>>527130965
Basically this >>527134638
>righteous knights who successfully defended Kryta against the Charr invasion from the east AND the risen undead invasion from the south
>introduced advanced architecture to Kryta with heavy use of marble and painted stone, in an age where almost all Krytans lived in straw huts
>sent out missionary teams to provide humanitarian aid to humans in other countries, without even forcing them to join the cult in exchange (this technically makes them less cultish than certain christian churches)
>strong, flashy aesthetic with powerful and shiny armors and christian iconography
And to add further to the 2nd point, it bears reminding that Krytans were brown people who lived in huts and wore tribal tatoos in-between the shitty rags they wore for clothes. The White Mantle were also brown people (since most of them were Krytans) but they had properly tailored clothes, well-forged armor, solid structures for buildings. The White Mantle improved the average Krytan's life in every respect.
>but what about the blood sacrifices
They specifically sacrificed the chosen ones, so that wouldn't affect the average Krytan. And in GW1, the blood sacrifices had an actual tangible and compelling reason, namely powering up the bloodstones to keep the door of komalie to stop the titans from invading.