It would be worth some time to group character generation and all that, so the characters are slightly more cohesive than complete strangers.
That in mind, I'm cool if our characters know each other,
@Protagonist. Anything in particular you had in mind for how? The Empyreal Guardians are really just a martial tradition from the Path of War that act as paladin-like (and grant access to Silver Crane maneuvers, which I'm using). But, they do seem like the sort of organization that would fit right into things. And possibly be friendly enough with the local good-aligned churches and inquisitions thereof.