's preaching about the virtues and honors of the Unconquered Sun Harmonious Jade find it impossible to rectify "who she knows she is" with the "kinds of people the Unconquered Sun would chose to mark as his creatures". This has caused her to believe perhaps there is "goodness" in her that she herself is not aware of. That deep down she really is a merciful and virtuous heroine. This however only further frustrates her as doing "good" deeds leave a bile taste in her mouth. Why should she help those who are unwilling to help themselves?
While she does not mind helping the Circle who has since become her new "organization." Their chosen tasks and chaotic planning leaves her wanting. Plus the silent brooding and frequent squabbling between Dace and Panther grates on her nerves and she has chosen to strike out on her own for awhile instead of being caught up in a dispute between friends.
While this might make their Circle seem at odds with each other this is not the case. It is more like a friendly family squabble with one brother a Catholic and the other a Protestant. Their beliefs may differ but they both believe in the same god. Just as Panther and Dace both want to help make the world a better place. The difference is the path they believe will best accomplish that goal. With all the troubles in the Scavenger lands they are busy these days just helping who they can and philosophical differences are more for dinner talk than immediate concerns.
They are Circle Mates meaning they are close friends bond by shared experiences and baptized in hardship and danger. Their loyalties to each other are absolute so I don't want you guys to get the impression they are at each other's throats.
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